A Proposal to Remember

Sam ran a hand through his hair, his eyes on Anna. ‘Must be the audience. I’m finding them distracting.’

Polly glanced at the crowd and then back at him, puzzled. ‘You’re used to being stared at. Whenever we film in public, you’re stared at. I don’t see what’s different tonight.’

‘Don’t you?’ Sam’s voice was soft and Anna felt a shiver of awareness run through her and wondered why no one else could feel the tension between them.

From the moment they’d arrived on the beach they’d been surrounded by people, Sam by the film crew and herself by local people keen to catch up and enjoy a chat. But even when they’d been separated by others, she’d sensed him watching her every move. Counting the minutes. They both knew exactly what was going to happen later and the anticipation was reaching screaming pitch.

She was starting to wonder how she was going to make it through the evening and, judging from the number of times Sam had already fluffed his piece to camera, his concentration wasn’t up to much either.

Polly glanced at the cameraman. ‘We’ve probably got enough—it’s an informal setting anyway, so he doesn’t have to be word perfect. We just want to give the viewer the impression that they’re at a beach party—a bit of scene setting. Have we covered everything?’ She checked her notes. ‘Drinking, drugs, safe sex—looks about it.’ She looked at the sound man. ‘Are you happy?’

‘Ecstatic,’ he said dryly, ‘and longing for a drink.’

Polly grinned. ‘OK, then, folks, let’s join the party.’

Sam undid his microphone and handed it back to the sound man, his eyes never leaving Anna.

She felt her heart kick against her chest as he approached. ‘Hi, there.’ Her voice sounded croaky, totally unlike her own. ‘Are you done?’

His eyes roved over her face. ‘Riggs, I haven’t even begun.’

Since when had it been so difficult to breathe? Still, she couldn’t resist teasing him. ‘You seemed to be having one or two problems remembering your lines, McKenna.’

‘My mind was elsewhere.’

Without touching, they feasted on each other, using only their eyes and the power of the mind.

Her whole body was on fire. ‘You’re staring, McKenna.’

‘You chose to wear hot pink.’

It was foreplay, each of them knowing exactly how the encounter would end and, the anticipation heightened the excitement to almost intolerable levels.

‘We’re supposed to mingle, McKenna.’

His eyes dropped to her mouth. ‘Really?’

‘It’s part of the responsibility of being a local GP,’ she said huskily, longing to lift herself on tiptoe so that he could kiss her the way only he knew how. ‘You have to chat to everyone.’

‘Problem is, Riggs…’ his gaze didn’t shift from her mouth ‘…there’s only one person here that I’m interested in.’

Heat spread through her pelvis. ‘We shouldn’t be seen together. It will fuel gossip.’

‘I don’t give a damn what other people think.’

‘Easy for you to say. At the end of the summer you’ll be gone and I’ll be the one who’s still here.’

Finally his eyes lifted back to hers. ‘All right. Let’s mingle.’ Without another word he turned away, leaving her feeling oddly deflated and not understanding the reason. She’d been the one who’d suggested that they mingle. So why was she now disappointed that he was doing just that?

Because she wanted this whole evening to be over. She wanted this thing with Sam to start.

In the distance she saw Glenda arm in arm with one of the crew of the lifeboat and she wondered if this was the ‘friend’ she’d been talking about. Probably. And she was very pleased for her.

Anna moved among the crowd, chatting, laughing and all the time watching Sam out of the corner of her eye. She watched the way women crowded round him, watched the way they flirted and the way he subtly withdrew from their attentions.

Anna tightened her hand on her glass and felt her heart pound.

She decided that there was nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of knowing that, for tonight at least, Sam McKenna was hers.