It seemed surly to refuse, so yes, they ate fish and chips together on the beach. Took bounded a mile or more and then settled beside Ketchup in blissful peace. Apart from looking enquiringly to the chips every now and then, both dogs seemed happy.

Ketchup was looking better every day. The initial pinning of the badly fractured leg needed follow-up. There’d be more surgery later on, but for now he was with Took and he’d found a home.

More, he’d found a boy. And boy had found dogs. The three of them were curing each other, Misty thought, as she watched Bailey tease Took with a chip-tease her, tease her, then shriek as Ketchup whipped in from the side to snatch it. While Bailey was expounding indignation, Took wolfed three more.

Bailey giggled, his father chuckled, Misty went to move the chips out of dog range, Nick did the same and somehow Nick’s hand was touching hers again.

They glanced at each other. Nick moved the chips. Then he returned to touch again.

And hold.

‘It’s been a magical day,’ he said softly. ‘Thanks to Misty.’

‘Thanks to Misty not winning, you mean,’ she said with what she hoped was dry humour, but he shook his head and suddenly he had both her hands and he was drawing her closer.

‘That’s not what I mean at all. Misty…’

What was he doing? Was he planning to kiss her? Now?

‘Not in front of Bailey,’ she breathed. No!

‘Not what in front of Bailey?’ Nick asked, smiling down into her eyes. ‘Not thanking his teacher for giving us a lesson in life?’

‘How can I have done that?’

‘Easy,’ he said. ‘By being you.’ He tugged her closer. ‘Misty…’

‘No.’

‘You mean you don’t want me to kiss you?’

‘No!’

The laughter was back in his eyes. Laughter should never leave him for long, she thought. He was meant for smiling.

He was meant for smiling at her?

‘You mean no, you don’t not want me to kiss you?’ he asked, his smile widening. Becoming wicked.

‘No!’ She had to think of something more intelligent to say. She couldn’t think of anything but Nick’s smile.

‘It’s very convoluted,’ he complained. ‘I’m not sure I get it. So if I pulled you closer…’

‘Nick…’

‘Bailey, close your eyes,’ he said. ‘I need to give Miss Lawrence a thank you kiss.’

‘She doesn’t like ’em slurpy,’ Bailey said wisely. ‘She tells Ketchup that all the time.’

‘Not slurpy,’ Nick said. ‘Got it.’

‘And she hates tongues touching,’ he added. ‘That happened yesterday after Ketchup chewed the liver treat. She went and washed her mouth out with soap.’

‘So no tongue kissing-or no liver treats?’

‘Nick…’ She was trying to tug away. She was trying to be serious. But his eyes were laughing, full of devilry, daring her. Loving her?

‘Miss Lawrence has said I mustn’t kiss her in front of you,’ Nick told his son, and his eyes weren’t leaving hers. He was making love to her with his eyes, she thought. How did that happen?

‘I mean it,’ she whispered.

‘So can you take Took down and feed the rest of the chips to the seagulls?’

‘Why? It’s okay to watch.’

‘What would the kids at school say if they saw you kissing a girl?’ his father asked.

Bailey considered. ‘I guess they’d giggle. And Natalie would say, “Kissie kissie”. I think.’

‘Exactly,’ his father said. ‘Miss Lawrence is really scared of giggling and she’s even more scared of kissie kissie. So, unless you go away, I can’t kiss her.’

‘You can’t kiss me anyway,’ Misty managed and his eyes suddenly lost their laughter. ‘Really?’

And how was a girl to respond to that?

‘I don’t…’

‘Know?’ he said. ‘There’s only one answer to that. Bailey, down to the water right now or there’s no fish and chips on the beach until the next blue moon. Right?’ And then, as Bailey giggled, and he and his dog headed towards the seagulls on the shoreline, he pulled her closer still. ‘Ready or not…’

And he kissed her.


Second kiss.

Better.

He knew what he wanted.

His parents considered him insane for being a risk-taker. He’d sworn risk-taking would end.

Was it a risk to believe he was falling in love in little more than a week? Was it a risk to want this woman?

It had been a risk to think he was in love with Isabelle. More-it had been calamity. But this was no risk.

This was Misty. A safe harbour after the storm. A woman to come home to.

She wasn’t pulling back. Her lips would feel warm, he thought. Full and generous. Loving and reassuring.

But then his mouth met hers and instead of warmth there was…more. Sizzle. Heat. Want.

Instead of kissing her, he found he was being kissed.

There was nothing safe about this kiss. It asked much more than it told, but it told so much. It told that this woman wanted him, ached for him, came alive at his touch.

It told him that she wanted him as much as he wanted her-and more.

Just a kiss…

Not just a kiss. He was holding a woman in his arms and he was making her feel loved, desired. He knew it because the same thing was happening to him. The awfulness of the last twelve months was slipping away. More-the pain of a failing marriage, the knowledge that he was always walking a tightrope, slipped and faded to nothing, and all there was left was Misty.

He was deepening the kiss and she was as hungry as he was, as desperate to be close. Her hands tugged him closer. Closer still… She was moulding to him and her breathing was almost like part of him.

He wanted her so much…

He was on the beach with two dogs and his son.

Ketchup was nosing between them. Misty’s hands were…pushing? She wanted to stop?

They should stop.

Who moved first? He didn’t know; all he knew was that they were somehow apart and Misty was looking at him with eyes that were dazed, confused, lost.

‘Misty…’ Her look touched something deep within. Was she afraid?

She’d wanted him as much as he wanted her. Hadn’t she?

Her look changed, the smile returned, but he knew he’d seen it.

‘What is it?’ he asked, but her smile settled back to the confidence, the certainty he knew. The impudent teasing that he somehow suspected was a mask.

‘Entirely inappropriate, that’s what it is,’ she retorted. ‘For me to kiss the parent of one of my students.’

Her student was whooping back to them now, trying to beat Took, who was practically dawdling. ‘Can I come back now?’ Bailey demanded.

‘Yes,’ Nick told him. ‘And you’re not to tell anyone.’ His eyes didn’t leave Misty’s. ‘That I kissed Miss Lawrence.’

‘Why not?’

‘People will tease us,’ Nick said and Bailey considered and decided the explanation was reasonable.

‘Like saying “kissie kissie”.’

‘Exactly. And then I wouldn’t be able to kiss Miss Lawrence again.’

‘I think you need to call me Misty,’ she said, no longer looking at him. ‘Bailey, when we’re on our own, would you call me Misty? Could you remember to call me Miss Lawrence at school?’

‘Sure,’ Bailey said. ‘Do you think you’ll marry Dad?’


What sort of question was that?

It was a reminder that fantasy had gone far enough. It was time for reality to kick in.

‘Um…no,’ Misty managed and the schoolteacher part of her took charge. ‘Kissing someone doesn’t mean you have to marry them.’

‘But it means you like them.’

‘Yes,’ she admitted, carefully not looking at him. She could feel colour surge from her toes to the tips of her ears. ‘But I gave you a kiss goodnight last night. That doesn’t mean I’ll marry you.’

‘It wasn’t a kiss like the one you gave Dad.’ Bailey sounded satisfied, like things were going according to plan. She cast him a suspicious look-and then turned the same one on his father.

‘Have you guys been discussing kissing me?’

‘No,’ Nick said, but the way he looked…

‘Has your father said he wants to kiss me?’ she demanded of Bailey and Bailey looked cautiously at his father and then at Misty. Truth and loyalty were wavering.

‘I’m your teacher,’ Misty said, hauling her blush under control enough to sound stern. ‘You don’t tell fibs to your teacher.’

‘Dad just told you a fib,’ Bailey confessed, virtuous.

‘Hey,’ Nick said. ‘Bailey…’

‘So you have been talking about me?’

‘I saw you kissing in the laundry,’ Bailey said. ‘I was sort of…up. But I hardly looked.’ He grinned. ‘But I saw Dad kiss you and later I asked if it was nice to kiss a girl and he said it depends on the girl. And then he said it was very, very nice to kiss you. So I asked if he was going to kiss you again and he said as soon as he possibly can. And tonight he did. Dad, was it okay?’

‘Yes,’ said Nick.

Misty glared at him. ‘You planned…’

‘I merely took advantage of an opportunity,’ Nick said, trying to look innocent. ‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘How many times do you have to kiss each other before you get married?’ Bailey asked.

‘Hundreds,’ Misty said and then, at the gleam of laughter in Nick’s eyes, she added a fast rejoinder. ‘So that’s why I’m never kissing your father again.’

‘Really?’ Nick asked and suddenly the laughter was gone.

‘R…really.’

‘It wasn’t just a kiss,’ he said softly. ‘You know it was much more.’

‘It was just a kiss. I’m your landlady.’

‘I’m not asking for a reduction in the rent.’

‘I’m thinking of putting it up.’ She started clearing things, trying to be busy, doing anything but look at him.

‘Why the fear?’ Nick asked and she shook her head.

‘No fear. You’re the one who wants to be safe.’

‘Hey, we went sailing.’

‘I won’t be safe,’ she muttered.

He frowned. ‘What sort of statement is that?’

‘Safe as Houses Misty. That’s me. Didn’t you know? Isn’t that why you kissed me? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go say goodnight to Gran.’