“Have you been a bad girl, Molly?”
The words caused a small chill to flicker up her spine, but it was flooded out by a whoosh of heat when Kirk suddenly pressed his lips to hers.
She froze again, but for an entirely different reason this time. Not horror, not dread, not fear.
Awareness. It blossomed inside her, surged upward, had her splaying her hands back against the wall to keep upright.
Oh God, his lips were warm, firm. The lightest of kisses, a brush, not demanding, yet she opened to him immediately.
He didn’t deepen the kiss, but the flick of his tongue across her lower lip had her knees shaking. It was all she could do to stop from grabbing onto his uniform shirt when he lifted his head to look down at her.
Oh geez, there was expression on his face now. His eyes held a hot flicker, there was a tinge of colour in his chiselled cheekbones, and there was no doubting the way his nostrils flared slightly.
As fast as it was there, it disappeared, a sudden grin curving those warm, firm lips, the laughter lines fanning out from the corners of his eyes.
“Good thing I like this particular bad girl,” he said softly, pushing back and removing his arms, leaving her feeling strangely vulnerable.
Turning, he walked away.
Molly couldn’t follow him. Knees locked, she could only listen as male voices sounded and faded away, engines of cars started and disappeared down the driveway.
Alone at the back of the house, she could only smile a little dazedly at the daisies growing wildly along the fence line.
Oh man. She didn’t know what to think, to feel. Goldie had kissed her and damn but it had been wonderful.
Holy crap, if a light kiss like that had her nipples pebbling, what would a hot, deep kiss from him do to her? Have her ripping his shirt off and begging him to have his way with her?
Not that she would, no.
Straightening, she touched her fingertips to her lips. What did that kiss mean? That wasn’t a forehead kiss. No, a forehead kiss from him was protective. This was…what? What was it?
“And why does it matter?” Sucking in a deep breath, she straightened her apron and started up the veranda steps. “He was just teasing, that’s all. You ought to be grateful he didn’t swear at you or tell you off for teaching Henry bad words about him.”
The phone ringing was a welcome diversion.
Sherry was on the other end. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself.” Grabbing a can of Diet Coke from the ‘fridge, Molly popped the tab and took a seat at the dining table. “How’s life?”
“Good. How about you?”
“Good.”
“No one has contacted you?”
“You mean Hal?” Now her thoughts were well and truly diverted. “Nope. Guess no one gave out my number after all.”
“The few close friends you gave your number to would never do that.” There was a note of censure in Sherry’s voice.
“I know.” Molly sighed. “I’m sorry. I reacted without thinking the other day.”
“Not hard to understand why. We were worried about you.”
“Sorry. I over-reacted.”
“It’s okay. Keith went to have a word to Hal but he wasn’t home.”
Alarm zinged through Molly. “Tell Keith not to get involved.”
“Honey, he’s not going to let that idiot stalk you.”
“He’s not stalking me. He doesn’t even know where I am.”
“Keith just wants to ensure Hal knows not to mess with you. You know what Keith’s like.”
Yeah, Molly knew. Keith looked after those in his friendship circle and she was included in it. “I don’t want him charged with harassment.”
“Trust me, he knows what he’s doing. Hal wouldn’t dare bring charges against him, not after what he did to you.”
Molly sighed. “Please, tell Keith to stop. I’m fine.”
“I’ll tell him, but whether he will or not is a whole other ball game.”
“I don’t know how you can let him boss you like he does.”
“Because we both like it.”
“He’s extreme.”
“We both like that even better.”
“I’d kill him.”
“Lucky you’re not me, isn’t it?”
Molly laughed.
After a pleasant time chatting to her friend, she switched off the mobile feeling a lot better. Getting up, she stretched and dove headlong into cleaning.
~*~
Over the next couple of days she saw Kirk several times. He smiled easily, helped Scott shift furniture, but he didn’t kiss her again or approach her with nefarious intents.
Bloody good job, too. She had her mettle back up and was in no mood for lotharios.
Even good-looking, golden-haired ones who made her skin tingle whenever he was near. Or good-looking, golden-haired ones who’s eyes smiled warmly at her, who watched her with a warm friendliness that made her slowly shift towards him until commonsense reeled her back in to sensibility.
Cripes, she must really be sucking in a lot of chemical fumes while cleaning.
Friday afternoon she showered and changed after a heavy cleaning session and went into town to pick up a magazine, planning a lazy couple of hours before dinner.
Coming out of the newsagency with the rolled up magazine in her hand, she slowed when she saw Kirk looking in the driver’s side window of her car. He was leaning down, hands braced on the hood. His jeans fit snugly across his tight backside, the polo shirt he wore just as snug across his broad chest when he straightened to watch her approach, the muscles in his arms flexing as he pushed away from the car.
His gaze tracked her every step, not wavering.
“Hello.” She strove to keep her voice even as she neared.
“Molly.” He nodded.
She looked from the car to him. “Come to check out the car the girls chose? See what kind of a mess we made of it?”
“Did you make a mess of it?” He watched her with cool interest.
“No.”
“Well, then.”
Clearing her throat, she made to move around him, only to have him step back so that she had to either move in front of him, or make an overly obvious and pointed shift around him.
She almost held her breath when she brushed past him. The bloody man hadn’t moved far enough back, now she could feel his warmth and smell his clean scent at her side.
Then she felt his hand on her back, the gentle but firm ushering of her to her car door. If that wasn’t enough to startle her, she could only gape when he took the keys from her suddenly nerveless fingers and unlocked the car door, shifting her to the side by simply using his hand at her waist to guide her beside him.
Close beside him.
Like right up against him, the hard muscled length of his body pressing into her softer one. That had her senses buzzing. Talk about an overload of delicious sensation.
Before she could react, the door was open and his hand was at her elbow. With a skill she could only watch with stunned admiration, he had her seated in the car with the keys in the ignition.
“Look…” she finally managed to sputter.
He raised his eyebrows at her.
“Look,” she said again, a little more assertively, “I can unlock my own car door and get in without help.”
Most men she knew would have taken umbrage. Been offended. She had spoken sharply and not too graciously - Aunt Julia would have told her off soundly - but something about Kirk made her react more strongly than normal.
Kirk, however, was unlike most men she knew. He just smiled slowly, that little quirk of the lips, those laughter lines fanning out from the corners of his eyes as he took in her indignation.
“I know,” he said, and leaning in, he kissed her forehead.
Again.
“What the hell?” she sputtered. “What is it with the forehead kissing?”
“Kitten, it’s nothing compared to what I want to do,” he repli
ed mildly.
So mildly, in fact, that before she could even process what he’d actually said, he’d wound down the window and closed the car door, smiling in at her, those light brown eyes warm. Always so warm when he looked at her.
Big hands braced on the door frame. “I like the daisies on the car. I like the colour of the car. I think it’s a beaut little car. I think the woman driving it made a good choice.” With that, he reached in, tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear, and walked away.
Molly gaped after him. It took her several stunned seconds before she could close her mouth, and then she could only shake her head.
Damn it, why could he always make her speechless? She didn’t know what to expect from him, found that she was always expecting something when he was around, and right now - but hell, the man had a great arse.
She couldn’t help but watch him stride leisurely down the street. Great arse, great muscles, great build. Good looking. Unpredictable in a quiet, controlled way.
That was it. The light bulb in her head went on with a flash.
Kirk Morrison was unpredictable. And warm. She couldn’t forget warm. He was the epitome of warm. His eyes, his smile, his body.
Shit, she’d been inhaling too much cleaning chemicals. Maybe she needed a break from it all.
Going home, she tried to settle with the magazine but finally gave up and occupied herself by baking a cake and taking it to the fire station, parking at the back. Hopping out, she was greeted with enthusiasm by Simon, who eyed the cake greedily.
“You are a goddess!” he crowed. “Oh baby, you are the best!”
“You say that to all the cooks.” Laughing, she handed the cake to him.
“I’ve decided I should marry a cook.”
“Is that a proposal?”
“Would you have me?”
“No.”
“I’m crushed.”
“You don’t look it. You’ve got eyes only for the cake.”
“I’m thinking of all that cooking I’ll miss out on. I’m in mourning.”
“Do you always drool while mourning?”
“It’s the tears coming out of my mouth instead.”
“Okay, that’s just wrong.” She glanced around. “Where’s Scott?”
“He went to the post office, shouldn’t be long.”
“I won’t wait around. I’m going to go home and relax for awhile.”
“No worries. See you tonight at Kirk’s.” He said it without question, as though it was a fact.
Obviously Ash had managed to keep Del and Dee from saying anything to anyone. Relieved, Molly just nodded and went back out to the car.
She’d just gotten in when she saw Scott cross the road and disappear into the fire station. He’d have noticed her if he hadn’t been reading a newspaper while walking. Man was lucky he didn’t get run over while crossing the admittedly quiet street.
Deciding to say hello anyway, she hopped back out of the car and made for the doorway of the fire station. She smiled when she heard her name mentioned, but it was the next words that had her halting in rising horror.
“So glad that bastard didn’t crush her spirit,” Scott’s voice floated out from the main room.
“Lucky it didn’t turn her off men for good,” Simon agreed. “She’s such a sweet little thing. I just can’t imagine anyone taking a belt to her.”
“Well, he did, and if I ever see that bastard around here, he’s history.”
“You’ll have to take a number. Ryder and I are also in line. Not to mention Kirk.”
Oh God, Kirk had told Scott what had happened! Told Scott and Simon and Ryder! Mortified, Molly backed away from the door, turning to hurry to her car. Getting in, she started the engine and drove away, flicking a hasty glance in the rear view mirror to see with relief that no one appeared in the fire station doorway, which meant they would never know that she had overheard them talking.
Talking about what they shouldn’t have known.
Bloody Kirk had spilled his guts and told them everything!
Fury boiled through her as she headed home, growing hotter with every second. Passing the driveway to the boarding house, she headed towards a certain golden-haired cop’s house, fully intent on ripping his lying tongue out and strangling him with it.
Chapter 7
Sitting on the back veranda steps, Kirk gazed out into the backyard. He really ought to do something about the garden. If he had one. It was pretty much just a yard with bushes a little further out, an apple tree, some roses in the corner and a whole lot of daises gone wild. The grass had long gone out of control and had spread, and where there wasn’t grass was hard-packed earth.
Henny and Penny wandered happily around, finding bugs and all kinds of things they gobbled down with delight. Penny was missing a few tail feathers and he wondered what had happened. Had she and her fellow chook gotten into a tussle? He hadn’t heard a ruckus, they seemed okay together.
With a mental shrug, he took a mouthful of orange juice before placing the glass back on the veranda beside him.
He did like this time when work was over or he had a day off, to just sit on his back veranda and watch the world go past. Country music played from the CD player that lived on the wrought iron table on the veranda, combining with the peace of the countryside and the sounds of birds in the trees to produce a contented feeling he always got at these times.
Actually, he was pretty content with his lot in life, except now he wanted a little more, someone more, a certain shapely woman sharing this time with him, sharing his home, his life.
He was pretty sure he was getting to her. He’d noticed the way she looked at him, a combination of uncertainty, curiosity, and there was no doubting that she was aware of him whenever he was in her vicinity.
Now was probably a good time to ask her out on a date. Might be a little early? He’d see how it went tonight when she came over with the others for the movie. He was looking forward to seeing her in his home. He checked his watch. Not due for awhile yet.
Was he getting a little sappy? He laughed softly. Hell, yes.
Grinning, he watched Henny go after a hapless insect with bloody-minded determination. He really should get Sparkles out of her cage for a run, but the little rat was fast asleep when he’d checked so he’d left her to snooze peacefully. Didn’t matter, she could run around while they were watching the movie, it always amused him to see her freak Simon out by perching on his shoulder.
“There you are!”
Startled, Kirk looked around to see the woman of his thoughts storming around the corner of the house. Eyebrows raised, he watched as she stalked up to the veranda, stopping in front of him.
Oh boy, she was furious.
Oh boy, did she look pretty, all flashing eyes, flushed cheeks, those rounded arms akimbo as she planted her hands on those generously curved hips. Not to mention those magnificent breasts rising and falling with every angry breath she took, the mounds pushing against the low neckline of her dress.
His fingers itched to run down all those tiny white buttons, flick them open so he could feast his eyes on all those lush curves hidden beneath the tiny-flowered print dress with the full skirt that swirled around just below her knees.
Unbidden, his gaze slipped lower. Yeah, she was wearing a pair of low-heeled pumps with black bows on top and silver heels. How hot was that? She was so feminine, so pretty.
So damned hot.
“Kirk!”
Her furious calling of his name took him from his musings. Lifting his gaze, he met her livid green eyes.
Uh-oh, she was incensed with him. Now what had he done? “Yes?”
“I was knocking at your door and you wouldn’t answer! Are you avoiding me?”
“Far from it.” Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his thighs, linking his hands together loosely. “What’s wrong, kitten?”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”
He waited patiently.
“What’s wrong, y
ou moron, is that you broke your word!”
“I did?”
“Yes!” She flung out a hand. “You weren’t supposed to say anything and you told everyone!”
Hmmm. Kirk studied her. “I told them what?”
“You told them what happened to me! To my - my back.”
Ahhh. He just knew that would come back to bite him on the arse sooner or later. That’s what happened when one kept secrets from each other. “Scott told you.”
“Scott was talking to Simon about what Hal did to me!” Eyes flashing, she leaned forward to stab a finger in his direction. “You arse. You total, utter arse! You told him!”
“Kitten-” he began soothingly.
“Don’t ‘kitten’ me! What have you got to say for yourself?” Folding her arms, she glared down at him. “What excuse? Oh wait, you don’t have an excuse, do you?” She lightly smacked her palm off her forehead. “Silly me!”
Hiding his amusement, he simply watched her. And waited. Sure enough, under his steady regard she stopped ranting and finally met his gaze as she smouldered silently.
“Ready to listen?” he asked.
Probably not the wisest thing to say considering the way those beautiful eyes flashed with temper, but what the hell, he liked watching them flash. He’d also like to see them darken with passion, but first things first.
“First of all, I didn’t tell anyone.” When she opened her mouth, he gave her a warning look. She mutinously closed her mouth. “Secondly, Scott was in the hallway the day you told me. He overheard it.”
“So why didn’t he say something?”
“Because you didn’t want him to know.”
“But he does know!”
“He respected your decision not to tell him.”
“Oh, that’s a pretty sneaky way of getting around it!”
That was unfair, so Kirk had no problem with giving her a steely-eyed look. Glowering, she stopped talking, but the mulish set to her mouth was clearly evident.
“He overheard you telling me. That’s it, Molly.”
“That’s it?” There went that hand flinging out again as she sputtered in outrage. “He told Simon and Ryder!”
“They were here that same day, saw that Scott and I weren’t exactly in a good frame of mind.”
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