Chapter Fourteen
‘I thought it would be a good idea to rent until I decide exactly what to do,’ Ruan said after a pause that Tammy thought had gone on a little too long.
‘So you haven’t decided whether to stay in Cornwall yet?’ she said lightly.
‘Well, kind of yes. Just not exactly where to live.’
‘That makes sense,’ she said. ‘Though I’m surprised you haven’t rented some swanky Airbnb. The whole county is swamped with them these days.’
‘I can’t afford to pay holiday let rates for a long-term let,’ he said. ‘Even a medium-term let. The caravan suits me. For now.’ He shivered even though Tammy thought the sun was warm. ‘I’m getting cold sitting here on the damp sand. Shall we get up and walk?’
‘Sure. You probably got chilled out on the water.’
‘Maybe.’
Although he was smiling as he spoke, Tammy sensed she’d pushed him on his choice of accommodation enough and he wanted an excuse to mark an end to that topic of conversation. She didn’t want to sound as if she was judging his choices or let her own problems with a permanent home become an issue.
‘Let’s walk towards the castle,’ she said and he nodded his approval.
‘Don’t you miss anything about the city at all?’ she asked teasingly as they strolled along the beach. ‘This part of Cornwall is hardly sophisticated for a city boy like you. Like you say, it’s mostly potatoes and surfing.’
‘I don’t know,’ he said, stopping to gaze out to sea. ‘It has other attractions … and I don’t mean the castle.’
Her words dried in her throat and every nerve ending tingled. The sun was directly behind him and she blinked, almost unable to see his face.
‘Does it?’ she murmured. ‘I’m glad you decided to come down here too. And we’ve established there are no secret lovers, no skeletons waiting to spring out of a cupboard and sabotage everything.’
‘I guess we’re free to take this forward, then?’ Ruan asked.
She tried to laugh away the intensity of her attraction to him, afraid it was more than she could handle. ‘You make it sound like a work project.’
She was dazzled by the light behind him until he shifted slightly and she could see his face again.
‘Do I?’ he said, raising his eyebrows. ‘Because work was the very last thing on my mind.’
Heat flooded her face. ‘Good,’ she said. ‘Because it sounds as if we both deserve some fun this summer.’ She tried not to emphasise the ‘f’ word, even though she was hinting that they should keep things light and flirty. Nothing serious, a summer of fun. She could handle that.
Their fingers brushed and entwined. Strange, but her body felt as if it was shimmering like the myriad of sun sparkles on the sea. ‘I like the idea of fun and I think getting together could be beneficial to both of us.’
‘What kind of benefits?’ His hand was so warm in hers and felt as if it belonged there. As if it always had and always should – and that scared her.
‘Oh, I don’t know … a good time?’ He turned his smoky blue gaze on her and leaned a little closer. ‘Mutual pleasure, hopefully?’
She licked her lips, realising too late that she’d done it. ‘That’s something I could buy into.’
She knew they were going to kiss but who leaned in first, she would never be able to remember. In a heartbeat, his mouth met hers and they were fused in a kiss that tasted of salt and summer, of promise and possibility.
He rested his hands on her waist, creating a delicious tension in her body that was almost painfully pleasurable.
She flattened her palms on his back, exploring the firm muscles under his T-shirt.
The breeze brushed against her cheek as Ruan carried on kissing her, exploring her mouth with his tongue.
Snatches of sound reached her – shouts, gulls crying – reminding her they were on the beach, in full of view of everyone, and nothing more could happen even though she wanted it to go much further …
‘Hey, Ruan!’
At the sound of the man’s voice, Ruan grimaced, mouthed ‘Sorry’ and glared at the stocky man with a dripping wet beard who was casting a shadow over them.
‘Not interrupting anything, I hope?’ he said, a cheeky smirk on his face.
‘No, Kane,’ he ground out. ‘We were just having a boring chat about tax laws.’
Struggling to come down from that kiss, Tammy nibbled her lip, unsure whether to be annoyed or amused and settling for the former. She was aware her face must be red.
‘Well, if you want to get rid of someone, that’s a good way to do it.’
‘I don’t want to get rid of anyone,’ Ruan shot back, sounding annoyed.
‘I’m joking. Are you going to introduce us?’
‘Tammy,’ Ruan said wearily, ‘this is Kane, aka a total pain in the arse. He also owns the Jellyfish bar in St Ives.’
Kane bowed. ‘Pleased to meet you, Tammy. You look a bit familiar.’
Tammy managed to come to her senses and smile. ‘You might have seen me working on some sand art on Porthmeor and Porthminster beaches. I’ve done at least four commissions round there, including one in front of your bar.’
‘Oh, of course! I remember seeing one of your designs and I followed you on Insta. Great work. Ruan’s obviously told you all about me already?’
‘Everything,’ Tammy joked.
‘I haven’t told her anything,’ Ruan said. ‘We had other things on our minds.’
‘I guessed that,’ Kane said with an eyebrow-raise.
‘Did you want to talk to me about something important?’ Ruan said pointedly, amusing Tammy.
‘Only to ask if you wanted to do another session. Unless you’ve finished for the day. We’re going out again if you want to join us. Conditions couldn’t be better and while you were on a roll, I thought I’d ask.’
‘Um.’
Tammy could see Ruan was torn, so she made the decision for him.
‘You should go for it,’ she said. ‘I need to get back to plan my festival designs anyway and I have two birthday commissions this week as well as working in the gallery.’
‘OK,’ Ruan said politely, but with an edge that told Tammy he was eager to be alone with her again.
‘See you in a bit then?’ Kane asked.
‘I’ll be there in ten.’
After his friend left, Ruan said, ‘Sorry about that,’ and they walked back to the car together. ‘Kane has no filter and no tact. His timing is terrible.’
‘It is,’ Tammy said lightly, ‘but it’s OK because I really do need to get stuck into this festival planning and do some trial runs.
It’s only three weeks away! In fact, I’ve had an idea.
You asked me to watch you kitesurf – why don’t you come and see me practise?
’ The words tumbled out before she’d had time to think.
‘I’d like that,’ Ruan answered without hesitation, making her feel warm and fuzzy again. ‘Where and when do you suggest?’
‘There’s a quiet area at the northern end of Godrevy beach and the tides and weather forecast look good for later in the week. Early evening if you can get away from the job?’
‘Sound great, though I have a working dinner with some clients on Wednesday.’ He grimaced. ‘I can’t get out of that one.’
‘The tide’s right again on Thursday if that suits you better?’ she said.
‘Great. I’ll be there.’
‘Meet you on the beach at six thirty? You can have a go too if you like.’
‘Me?’ He burst out laughing. ‘I can’t create anything.’
‘All you have to do is drag the rake around.’
‘I know there’s way more to it than dragging a rake and you’d be surprised how I could get that wrong.’
She patted his arm. ‘Don’t look so terrified. I can guide you and, if I’m honest, I’ve never created anything that didn’t have the odd mistake. It’s part of the process. I’d never try anything if I worried about achieving perfection.’
Listen to me, she thought, acting all cool and confident. She might be in her element creating a design for her own pleasure on her local beach – or even feel competent to do a proposal – but OceanFest was a huge leap in scale and exposure.
‘See you on Thursday, then,’ she said.
‘Can’t wait.’
Once more, they held each other and their lips met in a kiss that was briefer than before, yet all the more tantalising for its brevity. The promise of so much more was enough to make her twitchy all the way home.
Today had only made her surer that, despite first appearances, they had a lot in common.
There was more to life than work; they shared a passion for the sea; and they weren’t prepared to sacrifice their lives for work and money.
Not to mention the physical connection: the sight of him, wet and tousled and in a wetsuit, had sent her heart rate soaring.
She could hardly wait until Thursday evening and that scared her.
She wasn’t sure which worried her most: the festival commissions or the fact she felt a pull of attraction to Ruan more powerful than she might be able to handle.