A Perfect Cornish Escape by Phillipa Ashley Page 0,69
why are we wasting time here?’
Reminding herself that she still had a lot of exploring to do where Dirk’s body was concerned, she finished her cooling coffee in one gulp and reached for her purse, throwing some money down on the table. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
Dirk added notes from his wallet to her half of the bill and pinned them down with a saucer.
Even as she hurried home, with his arm at her back, Tiff couldn’t help reflecting on her words to him. No matter how much she tried to pretend that it was only the sex making her want to spend every moment with him, it wasn’t the whole story. She knew too well that if she let herself like him any more than she did, she’d be in trouble. Falling for Dirk would mean a painful exit from Porthmellow when the day surely came.
Hadn’t she learned her lesson with Warner – not to get too involved with a man, however appealing? Dirk was no Warner, in fact he was the opposite, not to mention far more gorgeous – but that made him equally as dangerous.
Despite all her vows to keep things casual, she floated up the slope to the cottages in her heels as if she had wings. She didn’t need to be reminded of the way she’d trudged up to his house on her first day, expecting a pound-shop Heathcliff. It was impossible not to recognise that, since then, Mr Dirk ’n’ Stormy had got under her skin in ways she’d never even dreamed.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lachlan stood in the doorway of Marina’s cottage, with a leaflet in his hand.
‘I picked up this flyer in the village,’ he said, handing it to her. ‘Some outfit called Stargazey Pie is running an evening cookout called Pie on the Beach.’
‘Oh yes, that’s Sam Lovell’s mobile business. Some of the staff at college were talking about it today. Sounds good. It’s at Seaholly Cove, isn’t it?’ She glanced at the leaflet but was more intrigued by his sudden appearance on her doorstep. It had been a couple of days since their heart to heart at his place and she’d wondered if – when – they might meet up again.
‘Yes – this Saturday. You take your own plates and glasses, and chairs or a picnic rug. They dish up the food and you eat under the stars on the sand. There’s a menu on their website … if you fancy it, that is.’
‘Saturday night?’ Marina said. ‘Oh …’
‘Is it a problem? If you’re busy, we could do something another time …’
‘No. No … Saturday’s fine. It’s OK.’ She smiled. ‘More than OK. I’d like that.’
His expression lit up and she realised he’d probably genuinely been unsure of her response. They were still skirting around each other, despite their previous conversations. She did feel that Lachlan was holding back more than her, but perhaps that was because she was further down a path than he was. But the fact he’d invited her to a communal event was a promising sign for a man who said he wanted to ‘hide away from the world’. She certainly didn’t want to put him off, now he’d decided to venture out.
‘Great. I’ll book two places and call for you around six so we can walk down together?’ he said. ‘I’ll bring some wine and glasses, shall I?’
‘I’ll bring the plates and a rug then.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’ He left, and she heard him whistling softly once he’d gone a few yards. Unable to wipe a silly grin off her face, she went out to the garden to take a few calming breaths.
She looked out to sea. On the Lizard point, the lighthouse was a silhouette in the evening light. There was something that she hadn’t told Lachlan and had no intention of revealing in case it shattered the rapport they were building.
Saturday night would be the seventh anniversary of Nate’s disappearance – and the day that, legally, he would be officially considered gone forever.
Marina told Tiff about the beach date while they were both keeping watch at the lookout station the next evening.
‘Wow. Well done. I’m very happy you two finally saw sense. I like Lachlan, even from the few times I’ve met him … I saw him pay for an old lady’s shopping in the Co-Op the other day because she’d forgotten her purse.’
‘What? You didn’t say anything before,’ Marina said
‘Sorry, I must have forgotten. I told him it was a nice thing to do but he