Hard To Regret: Scarlet Bay Book 1 Page 11

  CHAPTER 9 – DRIVING HOME

  Eric fixed the cupboards well enough for her to re-stack what remained of the crockery. Jason and Brett dragged the bathroom door closed and made such a god-awful noise she escaped to the beach for some peace after sweeping up the shards of china that had scattered into every nook and cranny of the kitchen.

  Once she was back, Anna changed out of her bikini and put on her prettiest bra and panties before donning her favourite old Nikes with the denim skirt and polo shirt again. A brief inspection of the deserted bathroom had shown plywood and planks covering the broken wall to keep the room secure - and very dark. She’d groped around for her toothbrush and shampoo in the gloom, unwilling to try the light switch, just in case.

  She hummed to herself as added them to the ancient travel bag she’d found at the back of the wardrobe. No point in taking her big bag for one night when she hardly needed more than a change of underwear, a spare T-shirt, and a few toiletries. She made sure it was extra-exotic underwear though, and then added a second set as well, smiling to herself as she imagined Jason’s eyes and hands checking it out. She tugged the old zipper almost closed and reached for her hairbrush.

  “Anyone home?” Jason called through the open kitchen doorway. “Are you ready, Frosty?” His deep voice came closer as he strode down the hallway to her bedroom.

  “Just battling with my hair,” she called back. “It’s totally tangled from my swim.”

  “Need a man to deal to it?”

  Anna turned toward his voice and found him filling the doorframe. Bare-chested, sun-baked, speckled with sawdust where it had caught in his chest hair. She swallowed, and held the brush toward him. “Be gentle.”

  “Always, if you ask.” His dark eyes met hers and she saw the playful curl of his lips as he reached out. He didn’t take the brush immediately, choosing instead to inspect her arm and check the tiny nicks the flying shards of china had left behind.

  “Not too bad. Could have been much worse,” she said. “Stung like mad in the salt water though.”

  He closed his eyes but made no comment. Then he bent and kissed the tender area inside her wrist. “Salty,” he said. “I can smell the sea on you.”

  “I couldn’t have a shower here with the water off, so I had to make do with a quick rinse under the old cold one on the beach.” She pulled a gruesome face. “I should have gone next door and asked Essie if I could borrow her bathroom.”

  Jason released her wrist with a frustrated growl. “Imagining you soapy and naked now…” He brandished the hairbrush. “Have a shower at my place. Problem solved.”

  Anna glanced out at the sunny beach. “Will the morning be enough time to get the pipes patched up and the water on again here?” She watched as his chest inflated, and those broad shoulders rose and fell in an expressive shrug.

  “Should be. I’ll tip you out of bed at crack of dawn.” His mouth pulled down. “Which will deprive us both, but we need to make an early start. No point in wasting good daylight. I phoned Devon and he knows what to expect. I’ll be at the demo yard searching for a decent enough window as soon as they’re open.”

  Anna checked the beach road again. No-one was looking in their direction, and they probably wouldn’t have a clear view inside, even if they were. She rose on tiptoe and kissed the side of his neck. “Plans for this evening?” she murmured. “Apart from the shower?”

  Jason drew a deep breath and lowered his face for a longer, much juicier kiss, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her so she couldn’t escape. “More of this,” he said when he finally released her. “And the shower will be shared. It killed me not getting in with you this morning. I’ve been picturing you all day.” He lifted a section of her hair, holding it close to the roots.

  Anna pressed her lips together and bugged her eyes in mock alarm.

  He grinned. “I won’t hurt you.” He ran the brush slowly through it again and again until it was free from knots, then kissed her brow before laying the long strand down and starting on another. “Thank God none of those chips got your face,” he added, inspecting her intently before starting on her hair again.

  “I think I covered it with my hands. Pure instinct.”

  He immediately reached for one and turned it over. The small scrapes had him cursing under his breath. “He could have blinded you. My bloody father…”

  Anna flicked her gaze to his. “More likely the truckie’s fault.”

  “Dad was in charge,” Jason said in a lethal, flat voice. “His site, his rules. He knew the ground was undermined there.”

  “And should have told the driver?”

  “Definitely.” Again those big shoulders rose in a shrug. “Dad’s old-school. He used to say ‘rules are for fools’ and let people work the way they wanted to. As long as it was good enough, jobs went fine for him.” He gave a mirthless laugh. “But things have changed with all the Health and Safety updates.”

  Anna reclaimed her hand, enjoying her close view of his hard chest and the way the big muscles flowed smoothly up to his shoulders and out onto his arms. She reached up and stroked away the specks of sawdust that remained trapped in the shining dark hairs on his chest. “That’s for sure. They impact some of my designs in a big way.”

  Jason dropped a quick kiss on her brow. “He has the sense not to go trumpeting ‘rules are for fools’ around so much now, but….” He shrugged, and resumed brushing her hair.

  From the corner of her eye she saw his mouth harden. “You really don’t like him much, do you?” Then, as an unwelcome thought arrived, “Are you saying the house isn’t up to spec?”

  The brush travelled several more slow sweeps through her hair before he cleared his throat. “Mum left. Dad got stuck with me. He didn’t want me in the first place, and he certainly didn’t want me when I was a whining teenager.”

  She turned her face up to his, but he looked right past her. Eyes dark under brooding brows, and a furrow between them she wanted to smooth away - or even better, kiss away.

  “Jason,” she murmured, discomforted. “Everyone loves their own children. Maybe he just wasn’t good at showing it.” She raised a hand to cradle his bristly jaw. “Don’t feel like that about him. Perhaps he’s jealous you’re making more of your life than he did?”

  Jason made a scoffing noise and kept ignoring her.

  Anna pinched his shoulder, not liking the turn the conversation had taken. “He must be a good builder though or I’m sure Dad and Uncle James wouldn’t have given him the job.”

  “Or a good bull-shitter,” Jason muttered, finally looking down at her.

  Zigzags of worry chased themselves up and down her spine. Had her family been duped by a con-man? “His house seems okay. I had a look through some of the windows before I went to the store for groceries yesterday.”

  “We had a good architect. Anton Haviland. Heard of him?”

  Anna’s brow creased. “He got some sort of award last year? Eco-apartments?”

  “That’s him. He and his wife Jetta have bought an old mansion overlooking one of the Wellington parks. Nothing eco about it yet, but by the time he’s finished it’ll be a showplace.”

  “And getting more awards?”

  He dropped a kiss on her brow. “Yeah, maybe. They’re working out of it, too -architectural offices for him, and she has her decorator’s showroom there.”

  Anna watched as he gave a wry grin and then added, “Trev’s reputation precedes him. The local building inspectors have stepped up their visits. He’s kept things up to scratch because he wants the third house contract, so yeah, no worries for your family.”

  The tension in her shoulders drained away. “And you?”

  One corner of his mouth quirked. “I don’t need keeping up to scratch.”

  She laughed at his cocky comment. “Do you mean your house, or your plans for this evening? You set a pretty high standard last night. I’ll expect you to keep that up.”

  His broad smile banished the rest of he
r doubts. “Where you’re concerned, Frosty, I can keep a lot of things up.”

  Anna let her hand slide from his shoulder and bowed her head so he could resume brushing her hair. She smelled the sea on him, too. She’d seen him come back with his surfboard before he and Brett had attacked the old bathroom. Now he smelled salty and warm, of sawdust and sweat, sunshine and skin. A million dollar male fragrance she could charge a fortune for if only she could bottle it.

  Leaning closer to his chest, she sniffed. Then dropped a soft kiss close to his nipple.

  “Hey, keep that for later.”

  She flicked a glance up to his eyes, then deliberately kissed him again, licking over the flat brown disc and sliding her arm around him. “You smell salty.”

  “I bet I smell a lot more than that.”

  Anna breathed him in. “Yes, but I like it. You have top-class pheromones.”

  She licked again and heard his breath hitch, felt the little peak rise up, so gave it a delicate bite and a jiggle with her tongue. “It’s gone hard.”

  He stopped brushing and claimed her free arm. “Not the only thing,” he said, pressing her hand to his groin. “Shit - I only have to stand close to you and I lose it.”

  “Feels more of a gain than a loss,” she teased, cradling her hand around his hard length and squeezing each time he drew the brush through her hair.

  She loved the desperation in his voice when he bent and kissed the side of her neck, then nipped the curl of her ear, and demanded, “Pull the damn curtains. I can’t wait much longer.”

  “Me either,” she agreed. “But Essie next door will know. She’ll see the van’s still here, spot the closed curtains, and have half of Scarlet Bay talking by tomorrow.”

  He released her with a rueful groan. “As bad as Eric, is she? Okay, Plan B. Lock the place and leave right now. There’s time before the others arrive.”

  “Am I okay? Not too casual?”

  He smirked, and tossed the hairbrush onto the bed. “Denim and diamonds? It’s a good look on you. Mei’ll be wearing less than that, and the guys probably won’t have shirts on in this heat. You’ll be overdressed.”

  She heard amusement and maybe censure in his flip comment. Well damn him! What business was it of his if she had nice things she wanted to enjoy? The diamonds had been a graduation present from her grandmother when she’d achieved her Masters. One carat for each ear. She always wore them.

  “Should I take my shirt off?” she suggested with a hint of ice. “And be one of the guys?”

  “Only if you’re alone with me,” he said, picking up the hairbrush again, pushing it into the open end of the bag, and grabbing the handles. He hustled her down the hallway by wrapping his other arm around her and urging her forward. “And getting alone with you is sounding better and better.”

  Anna smiled to herself. Despite her annoyance that he thought her earrings were pretentious, those maddening twitches were back again. Being close to him, teasing him, set her alight in the most delicious way. Now the feeling pulsed deep inside, warm and buzzing, almost as though a slow, slow, vibrator was lodged there, making her muscles quiver and tense, quiver and tense, over and over. A mini orgasm of sensation. She closed her eyes for a second or two to enjoy it, safe in the knowledge he’d catch her if she tripped.

  “Good thing I parked somewhat out of sight then?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “If your neighbour’s nosy?”

  Anna tried to concentrate. “Oh, Essie? Yes. She’s the Bay’s top gossip.”

  “She came over with a batch of scones the day we started the build. Very keen to know what was going on.”

  “Ha! She knew exactly what was going on. She’d seen all the plans. Dad and Jim needed to get her on side so she wouldn’t raise any objections to the development.”

  “Not to run this place down,” Jason said, locking the back door on the damaged house, “But hers can only rise in value once she has something better next door.”

  He grabbed his orange vest from one of the chairs, unlocked the van, stowed the vest and Anna’s bag, and opened the passenger door for her. Scorching air billowed out.

  “This is not very anonymous,” she said, wincing as the back of her legs landed on the over-hot seat. “I thought we were going to keep things a secret.”

  He reached in and opened the glove box. “Yes, can’t have wealthy Ms Wynn seen in public with her bit of rough.”

  She glared at him, uncertain whether to be offended or hurt.

  “We did agree,” he said, raising one eyebrow. “So your reputation doesn’t suffer and my contract isn’t influenced. Wind your hair up and put this on.” He produced a black ball-cap with the All Blacks silver fern rugby logo on the front, and shut the glove box again. “And these,” he added, unhooking some sunglasses from the visor.

  Anna gathered up her hair, deciding offended was the better option. Her ‘bit of rough’? Was that really how he saw himself?

  Jason settled the cap for her and she pulled the visor down to inspect the result, but there was no mirror.

  “Man’s van,” he said, aiming a mock punch at her cheek. “We’re not too worried how we look - unlike you girls.” He threaded the arms of the sunglasses carefully over her ears, pulling back a little way to check the finished effect. “Yep,” he teased, “Just like Brett. In a pink shirt.”

  Anna pressed her lips together. “You’re not my ‘bit of rough’.”

  “Aren’t I? I’m hardly some refined lawyer or rich accountant.”

  “Lawyers aren’t necessarily refined.”

  His lips curved. “But accountants are rich if they’re any good.”

  She couldn’t help but grin. “And you think I’d rather have either of them?”

  Jason shrugged. “I presume so, Frosty. I’ve known you for two days, and as you pointed out yourself, this won’t be going anywhere once your family turns up.” He reached for the door. Anna flinched as it slammed shut, enclosing her in the summer heat. She tried opening the window, but found it was electric.

  He swung himself up into the driver’s seat and planted his big hand on her knee. “Enjoy it while we have it. Geez, it’s hot in here.” He pushed the appropriate button and both windows slid down. “Hold onto your hat. The air-con will kick in soon.”

  She grabbed the brim. With the fan on full blast, and the summer air streaming through the open windows as they drove, tendrils of hair came loose and tickled her face.

  She buried her teeth against her bottom lip. So he definitely saw no future past the next few days? She knew that was exactly what they’d arranged, but last night she’d let her guard down and he’d slipped under her skin a little. She hoped she was allowed to be annoyed at the prospect of losing him as fast as she’d found him. Just privately annoyed. She’d be careful to ensure things stayed light from now on.

  Jason soon closed the windows again. Heavenly cool air washed over them from the vents in the dashboard.

  “That’s better,” she said, shaking away her doubts and glancing around with more attention. The van seemed fairly new. Despite being a work vehicle, used for carrying tools and sheets of plywood and terrible old toilets, it was as clean and tidy as his home. There were organised bins and shelves, and the upholstered squab he’d slept on fitted neatly into the remaining floor area. “Do you go away in this? For holidays? Use it as a camper-van?”

  He spared her a quick glance as he navigated along the busy beach road. “Been known to happen. Mostly just a day or two, because there are no proper cooking or bathroom facilities.” He returned his hand to her knee. “Something to turn your design skills to, Frosty. An instant camping pack to convert a regular vehicle to a short-term living space.”

  She puffed out an amused laugh. “A bathroom in a box? A kitchen in crate?” She shook her head. “You think I don’t have enough to do right now? I lost a whole day today. I’m onto the toys tomorrow, plumbers permitting. There are generations of dolls and teddy-bears and train sets and board
-games stashed all over the house. I might get lucky and find a Steiff bear.”

  “I got lucky and found a Barbie doll,” he said, giving her knee a squeeze.

  “Is that meant to be a compliment?” She tried to maintain a stern expression, but the beach traffic had thinned out, and she couldn’t resist slackening her seatbelt off and shuffling sideways to be closer to him. Close enough to lay her head on his shirtless shoulder and then turn her face to drop a kiss there.

  Not keeping things as light as I promised, she thought with a sigh.

  “Doesn’t every little girl wanted to look like Barbie?” He smoothed his hand further up her thigh until it was under the denim skirt. “Long Barbie legs. Long Barbie hair. You’ve got the look nailed.”

  “Barbie brain?” she asked, biting his shoulder to signal she was less than pleased.

  He gave an easy laugh. “Barbie might be a genius. I thought they had those career dolls now? Architect Barbie? Pilot Barbie. My little sis would have loved them.”

  Anna dimly registered the past tense of his comment and lifted her head to see his face. “You have a sister?”

  He stared straight ahead as he said, “Used to. Car crash.” And she felt his shutters slam down as surely as if it was closing time at a café.

  “Jason - when? Long ago?”

  “When I was thirteen.”

  He sat still as stone, radiating waves of ‘don’t ask any more’ as he drove. Anna smoothed her cheek over his shoulder and made to ease away but he tightened his grip on her thigh and eventually added, “Long time back now. Riding my bike, which she was too small for.”

  “And your father… your mother... blamed you?”

  He sighed deeply. “Both of them.”

  “If it was a car crash, it was nothing to do with you.”

  He shrugged. “My bike, my fault. That’s how it worked with them.”

  “Unfair. Totally unfair.” She reached for his hand as they drove past the place they’d nearly hit the pukeko. Then she parted her legs and pressed his fingers further up against her panties.