‘Wow,’ Kate breathed. ‘Did you see that?’
‘How good would it feel,’ Connor murmured, ‘to be able to do that?’
‘It must feel a bit like flying,’ Kate suggested.
‘Or dancing,’ Connor said quietly.
His gaze met hers and Kate felt the solid ground she was sitting on simply vanish. She was hanging in space. Falling…
Had she really been afraid of Connor wanting to talk about what had happened at work today?
It paled in comparison to talking about what had happened between them on the dance floor.
Why hadn’t it occurred to Kate that, in order for herself to have felt that way, it had to be coming, at least in part, from Connor feeling the same way?
Oh… Lord…
That connection was there again. She was falling into his eyes.
Falling in love?
No. That couldn’t happen. Kate couldn’t even try going there, and if Connor knew what was good for him, he wouldn’t want to go there either.
But maybe Connor didn’t know what was good for him.
‘Kate…’
He seemed to be asking her permission to continue. Her name hung in the air, a low, sexy rumble.
She couldn’t respond. It was hard enough to take a breath. She had to close her eyes to make the effort.
And when she opened them again, Connor’s brow was creased in a frown. He turned away to stare down at the sunset-gilded surf and Kate could hear him taking a deep, deep breath as though trying to centre himself.
* * *
What the hell had happened there?
That feeling…
Kind of the same as he’d felt dancing with Kate that night. He hadn’t expected it to happen again. Wasn’t ready for it because he still had no idea what it meant.
His gaze slid sideways again involuntarily.
The bike ride had considerably messed with Kate’s hair. The plait was still there but it had come undone and was now hanging over her shoulder. Wisps and even loops of hair had been tugged free as well and they hung like a soft frame around a face flushed with exertion. Maybe it was a trick of the setting sun that made her eyes look so incredibly bright.
Bright enough to blind him?
Why was he so drawn to this woman? Kate was so not his type. She was so prim and proper. Closed off.
Boring.
No. That was the wrong word entirely. How could anyone that seemed to have the ability to completely disrupt his life and mess with his head be considered boring? Not that the disruption was welcome or anything, but it was intriguing. Confusing. It needed sorting out.
Connor sighed. That wasn’t the reason he’d brought her here. Not that he’d known what the reason for this impulsive journey had been when he’d instigated it. He hadn’t even known during the ride or the climb up this hill, but he knew now. He turned his gaze back to the waves beneath them.
‘Estelle Montgomery has a passion for surfing,’ he told Kate quietly. ‘She won a junior section of a championship a couple of years ago. She’s quite confident that she can win more. She wants to represent Northland in national events. Her dream is to represent New Zealand in an international competition.’
He glanced at Kate again.
