‘Can you drink this and hang onto Karen at the same time, or shall I put her inside for a minute?’
‘I’m perfectly capable of doing two things at once, and not covering the cat with boiling coffee, honest.’
‘I’m sure you are. You’re a very versatile woman.’
The way he said ‘versatile’ with a tiny lift of the eyebrows made her squirm in her seat. She’d have to get the ‘we’re only ever going to be friends’ conversation on track as soon as possible.
Grace settled Karen at her side and took a long slurp of freshly ground coffee. Will proffered the plate.
‘Biscuit? They’re homemade.’
She’d never had Will down as a baker, so it was probably one of his many women friends who’d brought them over.
‘And before you ask, yes, I did make them myself. There’s not been much else to do these past few days. All the books say you should spend as much time as you can with an animal in the period straight after you adopt them. So apart from the odd swim’—Will looked ahead to the beach, while Grace kept her eyes firmly on Karen—‘cooking and reading have been my only distractions.’
‘Couldn’t you ask a friend to come over and keep you company?’
As soon as she’d said it, Grace wished she hadn’t. She’d stressed the word ‘friend’ a little too heavily.
Will’s eyes crinkled into a smile.
‘I did, but she was far too busy to spare any time for little old me or our cat.’
‘I did explain how busy I was… My best friend arrived without warning, and I’m still teaching private lessons.’
Will reached across from his seat. Grace thought he was about to touch her, but instead he stroked the cat, who purred instantly under his fingers.Lucky catwas Grace’s first thought, which she pushed to the back of her mind.
‘It’s just that we missed her, this friend, didn’t we, little one?’
They really needed to get this on a different footing. Will was straight out flirting with her. She couldn’t afford to respond. There was no future in it. She was probably one of many women he flirted with. The night on the beach had been a one-off, to be treasured, taken out of her memory trunk and pored over like a family heirloom now and then, but never repeated.
The thought of Celine’s over-tanned body entwined with Will’s in his big bed a few feet away stiffened her resolve. She wasn’t going to lower herself to ask him if what the woman had said was true. It was none of her business.
‘You’re back at work next week, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, why?’
‘I was going to offer to look after Karen during the day in my breaks, so she had someone with her. My busy period’s over, and I don’t have many lessons in the fortnight before I go back to England. Most of them are in the evenings anyway, so I can be here when you’re not.’
His brown eyes bored into hers.
‘You’re only on the island for another two weeks? I didn’t realise you were leaving so soon.’
Was that all he’d taken away from what she’d just said? He hadn’t even responded to her suggestion that she come and see Karen.
‘I’m sure I mentioned it, but yes, my contract will be up then.’
Will’s hand on hers forced her to look at him.
‘Grace… We really need to talk about the other night.’
She couldn’t do this. Not now.
‘No, we really don’t. It was fun, but we’re both adults who’ve been around the block a few times.’
Why was she talking in terrible clichés?
‘Fun? That’s what you’re calling it?’
