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reported.
    ‘A date!’ Ella shrieked. ‘A running date, but still – a date.’
    Mei and Ella picked over the exchange at the door and every other detail of the evening. The way he ate his steak sandwich without getting sauce down his face – something not many guys could manage. The way he’d fought in the pool – he’d definitely been trained in martial arts or something. Even the way he pronounced Noosa was dissected. There was a hint of an accent there that wasn’t English, Mei was certain.
    ‘Your knight in shining board shorts,’ Ella concluded, as they collected the wet towels from the poolside.
    ‘Why would Georgia need a knight in shining anything?’ Mei pointed out. ‘She’s going to be a doctor. If anyone needs rescuing, she’ll be the one doing it.’
    ‘Okay. Just her boyfriend … with benefits,’ Ella said. She had it all worked out. He’d arrived with a bottle of expensive French champagne and he wore designer clothes. He also had the sort of confidence that came with privilege. Ella would know, Georgia thought. S he has it too .
    ‘Are you sure you don’t know what type of car he was driving?’ Ella asked for the third time.
    ‘It was definitely silver … I think.’ Georgia knew this question would keep coming up until Ella had something more concrete than just a fast silver car .
    ‘It wasn’t a LandCruiser,’ Georgia offered confidently. Her mother drove one of those. ‘And it wasn’t a Mercedes.’
    ‘This could take some time if we go through all the cars it wasn’t,’ Mei pointed out drily.
    ‘Cameron, what’s a fast car that comes in silver?’ Ella asked.
    Ella’s boyfriend was stretched out on a sun lounger, eyes closed, but he looked up at the sound of his name.
    ‘What’s a fast car that comes in silver?’ he repeated, propping himself onto his elbows. ‘Lots of fast cars come in silver.’
    ‘Nik’s car,’ Ella explained. ‘Haven’t you been listening? We’re trying to work out what car Nik drives. We just know it’s fast and silver.’
    ‘Are you still talking about that poor dude?’ he said. ‘He drives a Porsche Turbo. I saw it on the street when I went to get drinks. I didn’t know it was his, but it was silver.’
    Cameron dropped back onto his towel and closed his eyes.
    ‘Extreme benefits,’ Mei concluded. ‘A Porsche Turbo.’
    Georgia couldn’t deny she was impressed. What girl wouldn’t want to be chauffered around in a Porsche? But she wasn’t so sure it was a benefit. If Georgia’s dad found out Nik drove a sports car, he’d probably ban her from going anywhere with Nik at all. He knew too many surgeons who’d picked splinters out of Porsche owners’ brains after they’d wrapped their cars around lampposts.
    ‘What else did you find out about him?’ Ella asked, as they went back into the house.
    Georgia shrugged. ‘Not much.’
    Piecing together Nik’s story was mostly guesswork. The evening had been dominated by the boys’ banter – rugby taunts and sledging the England cricket team. Nik had mentioned he was twenty. He’d been to boarding school in London but was ‘having a bit of a break from things’. Apart from that, he had given very little of himself away. The girls had no way to fill in the details. Ella could normally find out anyone’s past, present and even future with just a few phone calls. Everyone knew everyone in Noosa. But no-one knew Nik.
    Or at least, no-one did yet, Georgia thought. But she was determined to change that.

Nik sighed as the silver Porsche roared up the hill towards the mountains. He wondered why he had arranged to meet Georgia for a run. He already knew it was a bad idea. Dates with girls were always a bad idea. Even running dates somehow turned into something else with girls. He knew he should cancel. A girlfriend wasn’t part of the plan at all.
    He pulled out his phone and found her contact details as he drove. Georgia . Just the name made him sweat. To him, Georgia conjured up