Man of the Match: hot celebrity romance (FULL NOVEL)

2. A new day

[RECAP: Cara, on holiday after breaking up with her fiancé, meets a handsome stranger at her hotel]

Matt Curran was furious with himself when he woke, his head splitting, the next morning. At the age of thirty-two and as England cricket captain he was supposed to behave more responsibly than trying to drunkenly seduce some girl. To set an example.

What if there had been any paparazzi around? It may have been night, but you never knew where they may be. What if she was a reporter? Matt remembered the notebook and camera he'd seen her with on the beach, which had instantly raised his suspicions.

And yet there had been something about her... Even hungover, in a blur of pain and self-condemnation, he couldn't help remembering a pair of shining eyes.

The phone was flashing by the bed, he'd missed several messages. He knew who they were from. Miggy. She had also left several messages with the hotel concierge.

She was supposed to be in the middle of filming. He'd wanted a break from it all, to clear his head. Wives and girlfriends weren't joining them on this part of the tour.

He should have been glad, he supposed, that Miggy was calling him. After all there were plenty of men who would have liked to be in his shoes, dating her. She was a celebrity IT-girl and occasional model, and as a high profile couple they were rarely out of the tabloids.

But the more unanswered messages she'd left, the more annoyed with him she would be getting and the less he felt like returning her calls. Matt was also bracing himself to face the team this morning. Hopefully most of them would be even worse for wear and nothing would get said.

What goes on tour stays on tour. For the first time, Matt personally hoped the tenet held true.

Despite his better intentions he found himself casting an eye out for Cara at breakfast. He told himself that it was just to check she was who she said she was - just a tourist - and not busy filing some "Cheating Cricket Love-Rat" exclusive for one of the tabloids.

But he couldn't totally kid himself that was why he was looking. Or that he wasn't disappointed that she didn't appear.

A couple of his team mates joined him at his table and he faced the expected ribbing. Jokes about playing away, and Miggy having his head on the railings. She wasn't known for having an easy temper.

Matt trusted them not to say anything back home but his nerves were on edge.

"You going to see her again?" one of the bowlers asked him.

"I will if you won't," another said. Matt gritted his teeth at the tone.

"No, you bloody won't," he said. The thought of it strangely revulsed him, even though he was used to hearing of good-time girls that worked their way around half the team. "You can concentrate on the game."

He knew he didn't sound convincing, all the more when there were raised eyebrows and further grins. "Miggy's got competition then?"

"There's nothing going on, just drop it. Forget it," he told them and left. He was determined to forget it. He needed to improve his act and start comporting himself like their captain, setting an example to the younger lads instead of behaving like the worst player out there.

* * *

They had kissed for what seemed like hours, though of course it couldn't have been.

Then he'd asked her back to his room, and she'd panicked and fled. Well, not literally fled but she had returned to her own room very quickly.

What must he think of her? Letting him kiss her before she even knew his name? Practically allowing herself to be seduced by him in the sea, in front of everyone.