Page 62 of Coming Home to Sturcombe Bay
But it didn’t — it ran into the pocket.
“Foul!”
And suddenly it was getting intense. Cassie now had two shots, and she could place the white ball wherever it gave her the best advantage. Breathing slowly to steady her aim, she chose her angle and sank her ball neatly. So she still had two shots.
She made the most of them. She only had one ball left by the time Luke got back on the table. He sank three, but the white ran back further than he wanted, so he couldn’t get a good angle on the next shot and it just bounced off the cushion.
One to go, and the black. Cassie let her gaze flicker briefly towards Liam. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up.Focus. . . The white ran true and straight, her yellow ball obligingly dropped into the pocket, and the black was at her mercy.
Don’t mess this up now.
“Go, Cassie!”
She chalked her cue again, then closed her eyes briefly, visualising the shot. Sometimes those easy ones were the ones that would catch you out. Finally, she bent over the table, lined up her cue and . . .perfect!
She straightened, drawing in a long slow breath of relief. Her supporters were cheering, bets were being settled, and several people were offering to buy her drinks. Now she finally permitted herself to glance towards Liam.
Oh, that smile . . .
The jukebox clicked and a new song came on. Her heartbeat skipped as the music started. It was one they had danced to last night — a soft romantic ballad that was being played on the radio all the time. Surely Liam hadn’t put it on?No . . . foolish. Don’t start thinking like that.
But the memory of dancing in his arms was so vivid that she could almost feel the warmth of his body against hers, the smooth movement of his muscles as they had moved to the music. For a moment she felt light-headed.
There was a small disturbance at the back of the crowd around the table as a tall young woman with a cascade of gleaming copper-gold hair eased through. She came up behind Liam and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Surprise!”
Cassie’s breath caught in her throat. She was stunning — all flawless cheekbones and sun-tinted skin, a perfect mouth and endless legs in slim-fitting designer jeans. His girlfriend? Whom no one had bothered to mention to her.
But then why would they? She’d been very careful to show no particular interest in him.
Where had she been these past few weeks? Off on some glamorous modelling contract in Paris or Peru? Well, now she was back — and reclaiming him very publicly.
* * *
“Surprise!”
Liam felt a sharp shock. Annabel. “Hello.” He managed to fix a smile in place as he turned. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Paris.”
He was aware that they had become the centre of attention, that Cassie had noticed her. Slipping an arm around her waist, he drew her discreetly away from the crowd around the pool table and over to the bar.
“Milan. I was. But the South Africa shoot was cancelled at the last minute, so I have a whole week off. Luxury!” Those sapphire-blue eyes were dancing. “So I thought I’d come down and surprise you. I’ve got a room in that nice hotel up the road, and your dad told me you’d be down here, so . . . here I am! Say you’re pleased.”
He managed another smile, hoping it was convincing. “Of course I’m pleased.”
Dammit, this was uncomfortable. It was clear that Annabel had taken their brief encounter at the Gillard’s rather more seriously than he had intended. In truth, he had barely thought about her over the past week.
Okay, don’t make a big thing of it. She was only here for a few days. And maybe in that time he’d find that missing spark. After all, she was very beautiful, with a sweet personality. And if he didn’t find the spark . . . well, he’d try to end it as gently as possible.
“What would you like to drink?”
* * *
Damn. Cassie forced herself to stop watching the couple on the other side of the room. The girl was gorgeous — she wouldn’t be able to compete, even if she wanted to. How long had they been together?
No wonder he had seemed to be keeping a distance between them. She could only be thankful that she hadn’t made a fool of herself by letting him know how she felt about him.
“What’s up?”
“Uh?” She turned to her brother.
