She laughed, as he’d intended. ‘You told me that you thrive on trouble.’

‘That’s just habit. I’ve never known anything else.’

Her laughter faded and she stared up into his face. ‘I shouldn’t have come here. It’s personal for you. Stressful. And you don’t want to talk about it, do you?’

He gave a twisted smile. ‘Let’s just say that if I talk, you wouldn’t like the language I’d choose to use.’

‘Use whatever language you please. I’m not as shockable as you seem to think I am.’

‘It would be all too easy to shock you, Flora.’ He thought of what his life had been and then he looked down at her gentle eyes and her soft mouth and wondered why he’d stopped her walking away. ‘I’m not the type of man who eats strawberries with girls in flowered skirts.’

‘You don’t like my skirt?’

‘You look…’ He gave a faint smile as he searched for the word that best described her. ‘Wholesome. Like an advert for that whipped cream in the basket.’

‘It’s Evanna’s whipped cream. And I don’t see what my skirt has to do with anything. Do you always push people away?’

‘I don’t have to. They usually run all by themselves.’

‘Well, I can’t run in these shoes.’

‘Is that right? In that case, you can sit down and help me eat this damn picnic.’

‘Where?’ Flora glanced towards the house and he made an impatient sound.

‘No way.’ He wasn’t going back in there. Instead, he took her hand, scooped up the basket and then led her down the path to the tiny cove at the bottom. The path was steep and stony but she didn’t falter, confident and sure-footed despite her comment about her shoes.

She was a local girl, he remembered. She’d spent her childhood playing on these cliffs and exploring Glenmore’s rocky shores.

As they reached the sand, she slipped off her shoes and stooped to pick them up. ‘It’s pretty here. Really sheltered.’

‘Haven’t you been here before?’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘Honestly?’ She hesitated. ‘This beach is part of your property and we were too afraid of your father. Even Kyla.’

Conner gave a bitter laugh. ‘Lovely man, my father.’ He sat down on the sand and then glanced at her with a frown. ‘Did you bring something to sit on?’

She smiled and sat down on the sand next to him. ‘This is perfect.’ She reached into the basket and then glanced at him, her eyes twinkling. ‘Napkin?’

‘Of course,’ he said sarcastically. ‘I’d hate to drop anything on my tuxedo.’