glanced downward, taking in his athletic build, his fitted jeans that defined many of his muscles. The sun glinted off something on the guy’s hand and she had her answer. A band of gold. Said it all, really.
‘Can I call you Ally?’ Adam bounced up in front of her.
Blink, blink. Refocus on the younger version now that the older one was out of bounds. ‘Of course you can.’ As if they were going to see each other again. Though they might, she realised, if Flynn brought his son to the beach often. She’d be walking along here most days that she wasn’t caught up with delivering babies and talking to pregnant mums.
Hopefully, if they ran into each other again, Flynn would have his wife with him. A wife would certainly dampen the flare of attraction that had snagged her, and which should’ve evaporated the moment she’d seen that ring. Flings were the way to go, but never, ever with a man already involved with someone else. She didn’t do hurting for the sake of it, or for any reason at all, come to think of it.
Guess she’d have to keep looking for someone to warm the other half of that bed. Whoa, Ally, you haven’t been here more than an hour. What’s the hurry?
The thing was, if she was playing bed games there wouldn’t be long, empty nights that had her dreaming of the impossible. She could shove the overpowering sense of unworthiness aside as she and a man made each other happy for a short while, and then bury her face in the pillow while he left. Every parting, even as casual as her relationships were, was touched with a longing for the life she craved, had never known, and was too afraid to try for.
Flynn Reynolds dragged his gaze away from the most attractive woman he’d met in a long while and focused on his son. Except Adam stood directly in front of her, talking nonstop, and Flynn’s gaze easily moved across the tiny gap to a stunning pair of legs clad in skin-tight jeans. His breathing hitched in his throat. Oh, wow. Gorgeous.
The woman—Ally, she has a name—laughed at something Adam said, a deep, pure laugh that spoke of enjoyment with no hidden agenda. Very refreshing, considering most women he met these days seemed intent on luring him into their clutches with false concern about him and Adam. He hated it that many women believed the way to attract him was by being overfriendly to his son. What they didn’t get was that Adam saw through them almost as quickly as he did.
What they also didn’t get was that Flynn wasn’t interested. Not at all. So why was his gaze cruising over the length of this curvy woman with a smile that had him smiling back immediately, even when it wasn’t directed at him? Especially since he apparently didn’t do smiling very much these days.
He looked directly at his son. ‘Time we made tracks for home. The sun’s nearly gone and it will be cold soon.’ Any excuse to cut this short and put some space between him and Ally before his brain started thinking along the lines of wanting to get to know her better. He wasn’t ready for another woman in his life. Certainly wouldn’t have time for years to come, either.
‘Do we have to?’
‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’
What I’m really afraid of is staying to talk to Ally too long and ending up inviting her home to share dinner with us. If she’s free and available. As if a woman as attractive as her would be seriously single. The absence of rings on her fingers didn’t mean a thing.
He looked around and groaned. ‘Sheba,’ he yelled. ‘Come here.’
Too late. The mutt was belly deep in the sea, leaping and splashing without any concern for how cold the water had to be.
Adam ran down to the water’s edge and stood with his hands on his skinny hips. ‘Sheba, Dad says we’re going home. You want your dinner?’
Beside Flynn, Ally chuckled. ‘Good luck with that.’
Glancing at her, he drew a deep breath. Her cheeks had flushed deep pink when the mutt had dumped her on the sand, and the colour still remained, becoming rosier every time she laughed. Which was often.
He noticed her rubbing her hip. ‘You did hurt yourself.’
She jammed her hand in her pocket. ‘Just a hard landing, nothing to worry about.’
‘You’re sure?’ He’d hate it if Sheba had caused some damage.
‘Absolutely.’
Adam and Sheba romped up to him. Then the dog did what wet dogs did—shook herself hard, sending salty spray over everyone. Now Ally would complain and walk away. But no. Her laughter filled the air and warmed the permanent chill in his soul. It would be unbelievably easy to get entangled with someone like her. Make that with this woman in particular.
He sighed his disappointment. There was no room in his life for a woman, no matter how beautiful. Not even for a short time. Adam and work demanded all his attention. Besides, how did a guy go about dating? He hadn’t been in that market for so long he wouldn’t know where to start. Was there a dating book for dummies? I don’t need one. It’s not happening. He gave himself a mental slap. All these questions and doubts because of a woman he’d met five minutes ago. He was in need of a break. That was his real problem. Solo parenting and work gobbled up all his time and energy.
‘Let’s go.’ He grabbed Sheba’s collar and turned in the direction of their street. ‘Nice meeting you.’ He nodded abruptly at the woman who’d been the first one to catch his interest since Anna had died two years ago. It had to be a fleeting interest; one that would’ve disappeared by the time he reached home and became immersed in preparing dinner, folding washing and getting ready for work tomorrow. Damn it all. It could’ve been fun getting to know her.
‘Bye, Ally,’ Adam called, as they started walking up the beach.
She stood watching them, both hands in her jacket pockets. ‘See you around.’ Was that a hint of wistfulness in her voice?
‘Okay,’ Adam answered, apparently reluctant to leave her. ‘Tomorrow?’
‘Adam,’ Flynn growled. ‘Come on.’ He aimed for the road, deliberately stamping down on the urge to invite the woman home to share dinner. He did not need anyone else’s problems. He did not need anyone else, full stop.
Anyway, she probably wouldn’t like baked beans on toast.
Baked beans. He only had to close his eyes to hear Anna saying how unhealthy they were. They’d eaten lots of vegetables for lunch so he could relax the rules tonight. Beans once in a while wouldn’t hurt Adam, and would save him some time. Who knew? He might get to watch the late news. Life was really looking up.
PLASTERING ON HER best smiley face the next morning, Ally stepped inside the medical centre, unzipping her jacket as she crossed to the reception desk. ‘Hi, I’m Alyssa Parker.’ Lucas always wrote her full name on her credentials when sending them to medical centres. It was a technicality he adhered to, and she hated it. ‘Ally for short. I’m covering for Kat while she’s away.’
A man straightened from the file he was reading and she gasped as the piercing blue eyes that had followed her into sleep last night now scanned her. Her smile widened. ‘Flynn.’ The buzz she’d felt standing by this man yesterday returned in full force, fizzing through her
