Crushed against his muscular chest, she asked herself for the millionth time if she were totally sane. Abandoning a Majorcan lover who roused her nerve endings to red alert with one touch of his lips had to be madness, didn't it? Especially as he'd begun referring to her as his 'significant other'. And leaving the lush surroundings of the tennis resort where she'd worked a six month coaching contract was worse than the prospect of a wet Wimbledon fortnight. This the woman who hated the business of flying; always putting her passport in the wrong pocket, always forgetting to fasten her seatbelt and always desperately needing a wee just as the cabin crew were performing synchronised safety procedures. So, why was she about to shut herself inside an airborne sardine tin for the second time this year? For heaven's sake - my decision's made and I know it's for the best. It's time I stopped playing at life and went home to get on with it. My parents and my best friend need me much more than Carlos does. "Adios, Carlos. Mmm." Tanith hated goodbyes. "Thanks again for collecting George Clooney." "No problem. I hope he bring your friend happiness." He pronounced the last word as 'a penis,' triggering Tanith's gleeful snort; hastily disguised as a cough. The full-size cardboard publicity figure of the A list heart-throb would no doubt ramp up her best friend's pulse, but Tanith was beginning to regret her prank; especially when she contemplated toting Gorgeous George from the Heathrow baggage carousel to the Reading coach stop. With a display of reluctance that would have won him a place at RADA, Carlos surrendered Tanith to the queue for Security, stretching out his arms in a Brief Encounter moment. She could almost hear plaintive piano chords as the human crocodile inched her towards the barrier. But, one last glance over her shoulder revealed Carlos running his fingers through his lustrous locks with one hand while the other punched a number into his phone. Clearly he was sizing up the straggle of pasty-limbed tourists filtering from the arrivals hall, seeking fun and romance in the October sunshine before succumbing to the dank embrace of the UK autumn. | 