Free The Aristocrat and the Single Mom by Michelle Douglas

is where we’re headed. Further around are Nelson’s Bay, then Little Beach where we—’
    Everything inside him stiffened. He waited for her to say, kissed. The kiss grew shockingly vivid in his mind—the feel of this woman in his arms, the silk slide of her skin against his palms, the trembling of her lips beneath his and the taste of her.
    ‘Where we were yesterday.’
    Her voice wobbled and he knew she remembered too. Then he remembered the things she’d said to him afterwards and a weight crashed down on his shoulders.
    ‘Large portions of the bay are a wildlife sanctuary,’ she continued, her voice determined now, with not a wobble to be heard.
    Simon found it hard enough to walk in a straight line let alone talk too. He stared ahead at Jesse and told himself he could not kiss Kate.
    ‘For example, you’re not allowed to fish off the marina or the beach at Nelson’s Bay, and it’s forbidden to collect shells and seaweed along here at Dutchman’s.’
    Just like it was forbidden for him to kiss her.
    Kate continued her spiel, as if she’d memorised it for this precise purpose. He couldn’t focus on fishing and seaweed or environmental preservation. He concentrated on keeping his hands at his sides and prayed he made the appropriate sounds in all the appropriate places.
    ‘Watch your step,’ she called over her shoulder as she boarded The Merry Dolphin. Simon swore they both breatheda sigh of relief that they’d made it to their destination. The water in the marina was so calm he barely noticed the difference between pier and boat. He followed her past a steep set of stairs and down a short corridor to a generously proportioned lower deck.
    ‘Guess what, Mum.’ Jesse sat on the counter of a small two-sided bar. ‘Uncle Archie caught a snapper this big yesterday.’ He held his arms wide.
    From the size of Jesse’s eyes, Simon guessed he liked fishing almost as much as cricket.
    ‘Very impressive,’ Kate said.
    A grizzled, grey-haired man stood behind the bar.
    ‘Archie, this is Simon, Felice’s brother.’
    The two men shook hands.
    ‘Archie is my business partner. He and my father started the dolphin tour business over twenty years ago,’ she explained, but she didn’t look at him as she did so.
    ‘Did you use your new rod?’ Jesse asked. ‘Did you take a photo?’
    ‘Sure I did. It’s upstairs. Wanna take a look?’
    When Jesse nodded, Archie lifted him down from the bar and, with a wink in Simon’s direction, ushered the child back the way Simon and Kate had just come and up the steep staircase. Kate immediately moved behind the bar and started stocking the refrigerator.
    Simon stared at the spot where Archie and Jesse had been and then to the stairs. He scowled. He scuffed the floor with his shoe. Archie had that knack with kids that Simon utterly lacked.
    Not that he’d tried to cultivate it. Experience told him not to bother.
    ‘Are you okay, Simon?’
    He swung back to find Kate staring at him with a frown in her eyes and cans of soda clutched in her hands. ‘Yes.’ He settled his customary mask back into place. ‘Nice boat.’ Heforced himself to glance around its interior. Then he did a double-take. ‘God, Kate! How big is this thing?’
    ‘ The Merry Dolphin is nineteen point eight metres.’ And for the first time that day a glimmer of a smile hovered on her lips. He watched, he waited, he held his breath, but it didn’t break free. He dragged his gaze away, not wanting thoughts of kissing her to take over his mind again. He focused on the boat instead.
    The bar stood on his left and on the right was a nook for making tea and coffee. Polished wood and brass shone in the sunlight pouring in at the windows. The wood-panelled walls gleamed, the windows sparkled and the rich brown of the carpet was reassuringly springy beneath his feet. Two rows of tables and chairs created an avenue down the centre of the lower deck leading to a small ladder and a pair of open glass doors