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“Yes. To, you know, call you.”
“Call me?”
He tilted his head, eyeing her in amusement. “Yeah, that’s generally how these things work. I’d like your number, then I’d like to call you, then I’d like to take you out.”
“Oh. Oh right. Um, yeah, sure, okay.”
“That is, if you want to?” He asked, a little doubtfully.
Did she want to? Hell, yes, she wanted to. It was just so unexpected. He was actually asking to see her again. “Yes. That would be nice.”
“Great. My phone’s busted. Do you have a pen?”
“Yes.” She retrieved one from her bag and went to hand it to him, but he held his hand out for her to write on it. She stepped closer, breathing in the scent of him as she wrote her number on the back of his hand. Then Georgie was hanging up and walking back towards them.
Callum took one look at Georgie’s face and said, “I’ll get you a taxi.” He stepped to the curb and raised his arm at a passing cab, stepping back as it pulled in.
Georgie, momentarily putting her fight with her brother aside, flashed Callum a wide smile. “Thanks!” She said, as he opened the back door and she got in.
“Callum Sinclair?”
Callum and Leah turned to see a tall, barrel-chested man had just stepped out of the pub. “Yeah?”
“Brian Hastings. I’d like a word.”
Callum surveyed him coolly for a moment, said “One sec”, and turned back to Leah, gazing at her for a long moment before saying, “Can I kiss you goodnight?”
Oh, god, yes. She nodded, too breathless to actually form words. He closed the distance between them, took her chin in his hand and brushed a soft, featherlight kiss across her lips. She sighed, wanting more. He obliged, sliding his hand to the back of her head, kissing her more firmly. Warmth washed through her as he deepened the kiss and she instinctively opened her lips, delighting in the feel of his tongue sliding across hers. Her heart hammered against her rib cage as he raised his head and smiled at her.
“I’ll call you.”
“Okay.” She stepped back, away, slid into the back seat of the taxi.
“Good night, Annie.”
“Good night, Callum.”
He closed the door and as the taxi pulled away into traffic, she turned to Georgie and they both squealed in delighted amazement. Leah flopped back on the seat, touching her tingling lips, taking a deep breath to try and steady herself. What an amazing birthday.
CHAPTER ONE
Almost Ten Years Later
Leah sighed with pleasure as she dropped down on to the top step of her back deck. She pulled her cardigan closer around her, against the early morning cold, and admired the show nature was putting on. She’d come out of the shower, moving into the kitchen to make coffee, when the scenery had caught her. It seemed like it was a show just for her, in her little cabin by the ocean. The rising sun sent shots of pink and golden streaks across the sky, reflecting in the dark blue of the Tasman Sea. The tide was high, the Blessed River washing into the ocean with a gentle kiss. The morning air was cool on her face, like a lover’s caress. She knew a moment of utter serenity and basked in it, knowing that it was a feeling that happened more and more often here, in Blessed Inlet, and feeling immense gratitude for the fact.
Her mind drifted, as it often did, to Callum. It followed a well-worn path. First, the quirk of fate that had her buying a little beach shack in his hometown. Second, that quirk extending to his sister, Mikayla, befriending her. Third, Callum’s surprise return home at the start of the year, to take up residence in the self-contained unit in his parent’s backyard. Mikayla had introduced them. Callum had shaken her hand without so much as a flicker of recognition in his hazel eyes. Leah didn’t know whether to feel sad or relieved, because fourth, why had he never called her? She had been overwhelmed on meeting him again and was barely able to string two sentences together when she was with him. That had lasted for months, but she had tried to force herself to get over it. To be natural with him. They had a friendship circle in common now, which meant they saw each other. All. The. Time. So while she couldn’t do much about the physical reaction she always had to him, the hot flush, the thudding heart, the weak legs, she was trying her best to at least be able to talk to him.
All the while, she could enjoy her little beach hideaway, bought with her divorce settlement. She shied away from the thought of her ex-husband, Scott. Best to just enjoy the view. It was all so peaceful and lovely. Until the peace was pierced by a most unusual and unexpected sight. A dog, short and stocky and bluey gray in color, running along the beach. Her beach. From the direction of town. But her part of the beach was cut off from the main beach by a rockfall that had occurred years earlier. No one, human or animal, had walked along it since she’d bought the cabin and moved into it, some eight or nine months earlier.
Leah pushed to her feet, concerned, and stepped out onto the sand. Then she smiled. The dog was having a fine old time, racing along, chasing the seagulls, barking gleefully as the birds took wing at its approach. Then she laughed outright when she watched it gambol towards the ocean, skittering back as it reached the water, and the waves tickled its feet. At the sound of her laughter, it turned and spying her, raced towards her. Leah braced herself, suddenly very afraid that she was about to be mauled. But once the dog got close enough, it started running a wide circle around her, yipping as it did so, making Leah dizzy as she watched it. “Okay, that’s enough now, you crazy dog. Come here.” She was completely ignored. “Hey!” She said, trying to put more authority into her tone. “Come here. Heel!” To Leah’s complete and utter surprise, the dog stopped mid stride and came over to her. “Sit.” The dog sat in front of her, looking up at her with what Leah could swear was a real smile. “Well, aren’t you just the cutest.” She crouched down, sliding her fingers under the dog’s collar, just in case it thought of running off again. “Let’s see.” There was a tag, with a phone number. Well, that was something at least. Now she just had to figure out how she was going to restrain the dog while she grabbed her phone.
“Bluebell!” A man’s voice called from further down the beach. There was bush scrub at the edge of Leah’s land, just blocking the view.
“I’ve got her!” She called out. “Callum!” She said in surprise when he came into view, cursing the way her heart lurched at the sight of him.
“Oh, Leah, great.” He paused for a moment, putting his hands on his hips, trying to catch his breath.
“This is your dog?”
