He knew it was ridiculous. He’d had to check himself a few times to stop himself from wrapping Regan in cotton wool. It was so hard. He’d already lost his wife, he couldn’t bear it if something happened to his son.
But he didn’t have time to think about that because Lien and Regan were shouting for him to jump in too.
‘Come on, Daddy!’
‘Let’s go, slowcoach!’ shouted Lien. ‘What’s up? Scared?’
She was laughing. He knew she was joking but, in a split second, his brain was interpreting the question in an entirely different way. Was he scared? Of course he was—but not of the water, not of the bay.
But of what was inside it.
Lien and Regan were splashing each other, carrying on, and having the time of their lives. He couldn’t remember when he’d ever seen Regan interact with another woman like this.
He sent up a silent prayer. Thank goodness for this place. Thank goodness his mother had given him the push to step on the plane. Being in Scotland had left him feeling hemmed in. Here he was just Joe, the doctor. Joe, Regan’s dad. Joe...the man who might actually consider looking at another woman, spending time with another woman.
His skin prickled. These thoughts had been dancing through his brain since he’d got here. But they’d only been dancing in the direction of one woman. A woman he’d already invited to visit Scotland with them. But Lien didn’t seem quite so keen. Was he reading this all wrong? It had been so long for him that he wasn’t quite sure how to do this any more. He took a breath and shook his head. It was time to stop.
He didn’t let himself think any longer. He just jumped.
* * *
They splashed about in the water for a while, eventually tugging themselves back into the boat. Lien managed easily—she’d done it before. Regan scrambled up Joe’s back as he held onto the side of the row boat. And Joe?
Joe’s attempt to get back into the boat led to hysterical laughter from Regan and Lien with no help whatsoever. He kept getting one leg up, before the boat would tip towards him and deposit him straight back in the bay.
Eventually he ordered them both to the opposite side of the boat as a counterbalance before he finally, inelegantly, flopped into the boat, not quite sure that his dignity was still intact.
‘Looks much easier on TV,’ he muttered.
Regan was still laughing so hard that Joe started laughing too. It was infectious. Seeing his son so happy and at ease.
When they finally recovered from their laughing fit, Joe helped Lien row over to an islet a bit further away. As they circled around the back they saw the large cave, which was hidden from view from the small beach. It was still daylight, but the streams of sunlight reflecting into the cave gave the place a magical green glow.
Regan’s eyes were wide as Joe guided the boat inside. Lien had slipped her arm around Regan’s shoulder in a reassuring way. She bent down and started speaking in a low voice. ‘This is the pirates’ lair,’ she said.
Regan’s head flicked from side to side as if he actually believed there could be pirates lurking within the cave. ‘I don’t see them,’ he whispered back, his fists clenched in his lap.
Lien kept up the atmosphere as the boat bobbed further inside. ‘They come here at night. Look at the groove in the wall. That’s where they moor their pirate ship.’
‘Their pirate ship fits in here?’
Lien nodded. ‘It’s magic. It gets to the entrance and squeezes down just enough so it can fit inside the cave and let them unload their treasure.’
‘There’s treasure in here?’ Regan’s voice rose in pitch.
‘Oh, yes.’ Lien nodded as she shot Joe a conspiratorial glance. ‘Sometimes if you touch the inside of the cave, part of it will disappear and show you the pirate chest with all its gold and jewels.’
‘Can we touch the cave?’
Lien smiled and nodded as she guided the boat over to one of the walls. ‘Have a go,’ she encouraged.
Regan stood up in the wobbly boat and pressed his hand against the wall, moving it in a few different directions. ‘It’s not working,’ he moaned after a few minutes. He scrunched up his nose and pointed. ‘Can we try the other side?’
Lien nodded again and this time Joe guided the boat to the other side of the cave so Regan could press his hands against the wall.
After a while Regan let out a sigh of exasperation and flopped back down in the boat. ‘I can’t find the treasure chest,’ he said.
Lien nodded solemnly. She folded her arms. ‘You know, there is a rule, but it’s special. It’s only for kids.’
Regan sat back up. Joe felt a little burn somewhere inside his chest. Regan was hanging on her every word.
He felt captured in this little world in the green-lit cave. In here he could forget about everything else. He could forget about everything that had gone before, the pain and the sorrow. In here, he could take pleasure in the connection that his son had made with Lien without wondering about what came next. Watching them together warmed his heart and his soul. If he could take this moment in time and put it in a bottle somewhere and keep it, he would. In a heartbeat.
‘What is it?’ Regan asked in wonder.
She put her hand on her chin. ‘Well, it’s said that if you can’t find the magic treasure chest, and you’re a kid, you get to make a wish.’
‘What kind of wish?’
‘A good wish. A lucky wish. Something to look forward to. Something that only you will know.’
Regan frowned. Joe could practically hear the whirring in his brain. He held up one hand, glancing between Joe and Lien. ‘I’ve got it.’ He looked really excited. ‘How do I do it? How do I get my wish?’
Lien seemed to relish his excitement. ‘It’s easy,’ she said. ‘Lean forward and put both hands in the water. Once they’re there, just say the wish inside your head. It’s that simple.’
There was a swelling in Joe’s heart. If only wishes were this simple. This easy. Regan stuck his hands into the water and closed his eyes. Joe could see him mouthing silent words over and over, but couldn’t work out what they were. This place did seem almost magical. Joe wanted to believe that wishes came true in here too.
After a few tries, Regan sat back in the boat, looking pleased with himself. He nodded at Joe and Lien, then folded his arms across his chest. ‘It’s done.’
Lien was smiling, her gaze connected with Joe’s. ‘Then our work in here is done.’ She pulled up the bag she’d brought with them. ‘So, who’s for some lunch before we go back out into the sun?’
The response was unanimous. They ate a leisurely lunch before spending a few more hours rowing across the bay and watching the various sights.
As they headed back to the wooden pier, Joe’s hand closed over hers. He couldn’t not say something. ‘Thank you for today,’ he said quietly. ‘You made it really magical.’ He paused for a second, then added the words that seemed to just spill out. ‘For both of us.’
Her dark eyes were watching him carefully. ‘Of course,’ she said softly. ‘Anytime.’
The buzz spread through him. It felt like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle were slotting into place in his brain—and he was finally getting to see the way the world should be, and all he could concentrate on was what he wanted to do next.
* * *
She’d had the best day. And she couldn’t even begin to sort out why. If someone had told her last year that one of the best days of her life would be spent with a Scottish doctor and his son, she probably would have wrinkled her nose and said, ‘What?’
But there was something else. It was the way their gazes occasionally meshed, and in those few moments of silence it felt like a million unspoken messages were passing between them. She’d quickly learned to trust him at work. He did a good job, and queried anything he wasn’t sure of.
After their tour of the bay
, they went back to their rooms and rested for an hour, before dressing for dinner and dining in the hotel restaurant. Regan had been a relentless ball of energy all day, so it was inevitable that he would almost fall asleep in his dinner. So once they were finished, Joe carried him up to their room, got him settled, and then they met downstairs in the bar for a glass of wine.
The wide doors of the bar were open above the bay, letting the warm winds sweep in, and it was too tempting not to move outside and sit on the little beach just outside the glass doors of the hotel.
From this position they were almost directly beneath Joe’s room. The windows and doors were firmly shut to keep out any mosquitoes but if Regan woke and flicked the light on, they would see it instantly.
All day today had been a bit strange.
Lien could almost feel the invisible cord pulling them both together. It was like a constant tug. If she ignored the little voices telling her that, socially, they were a million miles apart, she could easily let that tug take over.
Joe had started to look at her oddly at times. Almost as if he wanted to ask a question but was stopping himself from doing so.
She felt the same. How did you ask someone these days if they wanted to date? Was it even called that any more? Was she crazy to think about something like that?
They settled on the sand, her wine glass beside her and his beer bottle in one hand. For a while they just sat in comfortable silence. The bay was still dotted with little boats, and the green water gleamed in a variety of colours from the lights within some of the caves where people were still diving. It looked like something that should be on a postcard. After a few minutes of companionable silence Joe cleared his throat. ‘Can I ask you something?’
Her stomach flip-flopped, wondering what came next. ‘Of course you can,’ she said as casually as she could.
‘What do you want out of life?’ The question was like a bit of a bolt from the blue. It wasn’t exactly where she’d thought their conversation would go.
She pulled her knees up to her chest and stared out at the lapping water. ‘I want to be happy. I want to be a good doctor.’
‘Is that all?’
The words kind of stung. ‘What do you mean, is that all?’ Her brow furrowed. ‘Is there a wrong answer to that kind of question?’
He closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them again he looked at her in a way that sent tingles down her spine. ‘What I meant was, is that enough?’ There was almost an ache in his eyes.
‘Why wouldn’t it be?’ Her voice was a little shaky now. She was treading so carefully. Fearful of taking a misstep. She hadn’t been on the same journey that Joe had been on.
His fingers trailed along in the sand. ‘I just wondered...’
‘Wondered what?’
He didn’t answer. He left those words hanging in the air between them.
The setting was beautiful. The sun was dipping in the sky, sending streaks of silver and lavender across the glittering ocean.
She couldn’t help the pang in her heart right now. She’d never been this attracted to a colleague before. Something between them felt like it had just clicked. Her heart was currently ignoring the fact he was a mass of complications. He was a widower, who said he was trying to move on, but she wasn’t entirely convinced. From what she could gather, his wealth was at the other end of the spectrum from her own family’s. He was only here for a short time, and he’d already mentioned his intention to go back to Scotland. He was a single parent to a little boy. They seemed a perfectly contained little unit. There was no future here for either of them.
She and Joe seemed like they were a million miles apart in lots of ways. But she couldn’t ignore the little stars that in her head were currently sparkling all around them—even if it was just her crazy imagination. Because that was how it felt, deep inside, like something bright and sparkly.
She actually wanted to laugh out loud. Her brain was obviously having a throwback to teenage hormones. This wasn’t normal for her. Not at all. She’d guarded her heart very fiercely since the last time. She had no intention of letting herself be hurt again.
But as her brain filled with crazy thoughts, something else happened.
‘I just wondered—’ his voice was husky ‘—if it was enough. If you wanted more.’ He put his hand up to his chest. ‘From me, I meant. I wondered if your heart skipped beats the same way mine does whenever we’re together, and if sometimes you think about me, the way I think about you?’
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t even gulp.
His green gaze met hers. Both of them were bathed in the dimming light. This could be a scene from a movie, and before she could think any further, Joe reached over and swept a bit of hair back from her face. The lightest touch of his fingertips made her lick her lips.
That was it. That was all it took. It was like a current flowing between them both and binding them together. She could see the same hunger in his eyes that was currently sweeping her body. In an instant, his head bent and his lips met hers. Her hand reached up automatically, her fingers threading through his thick hair. It made it real. This wasn’t her imagination. This was really happening.
He wasn’t gentle. There was a craving to his kiss. It felt like a test. One that she was determined to ace.
Her other hand reached up around his neck and he pulled her towards him. All of a sudden they weren’t side by side on the beach any more. Her leg moved automatically so she was sitting astride him, letting her chest press against his.
His unshaven face scraped against her jaw, but it didn’t make her pull back. Instead, it just seemed to light up her senses even more. His hands slid to her waist, one finger resting at the tiny break between her shirt and trousers, contacting her bare skin. It made her catch her breath.
She should stop now. She knew she should.
But she didn’t want to.
She didn’t want to be sensible. She didn’t want to think about the trouble with mixing work and pleasure. All she wanted to think about was the here and now.
She’d thought about this. She’d imagined it. But her imagination hadn’t even got close to how good the reality was. She could feel all her senses ignite. She pressed closer to him, wishing they were skin against skin. Her hands had gone from his hair and were now tracing down the broad muscles across his back. Her fingers itched to pull the shirt over his head.
As his hands slid up the bare skin at her back she let out a little gasp and tipped her head back. His lips went to her neck. To that tiny spot just below her ear where even the barest whisper of contact made her crazy. For a moment she was lost in the sensation. Lost in what might happen next.
‘Whoa.’ She put both hands on his chest and pushed back.
He stopped immediately. ‘Lien?’
She let herself catch her breath. Her heart was thudding unevenly in her chest. His hands left her skin and went back to the sand. The first thing that struck her was how much she’d wanted them to stay where they were.
She gave a slow nod. ‘I just need a moment,’ she said huskily, gulping to try and let some more air in, to still her speeding heart.
‘Sure.’ He leaned back a little, giving her more space. She left her hands on his chest, letting the heat from his body permeate through her palms. She liked it. She could feel the energy, feel the buzz. This could be addictive. He could be addictive. Her own heart was racing in her chest and she could feel his doing exactly the same beneath her palms.
Her brain was trying to tell her to slow down and think. But she was tired of the voices in her head constantly reminding her how far apart she and Joe really were. She didn’t care they were from different continents. She didn’t care about their pasts. She didn’t care how both families were at opposite ends of the financial spectrum. All she cared about was this buzz between them—this feeling.
She t
ook a moment, breathing slowly, relishing what came next.
She let her fingers tap his chest before she lifted her head and gave him a smile. At any moment she knew she could stand up and walk away, but she didn’t want to.
‘Okay,’ she murmured, tracing a line down his forehead and nose, pausing at his lips.
His face was serious. ‘Okay...what?’
He was a workmate. She’d never mixed business with pleasure before. Every rational part of her brain told her to stop this now and walk away. But her thighs were practically clamped around his hips right now. It didn’t matter what her brain said, her body had different ideas.
‘It’s fine,’ he said softly, his accent broad. ‘We can forget this ever happened. Write it off to two grown-ups getting carried away with the setting and the moment.’ The hoarseness of that voice was setting pings off all over her body.
She shook her head firmly and twisted one finger through his hair. ‘What if I don’t want to forget it?’ she said. She couldn’t hide her teasing tone.
He straightened again, his hands leaving the sand and resting on her hips. ‘You don’t?’
Their gazes meshed. She could almost swear she could hear her heartbeat above the crashing waves behind them. ‘What if my heartbeat races just as much as yours, and I think about you until I drive myself a crazy?’
A smile danced across his lips. ‘You’re sure?’ he reiterated.
She said the words with complete conviction, ‘I’m sure,’ before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his.
CHAPTER TEN
‘DR LIEN, THERE’S an emergency!’ The banging at her door woke her out of the perfect dream she’d been having of wearing red sparkly shoes and dancing down the yellow brick road. Joe had been there too, laughing and waving. Where on earth had that come from?
She rubbed her eyes as she strode over to the door and yanked it open. Her eyes caught the clock. Six a.m.
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