Lindsay Armstrong - When Only Diamonds Will Do

He grimaced, then grinned. ‘Nothing, I guess. I was going to drive us somewhere for lunch.’

‘Perish the thought,’ she said and looked around. ‘On a perfect day like this, who wants to leave the beach?’

Several hours later, Reith, with a beer in one hand and a chicken drumstick in the other, said, ‘You’re a genius. How did you know cold roast chicken, beer—or, in your case, wine—go down perfectly after a surf?’

Kim giggled. ‘Anyone knows that.’ She lay back in her folding chair and sipped her wine. Sunny Bob lay contentedly beside her, having had an energetic few hours chasing waves whilst Kim and Reith had had a magnificent surf. He had his own bowl of cool fresh water.

She’d wrapped a pink sarong around her before she’d set out lunch. The sun was just starting to slide down from its zenith and there were a few wispy clouds trailing across the sky. The tide was out now so the roar of the surf was muted but you could still taste the salt in the air and feel the prickle of it on your skin. And it was hot and still, apart from some cicadas in the bush behind the beach.

‘Why did you suggest this?’ Kim’s question seemed to pop out of nowhere.

‘Why not?’

She hesitated. ‘It just seems unusual for a businessman—look, I’m not complaining,’ she said with a grin, ‘but think barristers, stockbrokers, CEOs, medical men and you tend to spend a lot of time going out to dinner or cocktail parties or nightclubs or the theatre. Occasionally you may get a day out on a yacht or a day at the races but they’re often too busy making money even to do that.’

‘I spend a lot of time working behind a desk these days. Whereas I used to—’ He paused.

‘Go on. Used to—?’ she prompted.

‘Work on cattle stations, then I was a miner.’

‘I wondered about that.’

He looked at her. ‘Is it so obvious?’

‘No,’ she said slowly. ‘It was your hands.’

He looked at his hands and grimaced. ‘Anyway, I love the sea—most people who don’t get to see it until their teens do—and it’s good exercise.’

‘So you grew up inland?’

‘Yep.’ He stared out over the ocean and for a moment there was an intensity to his dark gaze that made her frown and believe that he did love it. ‘And beyond the black stump, speaking metaphorically,’ he added.

Kim smiled. ‘Are you married?’

He stirred. ‘What makes you think that?’

‘All the best ones are, according to Penny.’ She pushed herself up against the back of her chair, bent her knees and smoothed her sarong over them. ‘What kind of answer is that—are you or aren’t you?’

‘I’m not. I once was but she passed away.’

Kim sat up, looking appalled. ‘You mean she died? What from?’

He nodded. ‘A rare complication in childbirth.’

‘Is…Did the baby survive?’

‘Yes. His name’s Darcy and he’s ten now.’

Kim lay back. ‘I’m sorry—very sorry.’

‘Thanks,’ he said briefly, then smiled slightly. ‘What will Penny make of that?’

Kim shrugged. ‘Put you in a special category, I guess.’

‘How did I come up, anyway?’

Kim looked a touch embarrassed. ‘I went to see her this morning before I drove down to Busselton. Naturally, I told her why I was dressed for the beach,’ she said.

‘Naturally.’

‘Oh, look—’ Kim closed her eyes ‘—ever since Penny got married she’s been trying to sell me the state of matrimony as if it’s the only state of bliss on the planet. Mind you, that doesn’t stop her from warning me of the folly of falling for married men.’

‘I think I get the drift,’ he replied seriously.

Kim tossed him an annoyed little glance. ‘Somehow you’ve made me feel about twelve,’ she said crossly. Then her lips twitched. ‘Penny and I have known each other since we were six so we’re pretty close. And I suppose pretty girlish at times. But it’s not girlish to want to know…Look, it doesn’t matter.’ She got up suddenly, stripped off her sarong and ran out from beneath the shade of the umbrella and across the hot sand to where the tide was tracing silvery crescents of foam on the damp sand.

And, barking joyfully, Sunny Bob streaked along beside her. The last to join her as she splashed in the shallows was Reith Richardson.

‘You know,’ he said, ‘I would actually like to meet your Penny.’

‘Why?’ Kim stood still and stared at him.

‘If it hadn’t been for her I wouldn’t have met you. Besides, maybe I could put her mind at rest.’

She eyed him but if he was laughing at her, he was hiding it well. There was no hiding, however, the streamlined strength of his body. He was lightly tanned and beautifully proportioned and she had to turn away suddenly as her breath caught in her throat at the thought of being in his arms.

She felt his hand on her and she looked over her shoulder and up at him.

It was a long, sober look they exchanged but it sent tremors of excitement and danger coursing through Kim’s body because, in no uncertain terms, it told her that this man wanted her. She could see it in the way his gaze lingered on her breasts, her slim bare waist, her legs. Then he looked back into her eyes.

She licked her lips and curled her hands into fists because she desperately wanted to touch and be touched intimately, but Sunny Bob chose that moment to break the ‘moment’. He raced up and threaded his way between them, and stayed there.

‘Saved by the bell,’ Reith murmured as he removed his hand.

Her eyes widened. ‘Sunny Bob?’

‘I get the feeling I’m on notice. Behave or else.’

Kim had to smile. ‘Well—obviously,’ she hastened to assure him, ‘I wouldn’t allow him to attack you.’

‘Thank you,’ he said formally, ‘but having narrowly escaped death on the road because of you, I don’t think I’ll take any more risks. Do you dance?’

She turned round with a frown. ‘Of course I dance! What’s that got to do with anything?’

‘Silly question,’ he murmured. ‘Do you take Sunny Bob out dancing with you?’

‘Of course not ,’ Kim denied and had to stifle a chuckle at the mental image this conjured up. ‘Why?’

‘I thought if we went dancing it might be easier to get close to you without there being any misunderstandings with your dog.’

This time Kim didn’t even try to stifle her laughter.

‘It’s not that funny,’ he assured her.

‘What exactly did you have in mind?’

‘Sorry to fall into the category of your typical “businessmen” but I was wondering if you’d have dinner with me and then we could go on to a nightclub.’

‘I am also sorry,’ she said and directed a sparkling blue look up at him, ‘for all the dangerous situations I’ve put you in, Mr Richardson. As for your suggestion, I like the sound of it very much and I will attempt to keep things safe for you.’

He grimaced.

‘But I’ll have to go home to get changed and then drive back into Bunbury—’

‘I’ll send a car for you,’ he said, interrupting her.

Kim looked at him with a faint frown in her eyes as she wondered why he didn’t pick her up himself.

He gestured. ‘I have a heap of stuff to deal with—the penalty for taking a day off.’

‘Well, OK. Thanks.’

‘Seven-thirty suit you?’ He raised an eyebrow at her.

‘Fine, but really, I could drive in.’

‘No.’ He said it lightly but quite definitely.

‘If that isn’t an example of how you like to get your own way, I don’t know what is,’ she commented a little dryly.

‘Not at all,’ he denied. ‘It’s concern for your welfare, that’s all.’

Several expressions chased across Kim’s face, exasperation being foremost. Then her lips twisted and she looked rueful. ‘Hoist by my own petard. All right.’