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Josh ran over and, after giving him a big hug, lifted him up on his shoulder.Holy crap, Josh was strong. The rest of the team took to the pitch in triumph, and after good-natured handshakes, they walked off together towards the changing rooms. Kitty couldn’t see Daniel among them, but she saw the blistering look Josh threw at her as he walked away.

47

JOSH

Josh leftthe changing rooms after a lightning-quick shower and some celebratory swigs of champagne. Thoughts of Daniel and Kitty flooded his head while under the hot water. He couldn’t bear to see her with someone like him. The last time Josh saw Daniel, he was at the bar, swapping numbers with another woman.His arrogance was astounding.

Josh headed into the brutal heat and saw Kitty walking towards him, gloriously dishevelled. She had a light smudging of black eyeliner under her eyes and was trying to secure a bundle of hair with a pen. His lips curled.

He loved her.

Nothing else explained the crazy feelings in his body, the obsessive analysing of every conversation and the desperate craving to touch her.

Kitty had given up on her hair and let it hang around her shoulders. Kissed pink by the sun, her cheeks glowed, and she held her flip-flops in one hand, red-painted toes threading through the grass. When her eyes landed on Josh, her face lit up with a beaming smile. It was the grin that had captured his heart all those years ago. The one that transformed her entire face and rendered him a hopeless wreck. Was he ready to lose her smile again?

“Josh!” She reached out and gave him a wobbly hug. “That was awesome.”

“Yeah?” At almost the same height, she fitted into his arms perfectly.

“I thought I’d hate cricket, and I did, but you made it bearable.”

He grinned. “I noticed you were asleep most of the second inning.”

“Not true. I was resting my eyes in between points. And now I’ve lost everybody,” she said, glancing around them in the crowd.

“Well, you foundme.”

Kitty’s smile turned into a frown, and she stared at Josh, the colour draining from her face. A faraway look settled in her eyes as if she couldn’t quite see him, and her hand reached to cling to his chest. He put a protective arm around her and drew her in.

“Josh, I feel sick,” she said.

Kitty brought a hand up to her mouth. With her eyes full of panic, Josh led her away from the crowd, finding a quiet spot behind a large oak tree at the edge of the field. By the time they got there, she’d gained her composure, and colour had crept back into her cheeks. Still, Kitty melted against him, and Josh’s body moved to cradle hers. Having her so close was everything he wanted.

“I’m so sorry,” Kitty said, burrowing into his chest.

“It's okay. I think you’ve been on borrowed time since early afternoon,” Josh said, breathing in the scent of her hair.

“No, it’s not okay. I shouldn’t have drunk so much, and it’s so hot.”

“We all need to cut loose sometimes.” Bloody hell, he could have done with it today.

Kitty pushed away from him.

“It’s more than that. Josh, I…”

“What is it, Kitty?” he asked, dreading her reply but desperate to make her feel better. Was this the moment she’d tell him she was in love with Daniel Cunningham?

Kitty leaned back against the trunk of the gnarled tree. Her body swayed, and her eyelids were heavy, tendrils of long hair framing her face. At that moment, she was so beautiful, so abandoned, that it took all Josh’s restraint not to lean in and steal a kiss from her soft mouth.

“It’s been a big day,” she said. “I just wanted you to know I meant to tell you properly. About the job. It’s just I haven’t heard much from you.”

Josh’s stomach lurched. He’d acted like such a fool. As they stood on the grass in silence, staring at each other, bright sunlight streamed down through the branches, casting their faces in a dappled, golden glow. As if in slow motion, Kitty lifted her hand and reached out to trace her fingers along Josh’s cheekbone, her dark eyes full of warmth.

“You look like an angel,” she said. “I think you’re so beautiful, and I’d really like to kiss you.”

Time and breath stopped for Josh. He stared at Kitty’s full mouth, wanting nothing more than to cover it with his own. Their bodies were so close he could almost feel her heart beating, pulsing through the heavy air. He shut his eyes but could still smell her sweet perfume and hear her gentle breath.Everything he’d wanted to say had flown out of his brain, melted away by the ferocity of his desire.

His mind filled with the memory of her lying on the sand at the river, the sun kissing her skin, and her chest's slow rise and fall.If he’d been braver that day, things might be different.