‘Of course.’ He glanced at his watch and grimaced. ‘I’d better get my skates on too. I was supposed to be at the lifeboat station for six and it’s five past already.’
Hannah paused. ‘Are you part of the lifeboat crew?’
‘No. I’d love to be, but the fact that I spend most of my time working abroad means it isn’t possible.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m filling in for Simon tonight. He teaches first aid to the crew. There’s a couple of new guys who’ve just started and they need to complete the course as part of their training.’
‘Oh, I see.’ Hannah hesitated but there was no way she could avoid offering him a lift when she was heading that way. ‘I’m going that way so why don’t you hop in? It’ll save you some time.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t want to take you out of your way…’
‘You aren’t.’ She summoned a smile when she realised how sharp she’d sounded. However, his reluctance to get into the car had stung. ‘I’m renting a cottage down by the harbour so I’m going that way.’
‘Oh! Right. Then thank you.’
He strode around the car and slid into the passenger seat. Hannah started the engine and pulled out into the traffic. Although the roads were nowhere near as busy as they were in London, she was surprised by the number of vehicles there were about.
‘It’s a lot busier than I expected,’ she observed, easing round a car and caravan combination that was partially blocking the road.
‘We’re coming into the holiday season. By the middle of July, you won’t be able to move in the town centre—it’ll be one big traffic jam.’
‘Really?’ She frowned. ‘I had no idea that Bride’s Bay was so popular with the tourists.’
‘All the towns along this stretch of coast are tourist magnets.’ Tom smiled at her. ‘You’ll learn to live with it, as everyone does. Yes, it does get hectic at times, but the plus side is that the holidaymakers bring a lot of money into the town.’
‘Which can only be a good thing,’ she concluded. ‘Without the extra income then people would need to move away to find work.’
‘Exactly. As it is, most of the folk in Bride’s Bay have lived here all their lives. That’s what makes it so special.’
His tone was warm and she glanced curiously at him. ‘You obviously love the town.’
‘I do. I’ve been coming here since I was a child and I can honestly say that it’s my favourite place to be.’
‘So why didn’t you opt to become Simon’s partner?’ She slowed to let an elderly couple cross the road and glanced at him. ‘I’m sure he would have been delighted.’
‘I like variety, which is why I prefer to take short-term contracts.’
It was a reasonable answer yet Hannah doubted it was the whole truth. If Tom loved the town so much then the logical step would be for him to settle down here. She was about to point that out when a loud bang made her jump.
‘What on earth was that!’ she exclaimed, drawing the car to a halt.
‘A maroon. They let them off from the lifeboat station to alert the crew when there’s a boat in trouble.’ Tom leant forward and pointed through the windscreen. ‘Look! You can see the trail of smoke it’s left behind.’
Hannah leant forward to look then felt her breath catch when she realised how close they were. There was just the tiniest space separating them and it shrank even more when Tom suddenly turned and she found herself staring into his eyes. She felt a shiver run through her when she saw his eyes darken, turning from sapphire blue to midnight in the space of a heartbeat. When he bent towards her she didn’t move, couldn’t have done so when it felt as though she was drowning in their indigo depths…
Charlie started to cry when a second rocket exploded and the spell was broken. Hannah took a quick breath as she turned to reassure him, but her heart was racing out of control. If they hadn’t been interrupted would she have let Tom kiss her? Because that was where they’d been heading.
Her heart sank as she realised that she would have done. She would have let Tom kiss her, kissed him back, and there was no point denying it. On the contrary, she needed to face the truth, admit that she was deeply attracted to him, and do something about it.
She couldn’t get involved with Tom. It was far too soon after what had happened between her and Andrew. Discovering that the one person she should have been able to rely on had let her down had knocked her for six and it would be a long time before she could trust anyone again. Then there was Charlie. She intended to focus all her time and energy on making sure that everything possible was done for him. The child may have been let down by his father but he wasn’t going to be let down by her too.
Hannah took a deep breath. Nothing was going to happen between her and Tom, not now. Not ever.
Tom could feel the heat that had been pooling in the pit of his stomach turning to ice. He couldn’t believe what had happened. One minute he’d been looking through the windscreen and the next…
He swore under his breath as he reached for the door handle. He had come within a hair’s breadth of kissing Hannah. That was bad enough, but the fact that he appeared to have so little self-control where she was concerned was far more worrying. He knew that she wasn’t right for him but it hadn’t stopped him. He would have kissed her and to hell with the consequences because kissing her had seemed more important than anything else. It made him see how dangerous the situation was. Hannah could turn his world upside down, if he let her.
‘I’ll walk from here. It’s not far now and it’ll be quicker than waiting for the traffic to clear.’ He opened the car door, using that as an excuse not to look at her. He didn’t appreciate feeling so vulnerable. He had always been in control before, of himself and his relationships, but it appeared that he was putty in her hands.
The thought of her hands being anywhere near him was too much. Tom shot out of the car, pausing briefly, as politeness dictated, to thank her. Maybe he should have simply cut and run but he needed to take charge of what was happening, be proactive rather than reactive. ‘Thanks for the lift, Hannah. I appreciate it.’
‘It was nothing.’
Her voice was husky and he felt the hair all over his body stand to attention. Even though he really didn’t want to have to look at her, he couldn’t resist. The lump of ice rapidly melted again when he saw the stunned expression on her face. In that second he knew that if he had kissed her, she wouldn’t have stopped him!
Quite frankly, it was the last thing he needed to know. Tom slammed the door and headed off down the hill as though the hounds of hell were snapping at his heels. In a way they were, because it would be his own version of hell if he allowed the situation to gather momentum. He took a deep breath as he weaved his way through the crowd that had gathered to watch the lifeboat being launched. He was attracted to Hannah, more attracted to her than he’d been to any woman. She seemed to push all the right buttons, or maybe that should be all the wrong ones because he certainly didn’t want to feel this way. He was happy with his lot, enjoyed his life free from complications…
Didn’t he?
Tom’s mouth thinned. He wasn’t going down that route. He had to do what was right and for him that meant living his life unencumbered by a wife and a family. It was the only way he could guarantee that he wouldn’t turn out like the rest of the Bradburys.
He didn’t intend to leave behind a string of broken marriages and tawdry affairs. He didn’t plan to break any hearts or ruin any lives. So maybe he’d thought he could buck the trend once, be the one