More Than Lovers by Jess Dee Read Free Book Online Page B

school?”
    Charlie grinned at her. “That’s a trick question. I didn’t have one. Hated school too much.”
    Sarah knew that. Charlie made no bones about the fact that he’d dropped out of school the minute he was legally able.
    “Right, political beliefs. Labor Party or Liberal?”
    A second before he answered she knew what he was going to say.
    “Neither. Greens.”
    Yep, he’d told her he’d gone the environmental route in the last election and voted for the Greens.
    “Peanut butter or vegemite?”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
    “Just answer.”
    “Peanut butter. Afraid vegemite never rocked my boat—no matter how many times my mum put it on my school sandwiches.”
    She grinned. Her choice too. “Who would you rather work for, a man or a woman?”
    He looked at her askance. “I’d equally hate to work for either, which is why I run my own surf school.”
    Duh, another thing she knew about him. Charlie loved being his own boss. Loved the freedom that came with it and with surfing every day. “Okay, the building’s burning down. You have just minutes to save five things from your unit. What do you get?”
    “My surfboard. The one signed by Kelly Slater.”
    Yeah, he loved that board. Had won it in a charity auction. Charlie never surfed on it though. It had a prime spot beside his front door, so anyone who visited could admire it.
    “My MacBook and iPhone,” Charlie said.
    “Not your iPad?”
    “Nope. I’d need my phone to call emergency Triple Zero. All my data is backed up on my MacBook anyway, and an iPad is cheaper to replace than a computer.”
    “Fourth thing?”
    “The bottle of Blue Label my family gave me when I started Bondi Surf.”
    She’d seen the bottle in his glass liquor cabinet, but had no idea of its significance. “Nice, I’d save that too if I were you. Final item?”
    He gazed at her with solemn blue eyes. “The most important one. You really need to ask?”
    She racked her brain to think what it could be and came up empty. “I really need to ask.”
    “If the building were ablaze, Sar, you’d be the first thing I’d save. Everything else could go up in flames—the surf board, the phone and computer, the whisky—but you I’d fight fire for.”
    Sarah suddenly found it difficult to breathe, difficult to think. The only thing she was able to do was stare back into that startling blue gaze as her heart beat unsteadily. “Th-that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
    He held her gaze for just a second longer, and the intensity of emotion in his eyes made Sarah swallow down a lump she hadn’t known was in her throat.
    But then Charlie blinked and the intensity was gone, making Sarah wonder if she’d imagined it. He winked wickedly at her. “Have to save you, Geek Girl. Who’d I turn to for a booty call if you weren’t downstairs anymore?”
    She snorted. “You’d find someone else, I have no doubt.” There was no shortage of gorgeous beach babes for Charlie to choose from. Sarah had seen plenty of beautiful women call on him over the months. “So, you going to ask me the same question? Which five objects I’d save from my flat?”
    Charlie shrugged. “No need. I know already.”
    “You do?” Yeah, right. “Go on then, tell me.”
    “Number one, your PhD thesis.”
    She nodded. That would definitely be on her list.
    “Number two, the silver candlesticks you picked up at the antique market last summer.”
    She stared at him. “H-how did you know?”
    “You spent a full hour telling me about them the day you found them. I swear, you were more excited about the candlesticks than about the sex that night.”
    She grinned. “Jealous?”
    “Enchanted.”
    “You charmer, you. Go on.”
    “Number three, your grandmother’s pearl necklace.”
    She gaped at him this time, dumbfounded. “You don’t think I’d choose my computer over the necklace?”
    “Never. Whatever is on your computer at home is backed up at work, on the net and