Page 113 of Fling

As he stepped onto the walkway, he knew what he had to do.

Tara looked down at her watch for the last time.

3.14 p.m.

It was time to call it. If Jack wanted her, he would have appeared by now.

She felt a little silly for going to the pier in the first place. It suddenly dawned on her how ludicrous it all was. Going to meet a man who hadn’t even responded to your messages? It was downright absurd.

But at least now she knew. She had her answer. An answer that made her question her entire belief system. An answer that meant everything she had ever believed in was a lie. An answer that made her lose all hope.

But then she heard the footsteps.

They were behind her and getting closer.

For some inexplicable reason, she knew it was Jack. She could feel his masculine energy approaching.

The suspense was killing her. She wanted to turn around, but she wanted to wait until he was right there behind her. Finally, the footsteps stopped.

‘Hey there, stranger,’ the man behind her said, in a deep masculine voice that felt so familiar, like she had known it her whole life.

Tara smiled and began to turn around slowly.

‘Don’t turn around,’ the deep voice said. She obeyed him immediately. He was in control and she loved it. ‘Just trust me.’ The baritone vibrations of Jack’s voice made the hairs on her arms stand up.

For reasons unknown, she did trust him. With her life.

‘Close your eyes,’ he said. She obeyed him once again, not knowing what to expect. She heard the footsteps again. He was approaching her. She stood still, frozen with desire. Her eyes remained firmly closed as Jack came closer. He had given her an order and she didn’t dare disobey him.

That’s when she felt his embrace from behind as he turned her around and brought his lips to hers. She began to melt in his arms as she lost herself in sweet consensual surrender. Tara then had the feeling of déjà vu, as if she had lived this moment endlessly in the past and would live it forever in the future. She could feel goosebumps all over her body and a tingle on the back of her neck. The feeling was as familiar as it was fantastic.

It was the most powerful synchronicity Tara had ever experienced.

Even with her eyes closed, Tara could see she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

But she couldn’t take it any more, she had to see his face. She began to gently open her eyelids to get a peek at the love of her life.

But what Tara saw gave her the fright of her life instead.

‘COLIN!’ she screamed.

‘TARA!’ Colin shouted, opening his eyes.

Tara let out an almighty scream and pushed Colin off her with unyielding force. ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?’

‘What am I doing here? More like what are you doing here? I was supposed to be meeting someone called Claire!’ Colin said, utterly dumbfounded.

That’s when the penny finally dropped.

‘JACK?’ Tara screamed.

‘CLAIRE?’ Colin roared.

‘No, no, no, this can’t be real,’ Tara said, still in pure shock. ‘You can’t be Jack, that’s impossible. Oh my God, Colin, have you been catfishing me this whole time? Was this some kind of game?’ she said, desperately trying to understand.

‘Me, catfishing? You were catfishing me!’ he snapped back, offended.

‘I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE JACK!’ Tara screamed.

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