The Unexpected Consequences of Love Read Online Free Page B

Resting her arms behind her head, she trailed her fingers through the dry, fine sand and listened to the sounds of the waves breaking onto the beach, the seagulls swooping and wheeling overhead. The smell of sunscreen hung in the air and a light breeze was coming in off the ocean.
    Sophie stretched, satiated. As well as the blackberry ice creams, they’d had fish and chips and malt ball candies. And Diet Coke. It had been a lovely day, spent gossiping, swimming, then later joining in with a game of volleyball on the beach. Now they were enjoying the last couple hours of sunshine and listening to the chatter and snippets of conversation going on around them. Children were engaged in building sand castles and digging moats, couples were idly bickering and the group of posh girls directly behind them were eyeing up the talent and providing a running commentary on their various attributes.
    â€œThe one in the yellow board shorts? He’s pretty fit.”
    â€œNot bad. I’d rather have the blond one with the tan. Nice abs.”
    â€œBut he’s got one of those noses. There’s big and there’s too big.”
    â€œOh, come on, it’s only a nose. That can be fixed! See the guy with the long, dark hair? He’s good-looking but his body’s too long for his legs… Now that’s something you’re never going to be able to sort out.”
    Cue giggles. Sophie opened her eyes and tilted her head to the left to see what Tula was doing. True to form, she was propped up on her elbows, surveying the view. Which included, naturally, the men in question.
    Of course it did. Tula would never miss an opportunity to ogle.
    Following her line of gaze, Sophie saw Josh Strachan emerging from the sea with his surfboard. He shook water from his hair and glanced over in their direction, prompting a flurry of interest among the posh girls.
    â€œNow that’s much better. That’s what I call a body,” the loudest of them said in admiration. “How did we manage to miss him before?”
    The answer to this was quite simple: for the last hour or so, Josh had been busy surfing, and it was presumably the first time he’d left the water. Sophie, who’d spotted him earlier, watched as he made his way over to the café.
    â€œUnzip your wet suit, unzip your wet suit,” one of the other girls chanted quietly. “Come on now, let’s see your chest.”
    â€œOoh, spoilsport,” said the loud one as Josh disappeared from view with his wet suit still zipped. “I may have to go over there and get myself a drink. Show him what he’s missing.”
    â€œHang on, here he is again, and he’s got a dog with him now! Ooh, look at that, sooooo cute… ”
    Because that was the thing about Griff: he did have the knack, when he wasn’t being a mud-spattering, havoc-causing holy devil, of looking ridiculously cute. Sophie, plugging her earphones back into her ears, turned the volume on her iPod up to maximum to block out the chatter of the girls behind them, and closed her eyes once more.
    Less than a minute later, someone was licking her toes.
    Or, more accurately, something . Having done a shuddery, whole-body twitch, Sophie jackknifed into a sitting position and saw that it was Griff at her feet, tongue lolling and tail wagging away happily.
    At the other end of his leash was Josh.
    â€œSorry.” He grinned down at her, evidently not meaning it. “Thought it was you earlier. Hello again.”
    The last time he’d seen her, she’d been upright, wearing jeans and a top, and her hair had been loose. Today she was prone in a bikini with her hair tied back and dark glasses half covering her face. Lifting the glasses, she said, “You’ve been in the sea the whole time. I’ve been here. How could you know it was me from that far away?”
    It had all gone quiet behind her. Josh Strachan looked briefly surprised. At last he replied