Miss Prim's Greek Island Fling

He remained silent.

‘I don’t have half the talents of the artisans we visited today.’ She drummed her fingers against her thigh. ‘But I do have pretty good admin and organisational skills. I know how to run a business. I have my savings.’

She pressed her hands to her stomach. ‘And it’d be so exciting to showcase local arts and crafts in my shop—nobody else is doing that so I’d not be going into competition with another business on the island. I’d be careful not to stock anything that was in direct competition with the bookshop or the clothing boutiques. And I could bring in some gorgeous bits and bobs that aren’t available here.’

Her face started to glow. ‘And if everyone else here thought it was a good idea, it’d be really fun to help organise a festival. All my friends would come. And maybe my family could take time off from their busy schedules.’

She leapt to her feet, paced up and down in front of him. ‘I could do this.’

‘You could. But the question is...’

She halted and leaned towards him. ‘What’s the question?’

He rested back on his hands. ‘The question is, are you going to?’

Fire streaked through her eyes, making them sparkle more brilliantly than the water in the harbour. ‘Uh-huh.’ She thrust out her chin, and then a grin as wide as the sky itself spread across her face. And Finn felt as if he were scudding along on an air current, sailing through the sky on some euphoric cloud of warmth and possibility.

‘I’m going to do it.’

She did a little dance on the spot. She grinned at him as if she didn’t know what else to do. And then she leaned forward and, resting her hands on his shoulders, kissed him. Her lips touched his, just for a moment. It was a kiss of elation and excitement—a kiss of thanks, a kiss between friends. And it was pure and magical, and it shifted the axis of Finn’s world.

She eased away, her lips parted, her breath coming fast and her eyes dazed, the shock in her face no doubt reflecting the shock in his. She snatched her hands away, smoothed them down the sides of her skirt and it was as if the moment had never been.

Except he had a feeling it was branded on his brain for all time. Such a small contact shouldn’t leave such an indelible impression.

‘Thank you, Finn.’

He shook himself. ‘I didn’t do anything.’

She raised an eyebrow and then shook her head and collapsed back down beside him on the sea wall. ‘Don’t say anything. I know it needs more practice. And you did do something—something big. You helped me see things differently. You gave me the nudge I needed and...’ She turned and met his gaze, her smile full of excitement. ‘I’m going to change my life. I’m going to turn it upside down. And I can’t wait.’

Something strange and at odds like satisfaction and loss settled in the pit of his stomach, warring with each other for pre-eminence. He stoutly ignored it to grin back and clap his hands. ‘Right! This calls for champagne.’

CHAPTER TEN

AUDRA WOKE EARLY, and the moment her eyes opened she found herself grinning. She drummed her heels against the mattress with a silent squeal as her mind sparked and shimmered with plans and purpose.

She threw on some clothes and her running shoes, before picking her way down to the beach and starting to run.

To run.

Unlike the previous three mornings—when she and Finn had been avoiding each other—she didn’t time herself. She ran because she had an excess of energy and it seemed a good idea to get rid of some of it. The decisions she was about to make would impact the rest of her life and, while joy and excitement might be driving her, she needed to make decisions based on sound business logic. She wanted this dream to last forever—not just until her money ran out and she’d bankrupted herself.

She reached the sheer wall of cliff at the beach’s far end and leaned against it, bracing her hands on her knees, her breath coming hard and fast. Who’d have thought she could run all this way? She let out a whoop. Who knew running could feel so freeing?

She pulled off her shoes and socks and ambled back along the shoreline, relishing the wash of cool water against her toes as she made her way back towards the villa.

When she walked in, Finn glanced up from where he slouched against the breakfast bar, mug of coffee clasped in one hand. His eyes widened as they roved over her. He straightened. ‘Have you been for a run?’

Heat mounted her cheeks. ‘I, uh...’

One side of his mouth hooked up in that grin, and her blood started to pound harder than when she’d been running. ‘That’s not a “truth or dare” question, Audra. A simple yes or no will suffice.’