Persuading Spring: A Sexy New Zealand Romance (The Four Seasons Book 4) by Serenity Woods

beautiful.”
    “You can see why people say it’s like
paradise.”
    “Definitely.” The Bay of Islands was her
favorite place she’d visited so far. She’d driven into the bustling town of
Kerikeri to check it out before heading toward Paihia on the coast. Everything
looked sub-tropical, from the brighter-than-bright sunshine, to the palm trees
that lined the roads, to the fact that it was a few degrees warmer than
Wellington. Everyone here was already in shorts and T-shirts in spite of the
fact that it was technically still spring.
    Paihia looked like a pretty seaside town
with the added bonus that it sat right on the edge of the bay and had a
magnificent outlook across the Pacific to the islands in the distance. There
were passenger ferries between Paihia and Russell, but she’d driven a few miles
further south to a car ferry at Opua. The road had wound along the coast beside
the sparkling ocean, and when she’d boarded the ferry, she’d gotten out of the
car to let the wind blow through her hair as she’d leaned over the side and
watched the fish swimming beneath her.
    It was all very beautiful, and she knew she
was going to have fun exploring the area, but she couldn’t deny to herself that
the glow she felt inside wasn’t due to the beauty of the scenery. The reason
her heart had lifted walked beside her, talking about the fish he’d caught the
previous weekend when he’d been out on his boat.
    She cast him a glance, conscious of his
hard biceps beneath her fingers. His gentle, unimposing manner made it easy to
forget he was several inches taller and wider than her. Taller and wider than
Mal. She liked that.
    He looked down and caught her watching him,
and his talk about the best bait for snapper trailed off. “Sorry. I forget that
not everyone likes fishing.”
    “Don’t apologize. I wasn’t bored. I was
just… looking.”
    He chuckled. “Look all you like. As long as
I can look back.”
    A touch of heat simmered in his eyes, and
it made her mouth go dry. She wasn’t used to men looking at her with desire.
She’d once read that when a person has a partner, they gave off different
signals from when they were alone. Presumably, for years she’d been
subconsciously telling men she was unavailable, and it had been a long time
since her relationship with Mal had sparkled with excitement. Having a man
slide his gaze down her in a way that suggested he was wondering what she
looked like without her clothes gave her a flutter in her stomach she hadn’t
felt for a long time.
    Liking the feeling, she lifted her face to
the early evening air. The spring breeze played with her hair, and the sun
warmed her face. The sweet aroma of caramel from the nearby ice cream parlor
mingled with the smell of the sea. Seagulls cried as they wheeled above her
head, and laughter spilled out from the restaurants and cafés where people were
heading for their evening meal. A feeling of peace settled over her that she
wouldn’t have had in Wellington, where the noise of traffic never ceased, even
into the night.
    “Here we are.” He stopped outside the Sweet
Penguin, a restaurant on The Strand. He gestured for her to precede him, so she
walked up the steps and through the door. “I hope you like seafood,” he said,
following her in. “But if you don’t, they do offer some alternatives.”
    “I love seafood.” She paused as a waitress
approached with a smile. “I think we might have a reservation under…” She
hesitated, embarrassed to realize she couldn’t remember his surname. Had he
told her at all?
    “Reed,” he said easily.
    “Of course. Please come this way.” The
waitress led them to a table out on the deck. A balustrade separated it from
the quiet road and beyond that, the sandy beach and then the sea. A deck heater
stood nearby for when the temperature dropped, but at the moment it was
pleasantly warm, the perfect place to eat out on a first date.
    If it was a date. Bridget wasn’t sure she
should