it, impatient when the road stole away the view, then grateful as it rewarded her again with more rugged beauty. She bound her wildly whipping curls in a clip, stray tendrils breaking free to tease her cheeks, and unknowingly, his peripheral vision.
They passed signs for towns such as Heart 's Desire, Heart's Delight, Dildo. She giggled adolescently at that one. He rolled his eyes, his mouth quirking into a teasing grin, and that ridiculously sexy dimple deepened in his right cheek, sending a whoosh through her stomach.
She didn 't think that there was any other place in the world with such colourful names, or homes, or people. They passed fishing villages, jetties busy with activity, boats of all shapes and sizes bobbing happily both near to shore and far out on the sea. Retired vessels rested aground, their worn wooden ribs bleached, sunning themselves in their well earned repose. Seagulls, gannets, and a multitude of birds for which she had no names swooped and dove, communing then scattering in their never ending search for fish.
They drove through Clarenville, a metropolitan population about its daily business, a city like many others she had known. As they started and stopped at lights and signs, she longed to get back to the road by the sea. She hated to waste a second of this day looking at coffee shop signs and grocery store fronts. The next half hour tested her patience. As they drove inland she chewed down her irritation. Always one to have control, she realized that this was a good lesson to learn. Just because she wasn't the one at the wheel didn't mean she couldn't enjoy what the day was giving. And just because they were heading away from the sea didn't mean that she wouldn't see it again.
And then she did. God, it was beautiful. They wound around the shore, the sun glinting like diamonds on a dark velvety cloth of ocean. Would she ever tire of looking at the sea?
" Hungry?" he broke into her silent reverie.
" Famished! I hadn't even thought of it 'til you said the word, but now I could eat a horse."
" How 'bout a moose?"
She jerked her eyes to him. "I didn't think you would eat moose. I got the impression you were against that particular food group."
He laughed at her , and the sound rolled through her like rich, mulled wine. "Whatever would give ye that notion?"
" That night I first came to town…you got so upset when I'd nearly hit one, I just thought you were like some kind of animal activist, or vegetarian or something."
He laughed again . The crazy woman. She had thought that he was angry that she had possibly harmed a moose. Recalling his reaction, he sobered. "No, 'twas the other way around. It upset me that ye could have been so foolish as t' have rammed the thing and hurt yer self."
" Really. Huh. All this time I thought you held it against me that I could have jeopardized a moose's life."
He started to explain . Then stopped. He wanted this day to be about getting to know her, not about her learning why he over-reacted to her near miss. He didn't want her pity. Didn't want it to colour how she might see him. He just wanted them to enjoy a trip around the bay.
" How's this look?" He pulled the car into the small gravel lot of a clapboard shop. The Salty Cod invited them inside with deliciously scented promises.
" Oh, man. It smells fabulous." She slipped out of the car and turned toward the bay. "Iceberg! Iceberg !" she shrieked. "Kane! Look! Right there in the bay! Oh, my God! Look at it!" She bounced up and down, grabbing his arm and smiling like a loon.
Kane 's eyes crinkled and his laugh rumbled out of his chest in slow waves. "Spitfire, that's only a wee bergy bit, not even a growler. Wait 'til ye see a real iceberg." His arm snaked around her waist and he gave her a little squeeze. "Come on, let's feed that wild imagination o' yers as well as yer empty stomach."
They took a table in the restaurant and he pulled out the chair facing the window for Laura. Excitement danced in her
They passed signs for towns such as Heart 's Desire, Heart's Delight, Dildo. She giggled adolescently at that one. He rolled his eyes, his mouth quirking into a teasing grin, and that ridiculously sexy dimple deepened in his right cheek, sending a whoosh through her stomach.
She didn 't think that there was any other place in the world with such colourful names, or homes, or people. They passed fishing villages, jetties busy with activity, boats of all shapes and sizes bobbing happily both near to shore and far out on the sea. Retired vessels rested aground, their worn wooden ribs bleached, sunning themselves in their well earned repose. Seagulls, gannets, and a multitude of birds for which she had no names swooped and dove, communing then scattering in their never ending search for fish.
They drove through Clarenville, a metropolitan population about its daily business, a city like many others she had known. As they started and stopped at lights and signs, she longed to get back to the road by the sea. She hated to waste a second of this day looking at coffee shop signs and grocery store fronts. The next half hour tested her patience. As they drove inland she chewed down her irritation. Always one to have control, she realized that this was a good lesson to learn. Just because she wasn't the one at the wheel didn't mean she couldn't enjoy what the day was giving. And just because they were heading away from the sea didn't mean that she wouldn't see it again.
And then she did. God, it was beautiful. They wound around the shore, the sun glinting like diamonds on a dark velvety cloth of ocean. Would she ever tire of looking at the sea?
" Hungry?" he broke into her silent reverie.
" Famished! I hadn't even thought of it 'til you said the word, but now I could eat a horse."
" How 'bout a moose?"
She jerked her eyes to him. "I didn't think you would eat moose. I got the impression you were against that particular food group."
He laughed at her , and the sound rolled through her like rich, mulled wine. "Whatever would give ye that notion?"
" That night I first came to town…you got so upset when I'd nearly hit one, I just thought you were like some kind of animal activist, or vegetarian or something."
He laughed again . The crazy woman. She had thought that he was angry that she had possibly harmed a moose. Recalling his reaction, he sobered. "No, 'twas the other way around. It upset me that ye could have been so foolish as t' have rammed the thing and hurt yer self."
" Really. Huh. All this time I thought you held it against me that I could have jeopardized a moose's life."
He started to explain . Then stopped. He wanted this day to be about getting to know her, not about her learning why he over-reacted to her near miss. He didn't want her pity. Didn't want it to colour how she might see him. He just wanted them to enjoy a trip around the bay.
" How's this look?" He pulled the car into the small gravel lot of a clapboard shop. The Salty Cod invited them inside with deliciously scented promises.
" Oh, man. It smells fabulous." She slipped out of the car and turned toward the bay. "Iceberg! Iceberg !" she shrieked. "Kane! Look! Right there in the bay! Oh, my God! Look at it!" She bounced up and down, grabbing his arm and smiling like a loon.
Kane 's eyes crinkled and his laugh rumbled out of his chest in slow waves. "Spitfire, that's only a wee bergy bit, not even a growler. Wait 'til ye see a real iceberg." His arm snaked around her waist and he gave her a little squeeze. "Come on, let's feed that wild imagination o' yers as well as yer empty stomach."
They took a table in the restaurant and he pulled out the chair facing the window for Laura. Excitement danced in her
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