"Tell me two things you don't like about yourself."

My lips tug up. I'm getting used to Mark's random questions. I pass a palm across my forehead, and despite the hat I bought for protection, the heat feels overwhelming. Thank God we're on a Yacht, on our way to the horizontal waterfall. The sea breeze that teases my skin is refreshing.

"Two things I don't like about me?" I repeat for confirmation, and Mark nods. The sun tan looks good on him, and I love the natural sun streaks on his hair. But of course, he's been in Australia longer than me. So far, my skin is pink, which seems fitting, since I'm sweating like a pig.

Creasing my brows, I gaze at the sea. "I don't trust easily," Mark snorts at that, and a giggle leaves my lips as I go on, "and I take everything too seriously." My frown deepens. "I guess I need to enjoy things more."

Mark's eyes are intense as he stares at me. He lifts his bottle of water and cheers. "Amen to that." He takes a sip before gazing at the ocean. "The only thing we'll ever take with us is the memories we create, so we're supposed to enjoy every second. Or some shit like that."

I laugh at that. "For a moment, I thought some sort of angelic chant would sound in the background, or something."

He throws back his head as he laughs too. "I'll take a mental note to synchronize my phone's music to my wisdom moments." Then, he reaches out for my hand and pulls me closer to him. His hand travels across my arm and ends on the back of my neck. His pupils are completely dilated and I feel like I'm out of breath before he kisses me.

It's a soft kiss, filled with promises of making new memories, or at least that's what I like to think. My stomach is doing somersaults as we pull away.

I don't move from his side. It feels amazing to be held and to be kissed like that. It had been too damn long since I've felt like this. And even though I know it will probably won't last, I want to enjoy it, because I bloody deserve it.

Mark passes an arm across my shoulders and a contented sigh is about to leave my lips when my eyes widen.

What if Mark thinks that I'm doing all of this because he flew me to Australia? Because let's face it. I so want to sleep with him!

I shift in my seat, trying to pull away from him, but his hold tightens. "Aren't you hot?" I blurt out, trying to find an excuse to move, but as soon as the words leave my mouth, my cheeks flush.

"I know I'm hot, Kate. You don't need to tell me that!"

Rolling my eyes, I seize the opportunity to pull away. I feel uncomfortable. I don't want him to think that I might sleep with him only because he brought me here. It's something that has been brewing inside of me for quite some time, but he doesn't know that. Hell, I hadn't realized it either. I'm not sure when it happened, but it's pretty obvious that I'm nuts for this guy. Also, I'm not sure if that's a good thing, considering my awful luck in love. Not to add that he's the bloody Prince of England, and as much as I admire Emily and Scott, I'm not into the whole dating-a-royal-thing. I guess I'm more like the kiss-the-crap-out-of-a-royal.

Suddenly, my scalp prickles and I feel a cold shiver runs through me. I can't sleep with Mark. It would only complicate things and I like my boring, simple life. I believe those are the best lives, the boring ones.

"I can't sleep with you," I blurt out, wide eyed, rubbing my sweaty palms against my shorts.

Mark straightens. He stares at me and I swear I can see interrogation marks all over his head. "Okay?"

Standing up, I start to pace around the deck. "I mean, I didn't come to Australia to sleep with you, you know?"

"I didn't invite you to sleep with you either." His answer startles me and I freeze as I glance at him. His lips twitch and I want to hit myself in the head because of course Mark finds this hilarious. "I figured we can sleep together back in London." My whole body feels too hot as I rub a palm across my forehead again. "But that's beside the point."

"So, you do want to sleep with me?"

Oh my God Kate! Stop blabbering the first thing that comes to mind!

Who the hell cares?

Mark smirks. "Is that a trick question?"

I roll my eyes before continuing the pacing. "I don't even want to know."

"Are you sure?" He leans over his legs as his eyes follow my every movement. "It seems important."

"It's not, Mark. Drop it."

Fuck. Can we get there already please? I gaze at the distance and there's a faint line of an island, but it still seems to far away. Can't this stupid boat go faster?

I avoid his gaze like the plague as I try to change the subject. "What about you? What are the things that you don't like about you?"

"Oh that." He's smiling as I gaze at him for a millisecond. He's trying really hard not to laugh at me, it's pretty obvious from the way he has a fist near his mouth, trying to cover that bloody smirk. "If you think about it, there's nothing much not to like about me." He pats himself on the chest after he sits up. "I'm almost perfect."

Despite my distress, I smile. "Almost." At least he's honest. Even if he's an egocentric prick. I shake my head, "don't you get tired of carrying that big-ass ego of yours?"

He laughs. "That might be why my back hurts sometimes!"

"Mark. For real. We're being honest, here." Too freaking honest if you ask me. It most be the Australian breeze. There most be some kind of pheromones or something weird like that in the air.

He raises an eyebrow. "We're being honest?" I nod. I am. A little too much. He must think so too, because his grin widens. "Okay. The truth is that I need to stop taking things so lightly," he tilts his head. "And I need to be braver."

"You, brave? Mister-I-jump-from-anywhere?"

He smiles, and my belly starts to flutter as he stands up, comes closer to me, grabs my hand and starts running his fingers over my knuckles. "Jumping is easy. You know you're safe, you have the harness and you know that someone's watching your back. But doing what you believe for, going against the current, having literally the world watching you and still pursuing it, that's the hard part."

I try to ignore my racing pulse as his words sink in. I think about how Mark usually acts. He's the black sheep of the family, the one who does everything he pleases to, who doesn't care about the press or his scary Grandmother or whatnot. He's the rebel.

"I always thought you liked being the one to cause havoc?"

He chuckles. "I like being different, but most of all, I hate being told what I'm supposed to do."

I snort. "Wow. That must be hard, considering you're a royal."

He shakes his head. "Tell me about it, at least I'm not the next in line to be King."

Finally, the island looks much closer. Mark moves to the ledge, with me in tow. The guide, who up to this point seemed silent, starts speaking, and he tells us all about the horizontal waterfall, he explains how it's a unique phenomenon that it's produced when the river and the sea crash together. We observe the whole thing in silence, and I can't help but feel special.

Special to be in a one-of-a-kind place. Special to be holding hands with Mark, a guy so obtuse, so ridiculously handsome and arrogant at the same time, but so different from any man I've ever met before.

His hands moves to my arms, and he kisses the side of my head. It's such a simple gesture, but it feels so intimate. I try not to melt as we keep observing the whole thing, and my eyes are glued to the swirling waterfall, but my heart and my mind are acutely aware of the guy behind me, of how he smells and how his simple touch makes me feel.

I start chanting inside my head: don't you dare sleep with him! Don't you dare.

I know it will be devastating for me if I do. If we've only kissed and I'm already on the edge, I don't want to think about how crushing seeing him with another woman will be in the future.

"Kate," his voice is strong and sexy, like and Italian cup of espresso, "I have to be honest too." His breath tickles my neck and sends shivers running up and down. "The truth is that I do want to sleep with you. I've been wanting to ever since you took that jump." My whole body is tense as he kisses me softly on the back of my neck, and I know I'm doomed. Utterly and irrevocably doomed.

So sorry for taking so long to post this!