Tall, Dark & Distant by Julie Fison

his way between the barnacles, stumbling slightly, and falling more than diving into the water.
    ‘Come on,’ he called.
    Georgia hesitated. ‘It’s pretty rocky.’
    ‘It’s fine,’ Nik insisted.
    Georgia spent another minute or so assessing the rocks, then she stripped down to her knickers and a cropped running top, and waited for a break in the waves. Nik had absolutely no chance, after that, of keeping focused on her smile. He let his eyes dawdle from her long brown hair, across her face and all the way down her body. By the time he got to her legs, he was imagining them wrapped around his back. He blinked, forcing himself to snap out of it.
    ‘Watch your step,’ he called, as Georgia picked her way across the rocks. But the advice was a second too late. A wave came in and knocked Georgia off balance. She stumbled a few steps and then went down with a squeal.
    Nik leapt towards her, stretching out his arms. Georgia fell between them, pushing him backwards into the water. She landed with her face under his chin.
    For just a few moments he savoured her smooth, wet skin against him. The muscles in his chest tightened as a wave washed over them, splashing their faces. The saltwater clung to her lashes, and he thought that he had never seen such beautiful blue eyes. Never been so close to such a kissable mouth …
    ‘Sorry,’ Georgia said, scrambling to her feet. ‘I’m not normally that clumsy.’
    ‘Are you okay?’ Nik asked as he helped her back to the safety of the dry rocks.
    ‘It’s nothing,’ Georgia said. She wiped away the blood from a gash on her left foot.
    Nik took her foot and gently bathed it in the saltwater. Then he placed it in his lap and patted the wound dry with his shirt. He left her foot there, not because he could do any more to help, but just because he wanted to touch her. He looked into her eyes. They were hypnotising. It was killing him not to kiss her.
    ‘We should have dinner tonight,’ Nik said, surprising even himself. ‘How about Sails, on the beachfront? I’ll book a table.’
    Girls aren’t part of the plan, he kept reminding himself, but Georgia was making him forget. She wasn’t just making things difficult; she was making them impossible.
    ‘Are you free at seven?’ he asked.
    ‘Yep,’ Georgia replied, looking a bit stunned. ‘Of course. Sure, dinner would be great. Tonight at seven.’
    ‘It’s a date,’ Nik said.
    He was breaking the rules. There was no getting around that fact. But what could he do? Some girls operated in an orbit of their own, with exceptional gravitational pull. And Georgia was definitely one of those girls.

‘Are you wearing that dress?’ Alice asked, with a look of horror on her face.
    There was just twenty minutes to go before Georgia was due to meet Nik and she was no closer to finding the right thing to wear than she had been an hour before.
    ‘You look like you’re going to the beach, not to a restaurant,’ Alice said.
    Georgia sighed. It was one thing taking advice from a friend with extensive dating experience. It was quite another taking tips from her sister.
    ‘What about that dress you bought in Hastings Street? That would look nice,’ her mum offered.
    ‘Too embarrassing,’ Georgia said, remembering the last time Nik had seen her in that dress.
    ‘I hope you’re not driving anywhere with him,’ her dad said. It was an instruction more than a question.
    ‘No, Dad, I’m walking to dinner. I won’t be late, I can walk home as well,’ Georgia replied.
    Georgia’s relationship with Nik had moved from a private affair conducted in the rainforest mostly between the hours of six and eight, to something for the whole family to weigh in on. But if she didn’t get going soon, she wouldn’t even make dinner. Georgia returned to her room to try on another combination. She finally settled on the only other nice dress she owned. Alice even lent Georgia her new wedges. There seemed to be a ceasefire between them. Georgia