Page 4 of Bay of Plenty

I jiggled the guy’s arm—Declan, that’s his name, that’s right.

He shot up. I searched his face for the intriguing green-eyed man I’d met last night, but his eyes were puffy, and his features were hard to make out through all that beard, more Hagrid than hunk.

“I need to take Teddy out,” I said. “You’ll have to go now.”

“Yes, of course.” He lifted the sheet to slide out of bed. Nope, not seeing his naked body. I flicked my gaze away. Still,out of the corner of my eye, I spied him sitting on the side of the bed, scratching his beard. He was wearing all his clothes from last night: hippie pants, tie-dyed T-shirt and socks.

How odd.Odder still that last night I’d thought he was hot enough to drag home.

“Hang on, last night. Did we, er?”

His face flickered with recognition, then horror. “Oh, God no. I would never take advantage of a woman like that. I only stayed the night because you kept racing outside to do cartwheels on the road, and I was worried for your safety.”

A flash of the sharp stones under my hands.Sheesh.

“Well, thanks for getting me home, anyway.” Relief flooded me that we hadn’t had sex, and something else… a strange emptiness. Disappointment? I couldn’t even get a one-night stand right.

He grabbed his beaten-up jacket from the back of my desk chair. “Hey, I enjoyed hanging out with you last night. Can I take you to breakfast?”

Could he afford it? I was worried about money and didn’t want to end up stuck with the check.

“Um… thanks, but I have stuff to do.” I opened the bedroom door wide.

Slowly, he folded his arms into his jacket. “What about tonight? Can I take you out to dinner?”

“Honestly, I’m knackered.”

“If you change your mind, you have my number,” he said. I did a double take, and he reassured me, “You asked for it last night.”

I grabbed my phone from my bedside table and checked it. Sure enough, at the top was a text.Hi, this is Declan.I’d saved him under a badly spelled “great hunk o’ spunk.” I could feel him looking over my shoulder, and my face blazed hot.

He chuckled. “FromKath & Kim, the Aussie TV show.” He was a good sport, and I appreciated that.

“Welp.” I clapped my hands. I’d never saidwelpin my life. I hustled out of the bedroom toward the front door with an overdone follow-me hand gesture. Our basement flat was so small it was only a few steps away. He followed, and I stood guard while he crouched to put on his shoes.

“Have a brilliant day. Hopefully see you sometime this week,” he said in a mild-mannered way.But quietly persistent.My heart thumped. Should I be worried? He uncurled to standing. I staggered backward. He blinked at my sudden movement, gave Teddy a farewell scratch behind the ears, and left with a shy smile and a wave.

Ten minutes later, I was showered and dressed but only marginally fresher. I tugged Teddy’s leash from its hook at the front door. My phone pinged with a text. Declan.Isla, please call me, it’s important.What could be so important? We’d barely met.

“You headed out?” Shay emerged from their bedroom in emerald satin pajamas, yawning over the early weekend hour of eight o’clock. I pulled on my black puffer jacket and snapped the leash on Teddy’s collar.

She caught sight of my face. “Blimey, you look like death warmed, woman.”

“It’s a morning for one of Mikey’s fry-ups,” I replied, hoping a full breakfast would settle me. My emotions were all over the map, still buzzing about how well the night went and happy that everyone showed up. But also stewing about Declan, my one-night stand that wasn’t, and now wondering about his text.

A smile curled onto Shay’s lips. “You bet. Give me five.”

Teddy squirmed at the door. “I’ll take Teddy out to do his business and wait for you outside.”

“Okay.”

After she did a quick change, we strolled up the cobblestoned Portobello Road to the clatter of vendors rolling out their antiques at the outdoor market.

“So, am I allowed to inquire about last night?” Shay looked up at me through her eyelashes.

“I don’t remember a thing.” I tugged my bag farther up my shoulder, bothered about my memory loss but relieved we clearly didn’t have sex. “And when I woke up, he was wearing his clothes in bed.”

We turned into the greasy spoon for my hangover cure. “Let’s say, when the wine goggles were removed, he was not a keeper.” We slid into a red, cracked-leather booth. “And what on earth does this mean?” I showed her Declan’s text. “It doesn’t seem like he wants a date, but what does he want?”

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