Our Kind of Love (7 page)
Anna shrugged her shoulders and waved off the question. ‘No, it’s all right. It was a few weeks before Ry and Julia’s wedding. I didn’t walk in on him or anything like that. God, that would have been too
The Bold and the Beautiful
, wouldn’t it?’ Anna reached for her wine glass and without having to ask, Dan was already refilling it. To the brim. She took a sip and settled back on her chair. ‘Credit card bills don’t lie.’
‘Oh no,’ Lizzie murmured.
Dan shook his head. ‘I still think you should run him over in your car.’
‘You’re forgetting one thing, Dan. Being a medical professional I’d be obliged to obey the Hippocratic oath. I’d have to get out and save the bastard’s life.’
They all laughed at the idea of it. Anna thought she sounded convincing but a wave of sadness seeped inside her. Seeing Dan and Lizzie so happy only put her own life into stark and cold relief.
‘But that’s enough about my sordid life,’ she managed. ‘Look at you two, loved up and adorable.’
Lizzie and Dan exchanged glances.
‘She’s pretty adorable,’ he said quietly.
‘And yeah, we’re pretty loved up,’ Lizzie added. Anna could feel the heat in the air between them from way across the living room. She was happy for them, absolutely, but it was hard to be around all the happiness and hopefulness. She’d felt it once too, had once been as in love as they were.
‘Turns out everything I ever needed was right here in Middle Point,’ Dan said, turning to Anna with a grin. ‘Who knew?’
‘It suits you, Danny,’ Anna said. ‘This whole beach bum thing you’ve got going on.’
‘It’s a hard life but someone’s gotta live it.’ Dan raised his glass. ‘To Middle Point.’
‘To Middle Point,’ Anna and Lizzie echoed as they raised their glasses with him.
‘You know what, Anna?’ Lizzie said with a yawn. ‘You need to come down here way more often. The waves are fantastic. The air is warm and you can just relax. This is absolutely, definitely the best place in the world to think about what comes next.’
‘What comes next?’ Anna spluttered. ‘I’ve already got that all mapped out, sister. Work, family, sleep if I can manage it every now and then. And most importantly, a life with no men in it. That’s what comes next. I’m giving up on men, hear that?’ What Anna could hear was her own voice wobbly in her head and echoing in the room.
‘Man, that’s harsh,’ Dan said with a wince. ‘It would be a serious loss to blokes if someone like you gave up on us.’
‘You can’t mean that,’ Lizzie added with a frown, ‘Not really.’
‘Oh Lizzie, I wouldn’t touch a man with a barge pole at the moment. Maybe I never will again. When I get back to Adelaide, I’m going to drive right by the animal shelter and adopt some cats. I’ll turn into a cat lady, that’s what I’ll do. Any man who dares to come near me will be scratched to pieces by my loyal kitties. If I don’t get ’em first.’
‘Could be worse,’ Dan nudged Lizzie. ‘She could have said Dobermans.’
‘Anna, don’t say anything now you might regret later. Especially about giving up on men. What you need is a good night’s sleep and a good long walk on the beach tomorrow morning. Followed, of course, by breakfast at the Middle Point pub before you head back to the city.’
Anna set her wine glass on the table, tried to judge if she was still capable of driving. Decided she wasn’t.
‘I don’t think I should drive. Would it be okay if I crashed here tonight? In my professional opinion I shouldn’t get behind the wheel.’
Lizzie smiled and stood, grabbed Dan’s hand and pulled him to his feet. ‘Of course you can. We’ll head up to my place.’
Anna watched them. ‘You sure? I don’t want to kick you out of your bed, Dan.’ Simply saying the word ‘bed’ drew another yawn from Anna’s lips.
Dan grinned wickedly. ‘Haven’t needed it much lately.’
Anna yawned. ‘You think the sea breeze and the sound of the ocean will help me get a good night’s sleep? I desperately need one.’
‘I can guarantee it,’ Lizzie said. ‘Just listen to the waves and you’ll drift off in no time.’ She leaned down and kissed Anna’s cheek.
‘Wait,’ Anna called and fished around in her handbag, which was on the floor by her feet. She produced her car keys and threw them to Dan. ‘Take my car.’
He caught them mid-air. ‘Just how big do you think Middle Point is, Anna? We’re walking. Lizzie’s place is only five minutes away.’
Anna huffed. ‘Do I look like I care about your health? I care about my car. I don’t want my baby out there in the sea spray. She needs to be handled with kid gloves. She needs care and protection.’
Dan grinned at Lizzie, jangled the keys between them. ‘Want to go parking?’
‘You sure know the way to a girl’s heart.’ She reached up to kiss him on the lips, tender and soft, and then turned to Anna. ‘We’ll see you at the pub in the morning, Anna. Come for breakfast. The best bacon and eggs you’ve ever tasted, not to mention the sourdough toast, which is to die for. And there’s really good coffee, too.’
The pub. Anna remembered it well. A flash of memory streaked across her eyes;
Dancing Queen
. Joe’s blue eyes. His naked body in the moonlight. She blinked it away.
‘Sounds great,’ she said, trying to find an expression that didn’t look like she was thinking about having sex with Lizzie’s brother. ‘I’ll see you guys in the morning.’
Dan walked over to her, leaning down for a kiss on the cheek. She gave him two, Italian style. He rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. ‘You’ll get through this, you know you will.’
Anna reached up to pat his hand. ‘I remember saying that to you a few months ago.’
‘And you were right.’ Dan threw her a smile. ‘You’ve always been the smartest girl in the room.’
‘Not about everything,’ she murmured as Dan and Lizzie closed the door behind them. Once she heard the familiar thrum of her car disappear into the distance, she struggled to her feet, suddenly too tired to think. With her heels dangling in her fingers, she shuffled down the small hallway and pushed open the first door she could find. A large bed beckoned and she stepped towards it, stripped off her clothes and fell between the cool cotton sheets.
Anna flipped her head up and wrapped a towel around it like a turban. She felt refreshed after her shower, scrubbed clean. It was a new day, one day further away from her old life. And Lizzie was right. She’d slept well. The first decent night’s sleep since she couldn’t remember when.
It had been surprisingly relaxing to be sleeping in a different bed. It was a fresh start somehow. The pillows were plumper, the mattress felt new and slightly stiff under her back, the sheets softer, more comforting than what she was used to. No 1500 thread count cotton here, the kind she had that needed ironing just to look good on the bed. And yes, she’d been known to iron her sheets. It was something as simple as different sheets that set her mind to wandering. What if, in these sheets, in the still quiet of Middle Point, she could wake up and be someone else?
Maybe she didn’t have to be good girl Anna Morelli, GP, daughter, sister, jilted wife. Perhaps down here, waking up in someone else’s bed, she could pretend she was on holidays and be a totally different person.
And who would that be? If she could have her own sliding door moment, whose life would she want to be living instead of her own?
Maybe she could be more relaxed, suck on some of those chill pills that Dan and Lizzie were on. A free spirit. Why couldn’t she be a person who let life happen to them, flow over them like waves, rather than someone who had meticulously created hers? This free spirit would live in bare feet, not stilettos, would sleep in and breathe deeply and give up wearing a bra. Anna looked down at her breasts with a frown. Only if she wanted them sagging around her ankles.
She found another folded towel on a shelf in Dan’s bathroom and wrapped it around herself, folding it over her body and tucking it under her arms. Even the towels felt soft and comfortable.
‘A free spirit,’ she said, trying it out loud to see how it felt. Anna swiped the foggy mirror and sighed. Would that mean she’d have to give up real coffee for chai lattes, whatever they hell they were. Forsake real Italian bread for something gluggy and gluten-free? And, terror of terrors, say farewell forever to prosciutto? She shuddered at the thought. And just thinking of coffee made her crave one. She remembered Dan and Lizzie’s offer of breakfast at the pub and her stomach rumbled with hunger. She pushed open the bathroom door and stepped out into the hallway.
Something to her right caught her eye, a movement of shadow, and when she turned, her heart almost leapt into her throat.
Joe Blake was ten feet away. Staring right at her.
‘Anna?’
‘Joe?’
‘Yeah. It’s me. Hi.’ He was in silhouette against the bright light streaming into the house through its front windows and it was almost impossible to make out his features, his eyes or his mouth. He was a shadow, made up of dark shapes; a strong curve of his muscled forearms against the light, wide shoulders and long, long legs.
Anna plastered a splayed hand to her chest. Droplets of water still decorated her skin and she felt a shiver, cold and then hot and then cold again. She gulped. Blinked twice. ‘For God’s sake,’ she stammered. ‘I thought you were an axe murderer.’
Joe raised that one eyebrow. ‘In Middle Point?’
‘Well.’ Anna pursed her lips. ‘This is the country, you know. All kinds of maniacs could be hiding out down here. You could have chopped my body into a million pieces and thrown me into the ocean to be eaten by sharks. No one would ever know.’
As Joe strolled towards her, his features came into clear focus. She really wished he hadn’t moved. Now she could see the sparkle in his blue eyes and those little laugh lines around his mouth.
He chuckled and it lit a fire deep down in her belly. ‘That’s not exactly what I want to do to your body, Anna.’
She heard the tease in his voice. Saw that sexy grin on his lips and zeroed in on the clear invitation in his eyes. Which was so wrong on so many levels. She wondered again why she’d come to Middle Point when it raised the very real risk of running into Joe. Was she trying to punish herself with the memory of their night together? What had seemed just minutes ago to be a luxurious escape now felt like torture.
Anna met his eyes. ‘Don’t you believe in knocking?’
Joe cocked his head to one side. ‘You’re not from around here, are you?’
‘Obviously not.’ She gripped the towel tight where it covered her breasts and then felt slightly ridiculous at her own shyness. He’d already seen her naked and she tried not to remember that she’d seen every inch of him naked too.
‘So what are you doing here?’
‘Admiring the view, obviously,’ Joe replied, his voice as relaxed and cool as the sea breeze. And then he did it again, took two steps closer. She didn’t need to be so close to that dirty blond hair, short, tousled and pushed back off his forehead into a peak. His lips, held together in a playful smirk, were full and lush. His strong jaw was dusted with just the right length of blond holiday growth.
It was so unfair to be faced with the sight of him. Unfair and humiliating and tempting all over again. Anna let out a frustrated huff. ‘Why don’t people lock their doors? That is so crazy. If you leave the front door open, total strangers could barge right in and—’
Joe quirked that one eyebrow gain and his lips parted in a grin. ‘Total strangers?’
Anna sighed. ‘Yes. Total strangers. You don’t know a thing about me.’
‘Don’t I?’ He eyed her up and down, slow and sexy.
Anna shook her head. ‘No, absolutely nothing.’
‘You like to dance.’
‘Anyone who was at the wedding would know that.’
‘You drive like a maniac.’
‘People make assumptions just because you drive a red sports car.’
‘You purr like a cat when you—’
Anna held up a hand. ‘Stop it.’
‘So maybe not total strangers, Anna.’
She looked away from his penetrating gaze, wondered what to do to calm her racing pulse.
When he laughed, it shot higher into heart attack territory. ‘Listen, I’m actually looking for Dan. We’re supposed to be heading up to the pub for breakfast. They do a mean fry-up on a Sunday morning.’
That had been her plan too. Until about two minutes ago.
‘Well, as you can see, he’s not here.’
Joe chuckled. ‘I wasn’t an investigative journalist for nothing, you know. I didn’t think you’d be wandering around dressed like that if you had company.’
They stood staring at one another.
‘Dan and Lizzie went back to her place last night so I could crash here.’
‘Right.’ Joe’s eyes moved down her body to her bare feet and then right back up again to her face. ‘So why did you need to crash here?’
‘I had a little too much wine last night and it’s not a good look for a GP to be caught drink-driving, is it?’ Anna decided he didn’t need to know the gory details about the real reason for her escape from the city, her reasons for wanting to run.
‘No, I guess not.’
‘People like you – reporters – would put it on the news.’
He shrugged. ‘That depends.’
‘And just a mention of something like that could ruin someone’s reputation and potentially their whole life. Something like that can never be taken back. It would be like a black mark against them forever.’
‘It could be.’
‘Even if it’s something they really regret doing,’ Anna said.
‘Mmm.’ Joe looked like he was taking mental notes of everything Anna was saying. ‘Regret?’
Regret. Yes, that’s what this emotion was, she decided. It was regret that was sending a shimmer all the way down her spine to her toes.
‘And it goes with saying that it’s actually quite dangerous as well.’
Joe nodded. ‘Dangerous. Yes, very dangerous.’
A loud drip from the shower echoed from the bathroom behind Anna, like a metronome counting the seconds of silence between them.
‘It’s good to see you,’ he said finally, and then he was so close she could see the soft fullness of his lower lip and the blond of his eyelashes that made his shining eyes look even brighter.
