Harper and the Single Dad by Amy Andrews

Author:Amy Andrews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-03-31T12:26:07+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

HALF AN HOUR LATER, Harper had finished her lime and soda. Apart from some awkwardness there at the beginning with Jarrah, it had been a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and it was still only just after three. The sun was shining and she had the urge to go to the beach. She hadn’t been since her return and she knew within a matter of weeks it’d be too cold and she’d be completely disinclined to go.

And Manly Beach was only a five-minute walk from here. ‘I’m going to go and dip my toes in the ocean,’ she announced. ‘Who’s in?’

‘Yeah, I’ll go,’ Yarran said.

She nodded at him, unperturbed by his eagerness. They were supposed to be old friends, after all, and there were eight others at the table. Except no one else, it appeared, wanted to go, declining one after the other. And it would be hard to backtrack in front of everybody because why wouldn’t she want to go to the beach with her old friend?

So, as everybody departed for their vehicles, she and Yarran walked out of the back gate of the beer garden. She could have changed her mind after everyone had left, begged off with some forgotten chore, but she supposed they should talk about the whole party invite thing.

Plus, now the urge had struck, she really did want to wriggle her toes in the sand.

They didn’t talk much as they made their way to the esplanade navigating around family groups and other clumps of people on the main street. In his white T-shirt, floral boardies and flip-flops, Yarran looked casually sexy and way more appropriately dressed for the beach than she was, but Harper was liking the sun on her shoulders.

An ice-cream truck was parked on the grassy foreshore in the shade of a towering Norfolk pine, just one of the many dotting the sea frontage. Yarran brought two chocolate-dipped soft serves.

‘Thanks,’ Harper said as he passed hers over. She bit into it and sighed as the chocolate made a cracking noise and sweetness burst like rainbows across her taste buds.

They headed for the esplanade where one railing and a drop of several feet were the only things separating them from the sand. The beach wasn’t as crowded as it would have been earlier and most people were concentrated in the area around the yellow and red flags.

The turquoise ocean was relatively calm, waves breaking close to the shore giving swimmers something to play in, while a line of surfers rode the swell out further. Two jet skis traversed the bay further out again, their jets of water spraying in an arc out the back. Laughter floated on the light breeze along with the cry of seagulls squabbling over old chips.

‘Looks cold,’ she mused as she pulled up at the railing and leaned on it.

‘Nah.’ He shook his head. ‘This is perfect swimming weather.’

Harper glanced at him sideways just in time to see him take a swipe of his ice cream—a long slow lick with the flat of his tongue, which brought back a hell of a lot of very non-friendly images.

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