Page 22 of The Forbidden Fling

She laughed to herself. Leanne would think she’d lost her marbles.

I just need my phone. That’s all.

She smoothed out her blue dress and then started over towards Faye, her tummy squirming with nerves. No—Diana didn’t get nervous. She was just curious.

Faye wore black denim shorts and an oversized lilac T-shirt, hair hanging straight over her shoulders. She looked up from her binoculars and her face broke into a smile, making Diana’s heart do a funny little flip.

“Come here,” she whispered. “Quick.” She handed Diana the warm binoculars and pointed towards the sea, guiding her arm until she faced the right direction.

Diana’s breath hitched as Faye’s vanilla scent filled her senses. “What am I looking at?”

“See those birds in the water?”

She blinked. All she could see were the deep blue waves bobbing up and down.

“You might need to adjust the focus.” Faye’s soft fingers touched Diana’s, and she gasped, heat sparking at the contact. “There.”

Diana blew out a breath and adjusted the dials until the image focused. Three brown, ordinary birds bobbed along the waves. “I see them. What are they?”

“They’re Balearic shearwaters. Endangered. Quite rare to spot. It’s breeding season, so I was hoping to see them nesting in the cliffs or caves down there. Spotting a group is a good sign, though.”

Diana fought the grin tugging at her mouth. Hearing Faye talk about the—frankly—quite boring-looking birds was oddly endearing. She handed the binoculars back, noting how Faye grinned when the birds came into focus.

It was that passion, that unable-to-contain-it passion, that Diana missed. The fuel that made her stay up until the early morning, reading research papers and writing until her fingers ached. That passion had driven her to write her first book. Not to make money or to stay relevant.

“Amazing,” Faye breathed. “I love seeing them out here. You know they could be extinct in sixty years?”

“That’s awful.”

“It really is.” She packed her binoculars back into her enormous bag and slung it over her shoulder. What else did she carry in that thing?

“What are you doing out here on your own?” Diana asked.

Faye gave a small shrug. “It’s not a big deal. I’m kinda used to it.”

That pulled at Diana, making her pause. “Where’s your friend?”

“Quin? They’ve gone to the reception, to call home.”

“I didn’t know we could do that.” Maybe she could call Leanne and the university to check on things.

“There’s Wi-Fi there.” Faye raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you read your information pack?”

Diana chuckled. “No. I can’t say that I did.” They headed back along the shore, waves inching towards their feet. The old familiar scent of the sea beckoned her. The sun at her back.

This isn’t so bad. She wasn’t thinking about her mum at all.

“I didn’t peg you for a rulebreaker,” Faye murmured, the teasing tone lifting hairs along Diana’s neck.

She soaked in the feeling, letting the moment elongate before meeting Faye’s gaze. “Didn’t anyone tell you that first impressions can be deceiving?”

Faye’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Yeah, actually. A woman I met in a bar told me that.”

Diana hummed. “She sounds wise.”

“Yeah? You should’ve heard what she said about mutant bear-claw chickens taking over the world, or some nonsense.”

Diana grinned. “I believe that was you.”