Once Upon A Christmas. Jennifer Joyce

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СКАЧАТЬ with a dude. In fact, I’m not totally sure I know what a dude is, but so far so good.’ She gave him a smile. ‘So, if you’re a dude, what does that make me?’

      He had no hesitation. ‘That makes you a babe.’ He grinned at her. ‘No question. Very definitely a babe.’

      Holly rather liked the sound of that, but she didn’t comment. Scruffy Land Rovers and outdoor pursuits hadn’t featured too highly on her list of essentials for possible boyfriends so far. Anyway, she thought to herself, one pretty normal prerequisite was that the man in question should at least appear to demonstrate some sort of romantic interest towards her. Jack Nelson, nice and friendly as he was, appeared to show as much affection towards her as he did to Stirling the dog. She dismissed the thought and glanced back down to the beach, absently reaching back over her shoulder to scratch Stirling’s ears as he stood behind them, nostrils flared. ‘So, what’s the plan?’

      Jack looked at his watch. ‘Eleven-thirty. Low tide was a few minutes ago, so this is perfect for the surf. Do you see how regular and clean the waves are? No nasty chop and, as long as I stay out of the rip currents, it should be awesome. Why don’t you take Stirling for a run on the beach while I go for a surf? I’ll be back here in an hour. I’ll leave the car open. Key’s under the driver’s seat if you want to turn the engine on to warm up and there’s a Thermos of hot chocolate on the back seat. Help yourself. And there’s a bone and some water for Stirling in there too. Sound okay?’

      Holly and the dog went for a long walk on the beach as far as the rocks in both directions. It was easy to see why Croyde was so good for surfing. The cliffs rose up on either side of the beach, effectively funnelling the Atlantic breakers into the bay where they built in height as the sea floor shelved upwards. It was also a great place for dogs. Stirling had a great time chasing and being chased by all the other dogs they met. In spite of the sunshine, it was very cold, with a bitter edge to the wind. Holly was warm and cosy, but only because she was wearing gloves, a heavy fleece, woolly hat, duck down jacket, tights, and her new woolly socks and trainers.

      As she watched the surfers, she couldn’t imagine anybody wanting to spend an hour in the sea in this temperature, but she was surprised at the number of figures out there in the waves. Presumably word had spread about the perfect conditions. As far as she could see, they were all dressed the same – dark wetsuit and dark hood. She only finally managed to pick Jack out when he stepped off his board right in front of her. Stirling, initially unsure, charged forward into the waves when he recognised the figure in the wetsuit and hood. Jack walked into the shallows so he could reach out to pat him.

      ‘Hi, Stirling and hi Holly, it’s me. I saw you there.’ He picked up the board and glanced at the sun. ‘Another quarter of an hour okay?’

      ‘Take as long as you like.’ This was the first time she had seen him in a wetsuit. It clung tightly to his body and, from what she could see of his broad shoulders and flat stomach, she would rather like the idea of clinging to it herself. She decided that Julia deserved to see what people did for fun in north Devon. And a photo of him like this would be rather nice for her to have as well, she admitted to herself, as she pulled off her gloves, reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone.

      ‘Call Stirling, would you, Jack? I’ll take a photo of you both.’ Somehow, by including the dog in the picture, it made her feel a bit less shameless. Jack called the dog and she took a number of photos of them in the shallows, splashing around together. ‘Done! If they’re any good, I’ll send them to you.’ She put the phone away and reached for her gloves again,. Her fingers were already cold. She looked at him with genuine concern. ‘Are you sure you aren’t freezing?’

      He shook his head. ‘I’m boiling.’ He gave her a little wave of the hand and headed back out to sea again. The dog followed for a few steps and then retreated as a wave splashed him. Holly watched Jack as he threw himself face down onto the board and paddled hard, ducking as huge breakers crashed over him and disappearing completely, only to reappear seconds later on the other side of the wave, still paddling. Now she had identified him, she stood and watched. He was good. Even she could see that.

      He and a few other black dots bobbed around about a hundred yards from the beach until the right wave came along. She saw him try for one, miss it, wait some more and then suddenly paddle for all he was worth and catch a big roller. As the wave took the board, he jumped to his feet, crouching forward, perfectly balanced. He skimmed across the face of the wave from right to left until, at just the right moment, he spun round and came back in the opposite direction. Finally, as the wave disintegrated, he threw himself backwards into the sea and started the process all over again.

      There was little doubt in Holly’s mind that she liked Jack a lot. She knew very little about him and he was not very forthcoming about his past history, but she was pretty sure that he was well educated but had decided, for whatever reason, to opt out and settle for the rural life. In comparison to Justin, or any of her previous boyfriends, he was very different. She couldn’t imagine Justin wandering round with holes in his socks and she found her face breaking into a smile at the thought. Similarly, none of her previous man friends, although many of them had boasted impressive gym-developed muscles, would be likely to stack logs for a living. Even so, she couldn’t miss the attraction she was feeling for Jack, and not just because of his fit looking body and tough lifestyle. Did this maybe mean that something was changing inside her, she wondered.

      Holly went back up to the car and located the dog’s water bowl and biscuit as well as the hot chocolate. She checked the photos she had taken and felt particularly pleased with one of them where Jack was turning slightly to his right and the sunlight picked out the outline of his body particularly well. She sent it to Julia, along with a brief text message. At the beach. Look what I’ve caught.

      A reply arrived almost immediately. It, too, was short and to the point. F***ing hell, Hol! Followed by several very smiley faces.

      Holly was leaning on the bonnet, sipping a mug of cocoa when she saw Jack coming back up from the beach, the board under his arm, the leash still clamped to his ankle. Stirling also spotted him and charged off to greet him, bouncing around excitedly as they approached the Land Rover. After a full hour’s walk and run on the beach, the dog still looked full of energy. She dug out the other mug and poured Jack some hot chocolate. He stood the board up against the side of the car and came across to her, ripping his neoprene hood off as he did so. Water sprayed across the bonnet as he shook his mass of black hair like a dog. His face was bright red and, amazingly, he looked hot.

      ‘Thanks.’ He took the mug and sipped it. ‘Excellent. God, I’m hot.’ He set the mug down and turned his back towards her. ‘You couldn’t just unzip me, could you?’

      Holly grasped the ribbon hanging in the middle of his back and tugged, opening the suit to his waist. The neoprene gaped open, revealing a muscular back. He tugged the top of the suit off his shoulders, releasing his arms, and let it hang round his waist. He gave her a grin as he picked up his mug again. ‘Seems crazy to you, I expect. Temperature’s only just a few degrees above zero and I’m boiling hot.’

      Hot was an adjective that had already crossed Holly’s mind. He had a terrific body; not over-muscled like some bodybuilders, but just a strong, powerful chest and an impressive run of firm stomach muscles. A light covering of hair extended up from his stomach and split into a Y shape as it reached his chest. Yes, she had to admit he did indeed look hot. Doing her best to sound nonchalant, she replied. ‘For what it’s worth, I’m quite warm too, but probably not quite warm enough to want to strip to the waist.’

      ‘We live in hope.’ He grinned again. Although he had to be a few years older than her, when he smiled he looked like a youngster. Once again, Holly found herself marvelling at having found two hunky men in such a tiny village in so many days.

      ‘So СКАЧАТЬ