rueful. “Sorry. That wasn’t meant for you.”
“I’d be pissed, too, if I were you. Six years is a long time to lie to someone you share a bed with.”
“Yeah.” He dug his hands deeper in his pockets, hunching his shoulders around his ears.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have to.”
“There’s not much to say. I got married thinking I would stay that way until one of us was carted off in a wooden box. Instead, I get to make lists of my assets for the lawyers.” He shrugged. “It sucks.”
She studied him out of the corner of her eye. The wind was playing havoc with his hair, ruffling it and pushing it this way and that. He stared out at the ocean, his expression distant and stony—and yet he was still the most vivid, alive thing on the beach, with his rich chestnut hair and long stride. For reasons she didn’t care to examine, she wanted to erase that air of disappointment.
“Tell me about your music. When did you start playing?” she asked.
The glance he shot her told her he was fully aware that she was steering the conversation to more neutral ground, but he followed her lead. They walked and he told her how he’d learned the guitar in primary school to impress a girl and discovered that not only was it an awesome pickup tool, it was also something that came easily to him.
“Don’t tell me you’re one of those revolting people who can hear any song and then play it a few seconds later?” she asked.
“I’m afraid to answer that question honestly for fear of not making it back from this walk alive.”
“I took violin lessons for five years with a girl like you. She made me feel as though I had ten thumbs and a lobotomy.”
“I’d like to point out—again—that I am utterly inept when it comes to map reading and general direction finding. If that makes you feel any better.”
“It does, marginally. Thank you for reminding me.”
“Can I ask why you persevered for five years if you hated it so much?”
“Overachieving child of overachieving parents. None of us knew when to quit.”
“Funny. I would never have pegged you as an overachiever.” His expression was so deadpan, his tone so dry she might almost have believed he was serious—except for the teasing light in his eyes.
“You should know that overachievers are known for not having a great sense of humor about their overachieving,” she said, matching his expression and tone.
“Noted. Next time I will make sure to bring along a laugh track so you know when I’ve been funny.”
She couldn’t stop herself from smiling then. Her instincts had been right about this man—he was nice. A real, decent, sincere man.
He was also rather disturbingly sexy in a rugged, down-to-earth way that she didn’t run into a lot in the highly groomed, fake-tanned world of television.
Edie Somers must have had rocks in her head to have had this man in her life and her bed and thrown it all away.
They’d reached the halfway mark and she checked to make sure the dogs were still in sight. They were, running in and out of the surf, chasing waves and each other.
“I know it’s almost un-Australian to say this, but I prefer the beach in winter,” she said. “No crowds, no screaming kids, no rubbish in the sand.”
“You’re right. This arctic wonderland is infinitely better.”
More dryness. She was beginning to recognize it as his stock in trade.
His collar had flopped down and he stood it up again, a meager defense against the wind.
“If you’re cold, we can turn back,” she suggested.
“I’m fine. Besides, I want to see what’s on the other side of those rocks.”
“I’ll give you three guesses.”
“More rocks?”
“Bingo.”
“Still. I think I need to see that for myself.”
He glanced at her and she saw he was enjoying himself. Which was nice, because she was enjoying herself, too.
They talked some more about his music, then about her work. He peppered her with questions about the game show she’d worked on before Time and Again, feigning outrage when he learned that some of the segments were recorded several times for technical reasons. It wasn’t until they’d reached the rocks at the end of the beach and he offered her a hand to clamber to the top of them that she realized how cold he was, his fingers icy against hers.
“This is ridiculous. I should have warned you it’s brutal out here. You need to go home