Summer Down Under Read Online Free Page B

she was not held in awe by what this island had to
offer. The serenity of the moment was torn away when she also
noticed there was not another soul in sight. Beautiful it may be,
but the whole beach was deserted, except for her and a virtual
stranger of the male variety.
    Sam eased herself off the bike, accepting
Daniel’s steadying hand as she did, not wanting to trip and fall
again, thereby, adding a companion to the bruise blooming on her
behind. She decided her butt had protected her quite enough for one
day. Unwittingly, she hissed a breath as Daniel took hold of her
hand. He gave her an odd look and turned her hand over to reveal
the scrapes there. Sam noticed him wince and heat rose in her
cheeks. She pulled her hand away, tucking it safely behind her back
and gave him a rueful smile.
    “Thank you,” she said, looking up at him and
noticing a look of concern still visible on his face.
    “No worries,” he replied. “You looked like
you needed a little help.”
    “Yeah, well, I think I may have to rethink my
whole Miss Independent strategy. I was not prepared for that
onslaught.” She gave him a wry smile. “There was no way I ever
thought I would get that much unwanted attention.”
    “Sam, you are blonde haired and blue eyed,”
he warned.
    “Yeah, and what’s that got to do with the
price of cheese?”
    He raised an eyebrow at that comment. “Those
attributes are much sought after over here, especially by the
men.”
    Sam gave a derisive snort at that revelation,
and as she turned her back on him, whispered under her breath
“Don’t be stupid, why would anyone in their right mind be
interested in someone as ugly as me?”
    She hadn’t expected him to have such good
hearing.
    He turned her around to face him, placing his
hands on her shoulders willing her to look up at him. He didn’t say
anything for a moment, just gently pushed an errant strand of hair
away from her face. When she couldn’t resist any longer, she
brought her gaze up to meet his.
    “How could you think that, Sam?” Daniel
whispered. “Whatever would make you say such a thing?”
    Her face burned with embarrassment. She
pulled out of his embrace and turned to face the ocean. His
kindness was completely alien to her; she didn’t quite know how to
respond to it. He’d heard her; he wasn’t supposed to have heard
her . She squirreled around in her head for a topic to change
the subject, not wanting to open up a wound that still had stitches
in, especially to someone who was almost a stranger. Not that she
intended opening up to anyone, for that matter.
    She didn’t need anyone’s pity; doubted she
could handle it even if they gave it. Not even her closest friends
back home knew what she had been through at the hands of her
ex-boyfriend. But, as strong as she tried to be, she knew if she
started talking about it, the tears would start to flow, and she
wasn’t sure she would have the power to stop them.
    Taking a deep breath, she turned around with
a big smile that she hoped didn’t look too false, and said
brightly. “You never did answer my question.”
    Daniel’s brow creased.
    “What were you doing there?” Sam asked again.
“I thought you were staying on the other side of the Island.”
    Now it was his turn to look slightly
sheepish. She noticed a flush color his cheeks. He cast his eyes to
the ground for a second, probably in an attempt to not look like a
crazy stalker.
    “I came looking for you,” he said, raising
his eyes to meet Sam’s incredulous expression. “I stopped by your
hotel, and a couple of people in the restaurant knew you and told
me where you were headed.”
    She goggled at him. Did she just hear him
correctly? He came looking for her? But he was gorgeous, why would
he want anything to do with her?
    “Why would you come looking for me?”
    His cheeks flushed again, but he held his
gaze steady.
    “Okay. I admit it,” he said, hands raised. “I
can’t get you out of my head. I wanted to find you