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‘Yes, with you.’ Rob ran the pads of his thumbs across her index fingers.
She’d loved Rob. And he’d hurt her, broken her heart. She looked down at their hands. He’d had a good reason, though. He’d had a lot going on. She looked back up at him. What if they could really work things out? They’d been so close, so in love. She shrugged. What did she have to lose? If things didn’t work out, then she’d lost nothing new. But maybe, just maybe, she had everything to gain. ‘Why not?’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’ Leaning forward, she let her lips touch his, feeling the familiar rush of excitement and familiarity. It felt right.
‘Thank you.’ Whispering against her lips, he unclasped her hands, cupping the nape of her neck, pulling her towards him.
She closed her eyes. It felt right. It felt as though nothing had changed between them. Nothing and everything. She couldn’t explain it, but it felt as though they were closer than ever.
Chapter Sixteen
‘Thank you.’ Takingthe paper bag of sandwiches and the cup holder holding two lattes, Carmen squeezed through the line of customers snaking back from the café’s counter and stepped outside.
Walking across the promenade, Carmen headed down the steps and onto the beach. She smiled. Rob had been messaging all morning, checking she was okay after her conversation with Adele yesterday, and she was looking forward to meeting him for lunch at the boatyard in the harbour.
She looked down at the lattes and grimaced. She probably should have bought them both an iced coffee or juice or something. These would be cold by the time she’d walked to the harbour. With Pippa, Rueben and Toby at their holiday club, Elsie had promised to give her, Diane and Brooke a longer lunch break than usual to make up for the extra work they’d been doing. Not that any of them had asked for or expected some extra time off. They’d been happy to help, but Elsie had insisted and so today was Carmen’s long lunch break.
She grinned. It had worked out for the best. She could meet Rob for lunch and talk about their future. Or maybe just enjoy the time together. She didn’t mind. She just hoped he would be willing to continue their newly reclaimed relationship long-distance when she went back home. She was sure he would. He’d been pretty certain that he’d wanted to try again, to properly try again.
Walking towards the boatyard, she called out, ‘Rob?’
‘Afternoon.’ Rob appeared at the door, holding it open before wiping his hands down his overalls. ‘Thank you for bringing lunch.’
She nodded towards the lattes. ‘These are probably stone cold by now, although the heat from the sun may have kept them slightly warm.’ She shrugged. “I should have bought us cold drinks.’
Chuckling, Rob took the bag and cup holder from her and placed them on a bench near the door. ‘I’ve just got one of the boats I’m working on down into the water. I need to take it out for a while to check it’s fixed. I thought it might be nice to have our lunch on the water?’
Carmen grimaced. ‘You mean have lunch with the added danger that we might sink?’
‘Ha-ha, no. We won’t sink. I promise.’ Rob chuckled as he pulled his arms out of his overalls and tied the sleeves around his waist.
‘Okay, it sounds nice then.’ Picking up the bag again as Rob picked up the cups, Carmen followed him outside and down to the water. A small fishing boat was anchored near a short pontoon, bobbing up and down as waves rippled the surface of the sea.
‘Here we are. Jump in and we’ll set sail.’ Rob led the way across the short pontoon and held his hand out to steady Carmen as she stepped down into the boat.
