Page 25 of The Summer Escape

A playful smile tugged at his lips. “Have you?”

Turning away from him, she bit down on her lip to stifle a smile and walked to the stone wall that bordered the castle grounds. A warm breeze lifted her hair from her shoulders as she looked out to the harbour.

“Do you work out every day when you’re in London too?” she asked when Trystan stood beside her.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

She admired his dedication but wasn’t sure what else to say on the subject. “Do you always spend the whole summer here?” she asked instead.

“No.” He cocked his head to one side and looked as though he was about to say more but stopped himself.

“Is there a story about why you’re here this summer?” she asked, keeping her voice light and hoping she wasn’t being too direct.

“There is,” he said, eyeing her intently. “But it’s a long story. We should go inside and get a drink first.”

“I don’t know if you’re just avoiding the question,” she said, falling into step with him. “But a drink sounds good.”

The decor in the candle-lit restaurant was fitting for a castle; the exposed stone walls and dark timber ceiling beams gave authenticity to the historic room. Distracted by the friendly waiter and then the good wine and food and easy conversation, Beth forgot all about her earlier question until they’d polished off their main courses.

“I just remembered,” she said after the waiter took their plates away. “You were going to tell me why you’re spending the summer here.”

He leaned back in his seat. “I thought I’d dodged that question.”

“You tried.” She took a sip of wine. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine.” Sitting up straighter, he pursed his lips. “My ex-girlfriend is staying in my flat in London for the summer.”

“Oh,” she murmured.

“We split up a few months ago, but we owned the flat together. I’m buying her out. She asked if she could use the place for the summer.”

“How long were you together?”

He grimaced slightly, his brows drawing together. “Just shy of ten years.”

“Oh, my goodness.” She rested her chin on her hand. “Ten years?”

“Yeah.”

“Why did …” She shook her head. “Sorry, I’m being really nosy.”

“It’s fine. You want to know why we split up?”

“Only if you want to talk about it.”

“I don’t mind talking about it … but I’m not sure it makes me sound very good.”

“Oh, no. Did you cheat on her?”

“No!” His features relaxed. “Definitely not. We just had different ideas about what we wanted from life.”

“Such as?”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re persistent aren’t you?”

“Sometimes.”

He inhaled deeply. “She wanted to get married and have kids … I wasn’t so keen.”