Before I even process that I’m completely losing my balance, my brain only focuses on how strong Hugh is. Like some primal instinct in me is thinking, This man could save me from a mountain lion. His skin is smooth and pulled taut across his abs, which ripple up his body. My face lands right in the crook of his neck and he smells so clean, like cedar and grass and the ocean. My hands grab for the skin on his back, clutching around his broad shoulders involuntarily, pulling my body towards his. I forget that I’m dirty. I forget I need to shower. Instead, I think, Why are we not in our bedroom? I hear Hugh’s sharp intake of breath and all I can think is that I want to keep making him breathe that way.

Hugh loses his footing as the boat sways, pulling me out of my thoughts and into the present moment. He grabs for the nearest railing, saving us both from a tumble to the floor. As we hang in the balance, precariously supported by the strength of Hugh’s dazzling forearm, my brain is thinking oh no, oh no, and my body is thinking oh yes. Our bodies melt together – Hugh is damp and I’m sticky with seawater. I want to be touching every part of his body, but there’s a towel around his waist. My arms are wrapped around him, my towel flailing in one hand like a flag of surrender.

His hips shift beneath me, and I feel a bulge between his thighs. My nipples tighten against his chest. His breath hitches again and so does mine. For a moment we are both breathless. I wonder how I can manoeuvre off his towel and simultaneously get us closer to the privacy of our bedroom. I want to bite the inside of his neck, right above his shoulder. I want to taste him so badly that I feel a tug in between my legs, right in the heat of my belly, that pulls me towards him.

The boat lurches again, and Hugh grunts as he hoists us to a standing position. The momentum pulls my face from the crook of his neck, and our eyes meet. His eyes are narrowed and piercingly blue, his mouth open in a perfect ‘o’, the muscles in his cheek twitch.

‘Millie,’ he breathes.

Alarm bells sound off in my brain. My heart pounds in my chest. Millie. Hugh is staring at me, eyes full of desire. Millie.

I stumble backwards, my sister’s name crashing through my consciousness. Millie is what’s at stake, Millie is what’s important here. What am I thinking?