CHAPTER FOUR
HE’D seen her in her nightdress!
Scarlet with mortification, Kat gave a groan and stepped into the shower. How could she have done that?! How could she have been so completely oblivious to the fact that she had been wearing cream silk that was virtually transparent?
But she knew the answer to that, of course. She’d only had one thing on her mind and that had been her son. She hadn’t been thinking about herself and she hadn’t been thinking about Josh.
Perhaps he hadn’t noticed, she thought weakly as she towelled herself dry and padded back through to her bedroom. Perhaps he’d been so absorbed in the conversation…
She gave a groan of humiliation and sank onto the edge of the bed with her hands over her face.
Despite the fact that it dropped all the way to the floor, the nightdress was incredibly revealing. She’d even hesitated before buying it but it was so pretty and such a bargain that not buying it had seemed a crime. And at the time she’d assured herself that the fact that it displayed rather too much of her generous curves really didn’t matter. Who was going to see her wearing it?
Well, now Josh Sullivan had seen her wearing it.
She gave a sigh and wondered how her new life had suddenly become so complicated so quickly.
Then she looked up and saw Archie standing in the doorway, a wary expression on his face. ‘Are we going to the beach?’
Relieved that the sulk seemed to have passed, Kat gave a nod. ‘Definitely. Just give me a moment to dress and then we’ll make a picnic together.’
Josh probably hadn’t even noticed, she told herself as she rummaged in her wardrobe for a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.
A man like him would have said something if he’d noticed.
He would have teased her or given her one of his looks.
No—she dragged on the shorts and slipped her feet into a pair of pretty flip-flops—he definitely hadn’t noticed.
* * *
They spent the whole weekend on the beach, digging in the sand and playing ball, and Kat took Archie into the s
ea on the surfboard she’d bought for him.
He was a natural. His balance was good and he had absolutely no fear of the water.
‘Again!’ Every time he fell off the board he scrambled up again, his face shiny with seawater, his eyes bright with laughter.
They plunged back into the waves repeatedly until Kat judged that they’d done enough for one day.
‘You must be tired. Time for lunch.’ She ignored his whine of protest and picked up his board, strolling back towards their picnic rug, which she’d placed in the shade by some rocks.
They were tucking into sausages when Archie returned to the subject of the boat. ‘Next weekend can I see the boat again?’ Ketchup dripped from his chin and his fingers. ‘Ple-ease, Mum?’
She leaned across and wiped his mouth before the red blob could land on his T-shirt. ‘No, sweetheart, we can’t. But I’ll make some calls and find out if I can take you sailing.’
He took another bite of sausage, clearly in gourmet heaven. ‘You could ask Josh. I bet he knows a place. He knows everything about boats.’
She didn’t want to think about Josh. Didn’t want to remember what he’d looked like without a shirt on, his chest gleaming from good, honest physical toil.
Didn’t want to remember that she’d stood in front of him in her nightdress.
Her body heated at the memory and she bit back another groan of humiliation. ‘Archie, I really think—’ She broke off as a large, clumsy dog bounded towards them. Instinctively she tried to grab the remaining sausages but the dog was too quick, homing in on the food with abandoned joy.
‘Hopeful!’ A female voice yelled from further along the beach. ‘Hopeful! Come here! Heel.’
Kat tipped her head on one side and studied the dog, who was now slavering over the remains of the sausages. ‘Are you Hopeful?’