It Started With A Kiss by Lindy Dale Page A

dripping all over me. He can take you home after he drops us
off.”
    “ It’s okay, she can get a
lift with me. I’m sure I’ve got a bit of plastic in the back of the
car so she doesn’t ruin the leather seats.”
    Standing next to the minivan was Nate.
    Georgie swallowed in surprise. What in
heavens was he doing here?
    Tara was not as subtle. Her cheeks were
positively glowing at this new arrival. “I should have known you’d
show up sooner or later, Adams. You never could stay away from
Georgie.” Then, like a mother hen with her chicks, she gathered the
remainder of the group who were wearing dry clothes and bundled
them into the minivan, leaving the ‘lovebirds’ to it.
    “ Ring me in the morning,”
she called through the open window like a wayward fairy godmother.
“And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
    “ That doesn’t leave much to
the imagination,” Nate said.
    “ You can say that
again.”
    As they watched the taxi van speed off in the
direction of the restaurant, Georgie, who was beginning to feel the
cold in her damp dress and pantaloons, turned to Nate.
    “ What are you doing here?”
    “ After I got home, I got to
thinking and I think I liked seeing you again this afternoon and I
want to see you some more.”
    “ But you have a girlfriend.
I’m not going to come between you.”
    “ Lydia? She’s not my
girlfriend. I think she’d like to be, though. She’s just a girl I
know through a bloke at work. His girlfriend was trying to hook us
up but she’s not my type. She’s loud and her boobs are way too
big.”
    Now where had she heard that before?
    Georgie began to search through her dilly bag
for a comb. She must look an absolute fright. “How did you find
me?”
    “ I took a punt that your
parents still lived in West Leederville. I rang your old
number.”
    “ You spoke to
Mum?”
    That was all she needed.
Georgie’s parents had never been very approving of her relationship
with Nate, once it changed from friendship to love. They thought he
stifled her, made her give up on her dreams, that Georgie never had
a mind of her own when he was around. What they never realized was
that it was them who’d been stifling. Georgie had done everything she’d done to
make them happy but none of it had made her happy.
    “ She gave me your number. I
don’t think she knew it was me. I tried to call you before I left
home but it went straight to message bank.”
    “ Possibly because my
phone’s been floating in the river for the past half an hour but
that still doesn’t explain how you found me.”
    Nate gave her a look. “How many tall ships
are there in Perth, Georgie?”
    Hmm. He had point.
    “ It wasn’t exactly rocket
science. All I had to do was Google the location.”
    “ Well, I’m glad you’re
here. It’s nice to see you.”
    “ You, too.”
    They walked along the jetty towards the car
park. The moon had risen fully now and Georgie was getting chillier
by the second. She didn’t care though. She was with Nate. “I don’t
mind that I’m missing out on dinner now you’re here. I didn’t know
many of the people in that group. It would have been a night of
small talk.”
    “ Or pirate talk. Why are
you dressed in pirate garb anyway? The Leeuwin isn’t a pirate
ship.”
    “ It’s International Talk Like A Pirate Day .”
    “ No shit? They have such a
thing?”
    “ Apparently.”
    They came to a stop beside a shiny new car.
Nate pulled the keys out of his pocket and flicked the remote.
Swinging the rear door open, he searched around for a second,
before pulling out a large plastic bin liner.
    “ So the Red Devil went to
car heaven, then?” Georgie asked.
    A faint smile lit Nate’s his face. “That car
was the best.”
    “ As long as you don’t count
the time we got stuck in sand dunes at Lancelin, or when we broke
down in the middle of the freeway during peak hour.”
    Ignoring her, Nate opened the passenger door
and spread the bin liner on the seat, tucking