Between Before and After by Amanda Dick Read Free Book Online

auburn hair. Desire rose up in his throat and he had to force himself to look away before he had some serious explaining to do.
    He was unable to avert his eyes for long, and a moment later he was watching her again. This was torture. He felt like a love-struck teenager. She looked like a movie star from the 1950s, her long hair flowing behind her as she ran towards the water. He had to resist the urge to dive in and swim straight over to her. He cleared his throat, staring down at his feet in the water as he forced out a long, slow breath. He tried to think of something else, anything else, but it was a fruitless exercise. He found himself glancing up once more as shrieks of surprise echoed through the bay.
    Max and Gavin chuckled.
    “Suckers!” Max yelled.
    “You lying bastard!” Lacey gasped, standing bolt upright. “It’s freezing! ”
    Kate submerged herself up to her neck. “You’ll keep, Lonergan!” she yelled, flipping him the bird.
    Finn turned to grin at Max. “Better sleep with one eye open tonight, mate.”
    Max frowned. “Shit – should’ve gotten them to bring another six-pack out with them.”
    Gavin roared with laughter.
    Kate rinsed the salt water out of her hair in the bathroom. She gathered her long hair up and squeezed it out, wrapping it in a towel. Standing in front of the mirror, she reapplied her lip gloss and tried not to think of the way Finn’s chest glistened when it was wet. It was ridiculous how it made her feel and she was embarrassed just thinking about it now. Much the same as the way she felt after their close encounter at New Years.
    Determinedly putting it out of her mind, she went back to her bedroom. As she changed back into a skirt and t-shirt, her mind wandered into dangerous territory once more. She wondered what it would be like to run her hands over his bare chest, brushing those pesky rivulets of water away.
    “For God’s sake,” She rolled her eyes at her reflection in the mirror above the dressing table. “Girlfriend, you need to get a grip – and a bloody life.”
    She pulled the towel off her head and finger-combed her wet hair, quickly applying styling product before going back to the bathroom to hang up her towel. By the time she appeared in the kitchen, she was more or less composed.
    “You need a hand in here?” she asked Lacey, who was busy making dinner.
    “Actually, I think it’s pretty much sorted, thanks.” Lacey smiled over at her briefly, before turning her attention back to the cheese she was grating. “Fancy pouring us a glass of wine though?”
    “That would have to be one of your better ideas.”
    Kate took a couple of the larger mismatched wine glasses out of the cupboard and grabbed the wine bottle from the fridge. A 1960s top forty compilation was playing, albums spread around the old radiogram in the corner of the room. Max was sprawled on one of the long, sleek, very 1970s sofas in the living room. With a can of beer on his stomach and his eyes closed, he tapped his bare feet in time to the music. Kate smiled to herself as she poured the wine.
    “He seems pretty relaxed,” she commented, just loud enough for Lacey to hear.
    Lacey shot a quick glance at Max and returned the smile, nodding. “It’s good isn’t it? To see him again, I mean. I was getting worried about him. It was like he dropped off the face of the earth for a while there.”
    “Yeah. I was thinking I’d get here and he’d be a no-show again.”
    “I know – me too.”
    Kate placed a full glass of wine in front of Lacey and took hers into the living room, sitting down on the end of the sofa Max was lounging on. He opened his eyes immediately.
    “Hey you,” He rearranged himself so she had more room. “You’re looking gorgeous, by the way. Love the swimsuit – is it new?”
    Finn and Gavin were lost in conversation out on the deck. She refused to allow herself to be drawn into feeling guilty about a new swimsuit, or the reason she bought it. The best