Read Online Leaving at Noon by Jess Dee - Free Book Online Page A

with every fiber of her being.
    Theo regarded her silently for a long time.
“Are you happy to see me, Zo?”
    Was she? Her hands shook so badly she had to
fold them in her lap so he wouldn’t notice. Her heart banged around
uselessly, and her lungs burned with every breath. As for her
belly, it somersaulted so many times, she figured it would become
permanently twisted. Did that translate to happiness?
    “ I’m confused.”
    Theo inhaled sharply, and silence drifted
between them.
    Unsure how to breach it, Zoey focused on his
clothes. “Those boardies look good on you.” Really good.
Rip-them-off-his-body-and-jump-him good.
    Theo glanced down at them. “You bought them
for me.”
    “ I remember,” she
whispered.
    “ There was a time you
enjoyed seeing me in them.”
    “ There was a time I
enjoyed taking them off you more.”
    His gaze heated then cooled just as quickly.
“Is that time over?”
    “ God, Theo.” Zoey pinched
the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know.”
    He nodded, as though her inadequate answer
were enough. Then he turned his back to her, resting his hands on
the edge of the glass railing. He spent long minutes staring out at
the ocean. Minutes that seemed to stretch into hours as Zoey
waited, wondering what he’d say next, what she’d say next and where
they’d go from here.
    Her stomach still twisted violently. That’s
how damn anxious she was to see her own husband.
    The silence was overwhelming. Nerves
twitched through her arms and legs, and the very act of sitting
still almost killed her. She needed to move. Walk, Run. Either away
from Theo or to him. She wasn’t sure which.
    Just as she decided she couldn’t take his
silence for one more second, Theo turned back around. “Would you
like to go for a walk along the beach?”
    She’d like to do anything that got rid of
the nervous energy, but a walk on the beach wasn’t quite so
innocent as it sounded. Not with their history.
    She let her gaze drift over his shoulder,
memories assailing her. “We walked along the beach on our first
date.”
    They’d walked from one side of Bondi Beach
to the other and back again, before heading to a restaurant across
the road for a long, leisurely dinner. They’d shared their first
bottle of red that night. A Hunter Valley cab sav that quickly
became their favorite drink.
    The date hadn’t ended with the meal. It
ended the next afternoon.
    Theo nodded. “We did.”
    “ You told me…” Her voice
caught, and she had to swallow down the lump in her throat. “You
told me you loved me while walking on Bronte Beach.” All of two
days after their first date.
    Best. Walk. Ever.
    His eyes crinkled. “You said yes on the
beach in Jervis Bay.”
    Her chest squeezed at the memory of the
happiest moment of her life.
    “ And,” Theo went on, “ I
do on Coogee Beach.”
    They’d gotten married four months after he’d
proposed, in a small, romantic and beautiful ceremony. Wearing a
white sundress and flowers in her hair, Zoey had walked, barefoot,
down the beach on Levi’s arm and back up on Theo’s. Her new
husband.
    Zoey had never known life could be idyllic
until Theo became a part of hers.
    Was it any wonder she’d avoided the beach
since she’d arrived in Noosa, choosing to spend her time by the
pool instead?
    “ Yeah, Hughesy,” she said
softly. “I would like to walk.”
    He nodded and opened the gate leading to the
beach.
    Zoey plopped her wide-brimmed straw hat on
her head, her sunnies over her eyes and the thin wrap over her
swimmers. It covered her shoulders and dropped down to mid-thigh.
Necessary sun protection.
    She left her towel, water and big pile of
unread books by the lounger.
    Theo slipped on his own sunnies, hiding his
soulful eyes from her.
    They crossed the footpath in silence. Hot
sand burned her feet when they reached the beach, and she quickened
her stride, racing to the water’s edge, where receding waves
soothed the sting. Theo stayed by her side the whole time.
    In