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‘Are you an only child?’ Finn quizzed.
‘Yes. If you don’t count the imaginary brothers and sisters I used to play with when I was little. I wasn’t a lonely child, but I really longed to be part of a big, messy, hectic family. I think that’s why Hannah has always felt more like a sister to me than a friend. How about you? Any siblings?’
‘No. It’s just me.’ There was something in his reply that further confirmed his parents were no longer alive.
‘Well, you definitely couldn’t have picked a better place to have brought me tonight. The beach has always been one of my favourite places,’ I said, smiling broadly as he held out his styrofoam food container. It was empty except for the longest, fattest chip I’d ever seen. He’d left it for me.
I held his eyes as I picked the fry from the tray and bit into it. I was shocked: who knew eating fried potato could be that erotic?
‘I suppose the beaches you knew as a child were very different to this,’ I observed, realising that although we’d talked non-stop all night, I still knew very little about him.
‘They were definitely warmer,’ Finn said, leaning over to drape my jacket around my shoulders.
He must have spotted the goosebumps covering my bare arms and assumed I was cold. I chose not to correct him. It was safer than admitting I was so turned on by him, I could easily have ended up getting us arrested for doing something highly illegal on a public beach.
‘For me, it was all about Saturday Nippers school, and snags on the barbie,’ Finn said.
‘Nowyou sound Australian,’ I said with delight. ‘I have absolutely no idea what you just said.’
There’d been so many times during the evening when I’d thought Finn might kiss me for the first time. That he did so then, while I was laughing, was completely unexpected. I was so surprised, it took a few moments for me to respond. My lips were just beginning to explore the contour of Finn’s when he pulled back.
The sun had almost set, and it was hard to read the expression in his eyes. They looked practically black in the fading light.
‘I’m sorry. I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment you opened your front door. But I shouldn’t have assumed it was what you wanted too.’
Was he kidding me? Did he really think my slow response meant I hadn’t wanted it just as much as him?
I could have wasted countless words putting him straight, but it was far easier to let my actions speak for me.
We were both breathing heavily when we eventually broke apart.
The desire in Finn’s eyes dissolved as he caught sight of something behind me. ‘Look,’ he said softly, placing a finger beneath my chin and gently turning my face towards the horizon.
While we’d been kissing, the sun had become a huge fiery ball slipping rapidly out of the sky. I sighed softly as together we watched the sea tug it beneath the surface and swallow it whole.
‘This really is turning out to be a perfect first date,’ I admitted on a whisper. I’m not sure how I was expecting Finn to respond, but it certainly wasn’t with a look of anguish.
‘Itisan amazing first date,’ he said, biting his lip as though he really didn’t want to complete his sentence. ‘But there’s something I should probably have told you before now. You see, it’s also ourlastdate.’
I stiffened in his arms and struggled to pull free, but he wouldn’t let me.
‘You’re breaking up with me?’ I said, trying for flippancy and missing by a country mile. ‘Well, that’s new for a first date.’
‘I’m so sorry, Gemma,’ Finn said. I knew then, by the use of my proper name, that he was serious. ‘I know I should have told you this straight away, but I didn’t want to put a downer on this evening, especially if it was going to be the only one we had.’
‘You make it sound like you don’t have a choice in the matter.’ My voice was small and confused.
‘I don’t. Not really. I’m going away. To Australia. I leave tomorrow.’
Relief flooded through me. ‘Do you mean for a holiday?’
He shook his head, and the relief was sucked out again, as though by an incoming tsunami.
‘I have a one-way plane ticket.’
‘But… but what about your business, the coffee shop?’
‘I’ve sold it,’ he said, his voice flat. ‘The new owners made me the kind of offer you don’t walk away from. They’ve got big plans for opening a second branch.’
