“Really?”
“Yes, really. He can have all the beautiful girls he likes there.”
Amber felt the bitterness in Flo’s words as if they were a knife to her own heart. Her eyes smarted. “He was young and stupid, Flo. And I’m sure he regrets what he did with all his heart.”
“His heart?” scoffed Flo. “That’s a good one.” Then she huffed at the sight of Amber’s tears. “Look, I’m sorry. I know he’s your big brother but he was a bastard to me and I can’t say I’ve waited with bated breath for him to return to Akaroa.” She sighed, and dead-headed a rose with unnecessary force. “Still, I guess I can lie low for a few weeks until he returns to the big smoke.”
“Oh, no! He’s not coming for a holiday, Flo. He’s here to stay; he’s back for good.”
This was obviously too much for Flo. She walked to the end of the garden by the road and Amber’s gaze followed. Just then she saw what she’d been keeping a watchful gaze for. A head—a very handsome head with short cropped hair and a strong profile—bobbing up over the top of the high fence at regular intervals. Amber ran up to the front gate just as the bobbing head reached it.
“Hi!” she called out.
David stopped abruptly. “Amber. What are you doing here?”
She laughed. “Visiting a friend. It’s not so unusual. I do live near here.”
He followed her glance toward her house and nodded. “It’s just that you’re usually at the café.”
“Afternoon off.” She breathed deeply of him—a beautifully clean, outdoorsy sweaty smell which made her mouth water. It nearly made her lose focus, nearly made her forget what she’d wanted to say. But as he jiggled on his feet as if to run away, she focused. “I was about to go to the beach. Do you want to come?”
His gaze remained on her face. She pulled the towel from around her neck, leaving her upper half clad only in the brief, damp bikini. It was revealing, but then she often went skinny dipping at Belendroit, much to her family’s irritation. They didn’t seem to understand how joyous it was to feel the cool water and moonlight on your skin, as if you were a part of nature.
But still his gaze didn’t falter. Her heart plummeted. Didn’t he like her?
“No, I have other things to do.” His expression didn’t change. She had no idea what he was thinking. He stepped back a few paces and it was all she could do not to jump the gate, and him. “But I’ll pick you up on Friday at eight. Right?”
“Right,” she said, echoing his business-like manner. “Definitely right.”
“Right,” he repeated. “See you then.”
She walked out the gate and watched him run off without a backward glance. She turned to see Flo leaning on the fence watching them, her good humor returned.
“What was that all about?”
Amber sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. He’s hot, right? And he’s asked me out. But that’s not like until the weekend—”
“And waiting isn’t your strong suit.”
“Exactly. So I thought”—she shrugged and plucked at her bikini top—“that he might like to join me at the beach.
“Ah, so you thought you’d lure him with your womanly curves to the beach for some tumbling in the sand.”
“You know me so well,” Amber replied with a smile. “But he’s not interested.” She watched as David turned up a nearby street. “Hang on a minute! Where’s he going?” She squinted into the light as she watched David let himself into a front door with a key. She pointed to him and turned to Flo. “Does he live there?” She looked back as the door closed on him. “I didn’t know he lived there! Flo! What do you know?”
“Not a lot. I know that the old cottage was knocked down and that new modern house was built in its place. And I also know that you’ve got it right—that man is definitely hot. Scorching in fact.”
“Maybe he lives there.”
“No. I’d have noticed. Believe me.”
Amber felt her heart twist into a soggy knot. “Scorching maybe, but he doesn’t seem to be scorching for me. He hardly looks at me.”
“He must like you, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked you out.”
“I guess,” she said doubtfully.
“You really like this guy?”
