Miss Prim's Greek Island Fling

He leaned towards her and she almost lost her train of thought. ‘Um, then...it follows that you’d better never marry a woman who’s into extreme sports or...or has a dangerous job because if she dies then you wouldn’t be able to survive it.’

His jaw dropped.

‘And from the look on your face, it’s clear you don’t think of yourself as that kind of person.’

* * *

He didn’t.

Finn stared at Audra, not sure why his heart pounded so hard, or why something chained inside him wanted to suddenly break free.

She retied her ponytail, not quite meeting his eyes. ‘I mean, not everyone wants to marry and that’s fine. Not everyone wants to have kids, and that’s fine too. Maybe you’re one of those people.’

‘But?’

She bit her bottom lip and when she finally released it, it was plump from where she’d worried at it. She shrugged. ‘But maybe you’re not.’

‘You think I want to marry and have kids?’

Blue eyes met his, and they had him clenching up in strange ways. ‘I have no idea.’ She leaned towards him the tiniest fraction. ‘Wouldn’t you eventually like to have children?’

‘I don’t know.’ He’d never allowed himself to think about it before. ‘You?’

‘I’d love to be a mother one day.’

‘Would you marry someone obsessed with extreme sports?’

‘I wouldn’t marry someone obsessed with anything, thank you very much. I don’t want my life partner spending all his leisure time away from me—whether it’s for rock climbing, stamp collecting or golf. I’d want him to want to spend time with me.’

Any guy lucky enough to catch Audra’s eye would be a fool not to spend time with her. Lots of time. As much as he could.

‘I don’t want all of his leisure time, though.’ She glared as if Finn had accused her of exactly that. ‘There are girlfriends to catch up with over coffee and cake...or cocktails. And books to read.’

Speaking of books, he hoped she had reading down on today’s agenda. He wouldn’t mind getting back to his book. ‘But you’d be okay with him doing some rock climbing, hang-gliding or golf?’

‘As long as he doesn’t expect me to take up the sport too. I mean, me dangling from a thin rope off a sheer cliff or hurtling off a sheer cliff in a glorified paper plane—what could possibly go wrong?’

A bark of laughter shot out of him. ‘We’re going to assume that this hypothetical life partner of yours would insist on you getting full training before attempting anything dangerous.’

She wrinkled her nose. ‘Doesn’t change the fact I’m not the slightest bit interested in rock climbing, hang-gliding or golf. I wouldn’t want to go out with someone who wanted to change me.’

He sagged back on the wooden bench, air leaving his lungs. ‘Which is why you wouldn’t change him.’ It didn’t mean she wouldn’t worry when her partner embarked on some risky activity, but she’d accept them for who they were. She’d want them to be happy.

Things inside him clenched up again. So what if laps around a racetrack had started to feel just plain boring—round and round in endless monotonous laps? Yawn. And so what if he couldn’t remember why he’d thought hurtling off that ski jump had been a good idea. It didn’t mean he wanted to change his entire lifestyle. It didn’t mean anything. Yet...

He’d never let himself think about the possibility of having children before. He moistened suddenly dry lips. He wasn’t sure he should start now either.

And yet he couldn’t let the matter drop. ‘Do you think about having children a lot?’

Her brow wrinkled. ‘Where are you going with this? It’s not like I’m obsessed or anything. It’s not like it’s constantly on my mind. But I am twenty-seven. Ideally, if I were going to start a family, I’d want that to happen in the next ten years. And I wouldn’t want to get married and launch immediately into parenthood. I’d want to enjoy married life for a bit first.’

She frowned then. ‘What?’ he demanded, curious to see inside this world of hers—unsure if it attracted or repelled him.

‘I was just thinking about this hypothetical partner you’ve landed me with. I hope he understands that things change when babies come along.’

Obviously, but...um. ‘How?’

She selected a brazil nut before holding the bowl out to him. ‘Suddenly you have way less time for yourself. Cocktail nights with the girls become fewer and farther between.’

He took a handful of nuts. ‘As do opportunities to throw yourself off a cliff, I suppose?’