She chuckled and snuggled down. And before she knew it, she was asleep.
*
When she awoke, the sun had set, and a thousand twinkling stars filled the night sky.
She lifted her head. Owen lay sprawled across the mattress, sound asleep, head turned away from her. The doors were still ajar, and a morepork gave its owl-like hoot deep in the bush.
Quietly, she pushed herself upright and stood. She gave one last, long glance at Owen. He’d retrieved the duvet at some point, and it half-covered his body, although his muscular torso was still visible, glistening in the moonlight, the pendant shining brightly.
Turning, she picked up her top and then went out into the living room.
As quickly as she could, she collected her clothes and dressed. Grabbing her handbag and shoes, she stopped by Mozart’s bed and gave his head a quick stroke. “Take care of him, boy,” she whispered.
She went over to the front door and let herself out, and closed it quietly behind her. Then, on bare feet, she ran down to her car and swiftly drove away.
Chapter Nine
Skye concentrated hard on cleaning the table.
Since arriving in Mangonui, she’d helped out several times at her sister’s chocolate and coffee shop. She didn’t mind the work—the waterfront was a nice location, and there had been a steady increase in the tourist trade as they headed toward the festive summer holiday period, so the time had passed quickly. Maisey had decorated the shop with Christmas decorations, and Skye had helped her and Tasha to make chocolates with little marzipan holly leaves and silver balls. They were running all sorts of Christmas promotions that were bringing new customers to the shop.
Today—Friday the twelfth of December—had been the busiest so far as people came in to buy chocolates for Christmas gifts, and she was glad she only had an hour to go before they shut the shop.
She was aware the four people standing by the coffee machine were discussing her, but she pretended not to notice. Her siblings, Kole and Maisey, and their partners meant well. They were only concerned about her wellbeing, and she knew she’d been quiet over the past couple of weeks.
If only she were flying out the next day. It had been nice spending time with her friends and family—nicer than she’d thought it would be, actually, considering she’d dreaded returning home again. But at the back of her mind the knowledge she’d be leaving soon hovered like a persistent raincloud, dampening her spirits. Part of her wanted to put this holiday behind her and escape, back to where nobody knew her or the mistakes she’d made, where she was free and anonymous once again.
Maisey had tried to get her to talk about what had happened with Owen, but Skye had laughed it off, told her they’d had fun, and refused to talk about it again. Since then, she’d withdrawn into herself, spending lots of time walking along the harbor or along the beach at Cable Bay, or just being on her own reading or listening to music in the sleep-out behind her parents’ house, adjusting to the relaxed pace of life in the Northland. She’d gone out with the gang a few times, and had enjoyed herself. She liked Elle and Caitlin, the two girls who’d joined Tasha and Maisey at Treats to Tempt You, currently on their afternoon off. She remembered all the guys from school—Caitlin’s partner, Fox the chef, Maisey’s fiancé, now Dr. Joss, and Stuart, the quiet schoolteacher who’d come out of his shell once he’d started dating the bright and bubbly Elle.
They were all couples now, and perhaps that was the saddest thing of all, because it only served to draw attention to her single status, the way everyone dressing in red would make the one person in black stand out. Would she ever find her Mr. Right? She scrubbed at a mark on the table, overcome by a wave of melancholy as she thought of Owen, with his teasing sense of humor, his great body, and his sparkling eyes. He’d been so into her, and he’d had a surprising effect on her she hadn’t expected. She’d thought sleeping with him would be a fun encounter, easily forgotten. It had turned out to be anything but.
What a fool she’d been.
“Oh,” Maisey said from behind the coffee machine. Skye glanced up at her, then followed her gaze to the doorway of the shop.
She inhaled sharply and deeply, forgetting for a moment how to exhale. Owen stood by the open door, leaning against the frame. He held her sunhat in his hand, the one she’d left behind at his house. His hair was scruffy and tousled, his face tanned and his cheekbones touched with red, as if he’d spent time in the sun. He wore faded jeans and well-worn blue Converses, and a gray T-shirt with the Search and Rescue logo and the words “Found You!” emblazoned across the front.
She registered the words and looked up at his face, still not breathing out. Was he mad at her? He didn’t look mad. His lips had curved up, and he’d tilted his head to one side and raised an eyebrow as if to say Did you think you could hide forever?
Out of the corner of her eye, she was half aware of Maisey telling the others who he was in a hushed voice and of them all turning to look. But she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the blue ones that burned into her.
Dropping the cloth she’d been holding, she walked through the tables up to him. He pushed himself off the doorframe as she approached and hooked a thumb in his jeans pocket, waiting to see her reaction.
She paused before him, reached out a hand, and ran her fingers across the phrase on his T-shirt. Found you. Just above them, the small St. Anthony pendant shone in the sun.
Emotion welled inside her, and she slid her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.
He inhaled deeply, and then let out a long, slow breath. To her relief, his arms came around her to hold her tightly.
Behind her, footsteps sounded, and then Maisey said, “Hey, Owen!”
“Hey, Maisey.” His deep voice rumbled in his chest beneath Skye’s cheek.
“Lovely to see you again.” Maisey cheerfully ignored their embrace. “Let me introduce you to everyone—this is my fiancé, Joss.”
“Hi, Joss.” Owen lifted his arm, and they shook hands behind Skye’s back.
“This is Tasha,” Maisey continued. “We run Treats together.”
“Hi, Tasha.”
“Hi, Owen—I’ve heard a lot about you,” Tasha teased.
He stroked Skye’s back, as consoling and comforting as the warmth of his body against hers. “Oh dear,” he said.
Everyone laughed. “All good stuff,” Tasha replied, “don’t worry.”
Maisey carried on with her introductions. “This is Tasha’s fiancé, Kole. They’re getting married on the twenty-first. He’s my brother, and Skye’s of course.”
With her face in his T-shirt, Skye couldn’t see what was happening, but she felt the guys shake hands and heard her brother’s words, “Hi Owen, good to meet you.” He sounded pleased. What had Maisey told him? Usually, he was extremely suspicious of any man who showed interest in his sisters.
“Likewise.” Owen’s hand returned to her back and continued its soothing stroke.
“We were just saying,” Maisey continued, “we’re all meeting up in a couple of hours at Aqua Blue, the restaurant just along from us. You don’t fancy coming, do you? To make up the numbers?”
Skye’s cheeks burned—what a thing to ask him when he’d just turned up! After giving back her hat and scolding her for not saying goodbye, he’d probably want to run a mile.
Instead, he said, “That sounds cool. It’s up to Skye, though. Maybe I should talk to her first.”
“Sure. Hey, Skye, why don’t you head off? We’re nearly done here. Don’t forget—Aqua Blue at six.”
Skye nodded, moved back a little and took a couple of deep, shaky breaths to compose herself. The others wandered off, with Maisey returning briefly to pass Skye her handbag and give her a quick rub on the arm.
Owen took her hand and led her out into the sunlight. It was a warm afternoon, and although it had rained earlier that morning—heavy, sub-tropical droplets that had bent the heads of flowers and pooled on the tarmac—now the clouds had cleared and
the roads steamed in the heat. The air felt thick and humid, as if she were under water.
He led her across the road to the path that meandered along the edge of the harbor. The deep blue water below them twinkled in the rays of the afternoon sun. She could smell fish and chips from the café up the road, and the air was filled with the sounds of summer, of children playing and eating ice cream, boats chugging past, holidaymakers laughing and taking photos.
Turning her to face him, Owen placed her sunhat on her head, then cupped her cheek. “You okay?”
She nodded, looking up into his eyes. His thumb caressed her cheekbone, and he gave a small laugh, as if he couldn’t quite believe he’d found her.
Lowering his head, he pressed his lips to hers.
Skye let him kiss her, too pleased to see him to argue, and enjoying the slow, warm caress under the December sun. When he lifted his head, she moved her arms around him again, and they stood there like that for a while, looking out to sea.
“You found me,” she said eventually, her voice small.
“It’s what I do. Find people. I’m very good at it.”
She watched a gannet dive into the water and emerge with a fish in its beak. “How? Did you find me, I mean?”
“I visited all the confectionery shops in the Northland. You’d be surprised how many there are.”
She moved back and rested her hands on his chest so she could look up at him again. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. I went west and south first, which was a big mistake. There are four sweet shops in Whangarei alone. Then I worked my way through the Bay of Islands over the weekend—Paihia, Opua, Waitangi, over to Russell… I went to Kaikohe and over to the Hokianga, and then down to Dargaville over the week. Several times, though, the name Treats to Tempt You cropped up, so I came here next.”
She shook her head. “You’re crazy.”
“Maybe a little.” He smiled.
Biting her lip, she traced her finger across the lettering on his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not. I should have said goodbye, but I knew you’d try to talk me into seeing you again.”
“I would have, it’s true. You realize you broke Mozart’s heart?”
She smacked his arm. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s true. He’s pining. He hasn’t eaten for a fortnight.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Well, yes, nothing stops Mozart eating, but he did go looking for you.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. “I pined too,” he said softly. “I’ve missed you.”
She shook her head, filled with elation and also despair. “You shouldn’t have come to find me.”
His playfulness faded, and his voice became firm. “Look, I admit I was angry when I first woke up and found you’d gone. I decided I was going to forget about you and put the weekend behind me. And I did…for a few days.” He gave a wry smile. “I dreamed about you every night, and even when I was working, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
“Owen—”
He cut off her words quickly. “I know you’re leaving. I know it’s stupid and it’ll probably make it more difficult when you go, but you know what? I don’t care. I’m not going to be foolish and declare undying love for you, because that can’t be the case considering we’ve only known each a total of about eight hours, but I do have feelings for you—I have done since the moment I saw you in the airport. Those feelings don’t come around very often, and I’m not going to pass up on this chance to be with you because I’m afraid of how I might feel when you leave.” He spoke with determination.
Skye pressed her lips together, overwhelmed by his words. He was right—it would be foolish to start talking about being in love, because that was something that grew over time. But she definitely had feelings for him, and it seemed as if he felt the same way, too.
The thought made her so happy, she knew he was right.
She nodded. “Okay.”
His face lit up with pure joy. “Wow. That was easy. I was expecting to have to argue with you for hours.”
She shrugged. “For a long time now, I’ve lived in the present—that’s why I decided to go back to your place last week. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, so it makes sense to make the most of today. But we have to keep it light, Owen. Let’s make it fun, eh? Otherwise, what’s the point?”
Pulling her toward him, he wrapped his arms around her and brushed his lips against hers. “Fun it is. Come home with me tonight.”
“Okay,” she said, breathless.
“And stay the night.”
“Okay.”
“All night,” he clarified.
Her lips curved. “Yes, Owen.”
He nodded. “Cool.” Then he kissed her properly.
Skye surrendered herself to the kiss. She was crazy mad to spend more than a single second with this guy with whom she was already more than half in love, but he’d spent nearly two weeks looking for her, and her heart melted at the memory of his smile when she’d looked up to see him leaning against the doorpost. His T-shirt had said it all.
Found You.
Chapter Ten
As he hugged her, Owen considered calling in at the local police station, stealing a pair of handcuffs, and fastening Skye’s wrist to his so he wouldn’t lose her again. That seemed a bit over the top though and would probably land him in a cell in said police station, so he contented himself with keeping his arms tight around her and planting his lips on hers.
Waking up the previous weekend to find she’d vanished had left him infuriated. That was a new experience for him as he so rarely got angry, considering it a pointless exercise that did nothing except raise his blood pressure. His anger hadn’t been directed at Skye. Like a dog who’d eaten the turkey dinner, she’d only followed her natural instincts, and God knew she’d given him enough warning so he should have guessed she wouldn’t stick around.
No, he’d been angry at himself for feeling hurt when she’d made it clear she was only offering the night. He’d stormed around the house scolding himself in a loud voice, trying to ignore Mozart, who’d stared at his normally placid master as if he’d grown two heads. He’d tried to convince himself he had to forget about the fly-by-night screwed up brunette who was returning to Europe at the end of summer.
But she’d haunted him more than any other woman had ever done. He’d kept recalling her serious features and the way they lit up when he made her laugh, the faraway look she got in her eyes when she thought about leaving the country, and the way she’d returned his passion so enthusiastically they’d nearly set light to the bed. And so he’d given in and hunted her down, deciding that loving and losing her, although not ideal, was the only option if he wanted to retain his sanity.
Skye had opened her mouth to his searching tongue, and their kiss was growing too passionate for public consumption, so he lifted his head and blew out a breath. She swallowed, breathing heavily, her cheeks flushed and her lips kissed clean of gloss.
“Would you like to come to the meal tonight?” she asked. “It’s Fox’s restaurant—he’s the partner of Caitlin, who runs Treats with Tasha and Maisey. There will be ten of us there if you come. It should be fun.”
“I’d love to,” he said, not caring what they did as long as it didn’t involve her running off into the night.
“What about Mozart?”
“He’s okay—I’ll give the next door neighbor a ring and ask if she can call in and feed him. She adores him, so she won’t mind.”
“Will he sulk if you don’t go home?”
“He might, but frankly, I don’t care. He stole a muffin off my plate today, so he deserves some punishment.”
She chuckled, and then nibbled her bottom lip. “In that case… What do you want to do until six?”
He wanted to rip all her clothes off and see her naked again, but it seemed inappropriate to suggest that in the middle of the street. He checked
his watch—it had just gone four thirty. “I don’t mind. Would you like to go up to Cable Bay and take a walk along the beach? Or stay here and have a cup of coffee?”
She met his gaze, and a dimple appeared in her cheek. “I wondered if you’d like to come back to my place.”
Heart thudding, he raised an eyebrow. “To play Scrabble?”
Her eyes danced. “As long as it’s played naked, that would be fun.”
Heat surged through him. She wanted him as much as wanted her. Oh yeah. “Honey, whatever you want to play, I’m all yours.”
“Now, isn’t that an offer.” She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. Her eyes were hot, challenging.
He moved closer to her. “Why, Skye,” he murmured, brushing his lips across hers, enjoying her answering shiver. “I thought you were such a nice girl, but I’m beginning to think you’re more than a little naughty deep down.”
“Moi?” She batted her eyelashes at him.
“Don’t act all innocent. I have a sneaky feeling there’s not an ounce of innocence in you.”
“I don’t know where you got that idea.”
He kissed up her jaw. “You can’t hide from me, remember? I can see the truth in your eyes.”
She closed them and tipped her head to the side. “I don’t know how. I know I come across as reserved, but most people think I’m prim and proper because of that. Guys tell me I’m cold.”
He laughed and kissed beneath her ear. “Really?”
“They don’t see the real me.”
He touched his tongue to her skin, and she shuddered. “Well, I can,” he said. “I see right through you to the bad girl underneath.” He kissed back to her mouth.
She returned the kiss hungrily. “I like that about you.”
“Tell me, how naughty do you like to be?” He ran his hands down her back, desire making his voice husky.
She grazed her teeth on his bottom lip. “What’s the naughtiest thing you think of? Because I’ll do it with you, Owen. You set me alight just by looking at me.”
“Jesus…” Now he had an erection hard enough to rival a granite pillar. “Come on. I need to get you into a bed.”
A Festive Treat Page 7
