grumped, ‘Says the woman who works more hours than the rest of us.’ Then she cheered Ally up with, ‘You can move into my spare room when you get back to town. As of this morning it’s empty, my flatmate having found her own place.’
‘Great, that’s cool.’ Darcie was fast becoming a good friend, which did bother her when she thought about it. But right this moment it felt good to have a friend onside when she was feeling more unsettled than usual at the start of a new assignment. Today she sensed she might be missing out on the bigger picture. This was the loneliness she’d learned to cope with whenever she’d been shuffled off to yet another foster home full of well-meaning people who’d always eventually packed her bags and sent her away.
‘You still there?’ Darcie asked.
‘Did you get called in today?’
‘I’ve just finished an urgent caesarean, and I’m about to get something to eat.’
‘I’ll leave you to it, then. Thanks for the bed. I’ll definitely take you up on that.’ After saying goodbye, she shoved her hands deep into her jacket pockets and began striding to the farthest end of the beach, feeling better already. Being alone wasn’t so bad when there were people at the end of a phone. At least this way she got to choose which side of the bed she slept on, what she had for dinner, and when to move on to the next stop.
A ball came straight for her and she lined it up, kicked it back hard, aiming for the boys running after it. One of them swung a foot at it and missed, much to his mates’ mirth at a girl kicking it better.
‘Girls can do anything better.’ She grinned and continued walking a few metres above the water’s edge, feeling happier by the minute. How could she remain gloomy out here? The beach was beautiful, the air fresh, and she had a new job in the morning. What else could she possibly need?
The sun began dropping fast and Ally stopped to watch the amazing reds and yellows spreading, blending the sky and water into one molten colour block, like a young child’s painting. Her throat ached with the beauty of it.
Thud. Something solid slammed into her. For a moment, as she teetered on her feet, she thought she’d keep her balance. But another shove and she toppled into an ungainly heap on the sand with the heavy weight on top of her. A moving, panting, licking heavy weight. A dog of no mean proportions with gross doggy breath sprawled across her.
‘Hey, get off me.’ She squirmed between paws and tried to push upright onto her backside.
One paw shoved her back down, and the dark, furry head blocked out all vision of the sunset. The rear end of the animal was wriggling back and forth as its tail whipped through the air.
‘Sheba, come here.’ A male voice came from somewhere above them. ‘Get off now.’
Sheba—if that was the name of her assailant—gave Ally’s chin a final lick and leapt sideways, avoiding an outstretched hand that must’ve been aiming for her collar.
‘Phew.’
Her relief was premature. The dog lay down beside her as close as possible, and farthest away from the man trying to catch her. One paw banged down on her stomach, forcing all the air out of her lungs.
Somewhere behind her a young child started laughing. ‘Sheba, you’re funny.’
The sweet childish sound of pure enjoyment had Ally carefully pushing the paw aside and sitting up to look round for the source. A cute little boy was leaping up and down, giggling fit to bust.
‘Sheba. Sit now.’ The man wasn’t nearly as thrilled about his dog’s behaviour.
Ally stared up at the guy looming above her. ‘It’s all right. I’m fine, really.’ She even smiled to prove her point.
‘I’m very sorry Sheba bowled you over. She doesn’t understand her own strength.’ As he glanced across at the child his annoyance was quickly replaced by something soft she couldn’t read. ‘Adam, don’t encourage her.’
‘But it’s funny, Dad.’ The boy folded in half, still giggling.
Ally clambered to her feet, dusting sand off her jeans, and grinned. ‘What is it about kids and giggling? They don’t seem to know how to stop.’ Just watching the boy made her happy—especially now that the dog had loped across to bunt him in the bottom, which only made the giggles louder. Laughter threatened to bubble up from deep inside her stomach.
The guy was shaking his head, looking bemused. ‘Beats me how he keeps going so long.’
Ally winced. Slapping the sand off her left hip just made it sore. Sheba must’ve bruised her.
‘Are you all right?’ the man asked, worry darkening his expression. ‘Look, I apologise again. I hope you haven’t been hurt.’
‘Look,’ she used his word back at him. ‘I’m fine. Seriously. Sheba was being playful and if I hadn’t been staring at the sunset I’d have seen her coming.’ She stuck her hand out. ‘I’m Ally. That’s Sheba, and your boy’s called Adam. You are?’
‘Flynn. We’ve been visiting friends all day and needed some fresh air before settling down for the night.’ He looked at her properly, finally letting go the need to watch his boy and dog. ‘What about you?’
‘Much the same. The beach is hard to resist when the weather’s so balmy.’ He didn’t need to know she’d only just arrived. Running her hands over the sleeves of her jacket, she smoothed off the remaining sand, trying to refrain from staring at him. But it was impossible to look away.
Despite the sadness in his eyes, or because of it, she was taking more notice of him than a casual meeting on the beach usually entailed. The stubble darkening his chin was downright sexy, while that tousled hair brought heat to her cold cheeks. If she played her cards right, could this be the man she had her next fling with?
She glanced downward, taking in his athletic build, his fitted jeans that defined many of his muscles. The sun glinted off something on the guy’s hand and she had her answer. A band of gold. Said it all, really.
‘Can I call you Ally?’ Adam bounced up in front of her.
Blink, blink. Refocus on the younger version now that the older one was out of bounds. ‘Of course you can.’ As if they were going to see each other again. Though they might, she realised, if Flynn brought his son to the beach often. She’d be walking along here most days that she wasn’t caught up with delivering babies and talking to pregnant mums.
Hopefully, if they ran into each other again, Flynn would have his wife with him. A wife would certainly dampen the flare of attraction that had snagged her, and which should’ve evaporated the moment she’d seen that ring. Flings were the way to go, but never, ever with a man already involved with someone else. She didn’t do hurting for the sake of it, or for any reason at all, come to think of it.
Guess she’d have to keep looking for someone to warm the other half of that bed. Whoa, Ally, you haven’t been here more than an hour. What’s the hurry?
The thing was, if she was playing bed games there wouldn’t be long, empty nights that had her dreaming of the impossible. She could shove the overpowering sense of unworthiness aside as she and a man made each other happy for a short while, and then bury her face in the pillow while he left. Every parting, even as casual as her relationships were, was touched with a longing for the life she craved, had never known, and was too afraid to try for.
Flynn Reynolds dragged his gaze away from the most attractive woman he’d met in a long while and focused on his son. Except Adam stood directly in front of her, talking nonstop, and Flynn’s gaze easily moved across the tiny gap to a stunning pair of legs clad in skin-tight jeans. His breathing hitched in his throat. Oh, wow. Gorgeous.
The woman—Ally, she has a name—laughed at something Adam said, a deep, pure laugh that spoke of enjoyment with no hidden agenda. Very refreshing, considering most women he met these days seemed intent on luring him into their