Page 16 of One Cornish Summer With You
‘That’s quite the change of scene. Bristol always strikes me as hip and vibrant.’
‘Isn’t Penzance?’ he joked with a wry grin that Tammyfound very attractive. ‘I also thought I’d have more time to go kitesurfing.’
‘Kitesurfing?’ She whistled. ‘I thought you must do something other than sitting behind a desk to keep so fit.’
‘I’m not that fit!’ he scoffed.
‘Oh, come on! That’s not true. Not from what I saw.’
His eyebrows shot up in shock and amusement. Tammy felt her face glow again. She must have gone bright red. With her sandy hair and skin tone, she could hardly do anything else when she blushed.
‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so personal, only – well, you look good to me. Through the shirt, I mean. Argh. I must stop digging a hole for myself.’ By now she felt as if her face was on fire, but Ruan was clearly enjoying her embarrassment.
‘Dig as deep as you want,’ he said with amusement in his tone. ‘Iusedto try to keep in half-decent shape. I still try but I’m nowhere near able to do what I did before. At one time, I was out on the water every spare moment I could get. You could say I was obsessive about kitesurfing. Some people thought so …’
‘Was this in Bristol?’ Tammy asked.
‘On the Somerset coast, yes, though we used to come down to Cornwall occasionally. Me and a bunch of mates I’d met through the sport. When I saw the job in Penzance, I realised it was a five-minute drive from the big kitesurf centre at Marazion. It felt like a sign.’
‘I love it there. It’s an amazing place with those big flat beaches and St Michael’s Mount as a backdrop.’
‘It was a dream place to kitesurf,’ Ruan added wistfully.
‘You said youusedto kitesurf. Why did you stop?’
He sighed. ‘I had an accident. I was at an unfamiliar beach … and let’s say I misinterpreted the wind conditions and ended up colliding with some rocks.’
‘Ouch.’
‘Yeah. Luckily there was a rescue boat on hand, but I’d torn some shoulder ligaments and grazed my legs badly. The grazes have healed but the shoulder’s still not fixed enough for the kind of kitesurfing I want to do. So, I’ve turned to the gym instead, which is incredibly boring.’
‘Oh, I bet! I couldn’t stand to get my exercise indoors on a treadmill.’
He eyed her over the rim of the bottle. ‘You don’t need to exercise.’
She arched an eyebrow, wondering if he was trying a line on her but concluding he probably wasn’t. ‘Now who’s digging a hole?’
He grinned. ‘I only meant that your job is so physical and it’s in the outdoors and it’s creative. I envy you.’
‘I love it and I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it can have its downsides. It’s hardly a steady job, but I’m not complaining. It’s what I choose to do.’
The food arrived and proved to be as good as Tammy had hoped, although she tried not to think of her dwindling bank balance after splurging on two nights out in a row. There was no way she was going to let Ruan fork out for the whole bill. Even if he earned a lot more than she did, she’d no intention of owing him anything. Anyway, withher extra shifts at the gallery, she could afford a couple of special nights out.
‘This is really good,’ Ruan said, shelling the last of his chilli prawns.
‘It sure is.’ Tammy dipped a fry in her sriracha mayo. ‘It was a risk trying a new place but I’m glad I chanced it.’
‘I am too,’ he replied with a look in his deep blue eyes that made her stomach do a delicious flip. ‘Glad you took a risk yesterday and tonight.’
Tammy had a fry in her mouth so couldn’t reply, which was just as well. She hoped he’d put her reddening cheeks down to the spicy mayo.
‘Talking of risks …’ he began.
‘Mmm.’ Her reply was hampered by a mouthful of fry.
‘The thing is, my shoulder’s notgreatbut I’m fed up waiting for it to be perfectly healed. I’ve finally finished my physio and some mates have asked me if I want to go to Marazion this weekend. They’ve booked an Airbnb.’
‘That sounds fun. So why d’you like kitesurfing so much?’
