Page 74 of Outback Reunion

‘That must be his dog,’ Luna exclaimed, rushing over to greet them before Gabi could even reply.

Mark smiled as if surprised to see Luna, but Gabi hadn’t come down in the last shower. Only yesterday she’d told him how much Luna loved their mornings on the beach and now, here he was.What a coincidence!Grabbing her water bottle and taking a much-needed sip, she watched as he introduced Rookie to Luna. Rookie rolled over onto her back and Luna dropped onto the sand to give her a tummy rub.

‘Oh, my goodness. Aren’t you adoggable?’ Luna peered up at Mark. ‘Can I take her for a walk up to the point?’

He looked over to Gabi only a few metres away. ‘If your mum says it’s okay. But don’t let her off the leash or we’ll never get her back.’

‘Mum?’ Luna asked.

‘As long as you don’t go out of sight and don’t go too close to the water. As soon as you can’t see me, turn back.’

Luna nodded and the moment Mark handed her the leash, girl and dog were off. When they were out of earshot, he turned and grinned in a way that sent her insides swirling. ‘Fancy meeting you here.’

She lifted her eyebrows, making it clear she knew his game.

He laughed—‘Sorry, couldn’t wait until tonight to see you’—and gestured to the sand beside her. ‘Mind if I take a seat?’

Biting down on a smile, she shrugged. ‘I don’t own the beach. You can sit wherever you like.’

He plopped down so close she felt the heat from his thighs on hers and shivered at the memory of her legs wrapped around his waist.

‘Hope you had a good night’s sleep,’ he said, interrupting her illicit thoughts.

‘I did.’ Truthfully, her mind and body had struggled to switch off because every time she closed her eyes, images of them having sex on the bonnet of her poor car yesterday flashed into her head. She’d never be able to look at the wagon again without thinking of him.

‘I’m glad.’ He moved his hand, so it was touching hers.

She jolted and yanked it back as if he’d burned her. ‘Luna might see us.’

‘Luna is so delighted with Rookie—lord knows why—that she wouldn’t notice if I kissed you, which is exactly what I want to do.’

‘Well don’t,’ she warned him, scooting over and putting some distance between them. ‘Someone else from the circus might see.’

‘I was just holding your hand, Gabriela. It’s not like I put your towel over your legs and fingered you in public.’

‘Mark!’ Heat shot to her core. He was turning her into a total hussy. How was she going to get through the rest of the day? ‘Behave.’

He sighed theatrically and sat back, planting his hands in the sand. ‘I’ll try, but it’s hard with you around. Especially when you’re blushing like that. It makes you even more gorgeous.’

She couldn’t help glowing at his words. It had been so long since anyone had made her feel this way. Had Dante ever actually made her feel it? Or had they got together simply because it made sense? Because they’d grown up together in the circus and his parents liked her?

‘What are you reading?’

She flashed him the cover of her latest romance. ‘I picked it up at the little street library just outside the post office.’

‘Is it any good?’

‘Yeah, I like it. It’s about a woman who lives on this tiny island and her husband has died but she hasn’t accepted it. She’s living her life as if he’s still alive and all the islanders are going along with it, until this journalist comes to write a story about their festival.’

‘Sounds interesting,’ he said, lying back on the sand, tucking his hands behind his head and closing his eyes as if settling in for the long haul. ‘I’ll be quiet so you can read it.’

But how was she supposed to focus on the words with his gorgeous body stretched out beside her? His nicely muscled thighs, his equally lovely, tanned calves thick with hair, and the tee, which looked a couple of sizes too small, accentuating his broad chest.

No matter how good the novel was, it could not captivate her the way he did.

‘I thought you were reading?’ he said, opening one eye and catching her staring.

‘I am,’ she replied, lifting the book up in front of her blushing face.

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