She was quiet for a few moments. ‘Fine. I’ll set an extra place.’
Mae’s door was open before I’d even turned the truck’s engine off and knowing that she’d been waiting and watching for me put a smile on my face, because I was sure as hell keen to see her too.
‘Hey, stranger,’ she said shyly from the porch.
‘You’re a sight for sore eyes,’ I told her.
She put a hand on one hip. ‘Are you just saying that because you’ve been stuck on a boat with only men to look at for the past few days?’
I snorted with laughter. I couldn’t remember the last time a woman had made me laugh as much as Mae did.
‘Are you calling Jim ugly?’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m just saying maybe your standards and expectations are a little low, because you’ve been at sea.’
I walked up the porch steps and stopped right in front of her, drinking the sight of her in. I had to resist the urge to pick right up where we’d left off, because she was so damn cute and she was looking at me as if she’d been waiting for this moment for the past fifty years. Only the fact that I’d already promised my mother we’d come to dinner was stopping me from scooping her up in my arms and kicking the cottage door down.
‘I missed you,’ she said softly. ‘Weirdly.’
‘Why is it weird?’
‘Because I barely know you.’
I reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, noticing the way she shivered ever so slightly when my palm touched her cheek. ‘Is that what your heart is telling you? That I’m still a stranger?’
She shook her head. ‘No.’
‘Good. Because all I could think of when I was out on the boat was you.’
She smiled shyly. ‘Really?’
‘Really. There were so many moments when I wished you were there by my side. Incredible sunsets and sunrises that don’t make any sense with how beautiful they are, and I wished I was sharing them with you.’
She licked her lips before she spoke. ‘What an odd coincidence.’
‘What is?’
‘I watched those same sunrises and sunsets from here and wished you were here.’
‘Of course, that wasn’t the only time I wished you were by my side,’ I said, trying to lighten the mood because if she didn’t stop looking at me like that wedefinitelyweren’t going to make dinner.
‘Oh?’
‘Yeah, I could have done with another set of hands when I was hauling the traps up.’
She laughed. ‘It’s just my muscles you want me for then?’
I ran my eyes over her beautiful face. ‘I wouldn’t sayjust.’
She broke the spell by stepping backwards and looking down at herself. ‘I wasn’t sure how to dress, because, in typical Jonah style, you haven’t told me where we’re going.’
‘Yes, I have. Dinner.’
‘But where? I didn’t know whether to wear jeans and a sweater, or a dress.’
‘And? What did you go for in the end?’
‘Something in between.’ She opened the sides of her coat, revealing a nice pair of tailored black trousers, black boots with a heel, and a black chiffony top that tied up at the neck. It had a low neckline, but not too low. Just enough to hint at the gentle swell of cleavage.
