Page 44 of Riding the Waves

“Dad!” Billy shouted. “We don’t know which remote to use.”

“I’m not sure why they automatically ask you for help with it,” Amy joked. “The man who can only get his TV to work at certain times of the day!”

Chuckling, he went to help them. Amy was smiling too as she wandered out of the patio doors, intent on settling herself on a sun lounger with Scarlett’s book.

She just wasn’t sure how she’d be able to concentrate with Damian in such close proximity.

CHAPTER 20

Amy lifted her gaze from her book to catch Damian whipping his eyes away from her. “Stop watching me,” she said, smiling.

“I wasn’t.”

“I could feel you.” Putting the book down, she re-crossed her ankles on the sun lounger. “It’s very distracting.”

When he’d joined her on the patio, he’d sat quietly looking out over the garden for a while, then he’d switched to messaging someone on his phone, and after five minutes of that, he’d switched to watching her read. His mere presence had made it difficult to focus on the words in front of her, never mind when she could feel his eyes on her.

“You never were very good at doing nothing,” she remarked.

“I may have looked as though I was doing nothing, but I was actually monitoring you carefully for signs of concussion.”

“Apart from when you were busy messaging someone. Not so concerned about me then,” she teased. That had probably been the most distracting of all. How was she supposed to concentrate when she couldn’t stop wondering who he was messaging?

“I was asking Hugh’s advice on head injuries. What with him having such a vast medical knowledge these days.” He grinned when she laughed. “Not really,” he went on. “I was actually looking up signs of concussion. Do you have a headache?”

“No. I feel fine.”

“Good. Symptoms can take hours to come on though, so we should be cautious.”

“And by cautious, you mean you’re going to sit and stare at me?”

“I prefer to call it monitoring your condition.”

“Because it sounds creepy otherwise?”

“Yep.” He beamed at her. “But since you seem to be fine, I’ll hang out with the boys for a bit.”

Alone on the patio, she quickly wished she hadn’t teased him. The ache in her chest reminded her why she shouldn’t be spending so much time around him. The more she was with him, the more she missed him when he wasn’t around. Even if he was only a room away.

An hour went by before she heard the commotion of Damian turning the TV off and reminding the boys they’d promised not to make a fuss about it. They ran outside a moment later and headed straight for the old apple tree in the centre of the garden. The low, gnarly branches made it perfect for climbing.

Damian wandered onto the patio, yawning widely.

“Did you fall asleep in there?” Amy asked, swinging her legs off the sun lounger and arching her back to stretch her spine.

“No. I may have got a bit too relaxed though. I could easily have nodded off.” He tapped the back of the chair he was standing behind. “I suppose I should get these rascals home and leave you in peace. If you’re sure you’re okay.”

If she said she had a headache he’d stay for longer. That would be silly though. She was absolutely fine. She just didn’t want him to leave.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“Sure?”

No, she wasn’t sure at all, but she couldn’t fake a concussion just to keep him around.

“Are we staying here for dinner?” Billy called loudly.

Damian looked at her, eyes filled with uncertainty. “I think we should probably go home now,” he finally replied.

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