A Sea Change by Veronica Henry Read Free Book Online Page A

towards the faded blue beach hut behindhim. ‘We don’t want to have this discussion in public.’
    For a moment Jenna was tempted to run. She was wearing flip-flops, which were impossible to run in, but she could kick them off. How far would she get? Not far, she knew. And he looked fit.
    She followed him obediently up the slope towards the beach hut. He had broad shoulders tapering down to a slender waist. He was wearing red surfing shorts decorated with flowers although there was nothing girly about him. He was lightly tanned, and his skin glistened where he’d put on suncream. Despite her heart thumping, she managed a smile to herself. Nice work, Jenna – you’ve been caught red-handed by the hottest cop you’ve ever seen.

Chapter Seven
    Jenna followed her captor up to the beach hut. She could see where he’d been sitting, in a red and white striped deckchair. There were a couple of empty bottles of beer, and a pair of binoculars.
    ‘I’ve been watching you all afternoon,’ he said.
    Jenna said nothing. She knew from experience that was the best policy. Don’t confess or deny anything.
    He led her into the hut. Inside it was surprisingly cool. He poured her a glass of water without asking, and she drank thirstily.
    ‘So do you do this a lot?’ he asked.
    Whatever she said was going to sound like a line. If she told him this was the first time she had ever nicked anything, he would say, ‘Of course it is’, in that nasty voice coppers kept specially for such occasions.
    ‘Easier than getting a job,’ she told him defiantly.
    ‘How much did you get?’
    ‘I don’t know . . .’
    He held out his hand to take her bag. She had no choice but to give it to him.
    ‘So,’ she asked him. ‘Where are your handcuffs? Are you going to march me back up the beach past everyone?’
    He pulled out the money. When he saw how much there was, he raised his eyebrows.
    ‘Quite a bit,’ he said, and started to count it. Jenna felt sick with humiliation. Seeing all that money that belonged to other people made her feel even worse than she already did. She just wanted to lie down and curl up into a ball, then go to sleep for ever.
    He was nodding as he counted.
    ‘Two hundred and seventy-five quid,’ he remarked. ‘Beats working for a living, I suppose.’
    His cool grey eyes stared at her.
    ‘No,’ she said. ‘Actually, I’d much rather be working.’ The stress of the last couple of days boiled up inside her. ‘Do you think I want to do this? Do you think I felt good about myself, sitting there on the beach, looking for the people who I thought wouldn’t miss the money?’
    Suddenly her knees went weak and she saw black dots at the corners of her eyes. She swayed for a moment and shut her eyes. She was goingto throw up. She looked around in a panic, her hand on her stomach.
    ‘Here.’ He grabbed the washing-up bowl from the sink and thrust it at her just in time. She took it from him and vomited, her cheeks burning. She wiped her mouth, sweat breaking out on her forehead. It didn’t get any worse than this. Meeting a hot guy, then him catching you stealing, then puking up in front of him.
    What a class act, Jenna thought. She couldn’t look at the bloke. She wanted to crawl away into a corner and die.
    ‘Sorry . . .’ she managed at last.
    ‘You’ve had too much sun,’ he told her, and took away the bowl. ‘Go into the bathroom and clean yourself up. There’s mouthwash.’
    She did as she was told. In the tiny bathroom she gripped the edge of the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was plastered to her forehead and her cheeks were burning. Her head felt as if it was held in a vice. She felt too terrible to worry about what was going to happen to her. She washed her face with cold water, rinsed out her mouth and found the mouthwash. Then she ventured out again, not sure what was going to happen next.
    While she was in the bathroom, Craig looked at the money and tried to decide what to