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

9. Last day of play

[RECAP: Matt is questioning his relationship with his self-centred celebrity girlfriend after meeting Cara. Cara's determined not to lose her heart as she knows Matt's not available.]

When Cara awoke that morning she found herself still in Matt's arms. Startled, she looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was already well into the morning. Still early, but she was used to him leaving at dawn.

She woke him, expecting him to be in a state of panic at the time but he opened his eyes and gave her a lazy smile.

"Won't you be late?" she asked anxious.

"I'll be fine." He took a lightning fast shower to refresh himself and Cara tried not to overly stare at his bronzed body as he emerged with nothing but a small white hand towel around his hips.

He pulled his previous night's clothes on and bent over the bed to kiss her goodbye.

"I did wake at dawn, actually, but I didn't feel like leaving."

Before she could react he had left her and gone off to join his team mates.

Cara sat there, the sheet still swirled around her, wondering what to make of it all. She felt she was treading a dangerously fine line. She didn't have Matt's experience, his worldliness that made it easy for him to keep things casual. Or so she thought it must be for him.

It was time for breakfast. The Hilliers would distract her from her thoughts.

"Good morning dear, I hope you slept well?" Mrs Hillier said as Cara joined them at their table. She had worried about intruding on so much of their time, but they were the ones that kept inviting her to share their company.

Cara hadn't slept very much at all due to Matt's attentions, and hoped it didn't show.

"Quite well thank you." She could hardly tell them the truth.

"The last day of play. We've been lucky to have such an exciting game, there's still everything to play for," Mr Hillier said.

Cara wasn't anticipating the same level of excitement as before since Matt was no longer batting. England would be fielding that day, hoping to capture enough Sri Lankan wickets in time for victory. Matt's amazing performances had put England in a strong position, but anything could happen on the day.

Yet she was still gripped, all the more so when Matt caught out one of the Sri Lankan opening batsmen early on. It put the England team into a winning mindset, dashed the hopes of the home side, and saw the wickets "fall like ninepins", as Mr Hillier put it. The Sri Lankans were all out shortly after lunch, and England took the victory.

Not having expected she would suddenly have a free afternoon due to the play ending early, Cara was at a momentary loss of what to do. Going to the beach was the most obvious option. She could top up her tan before flying home the next day.

They would all be leaving tomorrow: Matt and the team for another city in Sri Lanka, and Cara back to England. Matt had tried to persuade her to extend her trip but they both knew it was impossible. Things were risky enough as it was. It would be greatly pushing their luck to spend two more weeks together, only to have to part anyway at the end of the tour.

Matt insisted on taking one chance though: there was a party that night - which would now be a very celebratory one - and he wanted Cara there. "Even if you can't come as my personal guest I can still talk to you," he said.

Cara doubted that he would be able to spend much time with her at all. He'd have to do the rounds and speak to endless people as the victorious captain and also Man of the Match. But it was her last night and spending it by herself or going to bed early and reading did seem a waste. Besides, she knew some of the other players to speak to so she wouldn't be standing there like a wallflower.