Cast Ashore — a novelette in 15 chapters
Cast Ashore: Chapter 8
Temptation
I’m outside Kaja’s café at five forty-five. Not too keen, not too late, hopefully. The outdoor chairs are stacked and chained, the sign is turned to CLOSED, the blinds are down.
She opens the door on my second knock. ‘Hello, Les. Come on in.’
She looks me up and down. ‘Shoes, Les? You’ve dressed up. I don’t think I’ve seen you in shoes since, ooh, October?’
I look down at my deck shoes. It’s true: I spend most of the summer in thongs, board shorts and a singlet top.
Yeah, well. So much for ‘not too keen’. She’s seen through you already.
‘Come on through to the house.’
I follow her out the back of the café, through to the living quarters. Trying not to notice the swing of her hips, the cute way the tight little curls caress the nape of her neck. Failing.
She invites me to sit at the old pine kitchen table. Then she picks up a bottle of Cab Sav from the bench, waggles it at me enquiringly. I nod in approval and she opens it, pours us a generous glass each. She fills and sets down little bowls with green olives, salted almonds.
