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He glanced at his watch. Kristie was due to arrive at some point and he was feeling quite...awkward.
He wasn’t quite sure what had come over him last time around, and he had apologised to her, but they still had nine months of filming left. He counted in days. Twenty-seven more days around Kristie Nelson.
There was something about her. At first he’d thought it was the accent and the confidence. But he’d seen her waver on a few occasions. Her confidence was only skin deep. And that was another thing. To others, she may look like a typical anchor woman for an American TV show. Blonde, perfect teeth, hint of a tan and good figure. And somehow he couldn’t help watching the way she flicked her thumb off her forefinger, or made that little clicking noise when she was thinking. It was weird. Even though he told himself she was the most annoying female on the planet, he couldn’t help the way his mind would frequently drift back to something she’d said or done.
Mac nuzzled around his ankles. It snapped him back from the Kristie fog and he picked up Mac’s lead and grabbed his sweater. ‘Let’s go, boy.’ He opened the main door of his cottage and Mac bounded out towards the beach. He’d adjusted well to the move, and after a few short months it actually felt like Mac had always been there. He’d even employed a dog walker to take Mac out during the day when he was working.
The sun was dipping in the sky, leaving the beach scattered with violet evening hues. There were a few other people walking dogs, someone on a horse and a couple strolling along hand in hand.
The breeze tonight wasn’t quite as brisk as it normally was. Laughter carried along the beach in the air. A group of teenagers was trying to set up a campfire.
Rhuaridh moved down closer to the firmer sand at the sea’s edge. The beach ran for a few miles and Mac had got used to a long walk in the evening.
They’d only been walking for about ten minutes when he heard thudding feet behind him. He turned to take a step one way or the other and Kristie ran straight into him.
‘Oh! Wow.’ She stepped back and rubbed her nose.
He laughed and shook his head. ‘Where did you come from?’
She was still rubbing her nose. ‘I came by your house. I wanted to chat to you about the schedule tomorrow.’
‘You came by my house? I wasn’t expecting to see you until tomorrow.’ He was surprised. He hadn’t known Kristie knew where he lived—and after their last meeting, he was even more surprised she wanted to turn up at his door.
She nodded. ‘We ended up swapping flights and coming a day early.’
‘Does that mean you’re going home a day early?’
She let out a laugh. ‘Don’t even try to pretend you want me around, then.’
‘No.’ He cringed. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just wondering if you wanted to swap things around.’
She stopped for a second, bending down to pat Mac, who’d bounded back to see why Rhuaridh had stopped walking. ‘Hey, guy, nice to see you.’
Mac jumped up, putting two wet sandy pawprints on her jeans. He would have expected her to squirm but Kristie didn’t seem bothered at all. She crouched down, letting Mac lick her hands. Kristie looked up at him. ‘I thought we should maybe have a chat,’ she said, biting her bottom lip.
A heavy feeling settled in his stomach. ‘About last time? Yeah, we probably should.’
Her nose wrinkled. ‘Not about last time,’ she said. ‘I thought we sorted that.’
Now he was really confused. ‘Well, yeah, we sort of did, but...’ He wasn’t quite sure what to say next.
She straightened up, wiping her wet hands on her jeans. ‘I wanted to talk to you about something else.’
‘Okay.’ He wasn’t quite sure where this was going.
She sucked in a breath, not quite meeting his gaze. ‘Let’s walk.’ She turned and started in the same direction he’d been headed.
‘Okay,’ he said again, wondering what he was getting himself into.
‘You said you hadn’t watched the show.’
He shook his head. ‘Not my thing—no offence.’
She gave a smile, then stuck her hands in her pockets and turned to face him again. The setting sun outlined her silhouette and streaked her blonde hair with violet and pink light—like some kind of ethereal hue.
