Sarah Morgan Summer Collection

‘I’d say you were lying.’ She tilted her head to one side. ‘I know rejection when I see it.’

‘No, you don’t. That wasn’t rejection.’ Suddenly it was imperative that she understood that much at least. ‘That wasn’t rejection, Kyla.’

‘Then my fluency in body language is less accomplished than I thought, because it certainly felt like rejection.’

He didn’t associate her with coldness and yet her expression was anything but encouraging. He jabbed his fingers through his hair. ‘It wasn’t rejection. Far from it. But things are complicated.’

‘And I certainly wouldn’t want to make them more complicated—goodnight, Ethan.’ She made a move to close the door but he stopped her easily and moved inside.

‘I’ll leave when you’ve heard me out. There’s something I need to tell you. I probably should have told you earlier but I couldn’t.’

She hesitated and then let go of the door but she didn’t close it. ‘All right. I’m listening. You’re going to tell me that the kiss was a mistake.’

‘It wasn’t a mistake. I just didn’t plan for it to happen.’

‘And do you plan everything that happens in your life?’

‘No. But there are things that I need to explain to you before we go any further with this.’

The chemistry was there again, pulsing between them, drawing them in. The wind was blowing outside and yet in her kitchen the air was thick, hot and pulsing with expectation. Suddenly his throat was so dry he could hardly speak and he guessed she was feeling the same way because she swallowed hard.

‘You don’t have to explain anything to me.’

‘Yes.’ The dryness made his voice hoarse. ‘Yes, I do, Kyla. It’s important.’

‘Then tell me.’

He almost laughed. Tell me. She made it sound so easy and yet now the moment had come he had no idea what to say. He didn’t know where to begin. He wasn’t even sure where the beginning was.

‘Are you married?’ Her softly spoken question shocked him.

‘Why would you think that?’

‘Because I suppose it’s the one thing that would stop this thing between us going any further.’

‘I’m not married.’

‘Then nothing else matters.’ She sounded so certain. So confident about everything. And she made life sound simple. ‘Ethan, you don’t need to worry. Or feel guilty. This isn’t right for you and—’

‘It’s right for me.’ He growled the words against her mouth because his hands had reached out and hauled her against him even while his brain had been sending out warnings. He ignored the warnings and kissed her.

Later. He’d worry about everything else later.

Her arms slid round his neck and he felt her slender body press against the hardness of his. He was hot and aroused and more desperate for this woman than he’d been for any other in his life.

He forgot all the reasons why he shouldn’t be doing this.

He forgot that she was probably going to hate him when she found out what he was doing there.

He just needed to answer his body’s screaming need to possess her in every way.

His hands were on the rounded curve of her bottom when they heard hammering on the door.

Ethan didn’t even lift his head but the hammering intensified and she pushed at his chest and he broke the kiss with a fluent curse.

‘Yes.’ Her flushed cheeks and faint smile told him that she agreed with his assessment of the timing. ‘Not good. But I need to see who that is.’

Ethan ran a hand over the back of his neck and hoped that whoever it was could be despatched quickly. ‘It’s pretty late. Are you expecting anyone?’

‘No. But around here people just call. Especially if they’re in trouble.’ She gave a frown, straightened her top and walked out of the kitchen towards her front door. ‘Aisla?’

Ethan heard the surprise in her voice and wondered what on earth Aisla was doing calling so late in the evening with a storm brewing. Was it her diabetes again?

And then she spoke and he heard the raw terror in the woman’s voice. ‘It’s Fraser. He’s gone.’

‘Gone where?’

‘I don’t know. He told me he was going to Hamish’s for a sleepover but I needed to speak to Hamish’s mother about a knitting order, so I rang and she told me that he wasn’t with her. And Hamish had no idea where he was.’

Kyla frowned. ‘Well, he’s an imaginative boy. He’s just playing.’

‘But it will be dark soon.’ Aisla covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. ‘I’ve told him over and over again that he can’t just go off on his own, but he’s so independent and he sneaks off when I’m not looking. I’m a terrible mother.’

‘You’re not a terrible mother,’ Kyla said immediately, ‘and try not to panic. He’s probably gone to tea with someone else and forgotten to phone. Have you called Paul Weston? Henry Mason? They might know.’

‘I’ve called them both and they haven’t seen him.’

‘Then I’ll give Ann Carne a ring,’ Kyla said immediately, reaching for the phone. ‘She might have an idea what was in his head today.’

Ethan walked forward, ignoring the potential consequences of revealing his presence in Kyla’s cottage. ‘Where else does he normally play?’

Aisla looked distracted and her eyes were full of fear. ‘I don’t know—the beach? That’s his favourite place. He’s always sitting there, dreaming about Vikings and shipwrecks and making up stories in his head.’

Kyla came off the phone. ‘Ann Carne said that he was in school until lunchtime and then said he had to go home because he had a doctor’s appointment. He gave her a note.’

Aisla stared at her. ‘I didn’t give him a note. And Hamish didn’t mention that he hadn’t been at school this afternoon. Oh, God …’

‘There’s going to be a perfectly reasonable explanation.’ Kyla slipped her feet into the trainers that she’d left lying by the door and reached for a coat from the peg. ‘We just need to think logically and not panic. But I think, given the fact that it’s going to be dark soon, we should phone Nick Hillier and tell him what’s happening.

He’ll get the whole island searching, if necessary. In the meantime we’ll take a look ourselves. I’ll go down onto the beach and take a look around.’

Ethan stepped forward, reflecting on the fact that they all turned to Kyla in a crisis. ‘I’ll just go next door and grab a jacket and my car keys. Then I’ll come with you. Two are better than one.’

‘Go back to the house,’ Kyla told Aisla. ‘That way, if he turns up at home, you can let us know. I’ll keep my mobile switched on. Call Nick and fill him in.’

Ethan grabbed what he needed from his cottage and then rejoined Kyla as she walked out of the back door and down onto the beach. Angry streaks were splashed across the darkening sky and the waves lifted and crashed against the rocks at the far end of the bay.

‘The storm is closing in. Is it worth calling the coastguard? If Fraser was walking on the cliff path, he could have been swept into the sea.’ Ethan stared at the boiling, churning water, trying to not to think about the young boy being devoured by those waves.