AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I haven’t even seen Sean since I was a little kid. He and my Dad both travel for work, and it was probably the last time they were both in New York that I saw them together. Since then, they’ve met up around the world, and I’ve seen my Dad post pictures of them together plenty of times. When I grew older, I started to realize that my Dad has probably the hottest best friend in the world. Almost unfairly hot. Like, man of my dreams kind of hot.
So that’s probably why I’m imagining that it’s him saving me now. Great, so we’ve established I’m not completely and totally crazy. Just a little bit crazy.
And it’s only as I realize he’s leading me away from the busy streets around the station, down quieter back roads that don’t seem to have as many people walking around, that I even start to think about panicking.
Because I probably shouldn’t just follow a strange guy in a strange city, without knowing where he’s taking me, should I?
But even so, I’m so tired and so out of it that by the time I figure out that I should probably try to run away, he’s holding open the door of a café for me, and there are other people sitting inside, and it’s probably safe, and I want to sit down so badly that I go inside and I do so.
And when he puts a glass of cold water in front of me, I drink it, and everything slowly starts to come back into focus.
“Are you feeling better now?” he asks.
I look up and realize that he’s still Sean Fogarty. Have I really lost my mind for good, or…?
“Sean?” I say, tentatively.
He blinks.
“I thought I recognized you,” he says, frowning. “But I thought it couldn’t be possible, because I would remember someone so beautiful. But, you know me?”
Oh, my god.
It is him.
Did he just call me beautiful?
“It’s Candace,” I say.
He blinks several times. “Bill’s Candace?”
“Yeah,” I say, nodding at the mention of my Dad’s name. The motion makes my head hurt. I wince and take another drink of water.
“What…” Sean starts, looking at me through what seem to be new eyes. He shakes his head. “You...grew up. You must have been a kid when I last saw you.”
“It’s been a while,” I agree.
He blinks again, and looks me up and down one more time, still shaking his head. Oh. I guess this is the moment where he stops thinking of me as beautiful. Well, it was nice while it lasted.
“What are you doing here in Melbourne?” he asks.
“I’m on vacation,” I say. “What about you? Business?”
He nods. “You guessed right.” He takes a deep breath, shaking his head again. “Wow. Candace. I can’t believe it’s really you.”
I smile at him. “The feeling’s mutual. Who would have thought we’d run into each other all the way out here?”
“It’s strange,” Sean says, in a way that makes a shiver run down my spine. “It’s almost like fate.”
Chapter Five
Sean
I can’t believe that it’s true, even though my own eyes are now confirming for me that it is. Yes – when I look at Candace now, I can see traces of Bill in her and a lot more traces of his wife. She has something of both of them, but also so much that is entirely her own. I would never have dreamed that Bill’s daughter would grow up to be this stunning.
Which presents a pretty big problem, right off the bat. Because she is absolutely stunning. And even now as she’s coming back to herself, she has me completely enchanted.
But she’s Bill’s daughter. Which means she should be off-limits to me.
Should be.
Damnit, I can’t think like this.
“So, is your Dad here with you?” I ask. “How come you’re on your own?”
“No, I wanted to do something independently,” she says. “So, I came here on my own. I just wanted to prove to myself I could do it without anyone to help me.” Then she laughs, a little sheepishly, and I reach over to touch her forehead again.
“And you wound up getting severely dehydrated,” I tell her. “Your temperature has gone down, now. You might have gotten away with avoiding a heatstroke. You have to be careful. The heat here is no joke, even in winter.”
“Is that what happened?” she says, closing her eyes for a moment and then takes another few mouthfuls of water. “I couldn’t even think. I was so confused about which direction to go in, and I started panicking. Then that guy ran into me…”
“I saw the whole thing,” I tell her. “You weren’t to blame. He wasn’t looking where he was going, and he was walking fast. If it wasn’t you, it would have been someone else.”
“Thank you,” she says, and I can hear in her voice that she isn’t referring to telling her she’s not to blame. She means for stepping in and rescuing her.
