Page 21 of Riding the Waves

Given the ease of the conversation, saying goodbye with a kiss on the cheek felt so natural that her lips were against his skin with no thought at all.

Only then did her heart stutter and her lungs forget their job.

She moved away and called goodnight over her shoulder, hoping she’d turned away quickly enough that he hadn’t noticed how flustered a simple kiss on the cheek made her.

CHAPTER 10

From their table in front of the Anchor Inn, Damian had a clear view of the kids playing on the beach. Emmy had offered to go with the boys when Marty had been reluctant to join his brother in searching for shells. Now the three of them had their heads together, crouched in a tight circle on the sand.

“If she’d accepted a beer we’d probably have ended up sleeping together,” Damian announced to Hugh and Leo, continuing their conversation about how it was to have Amy around. He hadn’t seen her since Wednesday, but he also hadn’t stopped thinking about her.

Leo grinned at him while bouncing Alice on his knee. “You sound incredibly confident that she wants to sleep with you.”

“You would too if you’d seen the way she looks at me. I swear, it’s pure lust in her eyes.”

“I wish I had your confidence with women,” Hugh said. “It does sound slightly deluded though, to think she’s come here purely to jump your bones. She only split up with her husband a few months ago.”

“Seven months actually,” Damian corrected him. “And I never said she came just to jump me. I mostly think she can’t stand the thought of being away from the boys for so long. But I also know her well enough to know she has a certain … appetite, shall we say? And I presume her appetite hasn’t been sated for quite a while now. She’s like a coiled spring, all wound up and in need of release.”

Leo looked decidedly sceptical. “Surely there’d be less complicated ways to scratch that itch. Sleeping with your ex who is also the father of your children is obviously going to get messy.”

“Or maybe not?” Hugh suggested. “Maybe the four of you would live happily ever after.”

Damian shook his head, terrified of letting those kind of thoughts in. “It didn’t work out for us before. Why would it work now?”

“Because things are different now,” Hugh said. “You’re different.”

“Hang on a minute,” Leo said. “Speaking of coiled springs … we haven’t heard about any of your evening entertainments for a while now.” He raised an eyebrow. “How long has it been?”

“I dunno,” Damian said, hoping that his friends wouldn’t dig much further, but suspecting from the glint in Leo’s eye that he’d already got him sussed.

“Is it approximately the same amount of time that Amy has been broken up with Anthony?” Leo asked.

Hugh sat forward, leaning on the table. “It is, isn’t it? Are you actually thinking that now she’s single …”

“I’m not thinking anything,” Damian said forcefully. “Even if we forget the fact that she’s still currently married, it makes no difference. I’m the same old chaotic me and she’s still all sensible and organised. Our personalities clash.”

“You’d think you might just balance each other out,” Leo suggested.

“Yeah,” Damian mused, wishing that was true. “Unfortunately, we don’t work like that. Anyway, one week down, four and a half to go. I can manage this.”

“I thought you’d had a good week with the boys,” Hugh said.

“I did. It’s been great. I’m not counting down to them leaving. I was commenting on how much longer I have of resisting the temptation that is Amy. It’s possible, though, right?”

Leo lifted Alice to his face, rubbing his nose against hers and making her giggle – an adorable sound. “I don’t think I really get it,” he remarked. “If you want to sleep with her, and she wants to sleep with you, maybe you should just go for it.”

“As you pointed out before, it’s a terrible idea. Not only would it be a complete mess when she leaves again in a month, there’s also the fact that she’s still technically married. And I don’t even know for certain if that’s going to change.”

“They’ve been separated for seven months,” Hugh said. “And I thought there was talk of divorce?”

“There’s talk of it,” Damian said. “That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. They might still get back together for all I know.” The thought hit him like a blow to the chest. “My parents are visiting this weekend,” he said. “So that will keep Amy and her lusty eyes away from me.”

“Does she still think they hate her?” Hugh asked.

“Yeah. I can’t convince her otherwise.”

“It’s hard to imagine your parents thinking badly of anyone,” Leo said.

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