Kiss On The Bridge

Kiss on the Bridge

Mark Stewart

Other books by Mark Stewart

Don’t tell my secret (Romance adventure
series)

Kiss on the bridge (series)

Kiss on the bridge two

Kiss on the bridge three

Legendary Blue Diamond. (Romance)

Legendary blue Diamond two

Legendary Blue Diamond three

The perfect gift (Romance)

The blood red rose (vampire)

Blood red rose two

Blood red rose three

Kendal chronicles (crime series)

Fire Games

Heart of a spider

I know your secret

Copycat murders

Children’s books

Luke’s cubby house

A Troglian knows.

Planet X91 the beginning. (Sci-fi series)

Planetx91the new home

Planetx91the underwater cave

Planetx91the storm

Planetx91the drought

Planetx91the fire

Planetx91the plaque

Planetx91the doorway to time

Planet X91 the new earth

Copyright: Kiss on the bridge 2011 Mark
Stewart. All rights reserved. No part of this story may be
reproduced in any form without written permission from the author.
This story is fictitious and a product of the author’s imagination.
Resemblance to any actual person living or dead is purely
coincidental.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This EBook is licensed for your personal
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of the author.

Kiss on the Bridge ISBN:
978-0-9807773-7-6

Cover design. [email protected]
www.twonineteen.com.au

Email [email protected]

All reviews gratefully accepted.

Revised edition: Rosemary Cantala.

In this series

Kiss on the bridge

Kiss on the bridge two

Kiss on the bridge three

KISS ON THE BRIDGE

CHAPTER ONE

11:59pm 31st December 1973.

Three hundred and fifty nine days prior to
cyclone Tracy destroying Darwin.

“MELBOURNE’S WEATHER is nice tonight,”
commented a tall smartly dressed man.

He’d strolled along the bridge overlooking
the Yarra River, stopping at arm’s length to a young lady.

“Is it?” questioned the brunette.

“Yes. I have to add the stars are
complimented by your beauty.”

The woman he spoke to seemed to have
misunderstood the meaning. She remained staring out across Port
Phillip Bay. After several moments she swiveled her head so she
could look directly into the man’s eyes.

“My name is Wade, you are?”

“I’m Anneli,” she replied.

“Nice name. It suits you,” said Wade. A warm
lazy smile escalated his handsome features.

“Thank you for the admiring comment.”

“May I request your last name? Before you
answer, let me guess, you never disclose the name to a stranger
standing in the middle of a bridge on new-year’s-eve.”

“It’s a tradition,” teased Anneli.

“I again ask my first question.”

“Are you always this insistent on hearing
answers to your questions?”

Wade let a friendly chuckle slip. “I have to
apologize. I never meant to sound rude or invasive.”

“To comment on your opening line, it could be
a nice night. I’m actually hiding from my father and brothers so I
can watch the fireworks, alone.”

The young lady focused her attention back on
the bay to a point on the horizon. Wade had seen the look too many
times before. He could easily slip into the faraway daydream too.
The tone in the young lady’s voice signaled she definitely wanted
to be left alone. Wade started to weigh up the pros and cons of
walking back the way he came when she spoke.

“I’m waiting for my hero to save me from my
life,” whispered Anneli, shifting her attention to where she
stood.

Wade’s quick sidestep closed the gap between
them by half. “Good luck. Before I leave you to your thoughts, this
is new-years-eve. It’s an Australian tradition everyone must have a
kiss to see in the new-year. May I?”

Anneli lifted her eyes. She gave him a warm
attractive smile. “I wouldn’t want to break tradition.”

Wade squared himself to Anneli. His blue eyes
were inviting. His handsome looks melted the heart of every woman
he came into contact.

Anneli shifted her weight from one foot to
the other. Her shorts flared out at the sides revealing slender
olive coloured thighs. Her white button up shirt crinkled slightly
at her shoulders when she raised her hand to halt Wade’s
advances.

“I never kiss a man I don’t know the last
name of.”

“What if the couple were standing alone on a
bridge overlooking a river at midnight?”

Anneli let a whispered giggle leave her
throat. She bit her top lip to disguise the noise. “There are
always exceptions to any rule.”

Wade slipped his hands onto her hips. His
gaze met the young woman’s stare. Although her amazing shiny brown
eyes were full of life, glistening in the light of the fireworks
exploding over Melbourne to welcome in 1974 her spirit revealed a
deeply troubled girl.

‘The young lady standing before me is indeed
an interesting woman,’ thought Wade. ‘He wondered if their meeting
might be no more than accidental, just a moment in time; a kiss on
the bridge and nothing more. Could it ever be anything other than a
coincidence?’

When Anneli brought her lips in close, Wade
leaned forward. He could feel her heels lift off the ground so
their lips could be welded.

Wade stood an even six foot. Anneli, wearing
her black two inch heels almost matched his height. She lifted her
hands to hold onto Wade’s shoulders, signaling she didn’t want the
moment to end. He felt it in her strength. He patted himself on the
back knowing how to summarize people by the way they looked,
talked, sat, stared or gripped their fingers. He’d succeeded in
being a good lawyer. His bank balance proved it.

Wade and Anneli’s lips lightly touched. He
felt her breath quicken when she exhaled and inhaled rapidly. He so
wanted time to stand still. Slipping his arm further across
Anneli’s back, he started to dip the woman. She didn’t resist. The
light touching of their lips teased him. Their lips touched and
retouched. Every muscle in his back flexed, anchoring the woman
safely in his arms.

The young lady reeled him in closer, welding
their lips.

Not only did Wade kiss her long, gentle,
using maximum passion, she kissed him back. Emotions flowed
unrestricted between them. The intensity of the kiss didn’t fade.
It grew stronger. The kiss had meaning, a magnetism of its own.
Wade felt positive he’d never been kissed so passionately before.
He wondered if the young woman in his arms felt the same. He’d
ponder the thought later. He didn’t want to skip a single second.
He opened his eyes to stare at her closed eyelids. For the first
time in his successful career he could only guess what she might be
thinking.

Anneli slowly opened her eyes. She too
devoured the moment.

Time stopped for the kiss on the bridge.

The fireworks continued to rage behind them
in the night sky. The bright lights seemed to heighten the kiss.
Maneuvering her arms for a firmer grip, Anneli wanted to portray to
this tall handsome stranger the kiss happened to be the most
enjoyable moment she’d ever felt in twenty years of being alive.
She didn’t want anything to interrupt the kiss on the bridge.

As if she were a delicate red rose in full
bloom, Wade’s arms never flinched while holding the woman. The kiss
lasted longer than he planned. How could he attempt to end it? He
secretly hoped Anneli might be the one to break the moment. Slowly
he brought the woman back to vertical, yet the kiss remained. Their
lips were glued for eternity. They sent a silent signal to each
other to remain locked.

Time restarted.

The only part of the fireworks remaining was
the smoke hovering over the bay in a large cloud.

Anneli and Wade slowly pulled away at the
same time.

The moment ended.

Both took a backward step. Wade nodded
politely. Anneli mirrored his move. Both simultaneously walked off
the bridge in opposite directions.

Wade hesitated before stepping off the east
side of the bridge. He turned to have a last look at the woman. He
saw her stop under a street light, looking over her shoulder at
him. Her long black hair cascading over her shoulders trapped the
light causing each strand to glisten. Her incredible luring brown
eyes made his heart skip inside his chest. The way she looked
burned the image in his mind. Heat rose up from his feet to his
head. He broke out into a sweat. Water trickled down the valley to
his lower back.

Again the moment seemed to last for
hours.

Wade wondered if the look Anneli threw his
way could have been deliberate or completely accidental. The
corners of his mouth curled upwards. He felt a stirring in his
soul, compelling him to taste her one more time. He took a step
towards her.

Anneli did the same.

Both blocked out the ruckus developing behind
her, too intent on reliving their kiss.

“There you are.”

An older man of average height, wearing a
three piece electric blue suit used his baritone voice to get
Anneli’s attention. When she faced the older man he reached out,
grabbing her on the shoulder. His facial expression quickly changed
from relief to stone murderous cold.

Wade set himself to run when another four men
surrounded her. He hesitated only just long enough to view the
scene in its entirety.

“Daughter, get back to my ship. I have been
told of your drunken behavior. We will have words after we have set
sail to Darwin. Now go.” The man wearing the three piece electric
blue suit faced the other four men of various ages, snarling.
“Sons, see to it your sister gets back on my ship.”

“Yes father,” echoed each one in turn.

In seconds they started to escort Anneli off
the bridge, slipping away into the night.

Wade felt as though his heart had been ripped
out his chest and thrown into the bay.

CHAPTER TWO

“CAN I have the music stopped? I need
everyone’s attention for only a few minutes.”

The voice behind the man wearing a three
piece electric blue suit sounded authoritative, booming through the
microphone over the dying last note of the music. The man ran a
hand over his immaculate jet black hair. He looked to be slightly
taller than Wade, only not as fit. Two scantily dressed women, one
on each side of the man, were hanging off an arm. He guided both
women to vacant chairs before stepping in front of the band. A hush
descended over the crowd. Two hundred party goers stopped moving to
the dance beat to focus their attention on where he stood.

“I do apologize for being late. Now I’m back
on board, I want to say; happy new year to everyone here tonight. I
trust you’re enjoying the festivities on my brand new twenty
million dollar ship. In case you don’t know me, I’m Darryl
Vandenberg. I own Vanden enterprises. Shifting goods throughout the
world is a growing business. Each year I’m doubling my profits. I
alone have built my successful corporation from the ground up. In
only ten short years I have gone from an idea to a multi-million
dollar accomplishment.”

Darryl swept his gaze over the heads of his
guests soaking in the applause exploding from the dance floor. He
loved every minute of the attention. What excited him most were the
stares he received from the men who were dressed in expensive black
dinner suits. To gain acceptance onto his ship the invitation
strictly stated the men must escort a lovely lady onboard. The long
ballroom dresses the women wore sparkled in the light of the mirror
ball suspended from the ceiling. Each young lady held the hand of
their male partner. In the other they clutched a full glass of
champagne. Every male guest held a glass of the expensive bubbly,
handed to them by the many waitresses scooting about the deck
carrying silver trays.

“I’d like to propose a toast to the coming
year,” announced Darryl through the microphone. “I feel it in my
bones 1974 will be a great one.”

“Here, here,” chorused the guests.