LITMIR.BIZ

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to forgive,’ he said, pleased he’d given her cause to wonder about the sex of his lunch companion. ‘While I’m waiting for him, I’m admiring the view of the harbour,’ he said. ‘It’s really something.’

      But the view of her was so much more enticing.

      ‘No charge for the view,’ she said. ‘It’s on the house.’ She laughed, a low, husky laugh that made him think of slow, sensual kisses on lazy summer afternoons.

      He couldn’t look at her in case he gave away the direction of his thoughts. Instead he glanced to the full-length windows that faced east. ‘I reckon it must be one of the most beautiful harbours on the south coast.’

      ‘Hey, just on the south coast? I say the most beautiful in the whole of Australia,’ she said with mock indignation.

      ‘Okay. So it’s the very best harbour in Australia—if not the world,’ he agreed, playing along with her.

      ‘That’s better,’ she said with a dimpled smile.

      ‘I like the dolphins too.’

      ‘You mean the real ones or the fake ones plastered on every building in town?’

      ‘I didn’t see them on every building,’ he said. ‘But I thought the dolphin rubbish bins everywhere had character.’

      She put her hand on her forehead in a theatrical gesture of mock despair. ‘Oh, please don’t talk to me about those dolphin bins. People around here get into fights over whether they should go or they should stay, now Dolphin Bay has expanded so much. It was such a sleepy town when they were originally put up.’

      ‘What do you think?’ he asked.

      ‘Me? I have to confess to being a total dolphin-bin freak. I love ’em! I adored them when I was a kid and would defend them to the last dorsal fin if anyone tried to touch them.’

      She mimicked standing with her arms outstretched behind her as if there was something she was shielding from harm. The pretend-fierce look on her face was somewhat negated by her dimples.

      In turn, Sam assumed a mock stance of defence. ‘I’m afraid. Very afraid. I won’t hurt your dolphin bins.’

      Her peal of laughter rang out over the hum of conversation and clatter of cutlery. ‘Don’t be afraid.’ She pretend-pouted. ‘I’m harmless, I assure you.’

      Harmless? She was far from harmless when it came to this instant assault on his senses.

      ‘Lucky I said I liked the bins, then,’ he said.

      ‘Indeed. I might not have been responsible for my actions if you’d derided them.’

      He laughed. She was enchanting.

      ‘Seriously, though,’ she continued. ‘I’ve lived here for most of my life and I never tire of it, dolphins and all. April is one of the best times to enjoy this area. The water’s still warm and the Easter crowds have gone home. Are you passing through?’

      He shook his head. ‘I’m staying in Dolphin Bay for the next week. I’ll check in to the hotel after lunch.’

      ‘That’s great to hear.’ She hit him with that smile again. ‘I’m the deputy manager. It’ll be wonderful to have you as our guest.’

      Could he read something into that? Did she feel even just a hint of the instant attraction he felt for her? Or was she just being officially enthusiastic?

      ‘Let me know if there’s anything you need,’ she said.

      A dinner date with you?

      Gorgeous Kate Parker had probably spent longer than she should at his table. There were other customers for her to meet and greet. But Sam couldn’t think of an excuse to keep her there any longer. He was going to have to bite the bullet and ask her out. For a drink; for dinner; any opportunity to get to know her.

      ‘Kate, I—’

      He was just about to suggest a date when his mobile phone buzzed to notify him of a text message. He ignored it. It buzzed again.

      ‘Go on, please check it,’ Kate said, taking a step back from his table. ‘It might be important.’

      Sam gritted his teeth. At this moment nothing—even a message from the multi-national company that was bidding for a takeover of Lancaster & Son Construction—was more important than ensuring he saw this girl again. He pulled the phone from his pocket and scanned the text.

      He looked up at Kate. ‘My friend Jesse is running late,’ he grumbled. ‘I hope he gets here soon. After a four-hour trip from Sydney, I’m starving.’

      Kate’s green eyes widened. ‘Jesse?’ Her voice sounded strangled. ‘You mean...Jesse Morgan?’

      ‘Do you know him? I guess you do.’

      She nodded. ‘Yes. It’s a small town. I...I know him well.’

      So Kate was a friend of Jesse’s? That made getting to know her so much easier. Suddenly she wasn’t just staff at the hotel and he a guest; they were connected through a mutual friend.

      It was the best piece of news he’d had all day.

      * * *

      Kate was reeling. Hotter-than-hot Sam Lancaster was a friend of Jesse’s? That couldn’t, couldn’t be. What unfair quirk of coincidence was this?

      Despite her initial misgiving about Sam, she’d found she liked his smile, his easy repartee. She’d found herself looking forward to seeing him around the hotel. No way was she looking for romance—not with the Jesse humiliation so fresh. But she could admire how good-looking Sam was, even let herself flirt ever so lightly, knowing he’d be gone in a week. But the fact he was Jesse’s friend complicated things.

      What if Jesse had told Sam about the kiss disaster? She’d thought she’d fulfilled her cringe quotient for the day. But, at the thought of Sam hearing about the kiss calamity, she cringed a little more.

      She should quickly back away from Sam’s table. The last thing she wanted was to encounter Jesse not only in front of this gorgeous guy, but also the restaurant packed with too-interested observers, their gossip antennae finely tuned.

      But she simply could not resist a few more moments in Sam Lancaster’s company before she beat a retreat—maybe to the kitchen, at least to the other side of the room—so she could avoid a confrontation with Jesse when he eventually arrived.

      ‘Where do you know Jesse from?’ she asked, trying to sound chirpy rather than churning with anxiety.

      ‘Jesse’s a mate of mine from university days in Sydney,’ Sam said in his deep, resonant voice. ‘We were both studying engineering. Jesse was two years behind me, but we played on the same uni football team. We used to go skiing together, too.’

      So that made Sam around aged thirty to her twenty-eight.

      ‘And you’ve stayed friends ever since?’ she said.

      She’d so much prefer it if he and Jesse were casual acquaintances.

      ‘We lost touch for a while but met up again two years ago on a building site in India, rebuilding the villages damaged in those devastating floods.’

      She hadn’t put darkly handsome Sam down as the type who would do active charity work in a far-flung part of the world. It was a surprise of the best kind.

      ‘So you work for the same international aid organisation as Jesse?’ she asked.

      ‘No. I worked as a volunteer during my vacation. We volunteers provided the grunt work. In my case, as a carpenter.’

      That figured. His hand had felt callused when she’d shaken it earlier.

      ‘I’m seriously impressed. That’s so...noble.’ This hot, hunky man, who would have female hearts fluttering

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