Yours to Keep Read online

  Yours to Keep

  Lantern Bay, Book 4

  Diana Fraser

  Bay Books

  Yours to Keep

  by Diana Fraser

  * * *

  © 2021 Diana Fraser

  ISBN: 978-0-9951447-6-7 (epub)

  An open-hearted hippy, a secretive property tycoon—a recipe for heartache.

  Amber Connelly is adored by her family for her sunny, quirky personality. So what is she doing, her family wonders, lusting after a straight-laced property billionaire?

  —Lantern Bay—

  Yours to Give (Max and Laura)

  Yours to Treasure (Zane and Rachel)

  Yours to Cherish (Gabe and Madeleine)

  Yours to Keep (David and Amber)

  Yours to Love (Rob and Flo)

  Yours Forever (Cameron)

  You can sign up to Diana’s newsletter here (or via her website) for information on book releases.

  * * *

  For more information about this author, visit:

  https://www.dianafraser.net

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is co-incidental. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the author.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Summer at the Lakehouse Café

  Also by Diana Fraser

  “The lamp burns bright when wick and oil are clean.”

  ― Ovid

  1

  David Tremayne slammed shut the door to his car and looked over its roof toward the café. There she was. He smiled to himself as he watched her fuss over one of her elderly customers, helping them to the door and giving them a gentle hug before they went on their way. He could practically feel the glow of happiness emanating from the old lady as she walked slowly away towards the waiting taxi. She seemed to have that effect on everyone.

  He paused a moment to admire the waitress’s slender figure as she jumped up to reach something from a high shelf. He sighed. A big heart and a beautiful figure. What more could a man want?

  He walked across to the café and his smile broadened at the sight of her cooing over a small baby. As he paused by the window, she looked up and his breath caught. He looked away abruptly and for a brief moment noticed his reflection, revealed by a poster in the window, and not for the first time was surprised at his contained, buttoned-up appearance. There was no hint of the smile he could have sworn he’d worn, no sign his heartbeat had quickened at the sight of her, no evidence he was in danger of falling for a woman because of the size of her heart.

  But he wouldn’t, because he needed her. Without her support, his project would be doomed before it had begun and he couldn’t afford any more adverse publicity. No, there would be no falling for the beautiful woman with the big heart. He only needed her for a while and then he’d let her go. Seduce and discard. How hard could that be?

  He pushed the door open, the bell jangled, and he stepped inside the café.

  * * *

  Amber Connelly looked up as the café bell jingled. She didn’t do it every time—that would have been plain crazy as the café was a busy place—no, only at five minutes past one every day, except for weekends.

  She watched the tall, broad-shouldered man in the business suit—the only suited person in the café—walk past her without looking at her and take a seat by the window. He picked up a menu and studied it. Why, she didn’t know. He must have known its contents by now. And besides, he always chose the same thing.

  She was about to collect her pen and paper as the door opened again and Gabe and Maddy entered, laughing and holding hands. She grinned to see her brother and sister-in-law so happy. The suited man raised an eyebrow at the noise, as if irritated by the distraction, before returning to peruse the menu. As Gabe walked by, he caught the eye of the man and Amber could sense a bristling—Gabe being protective, as usual.

  Amber waved them to their usual table and walked up to the man. He was aware of her presence—she knew that even though he didn’t look up. She smiled to herself. He really intrigued her, even though he wasn’t anything like the type of guy she was usually interested in.

  She smiled. “Good morning. How are you today?”

  He looked up, and as usual, her heart nearly stopped. Surely it was indecent for a man to be endowed with such beautiful green eyes. “It’s afternoon,” he said.

  “Oh! So it is,” she said, unable to focus on anything but those eyes.

  “It’s past twelve, which is the middle of the day, so it’s afternoon. You were incorrect,” he added for good measure, as if she doubted his words. She didn’t. She only ever doubted herself. Everyone else—especially this man who she imagined would be incapable of error—she always accepted as being correct.

  She grinned, and his eyes narrowed.

  She chuckled at his response and he frowned.

  She laughed out loud—he must be the straightest, most pedantic man she’d ever met—and he looked away, back at the menu, his frown deepening. She felt the brightness fade from the day as he turned his eyes away. She wanted them looking at her again.

  “You’re right! Of course it’s afternoon. I should know, we’re serving lunch.” She ducked her head so he couldn’t hide from her gaze. “So what’s it to be?”

  She was rewarded with another look from those green eyes, their composure once more intact. He handed her the menu. “Caesar salad with chicken. Keep the dressing to one side. Are the wholemeal rolls fresh?”

  “Fresh?” Amber repeated the last word, hoping it would help her concentrate on what he was saying.

  “Yes. The rolls. Are they fresh? I only want them if they’ve been freshly made today.”

  Jeez, he was one out of the box. “Everything’s fresh. The bread was made this morning with my own fair hands.”

  Those green eyes slid down to her hands and she suddenly felt self-conscious about the ring she was wearing. She wasn’t supposed to wear rings but must have forgotten to slip off the greenstone and silver ring she’d inherited from her mother.

  “When I said ‘fair’ hands,” she began to blather, trying to slide the ring around and hide her hands under the notebook on which she was taking his order, “I meant, you know, reliable hands. Because they’re not that fair. Not really.”

  “In what way are they ‘not fair’? They look perfectly fair to me. Well formed, and…” He hesitated, uncharacteristically. “Quite attractive.”

  “Oh!” The single word slid out on a sigh. She wasn’t smiling any longer. Instead the curious low-key fizzing in her stomach she experienced whenever she saw him, stepped up a notch. “Thank you.” She held up her hand. “Yes, I suppose they’re not bad, are they?”

  “No. So if you agree, what did you mean by they’re not fair?”

  “Oh, that.” She shrugged and wrinkled her nose self-deprecatingly. “I just mean that I’m not that good a cook. Enthusiastic but by all accounts—well, by my family’s accounts—not actually that good.”

  “And yet you’ve made the bread rolls. You’re not doing a good job at selling them to me.”

  “I’m good at rolls. Anything with yeast is
okay because I can give it a bit of a bash. Heavy handed, you see?” she said, slamming her hand on the table. Everyone looked around but the man himself didn’t move an inch. Instead he touched her ring, accidentally brushing the back of her hand as he did so.

  “Heavy hands, maybe.” He looked back with eyes that had dropped the facade and made her melt deep inside. “But they’re beautiful ones.”

  She took an involuntary step back, wondering if she’d heard right. This was the rude guy, yes? Not someone who flattered. She didn’t reply and turned abruptly.

  “Excuse me!” he called after her. She stopped in her tracks, and turned slowly, wondering what on earth he was going to say. Was he about to tell her he was wrong, her hands weren’t in the slightest bit beautiful, or maybe that he didn’t want his lunch after all? Maybe she’d dreamed the whole thing.

  “Yes?” she asked breathlessly.

  “And a coffee, please. Short black.”

  “Right,” she said, more to herself than to him. “Right. Coffee it is.” Coffee it was every day. If there was one thing that the green-eyed man who made her legs go weak was, it was predictable. But, as she walked over to her brother’s table, she considered the word. Predictable was a bit negative. Maybe regular, or ‘knows what he wants’ would be more accurate. Yes, that was infinitely better. Because he’d just turned out to be anything but predictable.

  She brought out her notebook and poised her pen but her mind was full of the word ‘beautiful’. She turned the hand that was holding the notebook and studied it.

  “What the hell are you doing, Amber?” asked Gabe. “Is there something wrong with your arm? Here”—he reached out in his best doctorly fashion—“let me take a look.”

  She snapped back to the present and pulled her arm from Gabe’s hand. “No. Of course not.” She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the sensation on the back of her hand from where the green-eyed man had touched her, trying to focus on the present. It wasn’t easy—her family had always accused her of having only a weak grip on reality. She took it as a compliment.

  “Then why do you look so goofy?”

  Now that annoyed her. Goofy was the last thing she wanted to look at that precise moment. She glanced at the man but he was flicking away an annoying wasp from his table.

  “Amber! You haven’t taken our order,” said Gabe.

  She dismissed him with a wave of the hand. “In a minute.” She returned to Green Eyes’ table, leaned over and opened a window. With the aid of a menu, she carefully scooped up the wasp and flicked it gently out of the window. She pulled the window closed once more. She turned to see that he was completely still, his eyes focused intently on her.

  “I’ll leave it closed.” She mimed a shiver. “It’s a bit chilly outside this… afternoon.” She grinned at the added emphasis.

  He cleared his throat and sat up straight. “You should have one of those fly things to kill flies and wasps. They’re pests.”

  Her grin faded. “They’re not. I’m not into killing things, and we usually have the windows open so things fly in, and then they fly right on out again.” She looked around defensively. “Anyway, do you see any flies?”

  He cast a steady look around and pointed into a distant corner by the open front door. “There.”

  “That’s not fair. That one’s just come in.” She pointed. “And look, it’s just gone out again.”

  He shrugged.

  “And what does that shrug mean?”

  “Simply that I proved my point.”

  “You did no such thing. Anyway, if you don’t like it, there are other cafés.”

  He held her gaze for a long moment and she felt her irritation wobble and then flutter and dissolve into nothing, like a popped sigh, or a rain cloud evaporating under a hot sun. He might not be able to talk without provoking her but he sure could speak with those eyes, and she liked what they were saying. A loud ding sounded from across the café.

  “I don’t want to go to other cafés because they don’t have you as a waitress.”

  A small whimper escaped her lips and she touched her burning cheek. She never blushed—what on earth was happening?

  The ding sang out again.

  “Someone at the counter is trying to attract your attention.” He glanced across the café. “Yes, two lattes by the look of it.” He frowned. “Funny color, must be soy or something weird.”

  She nodded and stepped back. “Right, I…” She turned and walked away, waving her hand as Gabe tried to attract her attention again. Once the two lattes had been deposited—and how the green-eyed stranger knew soy milk had been used, she had no idea—she went to take Gabe and Maddy’s order.

  “What’s got into you, Amber? You’re acting all distracted. Well, even more distracted than usual.”

  Amber pressed her hand flat against her chest, willing her heart to stop pounding, willing the heat that she could feel flooding her cheeks to subside.

  “Are you having a panic attack?”

  She took a deep breath and shook her head. “No,” she said, “I’m just…” She shrugged. “I don’t know what I’m just doing.” She flashed what she hoped was a reassuring smile at her big brother. “Now, what’s it to be, the same as usual?”

  She glanced across at the green-eyed man once more. She couldn’t seem to stop herself. Gabe followed her gaze and frowned. “That guy’s been here every day this week.”

  “Yeah,” agreed Amber. “And last week. You probably didn’t notice him last week.”

  Gabe’s gaze narrowed as he turned to her. “Who is he?”

  She shrugged. “No idea. He’s the guy who we saw running that time. You know, the guy I asked you to check out. But you didn’t, so I don’t know who he is.”

  “I can’t go checking out every guy you fancy. For one thing, there’s too many, and for another it would look weird.”

  Amber tutted. “So, thanks to you, I have no idea who he is.”

  Gabe shook his head, defeated.

  “He sure is hot,” murmured Maddy.

  Gabe shot an indignant look at Maddy before glancing angrily at Green Eyes.

  “So, have you got past the small talk yet?” Maddy asked, ignoring Gabe’s frowning glare.

  Gabe looked from Maddy back to Amber, then back to Maddy again. “Small talk,” grunted Gabe. “Why would you want to bother?”

  “Because he’s hot,” Amber and Maddy said together. It didn’t improve Gabe’s mood.

  “I don’t think so.”

  Amber and Maddy exchanged amused looks and Maddy leaned over and kissed Gabe. “That’s because you’re a man.”

  “You women don’t know everything,” he said, a smile once more back on his face.

  Maddy rolled her eyes. “Just because you’re the town’s GP doesn’t mean you know everything.”

  “And in this case,” continued Amber, “you definitely don’t.” She paused for dramatic effect. It worked. Gabe’s mouth hung open slightly as if he had no idea what she was about to say. Amber liked that. She rarely had any of her family guessing. “He’s going to ask me out.”

  “He’s what?” Gabe shot the stranger another look. “Has he been chatting you up?”

  “No,” she said, trying to make herself heard above a noisy crowd who were just leaving the café. “Well, not unless you call asking me if the bread is freshly baked, or whether we use virgin or extra virgin—”

  “Virgin?” Gabe raised his voice over the shouts of the departing diners. “He asked you if you’re a virgin?” Gabe stood up, but Maddy pulled his arm, and Amber squeaked with embarrassment.

  “No, stupid brother, he didn’t. He wanted to know about the oil.”

  “Oil? Maddy, tell me what she’s talking about.”

  “Gabe,” said Maddy. “That guy over there has the hots for Amber and we’ve laid bets on when he’ll ask her out. I’ve lost already. I said yesterday. But Amber reckoned he’s going to wait seven days before asking. Apparently he’s some kind of account
ant or something and does everything in sevens.”

  Gabe looked at Amber incredulously. “An accountant? Really, Amber? Since when have you ever dated anyone who could count, let alone wear a suit.”

  “Don’t be so damned rude. Astro could count. He had a steady beat going when he was playing the drums. Anyway, give me your order, I’ve got work to do.”

  She walked past Green Eyes, pausing to give an adjoining table an unnecessary wipe. She turned to face him with a smile on her face, but he was frowning at his phone. Her smile faded as she returned to give Gabe and Maddy’s order to the chef, keeping Green Eyes’ order to herself. She waved it at the chef. “I’ve got this.”

  She cast a surreptitious glance at Green Eyes as she put together the salad, adding the leanest cuts of chicken before tossing it in the dressing. She was about to take it over when she turned and went back again. Dressing on the side! How could she forget? She repeated the exercise, before carefully pouring the dressing into one of the dinky white cream jugs. She stood back, looking with an artistic eye, before tearing off a few sprigs of coriander which was growing on the window sill, and sprinkling it artfully over the salad. There. She loved coriander.

  She picked up the coffee and took them both over to the green-eyed guy.

  “What’s that?”

  “Coriander.”

  “I didn’t ask—”

  She smiled. “You don’t have to. Is there anything else?” She put her hands behind her, twisting her greenstone ring, hoping that this might be the moment. The end of the second week. Two lots of seven. It might be auspicious to someone into numbers. She had no idea. She made a mental note to check her numerology book later.