Left You Dead

107

The grass was wet and Niall Paternoster was only wearing suede loafers, his brand-new, very expensive, tasselled beige ones, and they were going to be ruined. They were already soaked through after just a few paces, making his bare feet inside them wet, too. His hair was being torn from its roots and his eyes were watering from the wind.

What was so special about a moonlit sea that was worth ruining his shoes for? If he’d known he was going to have to traipse through uncut grass, he’d have worn boots — he’d only put these on because they’d be easy to kick off. Who the hell wanted to waste valuable time undoing laces? Quick release! It was for the same reason, speed — as well as a surprise for her — and turn-on for him — that he’d gone commando tonight.

His foot squelched in something — mud, please God, not dog’s mess. Yech. Why was she putting him through this? He didn’t really give a monkey’s about the view, he’d not come all this way to look at that. The only view he wanted was Rebecca’s gorgeous face, while he held her body in his arms.

Honestly, he sighed to himself, striding on towards her, feeling excited and annoyed in almost equal measures. ‘Hey!’ he called out. ‘Hey, gorgeous! This view had better be worth it!’

She didn’t react. She just continued facing out to sea.

Was it the view that was distracting her? he wondered.

When he was just a few feet from her, about to put his arms around her, she turned sharply to face him, brandishing the umbrella like a weapon.

And he froze.