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her. If he was sitting next to her he could ask, but Pip had insisted he sit the opposite side of the table. That made conversation hard. As much as he loved looking at her, he craved conversation and the way his name sounded in her gorgeous Australian accent. He pulled out his camera and took some photos of Jo, catching several of her pulling faces and doing bunny ears over the top of Pip’s head, before he finally managed to get one of her smiling.
    At least he had that photo to remember her by. He wished he had more time. Time to get to know her properly. But he didn’t. His flight left Sydney at ten o’clock Friday morning for Ayer’s Rock. He’d gone from not wanting to be here, to not wanting to leave. All because of someone he hardly knew. Love at first sight was only something that happened in the romance novels his sister wrote. It didn’t happen in real life, and especially not to people like him.
    Tomorrow he’d ask her to dinner. There’s always tomorrow. Yes, he was out in the Blue Mountains from dawn ‘til dusk on a coach tour, but maybe she’d have dinner with him in the evening. He wasn’t going to lose anything by asking and if she said no? Well, he’d leave the day after tomorrow and would never see her again.
    Rob looked at him. “Have you enjoyed Sydney?”
    “Yes, I have.” He looked at Jo as he spoke. “It went from being a mistake to one of the best places I’ve visited. Even if my case still hasn’t arrived anywhere.”
    “Glad to hear it. We should have another barbie. So how about we do it tomorrow? All head down to the beach for your last night?”
    John fixed his gaze on Jo and smiled. “Actually, I would like to take Jo out tomorrow night.”
    From the sudden silence that descended on the table and the stunned look on Jo’s face, he wondered what had gotten into him. He wasn’t impulsive. His sisters would be the first to say that. What if she said no?
    His cheeks burned as he waited for her to turn him down, just like every girl he’d ever asked had done.
     
    ****
     
    Jo looked at him, shock resonating through her. Did he just say what she thought he said? It sounded suspiciously like I want to take Jo out. Her pulse raced and for a moment she almost convinced herself she was hearing what she wanted to hear. Was she imagining things? Please, don’t let me be imagining things.
    She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, looked at Pip and then back at John. Either way he needed an answer. And there was only one answer to give him.
    He looked at her and then glanced down for a moment before looking up again, the hope in his eyes fading and embarrassment flooding his face. If anything, the color made him so vulnerable all she wanted to do was hug him, however inappropriate that would be. He had said it. And she wasn’t going to make him ask twice, because something told her that he wouldn’t.
    “I’d love to.” The words tumbled from her lips. She didn’t want to give him a chance to change his mind. She caught the look Pip and Rob gave each other but shrugged it off.
    Her heart sang. This was more than she could have asked and even if one night was all she had—all either of them had—he liked her. He liked her enough to ask her out, to spend his last night in Sydney with her.
    If only…
    “Wonderful,” he said smiling at her. His foot caught hers under the table. At that moment he and she were the only people in the room. Everything faded around her and she lost herself in his smile.
    She’d fallen completely, utterly and past the point of no return, for a man she could never have, because in just over forty hours from now he’d be getting on a plane and she’d never see him again.
     
     
     
     

4
     
    Jo spent the entire day on tenterhooks. What do I wear? Where’s he taking me? What if his coach crashes on the way back to the city, and we never have this time together? Lord, I put this whole thing into Your hands. Though I guess I have to pick my own