Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Flick woke early hours in the morning while it was still dark.
The weather had been so hot lately that even the night times didn’t provide any respite.
She opened the window and then walked out into the kitchen to get a drink.
The main living area was in darkness but moonlight was pouring through the large windows that overlooked the bay.
She got herself a glass of water and then went to stand in front of the window to admire the view.
The sea was mirror-calm, the cliffs, houses and the moon reflecting off the water perfectly.
Just then Luke’s bedroom door opened and he came out but stopped when he saw her.
She didn’t know what to say to him, it was still awkward between them.
She’d seen him naked and, despite him saying he wasn’t proud of his tackle, he certainly didn’t have anything to be shy about.
She rubbed her eyes, trying to scrub that image from her mind.
They were supposed to pretend that had never happened but she wasn’t sure how she’d do that.
He stuck out a hand. ‘Hello, I’m Luke Donnelly.’
She smiled and shook his hand. ‘Flick Hunter.’
‘Good to meet you, Flick. I was just going to grab something to eat, did you… did you want to join me?’
‘I didn’t bring any food with me but I can contribute towards your food until I get a chance to go shopping for myself.’
He stared at her in confusion. ‘Your nan didn’t tell you anything about me, did she?’
That was a weird response. ‘No, what do I need to know?’
He dismissed it with a wave of his hand. ‘It doesn’t matter. But actually me and your nan always shared the grocery shop and we shared the cooking but we can sort that out later. For now, help yourself to any food in the house and you don’t need to worry about paying me back.’
‘Well, I’ll make sure I replace whatever I use.’
‘You really don’t need to worry about that. I was only going to make myself some peanut butter on toast, would that suit you?’
Her stomach gurgled appreciatively.
‘I’ll take that as a yes,’ Luke said.
He moved into the kitchen area and started making the food.
‘Can I help?’
He shook his head. ‘It won’t take me a few minutes.’
She perched on a bar stool and studied him.
His t- shirt was crumpled, his hair was dark and floppy like he just never really bothered to comb it, his jeans had holes in and, although she knew that you could pay thousands of pounds for distressed-look designer jeans just like those, she knew somehow the holes were from years of wear not some cool designer look.
He was also wearing odd socks, one green, one blue.
But there was something cute and adorable about him, like an oversized puppy.
He was a good-looking man, with warm brown eyes and a nice smile.
He was large too, easily six foot, and with arms that were strong without being too muscly.
She could see there would be many a woman who would want to fix him up.
Not her though, her life was a mess as it was, she wasn’t in any position to fix other people.
Besides, Luke shouldn’t change who he was for any woman.
She was strongly of the belief that people should love you for who you are, not try to make you into something you’re not.
She smiled at his t-shirt which had a picture of a cave troll on it from Lord of the Rings .
‘I was admiring your book collection when I arrived,’ Flick said, deliberately not mentioning that had been seconds before she had seen him naked – even now she was thinking about seeing him in all his glory again.
‘Oh yeah, I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to the books I read.’
‘You’re not a nerd, you have excellent taste. You have some of my favourite books over there. I love Lord of the Rings . ’
He turned to look at her, his eyes narrowed as if he thought she was mocking him. ‘Really?’
‘Honestly, I’ve read it at least three times and not many books get a repeat viewing as there are always so many more out there I want to read. But that, The Hobbit and anything by Pratchett are my go-to favourites.’
‘Oh god, will you marry me?’
She laughed. ‘You might want to hold off on that proposal until you hear my sordid secret.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I think the films are better.’
Luke clutched his heart as if it was suddenly broken. ‘OK, wedding’s off. Actually I love the films too, though I’m not sure if one is better than the other, just different.’
‘That’s a good attitude to take.’
He turned his attention back to the toast for a moment. ‘What’s your favourite Pratchett?’
‘That’s like asking which is your favourite child. What if the other books hear me?’
His smile was wide when he turned back to face her. ‘Just whisper it, they haven’t got very good hearing.’
She loved that he was playing along with her silliness. ‘OK.’ She lowered her voice. ‘ The Bromeliad Trilogy .’
He nodded approvingly. ‘Good choice.’
‘It’s just Pratchett at his very best. I think he was so much more comfortable writing for children than he was for adults. And who doesn’t love a story about gnomes?’
‘Well that’s true.’ He placed a plate down in front of her with two slices of toast slathered in peanut butter and weirdly she’d watched him make a flask of tea.
‘Shall we take these upstairs?’
‘Upstairs?’ She’d been to this house many times as a child, but this was the top floor. There was no upstairs.
‘We finally got the roof terrace that your nan has always wanted.’
Flick gasped. ‘Oh, she was always talking about that but she always had so many plans and projects that never happened or were never finished. And she’s never exactly been flush for cash.’
‘Well I, umm… I did it for her. She kept talking about it and we already had the flat roof up there so we just had to add the railings and the stairs, get it checked and approved by building regulations, it wasn’t a big deal. And it benefits me too so it kind of made sense. Come on, I’ll show you.’
Flick looked around; she hadn’t seen any stairs when she came in.
Luke walked off to his room and returned a few moments later with two jumpers and a blanket. He passed a jumper to her and pulled one on himself.
‘It gets a bit cool up there, even at this time of year.’
He grabbed his plate and the flask and walked towards the linen closet. She frowned in confusion but when she looked inside she saw a spiral staircase going up towards the roof.
‘Stay here a sec, I just need to go up and open the roof hatch.’
She watched him climb up the stairs as she pulled on his soft jumper that smelled wonderfully of him, spicy and fruity. He opened the hatch and then climbed out onto the roof, bending down and gesturing for her to come up.
She got to the top of the stairs and he held out a hand to help her onto the roof.
She looked around. It was quite a large area that was in the shape of a raindrop, the pointy end jutting out towards the sea.
It was surrounded by black wrought-iron railings and filled with potted plants and flowers that scented the air with a beautiful perfume.
Little fairy lights were hung over the railings and twinkled around them.
There was a sofa and a large round sun-lounger-type bed that could probably hold three or four people.
But the view of the bay was the thing that held her attention.
From up here it was completely unhindered, and she could see all the pretty coloured houses, the church tower overlooking the town, the long, white sandy beaches that even in the darkness seemed to glitter under the moonlight.
She had always loved Lovegrove Bay, and that view was a reminder of so many happy memories here. This place was peaceful.
For the first time she wondered if this move could become permanent. She didn’t have a job or a home to return to and her friends had moved from London one by one and, while she was still in touch with a few of them, she didn’t see them very often anymore.
In fact the week before she’d come here she’d celebrated her thirtieth birthday alone.
Her friends had all sent presents and cards and messages of course, but no one had been able to come down to see her.
Flick understood, they all had young families and job commitments but it reinforced for her that she had nothing to go back to London for.
But could this be her new home? She’d have to get a job, once her nan came back and her work at the studio was finished.
And she’d need a home, maybe a one-bedroom flat down in the main part of the town, and that wouldn’t be easy knowing how much places went for round here.
But maybe she could start over, make a life for herself here in Lovegrove Bay.
Luke watched her standing at the railings, her dark hair catching the light of the moon so it glittered like bronze as it moved in a gentle breeze, and thought she looked spectacular.
It had been a long time since he’d been attracted to a woman, or rather since he’d allowed himself to be attracted to one.
Falling in love only led to getting hurt.
And since the whole town had found out who he was, he’d never been able to trust that the women who flirted with him were interested in him for him.
So he’d squirrelled himself away up here, concentrated on his work and hadn’t let silly things like relationships get in the way.
And along came Flick, who was pretty and kind and, more importantly, didn’t know who he was, at least for now.
And while it was very unlikely she would have any feelings for him, especially after their not so auspicious start, at least he knew their friendship right now and the way she treated him was genuine and not led by ulterior motives.
‘This view is wonderful.’
‘It really is.’ He cleared his throat and focussed on the view in question instead. ‘I spend every chance I get up here.’
‘I can see why.’ She moved to the point of the terrace. ‘This is like a ship’s stern.’