Neve couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. But that didn’t mean she’d let him off the hook too easily.
“Are you going to at least answer the question?” He turned the car into a long road and the ocean rose appeared alongside them. “It’s going to be a long night if we only talk about how I’ve ruined your plans.”
It was evening now, but the sky was still bright enough to blend into the water at the horizon. Cars dotted the side of the road and families walked hand in hand. They had big smiles and bigger ice cream cones, armfuls of colored beach towels, and that perfect combination of happiness and exhaustion on their faces that came from a day out in the fresh air.
Neve held back a wave of regret for being too chicken to go home, but she couldn’t exactly say that to the guy with no parents. “I’ve always wanted to come to Australia. Now seemed like a good time,” she replied.
“You’ve got no one to spend Christmas with?”
She studied the view as they drove up a slight hill into a busy street, which she assumed was Sorrento’s main strip. “My family is back home.”
He didn’t say anything. It probably seemed strange to him that she would chose not to spend the holidays with her family. But she wasn’t ready…not yet.
“We’re here,” he announced as he pulled the car into an empty parking spot, next to a Ferrari.
An actual Ferrari.
“Gee, I bet you feel rich until you come here,” she said, and to her surprise he laughed.
“It’s changed a lot.” He killed the engine. “There weren’t too many super cars around these parts when I was a kid.”
Neve stepped down from the BMW, being extra careful not to let her door anywhere near the lipstick red sports car.
“So, where are we going to eat?” She looked up and down the street, which was bustling with people. Many of whom looked as though they’d just come from the beach.
“Right here…well, kind of.” He nodded towards a small fish and chip place in front of them. It didn’t have any seating, but a line snaked out the door and spilled onto the street.
“Fish and chips?”
“Yeah, although I guess you would call them fries.”
“I know what chips are,” she said, shaking her head at him. “I spent quite a bit of time in England. But I was expecting something…fancier.” Seafood didn’t impress her since she’d grown up with lobster being the local delicacy in Kite Harbor.
“Don’t be so quick to judge.” He ran a hand through his dark hair and the perfect waves sprung stubbornly back into place. “I’m treating you to a family tradition.”
“Which is?”
“Fresh fish and chips overlooking the ocean. Annabel and I used to do it every summer as kids.” His voice had a tightness to it, like a rubber band that had been stretched to the max. “We’ll order our food here and then I’ll drive us to the Sorrento Back Beach.”
Something told her he was dealing with some dark personal stuff. Emotion seemed to simmer below the cool-calm exterior he projected. A touch of anger. Grief.
She knew those feelings well.
But he had a sensual mouth that screamed passion and pleasure. For a moment she wondered what it would like to taste him, to swipe her tongue along the soft pillowy edge of his lower lip. She swallowed, and trained her eyes on the lineup for the fish and chip shop. It wouldn’t do any good thinking about kissing him, no matter how delicious she was sure it would be.
Tomorrow, she would be on her way to the city, destined to spend Christmas in some fancy hotel room…all alone.
Don’t go feeling sorry for yourself, you would have been here alone too if he hadn’t messed up your plans.
“Ready?” He motioned for them to move and they joined the line.
Forty-five minutes later they were dinner enabled and the BMW was parked, overlooked the Sorrento Back Beach. They dropped the rear seats down so they could sit in the back with their legs dangling out over the edge.
Tilly made a whining noise when he nudged her to make room for Neve.
“She’s going to eat my face off, I can feel it,” Neve said, perching herself at the very edge of the car to get as much space as possible between her and the dog.
“Tilly is a sweetheart.” He pulled the bag containing their dinner onto his lap and started sorting through it. “And she’s well trained. She won’t hurt you.”
Neve meet the dog’s warm, amber gaze. But pretty eyes weren’t a reason to trust anyone—K9 or otherwise.
“One piece of flake and two potato cakes,” Damian announced as he handed her an open piece of parchment paper containing her battered fish and the fried and flattened potato things which he had assured her were delicious. Another parcel with the chips he set between them.
“Thanks.” She eyed the potato cakes. Who had come up with such a stupid name for them? Cakes they definitely were not.
Tilly lifted her nose in the air and sniffed as Damian held out a few chips. But she placed her head back on her paws without taking them.
“She hasn’t had much appetite since we arrived,” he said, his dark brows creasing and he gave her a loving pat. “The long car ride mustn’t have agreed with her.”
Neve didn’t want to feel sympathy for the Hound from Hell, but watching the two of them interact was sweet. She had a feeling the way he treated Tilly with such open love was not how he treated most people. Especially not if he’d cut his own sister out of his life the way Annabel had described to her one night over drinks.
“Have you had her a long time?”
“Annabel rescued her as a birthday present for me five years ago. She got turned in when her owner passed away unexpectedly, poor pup wasn’t even a year old.” He tore off a piece of fish and dipped it into a dollop of ketchup. “I work a lot so I don’t get to spend as much time with her as I would like. But my neighbor walks and feeds her every morning. She’s not allowed to have a dog because she’s renting her place, so she babysits Tilly a lot.”
“That’s nice of her.”
“It sure is. One day I won’t work such crazy hours and we can hang out more.” He rubbed the spot behind Tilly’s ear with his thumb. “Have you got a pet back home?”
“Nah.” She chewed on a piece of her flake and had to admit, it was pretty damn good. Crunchy, fresh batter and soft, tasty meat. Just the right amount of saltiness. She licked her lips and took another bite. “I’ve been traveling a lot so I didn’t want to leave anyone or anything behind.”
Except she had left people behind. Her father, her stepmother, her brother, her friends. For a whole year she hadn’t seen them, had barely heard their voices. She sent an occasional email or uploaded a photo to Facebook just to keep up the “happy traveler” ruse…but they had no idea of the real reason she’d left Kite Harbor.
“I haven’t been home for a while,” she admitted.
“How long is a while?”
“Almost a year.” She stuffed a chip into her mouth and tried to concentrate on the salty deliciousness instead of her own tumultuous feelings.
“Wow. That must have been an adventure.”
Yeah, right. More like a wild goose chase. Did you really think your mother would welcome you with open arms and complete the happy family picture? You’re an idiot.
Swallowing, she focused on the beautiful sight in front of them. The parking lot was up high and they had an incredible view of the beach. Rocks jutted out of the water and green vegetation sprawled across the hill, broken only by the wooden path and stairs that allowed people access to the sandy ground below. She watched the ocean roll into the shoreline, the crests crashing into white foam and chasing children up the sand.
The air was tangy and fresh. Crisp, despite the heat. It reminded her of the family beach vacations they’d had each summer. Just her, Nate and her father. She’d always had a sense that something was missing after her mother left, even though she was so young when it happened. But you couldn’t ignore a loss like that.
&nbs
p; “There are rock pools down there,” Damian said as if he sensed she didn’t want to talk about anything deep. “It’s low tide now so you can see the outline of them, they look like honeycomb.”
She followed his finger until her eyes caught the interesting pattern along the far edge of the beach.
“We used to go swimming in them as kids even though they’re full of seaweed.” He grinned. “I used to freak Annabel out by trying to tuck it into her bathing suit.”
“And here I was thinking you would have been the goody two-shoes.” A smile curved on her lips. “Since you’ve grown up to be so serious and all.”
He hadn’t always been serious. Sure, he’d always been a straight-A student and had graduated top of his class in high school. Not to mention the fact he’d been snapped up by one of the biggest law firms in the state straight out of university and had risen to industry prominence in record time. But he’d had a sense of adventure once.
“What do you do?” she asked. “I bet you’re a doctor.”
“I’m a lawyer.”
She smirked. “Close enough. What kind of law?”
“Class actions, mostly.”
In other words, he spent his days plotting ways to bring down corporate greed and the blood-sucking, power-hungry mongrels who preyed on the defenseless. He wasn’t against money—especially not since he had a fair bit himself. However, he was against bullying. And fighting the big guys meant working long hours with little time for fun and adventure.
It was hard, stressful, serious work. In the beginning it had been a great challenge but lately it made him feel isolated. Burned out. Jaded.
Her nose scrunched up. “That sounds tough.”
“It pays the bills,” he said flippantly.
He didn’t bother mentioning the fact that between the payout from his parents’ death and the inheritance from their estate, he had enough to cover him and his sister an additional lifetime over. But money was important only to a point—he’d bought a house with a yard big enough for Tilly, a nice car that was also safe, and a few expensive suits so people would take him seriously at work. Then he’d invested the rest.
“Looks like it more than pays the bills.” She gestured with a chip. “Although I’m sure you could have bought a fancy sports car for what you spent on this.”
“That’s not really my style.”
“Too flashy?” She seemed genuinely curious.
“Not safe enough,” he said with a shrug, trying to downplay how strongly he felt about it. “People buy those stupidly low cars and seem to develop a death wish along with it. I’d rather be in the bigger car if there was a crash.”
Neve nodded. “That’s smart.”
Her agreement pleased him more than it should have. “I think so.”
A small group of seagulls had gathered around on the ground by their feet. They scuttled around, no doubt hoping for food scraps. She tossed her remaining few chips to them before scrunching up her parchment paper and tucking it away.
“You’ll have us swarmed if you feed them,” Damian warned.
Tilly lifted her head up and started barking, scattering the birds to the wind but not before they’d gobbled up the chips. With renewed energy, the dog pushed up and started sniffing around Neve.
“No food left,” she said, holding up her empty hands though her shoulders bunched up around her neck the closer the dog got.
When Tilly plopped down next to her and placed her head in Neve’s lap, Neve glared at Damian. “She’d better not growl at me again.”
“Yeah, she’s so ferocious.” He chuckled as Tilly nudged her head against Neve’s arm. He knew Tilly was a gentle giant, but he had an impulse to soothe Neve’s fear. “She wants you to scratch her head.”
“What if she bites me?”
“You’ll be able to tell if she’s upset.” He reached out and grabbed Neve’s hand, bringing it slowly to Tilly’s head.
Out of nowhere, a zing of electricity raced up his arm and started his heart beating quicker. Her hand felt so small in his, her skin so smooth. A few salt crystals clung to her lips and her mouth was just open enough that he could see the delicate pink of her tongue.
He pressed her palm down to the dog’s head and moved it back and forth. “See,” he said softly. “She’s not as bad as you think.”
Her breath caught and her wide blue eyes drank him in as their hands touched. It would be so easy to lean in and kiss her, to see if she tasted as sweet as she looked. Fire burned through him, the deep pulse of wanting spreading around his body and sending his blood rushing south.
Making him yearn to touch her.
The dog grumbled as they stilled and Damian withdrew his hand, watching as Neve started to rub Tilly’s head. She eventually found the sweet spot behind the dog’s ear and Tilly’s tongue lolled out of her mouth as she reveled in the attention.
“I got bitten by a dog when I was little, so they scare me. But I don’t hate them.” Neve’s eyes didn’t move from the dog, but her shoulders eased downward and within a few minutes she seemed comfortable enough.
“What happened?”
“I was one of those fearless little kids and I picked the wrong dog.” She shivered. “The bite wasn’t that bad, I don’t think. But my stepmother screamed, which scared the crap out of me, and I’ve been anxious around big dogs since.”
“No wonder you were unimpressed this afternoon,” he said. “And I wasn’t exactly sympathetic.”
“No, you weren’t.” The corner of her mouth lifted. “But you probably weren’t expecting to stumble across a stranger in your kitchen either.”
The zing of electricity from earlier had started a steady hum in his blood and he became aware of how close they sat in the back of his car. Her legs were smooth, her pale skin had the hint of a summer glow and her hair—tumbling in dark waves around her shoulders—glowed in the slowly dimming light.
You’re here to think about how to fix a problem…not create a new one, so don’t even think about it.
“Uh, no. I was not expecting that.”
They sat in silence for a while, the heaviness of Tilly’s breathing mingling with the slow back and forth whoosh of the waves. Damian knew exactly how the sky would change as the sun started to dip—he’d watched it set from this very point summer after summer.
Each wave that tugged on the shoreline brought with it more pain. A memory flickered. He and Annabel sitting just like this, playing cards while their mother and father looked on, hand in hand. He’d never again see his father’s proud smile nor his mother’s gentle green eyes. But Annabel…he’d been a terrible brother to her.
As heaviness settled in his chest he pushed up from his seated position. “We should head back before it gets dark. The roads can be a little tricky at night.”
Talking to Neve had only roused the very emotions he’d been trying to keep in check. The sooner they got back, the sooner he could ship her off and get back to trying to figure out what to do with his life.
CHAPTER FOUR
Neve woke the next morning from a fitful night of sleep and found that she was ready to leave. Not only had Damian made it clear that she wasn’t welcome to stay, there was the crazy, sexy, dirty dream she’d had.
Her imagination had certainly gone to town, locking in the memory of his bare torso and turning that into a “so real she could practically taste it” dream. The sensitive skin on her fingertips tingled as if they’d really been running through his hair and tracing the muscular V at his waist. And the spot between her legs pulsed with deep, achy need.
Not exactly a good thing since there was nothing she could do about it.
Fishing around in her suitcase, she distracted herself by getting dressed. At least she’d be out of here soon and then she could forget all about Damian Alessio’s insanely hot body and focus on her own issues.
Like guilt over how she’d spent the last year hopping from one place to the next, chasing clues about the whereabouts of her real mother.
She knew she should head home to her family, but the thought of doing it empty-handed cut her up inside.
“Ugh, I need a coffee,” she muttered, wandering out of the bedroom.
Damian was nowhere to be seen. On the drive back from the beach last night they’d made small talk about their lives, about her travels—minus any details of her real reason for the trip, of course. But it was all surface stuff, calm blue ocean rather than big nasty iceberg…which suited her fine. And then they’d gone their separate ways once they’d come into the house.
But she hadn’t imagined the moment they’d shared in the back of his car last night…had she? When he’d touched her hand she’d tingled all over like he’d found the on-switch to her nervous system.
All the more reason to take Damian up on his offer of a fancy hotel room. Sure, being alone wasn’t her favorite way to spend her time but the last thing she needed right now was to get entangled with a hot guy who had family issues of his own.
“Storm’s coming,” he said, appearing suddenly as if out of nowhere. The back door was open and a cool breeze swept through, the scent of imminent rain heavy on the air.
He leaned against the doorframe, his body sloping from broad shoulders to lean hips to long, muscular legs.
“And here I was thinking the land down under was all about the sunshine and crazy wildlife.” She forced down the attraction curling low in her belly. “You know, eight foot snakes and spiders as big as your head.”
He shook his head, laughing. “Don’t believe anything they tell you about Australia.”
She feigned relief. “Do you mind if I grab a coffee before I go?”
“Sure.” He motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen.
She opened a cupboard door and picked a green mug with a picture of a llama and the phrase ‘No Prob-Llama’ printed on it.
“It’s going to rain pretty heavy,” Damian said, resting against the breakfast bar.
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