The Bad Boy's Redemption: Too Much of a Good Thing? / Her Last Line of Defence / Her Hard to Resist Husband
Affection passed across his face. ‘I have two sisters—one in London, one in Wellington—and my folks live in Auckland.’
‘Do you miss them?’
‘Sure. Although I’ve lived away from them for so long that it’s become normal.’
Lu stared at the stage with its three tables and heaps of cooking equipment and felt her throat constrict. ‘The boys are having a fantastic time at uni...I already feel like they’re slipping away.
‘You are one of my brothers’ sporting heroes by the way,’ Lu told him as the lights flickered.
‘Do they play rugby?’
‘And cricket and hockey and soccer. And squash. And they surf... If it’s called a sport, they’ll try it. The one thing I don’t miss is ferrying them from activity to activity. Kids here only get their freedom at eighteen, and they’ve only just got their licences.’ Lu stared off into space for a moment. ‘That’s about the only thing I don’t miss about them being gone.’
Will heard the tremor in her voice. ‘It’s been tough, huh?’
Lu managed a quick laugh and waved his concern away. ‘Nah, I’m fine.’
‘Tell me the truth, Lu,’ Will insisted quietly.
Her irritation with him flooded back with his request. He wanted to get into her head but not into her bed? She knew that she was out of practice dating-wise, but she was pretty sure that her complaint was ass-about-face.
She wanted to tell him that she felt as if she’d had her head amputated, that the house was too quiet and that the dogs were pining. How excited she was to be working again. Instead she just turned her head away and stared at the stage.
‘It’s starting,’ she said as a spotlight highlighted the middle table.
‘Who is this dude anyway?’ Will demanded in a low whisper.
‘Rupert Walker is reputed to be the best baker in the world. And Heinz Martine is an amazing chocolatier and another incredible baker,’ Lu whispered as Ruper Walker bounced onto the stage and greeted the audience amongst a flurry of clapping and whistling. ‘I don’t know the third chef.’
When the audience settled down, the chef, dressed in tartan chef’s pants and an enormous maroon chef’s hat, put his hands on his hips and looked into the audience.
‘Thank you for being here! I always ask for audience help and I usually ask for volunteers, but tonight I understand that Will Scott is in the audience. I’m the biggest, gayest fan!’ Rupert shuddered delicately and the audience howled with laughter.
Lu heard Will’s groan.
‘So maybe Will could come up and give me a hand to make sugar baskets? Will, are you...game?’
Will muttered a swear word and looked at Lu with panicked eyes. ‘Crap, Lu—I burn bloody water!’ he whispered.
As Will stood up Lu slapped her hand against her mouth to keep the laughter from tumbling out.
He bent down so that he spoke directly into her ear. ‘You might think this is funny, Mermaid, but I will get my revenge.’
Lu’s laughter, hot and hard, followed Will up onto the stage.
Will bombed at making sugar baskets. He tried so hard, and was such a good sport about it, but he burnt his sugar twice and accidentally knocked Rupert’s elaborate half-finished sugar cage to the floor, where it shattered into a million sugar pieces. Rupert eventually, and very good-naturedly, threw in the towel and sent Will back to his seat, where he proceeded to sit so still that Lu was convinced he’d slept through the rest of the show.
As they cleared the theatre Lu looked up at him and lifted her eyebrows. ‘Did you enjoy your sleep?’
‘It was great. What did I miss?’ Will replied cheerfully.
Lu laughed. ‘Nothing you want to know. I, however, learned how to make the ganache for a Sacher Torte.’
Will’s eyes lit up. ‘That Austrian chocolate cake? Cool—thanks in advance.’
‘I’m not making you that. It takes hours!’
Will placed his big hand at the base of her neck. ‘I’ll have one because you laughed at me! When I was called up on stage...when I burnt the sugar—’
Lu gurgled. ‘Twice.’
‘You were rolling in your seat laughing! Sacher Torte—and if you agree I’ll buy you an Irish coffee now.’
Lu grinned as he steered her into the theatre bar. ‘Oh, all right, then.’
She followed the waiter to a table that looked out onto the bustling city centre street. Will placed their order and shook his head.
‘I get to choose what we do next,’ he told her, mock-sternly. ‘You can’t be trusted.’
Lu lifted one eyebrow, remembered that he wasn’t that keen on her, and used the don’t-mess-with me-expression that normally had her brothers wilting. ‘You are presuming a lot, aren’t you?’
Will sent her a lazy smile. ‘You’re irritated with me.’
‘Are you asking me or telling me?’
‘Telling you. You can keep your face blank, Mermaid, but your eyes are far too expressive. You’re annoyed because I didn’t give you an answer as to whether I wanted to sleep with you or not.’
Bingo! Give the man a gold star!
Will rested his arms on the table and leaned forward. ‘Before I respond to that, I need to ask you if you meant what you said in Kelby’s office?’ Will asked.
Lu frowned. ‘Which part?’ she asked, wary.
‘About not wanting to get involved with anyone?’
‘Yes.’ She needed to stand on her own feet before she tried to walk beside someone else. Find out what made her tick, what made her happy.
‘OK, so here’s what I’m thinking: I can take you to bed—and, yes, I’m alive and breathing, and you’re hot, so God knows I want to—and we’ll sleep together and have a lot of fun. But I wouldn’t see you again. It’s not what I do... And that could be weird seeing that we have to work together for the next couple of months.’
‘OK...’ What was she supposed to say to that? And where was he going with this?
‘Or I can not take you to bed and see you again.’
Huh?
‘Look, Lu, at the risk of sounding like a conceited ass, I can walk into any club in the city and have someone new in my bed every night.’
‘You’re right—you do sound like a conceited ass,’ Lu murmured.
‘But I don’t have someone to hang with—someone to pass the time with. I enjoy your company...even when you’re trying hard to hide your irritation.’
He’d been thinking about it since he’d last seen her—thinking about what Kelby had said. Despite his issues around relationships he genuinely liked people and enjoyed being around them. He couldn’t foist his after-hours company on his team mates—he was their boss, and who wanted to socialise with their boss? And Kelby had his family and didn’t want or need him around. Being single in a foreign city could be lonely, and having someone to hang with would make time go faster, would kill the hours away from the stadium.
Pushing his attraction to her aside—he could do that: he wasn’t a hound dog—he genuinely enjoyed her company; she was restful, easy to be with. Lu was real in a way that he hadn’t encountered in a woman in long time. When last had he felt so at ease, so relaxed with a woman?
With her, he felt as if he was himself. He curled his lip. Not Will Scott the legendary rugby player. Not the caretaker coach everyone was watching to see what he did with their beloved team. Not Jo Keith’s unreliable bad-boy ex-husband.
Just Will. He really liked being just Will.
And he enjoyed the fact that Lu didn’t simper or smirk and hang on his every word. That she could call him a conceited ass. Apart from his sisters, who called him far worse, every other woman he’d met only ever complimented him.
It got old very quickly.
He made it sound so easy, so simple, Lu thought. And it could be that simple if she didn’t overthink this. Sex and walk away, or no sex and a couple of months of hanging together, having fun.
She wanted sex but she needed fun. She wanted to laugh like she had earlier, to try new things, to stagger to work bleary-eyed because she’d been out having a blast. She wanted to drink cocktails and wear pretty dresses and try new foods. She wanted to recapture a little of the youth she’d lost, to live life—taste it, feel it, experience it.
And she just knew that she would have more fun with Will than without him.
She’d be mad to pass up this opportunity for one or two nights of hot sex and also—Ding! Ding! Ding! the jackpot bell rang—her brothers would stop messaging her a hundred times a day to see if she was OK.
‘OK—and you’d be helping me out at the same time.’
‘That’s an added incentive...but how?’
Lu waved her hand in the air—a gesture he now realised she used when she didn’t want to pursue a subject. Or when she was trying to be brave.
‘Would you consider doing things like pottery lessons? Dance classes?’
‘I was thinking about dinner and a movie. But I’d consider anything...if you gave me a reason.’
Lu shook her head. ‘It’s not important and....it’s silly.’
‘Tell me, Lu.’
She heaved in a huge sigh and stared at the table. ‘Before they left for uni my brothers told me that they were worried about me being on my own so much and that they wanted me to start getting out more, start doing stuff. They want me to have some fun, to get out and do things.’
Seeing the flash of misery in her eyes, he reached out to comfort her and allowed himself the rare privilege of stroking his hand down her arm from elbow to wrist. Her bare skin was soft and cool under the pads of his fingers.
‘What things?’
‘Clubbing was one of them...skydiving, surfing, dance lessons. Pottery classes. A job—but that’s sorted.’ Lu smiled her thanks at the waiter, who placed their drinks on the table. Irish coffee for her, plain coffee for Will. ‘I promised I would. And I have been doing some stuff. But it would be so much more fun if I had someone to do it with.’
Judging by the confusion Will saw in her eyes, he suspected that Lu was dealing with a lot more than she was saying. But her expression begged him not to pursue it.
You have been alone and dealing with far too much for far too long, Mermaid, he told her silently. He knew what that felt like.
Pull it back to the surface, Scott. To less dangerous waters.
He groaned theatrically. ‘Dance lessons? Pottery? Good Lord.’ Will tapped his finger against the table, his expression thoughtful. ‘We could listen to live bands and definitely go skydiving—’
‘Uh, no!’
‘I could teach you to surf.’
‘I’d consider that. Ice skating?’
‘Blergh. Wet and cold. I’d consider pottery lessons if you’d consider dirt bike riding, getting out into the country. I know it’s not a girl thing, but you might find it fun.’
Under the table Will’s knee brushed Lu’s and a bolt of awareness barrelled straight to his groin. Could he do this? Could he ignore this buzz of sexual attraction and be her friend?
Could he stop thinking about the kiss that never was? Stop replaying the way her eyes had half lowered and glinted green, the way her hands had held his hips, the brief taste of that perfect mouth?
He had to...there was no other choice. He was leaving soon and she was too dangerous to be around long-term because he suspected that she could—maybe—make him think about whether sparks could last and keep burning...
‘Will? What do you think? Should we do this? Can we do this?’
He knew what she was asking... Could they do this without it getting complicated, messy? It was hard to meet her eyes, to see but ignore the corresponding flash of heat he recognised in them. He had to dismiss it, he realized. Just as she did. Because she wasn’t ready to get involved he wouldn’t get involved, so companionship was the only prize that was up for grabs.
‘It’ll be fine, Lu.’
If we can keep our hands off each other. Because if we can’t then all bets are off.
Will sighed. He could really do with a stiff drink.
SIX
As they followed the signs past the main house to The Pottery Shed Lu flicked her finger against Will’s shoulder. ‘I thought I said that you should wear old clothes—not a nifty Zoo York T-shirt and cargo shorts.’
She was wearing an ancient shirt, cut-off jeans and flip-flops. Will looked down at his chest and sent her the evil eye. ‘When I was packing my clothes in Auckland I didn’t think I’d be going to pottery lessons! This is the oldest shirt I have here.’
‘I could have lent you one of the twins’ old T-shirts.’ Lu said as they approached a barn at the back of the property. ‘And stop moaning. I’ve agreed to go dirt bike riding next week.’
‘I want to take you skydiving.’
‘Not on your life.’ Lu shuddered. ‘And what do you mean...take me?’
‘I’m certified to do tandem jumps...we could do one together.’
‘Uh, let me think about that.’ Lu pretended to peer up at the sky. Two seconds later she spoke again. ‘Thought about it...no. Nope. No way. Never.’
‘Wuss,’ Will said as a long, tall, elderly woman dressed in tie-dyed pants and a glowing caftan drifted from the barn.
Lu stepped forward and held out her hand. ‘Hi, I’m Lu. Are you...?’
The woman’s eyes drifted across their faces and she sent them a vague look. ‘Kate. And I’m stoned.’
Lu looked at Will and lifted her eyebrows. ‘You’re stoned?’
‘New supplier. His stuff is wicked good.’
‘But our lesson...’ Lu wailed, ignoring Will’s smile of satisfaction.
Kate’s hand wafted somewhere behind her head. ‘Go on in—clay’s in the bucket next to the wheel. Slap some on the wheel, hit the pedal, move your hands up and down. Make something. Lock up when you leave.’
‘But... But...’ Lu stuttered.
‘Namaste,’ Kate murmured, and weaved away in the general direction of the house.
Will folded his arms and watched her leave. ‘Did you pay her?’
Lu pouted. ‘No. I was going to pay her when we were finished.’
‘Good. Then let’s get out of here,’ Will said, his expression a combination of smirky and relieved.
Lu narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Uh-uh. You’re not getting off that easily. Everything is set up...how hard can it be?’
Will groaned. ‘Aw, Lu, come on! Let’s go for a walk on the beach, have a beer, watch the sun go down.’
‘Nope.’ Lu said stubbornly. ‘If I have to do dirt bikes then you have to try this.’
* * *
Will stepped through the open door to the studio, put his hands on his hips and looked around. Shelves packed with vases, bowls and vessels of every shape and form lined the room, and long tables covered with tools and boxes covered the back half of the shed. In the centre were three triangular-shaped desks with a potter’s wheel on each and a bucket with what he presumed was clay next to each wheel.
Will pulled out a stool and sat down in front of one wheel, then looked from the desk to Lu. ‘Um...what now?’
Lu’s mouth twitched. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t done this either...wait!’ She reached across the table and picked up a plastic envelope. ‘Instructions!’
Will leaned across and looked at the plastic enclosed paper. He shook his head and pointed to the heading. ‘It’s printed off the internet, Lu!’
‘So?’ Lu grinned. ‘Let’s try it.’
It seemed that he was about to try this thing. He knew that everything that could go wrong would. He didn’t have an artistic bone in his body and he suspected that they were about to get dirty.
Really dirty. He looked around. ‘Can you see any aprons?’
‘Now who’s being a wuss? We won’t need any,’ Lu told him. ‘We’ll be fine. So, first step... “Gather a small amount of clay—the size of two fists put together is plenty for someone just starting—and form it into a rough ball shape.”’
Will dunked his hand in the bucket in front of him and lifted his eyebrows. Kind of the same texture as the mud he’d used to throw at his sisters.
‘We need to knead it—get rid of the bubbles.’
‘When do we get to play with the wheel thingy?’ Will asked, trying to copy Lu’s rather expert kneading technique. Which made him think of bread, which made him think of cake, and that reminded him...
‘When am I getting my Austrian cake, by the way?’
‘When I have time.’ Lu peered down at the instructions. ‘Maybe. So... “If you think all the air bubbles are out, shape it back into a rough ball.”’
Will slapped the clay between his fingers.
‘“Put the clay on the centre of the wheel head. The easiest way to do this is by throwing the clay with some force on the centre. Drip some water over it and spin the wheel fairly fast,”’ she read.
‘OK.’ Will threw the clay down and hit the pedal of the wheel with some force. He watched his clay ball shoot across the wheel, skim the rim and fall on the floor. ‘Whoops.’
Lu snorted with laughter.
‘Think you can do better, Mermaid?’
What Lu didn’t realise was that her pedal was next to his left foot. She was so busy trying to get it right that she didn’t notice his foot sliding over hers until he pushed down hard. Her wheel spun furiously and her ball skidded across it. Lu yelped, turned in her seat and slipped her clay-covered hand onto his chest, leaving a perfect imprint of her fingers.
Blue-green eyes glinting with mirth met his as she fought to find an innocent expression. ‘It could have been worse,’ she said on a shrug.
‘It could?’
Lu grinned. ‘I could’ve slapped your face.’
Will leaned forward and placed his wet, clay-covered hand on her cheek. ‘What? Like this?’
Will kept his hand on her cheek as her mouth opened and closed like a guppy looking for air.
‘You...you...’
He didn’t think—couldn’t think. He just placed his lips and swiped his mouth across hers in a kiss that was as shocking as it was stunning. Lu sighed into his mouth and planted her hands on his chest—intending, he was sure, to push him away. But her fingers curled into his T-shirt and gripped the fabric instead.
She tasted of sunshine and excitement, of cherry lip balm and surprise. Her perfume swirled up from her heated skin and he adored the scent. He yanked her off her stool and whirled her away from the wheel, up against a tall cupboard. He moved into her, needing to get closer, needing to feel her feminine form. Will lifted his hands to hold her face, tipping her head so that he could taste all of her mouth. Lu made a sound of approval that sent all his blood rushing south. She was heat and light, softness and courage, too much and not nearly enough. But he couldn’t stop—didn’t want to stop.
He knew he had to, because if he didn’t he never would.
It took everything in him to lift his mouth from hers, to pull her head to his chest and rest his chin in her hair. ‘God, Lu...’
Lu muttered something unintelligible and he thought he felt her lips flutter against his shirt.
‘I wasn’t going to do this,’ he muttered, but the words were barely out of his mouth before he dropped it back to hers.
Her mouth parted to his insistent tongue and his hand drifted over her shirt, palmed her breast. Will felt another wicked flash of lust scuttle through him as she angled her head to allow him deeper access. Moving her hands, she ran her fingers across his taut stomach, let them drift lower before settling them low on his narrow hips.
‘Lu, you’re not helping!’ Will pulled back, gripped her arms and kept her an arm’s length away. He tried to inject some assertiveness into his voice. ‘We aren’t going to do this!’
Lu cocked her head at him. ‘Do you always walk away?’
He knew what she meant. ‘Yeah. Always.’
‘Why?’
Will dragged his hand through his hair, pushing streaks of clay through it. ‘Have you ever seen a fire when it’s been put out?’ he demanded. ‘It’s a wet, soggy, dirty, disgusting mess.’
‘Ah, so you walk before it even gets the chance to become messy?’
Essentially. Some sparks, especially this one between him and Lu, had the potential to become a raging bush fire. But even bush fires couldn’t rage for ever. And the bigger the fire, the bigger the mess. No, it was smarter just to keep this simple, platonic.
Because they had to work together, because he really did have fun with her...but mostly because he hadn’t been so tempted to walk into the blaze in a long, long time.
‘OK, back up.’ Lu wiggled her way out of his grip and leaned back against the cupboard. He looked at his hands. They were now only smeared with clay. She had clay in her hair. It was streaked over her shirt, her hips, down her neck.
‘You’re filthy,’ she said, echoing his thoughts.
Will’s finger drifted down her cheek. ‘So are you. And, oh, crap...if we hadn’t been going straight home we are now.’
Lu frowned. ‘Why?’
Will motioned to her chest, where his palm print covered her left breast. ‘Kind of a big clue about what we were up to.’
Lu looked down and closed her eyes. ‘Pottery lesson a no-no, then?’
Will nodded, his expression rueful. ‘It should definitely go on the things not to do list.’
‘Along with skydiving,’ Lu added quickly.
‘Oh, I will get you up there.’ Will promised.
* * *
After work on Friday Lu slipped into Old Joe’s, a popular bistro in the middle of Florida Road. Pushing her sunglasses up onto her head, she smiled at Mak before placing her cheek on his and breathing in his scent. His pale pink shirt looked stunning against his skin, his tie was raspberry and his tailored pants were undoubtedly designer.
‘I can’t stay long. I’m meeting Will to go ten-pin bowling with him and some of the squad,’ she told him, hanging her tote bag off a globe chair and sitting on the brightly coloured cushion.
‘I don’t have that much time either. I just wanted to tell you that Deon got into St Clares!’
Lu let out a delighted whoop before throwing her arms around Mak’s neck and kissing his cheek.
‘That’s such fabulous news, Mak!’
‘It is, but now that school is a reality the fear that he’s going to be bullied again is back. In him and in me,’ Mak admitted, sucking on what looked like a double-thick berry milkshake.
Lu fought temptation, lost, and ordered the chocolate equivalent. She was going for a run along the promenade later. She’d work it off then.
‘He’ll be fine, Mak. I promise. St Clare’s doesn’t tolerate any type of bullying.’
‘I hope so,’ Mak said eventually, leaning back in his chair. ‘Anyway, back to you. Does this mean that you and Will are dating?’
Lu shook her head. ‘No. Well...no.’
‘That sounded convincing...not at all.’ Mak pushed his empty glass away. ‘So, what is going on between you?’
‘I don’t know... I think we’re friends, but we have this sexual buzz.’
‘So he’s shoved his tongue down your throat?’
Lu gasped, blushed, and immediately thought back to that inferno-hot kiss they’d shared in the pottery studio. After holding her for a while he’d pulled back slightly, looked at her, and dived in again. His firm lips, the play of muscles under her hands, the feel of his big hand covering her not-so-big breast... His erection hard against her lower stomach, tenting his shorts...
He touched her and melted her brain. If he hadn’t gathered up his car keys and mobile and yanked her to the car she would have let him take her there on that dusty floor.
Since then they’d both pretended it hadn’t happened...and they were very, very careful to avoid touching each other.
‘Can I get you anything else?’
Mak’s eyes didn’t leave Lu’s face to look at the hovering waiter. ‘A fire extinguisher would be helpful. I need to cool her down,’ he said in a bone-dry voice.
‘Makhosi!’ Lu hissed. She blushed as she looked up at the confused waiter. ‘Ignore him. Thanks, but we’re fine.’
‘So, do you want to answer my question now?’
‘We kissed. So what? It’s not a big deal...’ It was such a big deal; she’d never had such an extreme reaction to being touched in her life. From nought to take-me-now in ten seconds flat. She heaved in some much needed air. ‘I still can’t and won’t get involved with him, Mak.’
‘And why not?’