Christy McKellen - Mills & Boon Showcase

His revelation that he didn’t want more children had knocked the sunshine out of her. He appreciated how kind she’d been, how understanding, but dismay had shown on her face. But he’d had to put his cards on the table about a future with no children. He couldn’t mislead her on such an important issue. Not that they were talking beyond these four days.

He reached out, took both her hands and pulled her to her feet.

‘Sandy, I’m sorry—’ he started.

‘Don’t say it again,’ she said with a tremulous smile, and put her finger to his mouth. ‘I’m sure we’ll laugh about it one day.’

He snorted his disbelief. He would never see the humour in what had happened. Or had not happened.

‘So what now?’ she asked. ‘Do I go back to the bookshop?’

He tightened his grip on her hands. ‘No way. It’s shut for the day. You’re staying with me. We’ll have lunch, then tonight I want to take you to a dinner dance.’

Her eyebrows rose. ‘A dinner dance? In Dolphin Bay?’

She was such a city girl. She had no idea of how much the town had grown. How big his role as a business leader had become.

‘The Chamber of Commerce annual awards night is being held at the hotel. As president, I’m presenting the awards. I’d like you to come.’

‘As...as your date?’

‘As my date.’

Her smile lit the golden sparks in her eyes in the way he remembered. ‘I’d like that. This could be fun.’

‘The speeches? Not so much. But there’ll be a band and dancing afterwards.’

‘Do you remember—?’ she started.

‘The dance?’

‘I couldn’t believe it when you asked me to dance with you.’

‘I wasn’t sure you’d say yes. You were the most beautiful girl there.’

She leaned up and kissed him on the mouth. ‘Thank you for saying that.’

‘You’ll be the most beautiful girl there tonight.’

That earned him another kiss.

‘Will I know anyone?’

‘My parents. My brother, Jesse—he’s back home for a couple days. Kate...’

Sandy’s face tightened at the sound of Kate’s name.

‘Kate has a big mouth, but she also has a big heart,’ he said.

‘She can be confrontational.’

‘Don’t judge her too harshly. She means well.’ He didn’t want Sandy to feel alienated during her time in Dolphin Bay. That was one of the reasons he’d asked her to be his date for tonight, to go public with him. Encouraging a friendship with Kate was another.

‘I’m sure she does. It’s just that...’

‘Yes?’

‘Nothing,’ she said, with an impish twist to her mouth.

He wasn’t in the mood to argue with a female ‘nothing’. ‘C’mon. I’ll make us some lunch.’

He kept her hand in his as he led her towards the kitchen.

‘I didn’t know you could cook,’ she said.

She didn’t know a lot about him. Some things she might never know. But his cooking prowess—or lack of it—was no secret.

‘Basic guy-type stuff. Mostly I eat at the hotel. We could order room service if you want.’

‘No. I like the idea of you cooking for me.’

She started to say something else but stopped herself. He wondered if her ex had ever cooked for her. He sounded like a selfish creep, so that was probably a no.

‘What’s on the menu, chef?’ she asked.

‘Take your pick. Toasted cheese sandwich or...’ he paused for dramatic emphasis ‘...toasted cheese sandwich.’

‘With ketchup? And Snickers for dessert? I have some in my handbag.’

‘Done,’ he said as he headed towards the fridge.

Without realising it, he started to whistle. He stopped himself. Why would he want to whistle when he was furious at himself for the disaster in the bedroom and fresh with the memories of his loss?

‘That’s a sound I haven’t heard for a long time,’ Sandy said as she settled herself on one of the bar stools that lined the kitchen counter.

‘It’s rusty from disuse,’ he said.

‘No, it isn’t. I like it. Don’t stop. Please.’

Her eyes were warm with concern and understanding. Her yellow dress flashed bright in the cool, neutral tones of the kitchen. Her brown hair glinted golden in the sunshine that filtered through the porthole windows. Sandy. Here in his home. The only woman he had brought here apart from his mother and the maids from the hotel who kept it clean.

He picked up the tune from where he had left off and started to whistle again.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SANDY WAS ONLY too aware that every detail of her appearance would be scrutinised by the other guests at the Chamber of Commerce dinner dance. Every nuance of her interaction with Ben would be fuel for the gossipmongers of Dolphin Bay.

In one way it amused her. In another it scared her witless.

In spite of Ben’s reassurances Kate’s warning still disconcerted her. All the people who would be there tonight knew Ben. Had known Jodi. Had even—and her heart twisted painfully at the thought—known his baby son. She wouldn’t be human if that didn’t worry her.

She wished she and Ben could spend the entire time they had together alone in his boathouse home. Just him and her, and no one else to poke their noses into the one step forward and two steps back of their reunion. But it seemed it would be played out on the open stage of Ben’s tight-knit community.

Thank heaven she’d packed a take-her-anywhere outfit for Melbourne. She checked her image in the mirror of her hotel room with a mega-critical eye. Dress? Red, strapless, short but not too short. Jewellery? A simple yet striking gold pendant and a blatantly fake ruby-studded gold cuff from one of her fashion accessory clients. Shoes? Red, sparkling, towering heels. She thought she would pass muster.

The look in Ben’s eyes when he came to her room to pick her up told her she’d got it right.

For a moment he stood speechless—a fact that pleased her inordinately. He cleared his throat. ‘You look amazing,’ he said.

Amazing was too inadequate a word to describe how Ben looked in a tuxedo. The immaculately tailored black suit emphasised his height and the breadth of his shoulders, and set off the brilliant blue of his eyes. There was little trace of the teen surfer in the urbane adult who stood before her in the doorway to her room, but she didn’t mourn that. The crinkles around his eyes when he smiled, the cropped darker hair, only added to his appeal. It struck her that if she met the grown-up Ben now, for the first time, as a total stranger, she’d be wildly attracted to him.

For a moment she was tempted to wind her arms around his neck and lure him into her room with whispered words of seduction. She thought of the birth control she had discovered tucked into a corner of her suitcase, accompanied by a saucy note from her sister, Lizzie: In case you get lucky in Melbourne.

But Ben had official duties to perform. She couldn’t make him late.

‘You look amazing yourself,’ she said. She narrowed her eyes in a mock-appraising way. ‘Kinda like a surf god crossed with a tycoon god.’

He rolled his eyes at her words but smiled. ‘If you say so.’

Her stratospheric heels brought her to kissing distance from his face. She kissed him lightly on the cheek, but he moved his face so her lips connected with his mouth. She nearly swooned at the rush of desire that hit her. As she felt his tongue slip familiarly into her mouth she calculated how much time they had before they were due at the dinner dance. Ten minutes. Not enough time for what she needed from Ben if things were going to get physical again.

Besides, she wasn’t so sure that was the way to go when their time together was so short. She didn’t want to leave Dolphin Bay with a pulverised heart.

With a deep sigh of regret, she pulled away.