Summer Spice

by Kris Pearson

  “So you upset yourself and Ollie instead? And would you still fancy him? Theoretically?”

  Mei flashed a quick hard glance that said ‘keep out of this’.

  “These are really good chairs,” Anna said, her expression all innocence.

  “Are you trying to throw us together?” Mei asked, suspicion riding rampant over her features.

  “No,” Anna said. “It wasn’t even my idea you stayed here. Ollie came up with it, remember? At such short notice I was lucky to turn into the garage without hitting the house. I almost took the corner off it, and then I just about knocked his motor bike over.”

  Mei worried at her lower lip with her teeth and turned to peer through the blind again. “They’re having a chat, him and old Denton. I wonder what about?”

  “Lemons, I presume,” Anna said, resting her hands on top of her baby. “He won’t be interested enough to check up on that.” She raised an encouraging eyebrow. “Come on. We’ve got steps one and two out of the way. You have your things out of the house. You have a ride back to Wellington where no one will possibly see you, and there’s room for all your stuff in Ollie’s plane. It wouldn’t have been much fun trying to juggle those bags onto the train – even if I’d kept you out of sight and got you there.”

  Mei rolled her eyes. “I should have got a taxi or an Uber. Could have managed it somehow. Now I have to survive the night with a man I don’t know when I’m totally over men and don’t want to be close to any of them.” She sharpened her tone. “Don’t you see this is tough for me, Anna?”

  Anna breathed out a little noisily. “I see it as a lot less tough than getting knocked around by someone twice your size.”

  “No, he wasn’t,” Mei protested, trying not to remember Kieran’s red-faced fury or his lightning-fast fists. The shock and the shame. The bruising and pain.

  “Yes, he was,” Anna insisted. “He didn’t care for you well enough. And how could you have packed everything up without him noticing? You really think a cab wouldn’t be seen and couldn’t be traced? It would have cost a fortune from Scarlet Bay all the way in to the far side of Wellington, anyway.”

  “Would have been worth it,” Mei muttered.

  Anna linked her fingers over her big bump and shook her head. “I’m a bit far along to offer to drive you all the way, and Jason’s run off his feet right now with Cam’s job, although he can drop you both to the airfield. Ollie’s plane is ideal.”

  They both turned as they heard the front door click closed. Oliver sauntered back into the big main living space and stood beside her, bringing with him a whiff of ocean air and male skin.

  Mei leaned fractionally closer and took a slow, deep breath of him, telling herself to cool it. She was safe now and fervently prayed he didn’t notice he could still make her blush. Already her neck had warmed, and she knew the flush would keep on climbing until she was pink right up to her eyes. If she was lucky, the extra make-up she’d applied so carefully might tone it down. She hoped. Anna was right though – she could escape unobserved, because who would expect a private plane ride?

  It had been so good having company while she grabbed her clothes and all the jewelry she’d bought in Bangkok and Hong Kong. With someone else there to keep her safe she’d been able to think clearly and concentrate. Flight attendants had opportunities mere mortals didn’t when it came to sourcing carats for peanuts. Kieran was welcome to the china and cooking utensils, the TV, the sheets and towels. More than half were his anyway, and she wanted no reminders of their time together. Now the big challenge was to be strong enough to keep her hands off Oliver Wynn.

  “You won’t be set up here properly for a while,” Anna said. “Shall I go and grab some coffees? There’s a mobile cart at the campground these days. Maybe a couple of sandwiches? I promised Jason I’d drop some papers to him before lunchtime, so I can’t stay much longer.”

  “That’d be fine,” Ollie said. “You’re not going to Cam and Jossy’s place, by any chance?”

  She nodded as she heaved herself to her feet. “It’s going well. You should both come and have a look.”

  “Hah,” Mei muttered. “My aim was to stay out of sight – remember?”

  “The builders will soon be gone for the day,” Anna said, snagging her purse from the top of the kitchen counter. “They only work half days on Saturdays.”

  “There are two helmets,” Ollie added helpfully. “Wind your hair up and wear something that covers your assets and you’ll be fine.”

  “Assets?” Anna and Mei yelped simultaneously.

  “Dammit Ollie,” Anna added. “Think before you put your foot so far in the mud you’ll never get it out again. I wouldn’t ride with you if you said that to me.”

  Mei watched as he smirked. It looked as though he’d said it on purpose to wind them up. Maybe it had even worked because she found she was trying to hold back a grin. She finally had to duck her head to make sure he couldn’t see it. He’d charmed her even when trying to offend. A man like that was hard to handle, even for a flight attendant used to dealing with people from all sorts of backgrounds and in all sorts of moods.

  “I have a red sweatshirt on the back seat of the truck,” Anna said. “I keep forgetting to take it into the house – not that it fits around me and bubs now.”

  “Don’t have a red one,” Mei said, nodding. “So it wouldn’t look like me. But I still don’t know I want to risk it.”

  “C’mon,” Ollie taunted. “Dare you. I want a look at the place to see what Cam’s building. I want to see how Jossy’s doing, too. I haven’t seen her for ages.”

  “She’s even stroppier than me,” Anna said, sighing. “They’ve got her on rotten drugs to make her ripen lots of eggs. Injections she has to give herself.”

  “Jesus! Do I need to know this?”

  Mei tried to hide another smile. He was such a guy. Clever for sure, but far more tuned to his machines than his emotions. “Human biology isn’t like engineering, Oliver.” She took a breath and dared to stare right at him. “Not metal you can trim bits off until it fits.”

  “I doubt you’d ever fly again if you seriously thought the workshops ‘trimmed bits off until they fitted’.” He waggled his fingers in the air as though trying to add quotes.

  Funniest air-quotes she’d ever seen, and somehow enough to make her accept his invitation of a ride to Jossy and Cam’s by nodding and saying, “I should be pretty anonymous in a helmet and the sweatshirt”.

  “Okay, I’ll be back in twenty or so with coffees,” Anna said. “How do you like them?”

  “Long black.”

  “Long black for me too.”

  “There you are then,” she said, turning to leave and giving them a cheeky little wave. “Something else you have in common.”

  They stood there, pointedly not looking at each other as Anna pulled the door closed behind her. A few seconds later they heard the truck’s engine fire up.

  “So,” Mei said, casting a sideways glance at the collection of furniture, and swallowing. “I’m grateful, but I don’t think this is going to work. There’s only one bed.”

  “My lucky day, is it?” Ollie asked, quirking an eyebrow and sending her a lop-sided grin.

  Mei’s fingertips buzzed, wanting to trace over his face and learn all the expressions of the grown-up version of her childhood fascination. “So far from your lucky day you’ll wish you’d never said that,” she fired back, knowing quite well he was joking and perversely hoping he wasn’t.

  Ollie shook his head. “No. There’ll be more than one.” He wandered across to where everything had been stacked, and peered between some of the items and over others. Frowning, he moved further around the selection. “Huh,” he finally conceded. “One bed, although at least it’s a big one.”

  “Don’t even think about it,” she snapped, swiveling on her high heels and glaring at him.

  “Plenty of chair cushions,” he added. “We’ll get by. You can have the bed.”

  What
? “No way Oliver! It’s your family’s house and you’re doing me a huge favor. You get the bed.” She was fairly sure she was pouting like a teenager from Ollie’s amused expression.

  He dug into the pocket of his very battered jeans and pulled out his phone. She watched as he tapped briefly and held it to his ear.

  “Yeah, Mum. Hi. Just checking on something. How many beds were ordered?” He set his feet further apart and rocked back on his heels.

  Mei couldn’t stop herself from looking. Somewhere in his later teens little Ollie had had quite a growth spurt. Upwards and sideways. He had surfers’ shoulders for sure – broad and tanned. Anna had told her as they’d driven to the airstrip that he’d rather be out on the water than unpacking furniture. Looked like she was right.

  It was now easier to see the massive tattoo that stretched across his impressive chest. His tank revealed the letter N on the left and what was possibly DE on the right. She tried to imagine what the letters between might be and came up with nothing likely. The swells of muscle and planes of golden skin distracted her and made her mouth water. Made her swallow and glance lower.

  Soft old blue denim stretched snugly around long, strong thighs and a tight butt as he bent to tug at some tape around a clear plastic bag full of pillows. Maybe she’d be lucky enough to see him in wet board shorts sometime today or tomorrow…

  “Okay. Yeah – just the one so far,” Ollie said, dragging her out of her dream. “And no mattresses for the bunk sets yet either, as far as I can tell. Let me know so I can be here?”

  He tapped the phone off. “What a bugger,” he said in a surprisingly cheery tone. “Too much stuff for one truck, so they’re bringing the rest on Monday.” He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the big load. “You’d think with an order this size they could manage a second truck, wouldn’t you?”

  Mei shrugged. “Maybe they didn’t have one available? Perhaps everything’s as tight as airline schedules?”

  “For furniture delivery? You reckon?”

  She shrugged again. “No idea, Oliver. They’d be busy by now. Everyone wants things delivered before Christmas. Shall we make a start before Anna gets back with the coffees?”

  She forced herself to turn away. He was so distracting. Until Anna and Jason’s wedding she’d not known he’d grown into such an impressive man. She guessed he’d been away at university while she’d done her tourism training and then landed a job that had her scheduled to fly all over New Zealand, and later to myriad foreign destinations. They simply hadn’t crossed paths.

  Even during holiday times she wasn’t often home when he might have been at Scarlet Bay. Did he come back every Christmas? She hadn’t seen him the year before, although she’d been worried sick about her ailing mother and filling in at the shop. She’d hardly had a moment to snatch time for a walk on the beach or a swim.

  Ollie snapped his fingers. “Tool-kit,” he said, walking out to the garage and returning with his overnight bag. He unzipped it and produced a selection that included screwdrivers, a box cutter, scissors, and a pair of pliers. “You okay with the scissors?” he asked, handing them across. “I wasn’t expecting help so I only brought one of each.”

  “Fine,” Mei said. “But I’ll take my boots off so I don’t damage the floor.” She bent and unzipped them.

  He shook his head, and one corner of his mouth lifted. “You won’t damage it. It’s designed for wear and tear – for the next fifty years at least.” He angled his chin toward the rugs. “We could start with a couple of those, though. Be softer for you to stand on.”

  Damn – she didn’t want him being so nice to her. It would only make it harder to keep up the cool front she was trying to project. Behind the coolness she bubbled and fizzed like a hot thermal spring about to erupt. Years of denying she’d ever been so attracted to Oliver had come to a head, and she feared she was about to blow. No way would Zhang Wei Chan allow a relationship between his precious daughter and his hated rival, even at the age she now was. The bad blood between their fathers made it impossible. Sighing, she turned away and pulled her boots off as Ollie advanced toward the rugs with the box cutter and carefully sliced through the tape and twine. Then he kicked one and it unrolled across the floor – a dappled expanse of aqua and gray that could have been sunlit ocean. Mei placed her boots beside the wall by the front window and trotted back to give the other a push to see what it looked like. Same colors, but with a charcoal border. “This one’s maybe for the dining table to sit on?” she suggested.

  “Sure – we could start with that.” He lifted a plastic-wrapped dining chair from the side of the heap, pecs and biceps swelling and hardening, and slid it toward her. “Where do you reckon they should go?”

  Mei tried to ignore the delicious sight and turned away to size up the big space. She imagined the Wynn family relaxing at the ocean end, enjoying the views of the sparkling water and the passers-by... the kite-surfers, the small boats chugging out in the hope of catching fish. “The larger rug there for the sitting area,” she muttered, pointing. “So the dining back here, closer to the kitchen.”

  Ollie seemed to agree because he reached down, all smooth shoulders and bulging biceps again, and pulled the bigger one to where she’d indicated.

  While his eyes were down on the rug, Mei looked her fill. Even in ratty old jeans with patches rubbed white and one hem ripped and drooping over his boot, he looked good enough to lick. And, oh hell – now he’d bent over and she had a truly excellent view of his butt and a slice of smooth brown skin where his tank had ridden up. She looked away the instant he turned his attention to the smaller rug.

  “Not going to work for the dining stuff yet,” he said, flexing those devastating shoulders. “Maybe we start with the sofas and chairs and get some of them out of the way first. Did you have a dolls’ house when you were little?”

  “I had a doll,” she said, not meeting his eyes for a few seconds, but then glaring at him. It would do him good to remember not everyone had the advantages he’d grown up with. “No doll house. Not much room. Not much money. Not much time to play with her anyway. We had the shop. Lovely views of the sea, but not much else.”

  Ollie gave a slow nod. “Sorry. Not thinking. The girls in my family had too many. I remember when Anna wanted one for Christmas, it came with some tiny furniture, but she got stuck in and made a lot more out of cardboard. She must have been about ten.” He looked away and started tearing the plastic wrapping off an armchair. “Probably the start of her love of design. She colored in little rugs for the floors. Made pictures for the walls…”

  “She’s good at what she does,” Mei agreed.

  “So let’s see how good you are. This is your life-size dolls’ house. Where would you put stuff? I haven’t a clue, but we may as well make it comfortable for us over the next couple of days.” He laughed, sudden and affectionate, still not meeting her eyes. “Mum and Auntie Ruth will no doubt rearrange it all when they turn up for Christmas.”

  Mei tried not to be affected by his deep chuckle. It was too easy to imagine being ‘comfortable’ with him. For almost fifteen years she’d pushed him to the back of her brain in daylight, but at night, in her dreams, he often slid back. Even though she’d scarcely seen him until Anna and Jason’s wedding, just that glimpse of him had re-lit her fantasies. He’d been so tall and so beautifully dressed, with short, thick hair, cheeks clean-shaven, and a killer grin that had made her glad she had the excuse of bolting away for the flight to Buenos Aires that evening. And now there was that sexy scruff and the tattoo…

  She swallowed, concentrating on the challenge of arranging the rooms. She’d never had a whole house to play with. The living quarters behind the takeaway shop had been cramped, and definitely her mother’s domain. Cheap and kitschy. Too embarrassing to invite friends to, even once they’d added the upstairs bedrooms. She’d shared a flat with other girls during her flight attendant training but it had already been furnished, or mostly so. Travelling so much since then, she h
adn’t really set down roots until moving in with Kieran, and the bigger items there had all been his. In the old rented beach house they’d never bothered painting walls or buying better curtains, and she was away more often than she was home so it was his place rather than hers. And now not hers at all.

  She tilted her head, watching as Ollie’s big sure hands removed more wrapping from a stylish timber-armed chair and set it on one side. “They’ve got felts on their feet?” she asked.

  He gave the chair a push. It slid easily on the hard floor. “Yep.”

  “Okay, you unwrap and I arrange.”

  God – his smile. It lit up his whole face. Lit her up inside, too. Playing ‘pretend house’ with Oliver Wynn was kind of a dream and kind of a nightmare, but she was stuck with it so she may as well give it her best shot.

  She padded across and glided the chair over the smooth hardwood planks, then lifted it onto the rug by the far window. Returned for others once he had them ready.

  “You doing okay without me?” he asked.

  So considerate. So innately polite and kind it demolished her. “Nothing too heavy so far. Are there sofas? Don’t see any yet. At least they sent tables.” She pointed to a big carton with an outline drawing on one end. “Coffee table I think. We could have that next.”

  Something thumped against the door through to the garage and they both turned toward the sound.

  Chapter 3 – Coffee and Chai

  “Can you let me in?” Anna called.

  “Shouldn’t be locked,” Ollie yelled back.

  “Both my hands are full. Can’t open it.”

  His hands were full, too – with bubble wrap – so he watched as Mei trotted over and released the handle. As the door swung open he saw Anna had lined her arm up to give it another thud with her elbow.

  “Let me take some.” Mei reached for the carry-tray of coffees. This left Anna with a paper sack of food and the red sweatshirt she’d mentioned earlier. Mei took that as well. “Good disguise,” she agreed, almost smiling across at him as she reached the long kitchen counter and set the coffees down. That shy not-quite smile and the quick flick of her dark eyes made his breath catch and his heart thump hard behind his ribs.