Page 28 of Finding Love in Micklewick Bay

Stella nodded. ‘My mum was my role model. I’d seen what she’d achieved by sheer determination and hard work and I wanted to be the same. I think if you get yourself in that mindset, you’re halfway there.’

Alex nodded, absorbing her words. ‘And what does your mum do?’

When Stella had explained about her mum’s cleaning company, it clicked that she had the contract for cleaning the communal areas of the apartment, having seen one of her vans parked around the corner.

‘Ah, this may sound like I’m telling tales out of school, but I think it was the lady who was cleaning the communal area who left the door open to the back entrance here.’

‘The door was left open?’ Stella asked, surprised.

‘Yes, earlier today. I only know because Fred had managed to sneak out of my apartment door before I’d got his lead on and shot off downstairs.’ Fred’s ears twitched at mention of his name, his eyes opening briefly. ‘He’s never one to miss anopportunity for mischief, spotted the door was open and made a break for it in the garden. It was another of the residents here who pointed me in the little monster’s direction.’

Stella realised it could have been when Andrea had hung out her washing. Leaving the communal back door open was another reason for her not to have her laundry done there. The fact that visitors had to be “buzzed-in” would no doubt be something the residents of Fitzgilbert’s Landing found reassuring, not that there was much in the way of crime in Micklewick Bay, but all the same… Plus, she didn’t want such oversights to have a negative impact on her mum’s business, especially with it being so easy for people to voice their complaints and niggles on the many rating sites the internet had to offer.

‘Thanks for the tip-off. I’ll bring it to my mum’s attention tomorrow; she won’t want it to happen again. Anyway, I’ve told you loads about me, what about you? What made you want to become an architect?’

‘Ah, well…’ Alex went on to explain how he’d wanted to be an architect as far back as he could remember. ‘I was always drawing buildings, creating elaborate affairs out of my toy building bricks and when I realised you could actually make a living out of designing buildings, then that was it. I never wavered, never wanted to be anything else. Helped that I loved maths.’ He pulled an apologetic face.

‘Ooh, me too. I love the patterns.’ Her smile morphed into a frown. ‘Hmm. I’ve just realised how geeky we sound. I mean, seriously? Who talks about loving maths over a glass of wine?’ They both chuckled at that. ‘Moving quickly on, what about hobbies? I assume you’re not too consumed with your work to allow yourself some time for those,’ Stella asked, fiddling with the star-shaped diamond stud in her ear. The earrings were atwenty-first birthday present from her mum and Stella always wore them.

Alex told her how he liked nothing better than a run for a spot of head-clearing, especially if it was along the beach. He reminded her that they’d bumped into one another when they were both doing just that.

‘I remember,’ she said, smiling. How could she forget? He’d looked so delicious even with sweat pouring down his face.

He’d gone on to say how he used to enjoy climbing until a shoulder injury had meant he’d had to avoid the sport for a while, and he was beginning to resurrect his love of surfing. ‘My skills are a little rusty, but it hasn’t damped my enthusiasm. Yet.’ He grinned at her.

The sound of voices and laughter drifted up from the beach where a small campfire had been lit. It was soon joined by the thud-thud of dance music, and the smell of woodsmoke wafting in the air. Stella and Alex looked on at the shadowy silhouettes eking every last bit out of the day. She smiled, recalling the days when she and her friends had enjoyed such summer evenings.

‘So,’ Alex said, sitting back in his seat and swirling the remains of wine around his glass, ‘it would seem we have quite a bit in common. We’re both driven professionally, we’re both guilty of being secretly – or maybe not so secretly – geeky, and we like to switch off by being physically active.’

‘I think that’s a fair assessment.’ Stella pulled her eyes away from the beach, doing all she could to keep her mind off heading down a route of just how she’d like to get physically active with Alex. Her gaze rested on his arm, the muscle rippling beneath the sleeve of his T-shirt making her heart ping. She gave an inward sigh of longing.

‘And what about relationships? Ever had your heart broken?’

She shook her head, holding his gaze. ‘Never been in love, never had a long-term relationship, and never had my heartbroken. Which is just the way I like it.’ She figured she might as well be honest, she wasn’t ashamed of feeling this way.

‘Wow!’ His eyebrows shot up. ‘You’ve never had a long-term relationship?’

‘Nope.’ She gave an amused smile. ‘I’ve never wanted to get involved with anyone.’Until now, said a little voice at the back of her mind.You’d very much like to get involved with delicious Alex Bainbridge, wouldn’t you?‘How about you?’

‘Well, I’ve had two long-term relationships. The first one was in my early twenties; lasted a year-and-a-half, I hadn’t been long out of university when it started and just sort of fizzled out. Ended amicably, which was good, so no hearts broken there. Erin and I are still in touch from time-to-time actually. She’s married now to a great guy called Jacques, has a couple of kids; they live in France.’ He sucked in a slow breath. ‘And as you already know, I’ve not long since broken up with someone. Cerys…’ He drew in another deep breath, making Stella wonder if he was still hurting from the break-up. ‘We’d been together for just over four years and had been going through a bit of a rough patch for a good few months. If I’m honest, it had never been the easiest of relationships, but, against my better judgement, I kept telling myself everything would work itself out. We’d been on the point of breaking up when we agreed to give the relationship another go with the proviso that if at any point either of us felt it wasn’t working, then we’d call it a day.’ He gazed out to sea, his expression inscrutable in the soft glow cast by the discreet uplighters either side of the balcony doors. ‘A week later, Zara spotted her getting up-close and personal with another bloke. And despite Cerys saying it meant nothing, that she still wanted to give us another go, there was no way I could ever trust her again. So, that was the end of it.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’ Stella didn’t know what else to say.

‘Don’t be. It was the right thing to do, just a bit of a shock at the time. We should’ve just broken up when we first talked about it, instead of dragging things out. Cerys cheating was proof of that. And I wouldn’t say my heart was broken as a result, more a little bit bruised.’ He turned, flashing his familiar smile. ‘Anyway, that’s been quite an information-packed few hours. I think I’ve learnt more about you tonight than I did about my ex in a whole year!’

‘Yep, can’t argue, it’s been a bit of an info-splurge.’ Stella laughed too. ‘Apologies if you feel I’ve overshared.’

‘On the contrary, I’ve enjoyed talking to you, finding out about you. You’re a fascinating woman, Stella Hutton. And you know what?’

‘What?’ she asked. He looked impossibly handsome, dark-stubble peppering his strong jaw.

‘I’d pretty much decided that, the first moment I saw you walking towards me in the street last Friday, with that confident, kick-ass spring in your step.’

‘You did?’ Her heart looped-the-loop as happiness flooded her chest.

‘I did. Couldn’t take my eyes off you, and not just because you’re incredibly attractive, by the way. It was like “boom”, whoisthis woman? You were giving off this aura of…’ He glanced around him, as if looking for the word. ‘Oh, I don’t even know how to describe it, but I felt drawn to you, compelled to get to know you. I’ve never felt that way before.’ He turned to her. ‘Imagine how pleased I was when we kept bumping into one another. I was even undeterred when you’d gone frosty on me. Just made you all the more intriguing.’ A smile spread across his face, lighting up his bright-blue eyes. ‘And you’ve got to admit, fate must be playing a part here, putting us in the same apartment building, on the same floor.’

Stella could barely believe what she’d just heard. She swallowed. ‘What you’ve described is something similar to what I felt when I first saw you.’

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