Just behind the driver.
She groaned, shaking her head. A week ago her life had been ticking along perfectly. She had work, yoga, good friends and Netflix. Now she had angst, indecision, erotic dreams and longing.
The longing was the worst. It was like a secret weakness she didn’t want to admit to having. Instinctively she knew that if she ever slept with Sam again she’d be changing her life for him before she knew it, followed by crying with her friends when it all went wrong. Because it would go wrong. It was inevitable. Sam was a heartbreaker. And he was too demanding, too arrogant. He would want more from her than she was prepared to give and she was very afraid she’d give it anyway.
A sense of foreboding flashed across her skin like a cold draught. Her father walking out on them all those years ago had left her with a natural sense of caution when it came to men that had always held her in good stead. So no, she was not going to let Sam any closer than he already had been ever again. That would be like carrying a metal pole onto a football field in the middle of an electric storm and hoping not to get struck by lightning.
‘Good pep talk.’ She smiled at her reflection and skipped out of the bathroom. Miller’s beach house beckoned, where she could swim, chat, play with Red and relax to her heart’s content.
Quickly pulling on white shorts and a striped top, she pushed her feet into her favourite beaten-up espadrilles, packed her bag and raced down the stairs, thankful that she only had to wait a few minutes before her cab driver arrived.
‘Double Bay Wharf,’ she said, settling back against the seat and closing her eyes. Too late she remembered that her e-reader, with the newly downloaded crime novel on it, was on her bedside table. She hoped Miller had some trashy novel she could lose herself in just in case the champagne didn’t do the job of getting Sam out of her head at night.
Arriving at the wharf, she skipped down the wooden gangplank towards Valentino’s latest motorised toy, Miller’s Way, and felt lighthearted as she smiled at a one-legged seagull that was completely unconcerned about her presence.
Rows of pristine white yachts bobbed side by side in the bright sunshine, and the deep blue of the harbour sparkled as if tiny diamonds had been dropped from the sky and floated across the surface as mystical as rainbows. It was a good day to be alive and she had three whole days of bliss stretched out in front of her. Three whole days of rest and relaxation and not wondering about whether she was going to accidentally run into a certain somebody when she least expected it.
* * *
Sam brooded as Valentino bent over the boat engine, absently stroking the black and tan puppy in his arms.
‘Wrench,’ Valentino said, his head stuck inside the engine bay.
Sam handed him the tool. The restless fluff-ball wriggled in his arms, eager to explore his new surroundings. He’d had the thing for two hours. A rash decision that was as unlike him as his actions with Ruby since returning to Sydney. And he couldn’t exactly blame jet lag for his loss of control last night, or for picking up the puppy at the rescue centre. Perhaps he had some superbug eating away at his brain bit by bit.
‘I said wrench.’ Valentino frowned at him. ‘This is a ratchet.’
Sam glanced into the toolbox. He pulled out the wrench.
‘You sure you’re okay?’ Tino glanced up at him.
‘Fine.’
Tino grunted. ‘About as fine as this engine.’
Ignoring his brother’s pointed comment, he focused on the engine trouble. ‘Will you get it running?’
Valentino threw him a look as if to say Will the sun set in the west? He stuck his head back in the hull. ‘I’d better. Miller’s been looking forward to this weekend all month. And Ruby’s bringing champagne. Hopefully on ice.’
Sam’s whole body went rigid at Tino’s throwaway comment. The puppy whimpered and he eased his grip from around its soft belly. ‘Ruby?’ Part of the reason he had made the early-morning decision to take his brother up on his offer to spend the long weekend at the beach house was to put some space between Ruby and his sudden obsession to dial her number every five seconds. Why hadn’t he asked Tino if she would be coming along?