Oceans Between Us (A Cinderella Romance) by Helen Scott Taylor

she was out on the coast path with him, wishing she could soothe his pain. When he hadn't come home by dusk, she put down her brush, walked through to the front of the house and stared out the window.
    A lone figure sat on the Jacka, facing out to sea. Although twilight made it difficult to see, something about the figure persuaded her it was Dino. The wind had picked up. He must be cold, sitting there alone—and it was her fault for dredging up his troubles.
    She wrapped the bristles of her paintbrush in a plastic bag, then fetched the master key and let herself into number twelve. She paused inside the door. Even though she had been cleaning the room for years, a strange, light-headed excitement fizzed through her at being in the room where Dino slept.
    She gathered his leather jacket off the back of a chair and held it to her chest, pressing her cheek against the smooth, warm collar, breathing in the leathery smell mixed with his spicy shower gel. Enough of this mooning around. Dino was getting cold. She hurried downstairs, donned her own coat and the training shoes she used for walking, and set off down the lane.
    Although she could see the Jacka from the Crow's Nest, it took fifteen minutes at a brisk pace to reach it. She had to walk through the village, past the harbor and up the steep coastal path to the rocky outcrop. She kept her fingers crossed he would still be there when she arrived.
    Her heart raced as she hurried up the final hill and had to pause for a few moments to catch her breath. At the top, she let out a sigh of relief to find him perched on the highest point, staring out to sea. "Dino!"
    He turned at her voice and smiled. "What are you doing out here, Maria?"
    "I thought you'd be cold. I brought you this." She handed his jacket over, and he put it on and turned up the collar.
    "You are an angel. Thank you, cara ." He shifted over and patted the rock at his side.
    She hesitated a moment, then climbed up beside him and wriggled to get comfortable. She hugged her knees against the chilly wind. "I'm sorry. I upset you with my questions."
    He shrugged. "It is not your fault. I am coming to terms with my loss, but every now and then I am reminded of my son, and I am sad again. To know he is out there somewhere and will one day call another man papà will always hurt. I just hope he will be happy and loved as much as I would have loved him."
    Life could be so unfair. Maria reached out and laid her hand over Dino's. "It's an old cliché, but they say time heals and it does. I hardly think of Tom at all these days."
    As she drew back, he caught her hand and lifted it. Her heart jumped at the warmth of his breath, then the soft brush of his lips across her skin. "You are kind and sweet, Maria."
    "Not really." She laughed nervously, trying to ignore the tingles of pleasure racing up her arm.
    "You are," he reiterated, firmly. "If you have finished cooking the dinner, shall we go back and dine?"
    "Of course." Maria climbed off the rock and waited for him to join her on the path.
    He jumped down, ran his fingers back through his dark hair and came to her side. "I'm glad you are here. It is good to have a friend to raise my spirits." He caught hold of her hand and they walked down the slope. It felt right to have her fingers engulfed in Dino's warm grip.
    "I should finish the second bedroom tomorrow," she said. "Then I have to shift the furniture back and paint the other two rooms. Can you give me a hand with the lifting?"
    "Of course I will. You should not lift furniture. Women have no muscles."
    "I do!" Maria bent her elbow to show off her biceps. He squeezed along the top of her arm, making her go all tickly and giggly.
    "You have nothing there."
    "Yes I do!"
    "You need muscles like these to move furniture." He angled his arm and she wrapped her hand around his bicep. She lifted her eyebrows at the firm bulge beneath her fingers, and a delicious image of him shirtless flashed through her mind.
    "I was going to ask