Summer Fling

A male in his prime, at the peak of physical fitness.

This was no city boy out for a guilt-driven exercise session. This was a man who regularly pushed his body to the limit.

He ran with rhythm and surprising grace, drawing on all the strength and power of his body to meet the challenge he’d set himself.

She couldn’t see his face and yet she knew that his expression would have been set and determined. Focussed. Bleak?

Sensing that his run was more than a desire to raise his pulse rate, Kyla turned away, giving him the privacy he so clearly craved, her curiosity well and truly piqued. Her own body suddenly stirred to an uncomfortable degree.

Who was he?

His cool indifference and aloof approach to life was completely alien to her.

Who was this man who held himself slightly apart from others? And why did he affect her so strongly?

She’d spent too long cooped up on an island with people she knew too well, that was why.

Ethan Walker was a stranger. And when you lived with people who were entirely familiar, strangers were always interesting.

It was no more than that.

She gave herself a mental shake and reminded herself that she had less than ten minutes to get back to the surgery or she’d have Logan on her back.

Logan’s

house was attached to the surgery and opened onto a huge garden crowded with mature apple trees.

Fresh from the shower after a busy clinic, Kyla pushed open the back gate and walked straight into the kitchen without knocking.

‘Oh!’ Evanna was standing in front of the range, stirring something in a pot. Her dark hair was caught up in a ponytail, her cheeks were pink from the heat and she was wearing a loose white dress that was summery and pretty. ‘You’re early. Can you pass me the coriander, please?’

‘Coriander?’ Kyla glanced along the work surface in confusion. ‘Is that this green, weedy-looking stuff?’ She picked it up, sniffed and handed it to Evanna. ‘If we’re early, you can blame Ethan’s car. You should see it. All black and very growly. Very high testosterone rating.’ She peered over Evanna’s shoulder into the pot. ‘Is that our dinner? It looks nice, but nothing like barbecued seafood. Did you lose the recipe?’

‘It’s chicken soup, and it’s for Kirsty who hasn’t woken up yet from her nap. Logan is hopeless with routine. He keeps waking her up for a cuddle.’ Evanna swiftly chopped the coriander, sprinkled it on the soup and glanced at her friend, a curious look in her eyes. ‘So I notice you’re calling the new doctor Ethan now? Getting friendly, are you?’

Kyla grinned. ‘No. Not yet. But I could probably be persuaded. You should have seen him running along the beach earlier. I thought my heart was going to stop. What a body! Not that you notice things like that.’

‘I’m not blind, Kyla,’ Evanna said mildly as she stirred the soup slowly. ‘I do know a handsome man when I see one, and Ethan is certainly very good looking.’

‘But?’ Kyla leaned forward and dipped a spoon in the soup, tasting it cautiously. ‘There’s a definite “but” coming. This soup is good. Can I take some for lunch tomorrow?’

‘There’s more to a man than looks, Kyla.’ Evanna gently slapped the back of her hand. ‘Leave the soup alone. It’s for Kirsty.’

‘I’m the royal taster. And there’s plenty more to Ethan than looks.’

Evanna frowned. ‘That’s what worries me. There are dark corners there. And mystery.’

‘Dark corners? Mystery?’ Kyla dropped the spoon in the sink, laughing to hide the effect that Evanna’s words had had on her. ‘You’ve been reading too many Celtic legends. Your imagination is in sprint mode. Spotted any fire-breathing dragons on your rounds?’

Evanna didn’t smile. ‘You can laugh, but I’m right. That man has secrets, Kyla.’

Kyla felt cold fingers of unease stroke her nerve endings. ‘What sort of secrets?’

‘If I knew that, they wouldn’t be secrets, would they? But I don’t think they’re good ones.’ Evanna stopped stirring and her pretty face was serious. ‘There’s something about him,’ she said softly, glancing over her shoulder to check that they were on their own. ‘Can’t you feel it? A hardness. He’s tough—a bit intimidating. I don’t know …’ She gave a shrug, obviously wishing she’d never said anything. ‘Something’s happened in his life, I’m sure of it. Something that he’s living with every day of his life. He has issues.’

‘Well, things have happened in our lives, too,’ Kyla reminded her, trying to shake off the black, threatening cloud that hovered over her happiness, ‘and we’re living with them. We all have issues, Evanna.’

‘That’s true. Just be careful, that’s all. I don’t want to see you hurt by a man.’