Beach House

by Annie Seaton

  Taj let out a frustrated sigh as Rosie strode across the road to the house without a backward glance. Her shoulders were straight and her long black hair was plastered to her wetsuit, reaching down to her butt. And a sweet view it was too. The wet suit moulded her trim curves and even in her temper, her hips swayed gently as she walked away from him. The clang of the metal gate shutting behind her pulled his attention back.

  He couldn’t understand her. One minute they’d been getting along just fine. Shame her temperament wasn’t as sweet as she looked. Although to be fair, it sounded as though she’d been doing it tough and had put herself out on a financial limb to help Aggie. He shook his head as he stepped onto the road and a slice of pain knifed through his knee and his leg locked. Anger filled him as he limped across to the gate and pushed it open. The front door was closed but not locked and it opened quietly when he turned the ornate knob.

  Maybe he’d forget the whole inheritance thing and leave town. Go back to North Queensland. But he couldn’t. The best orthopedic specialist was here in Sydney. And Aggie had caught him too. Not only would the house be sold and leave the Brown family, but now that he knew what a financial load Rosie had taken on to look after Aggie, he couldn’t move out and see it sold out from under her either.

  Equally, at the end of the three months, he could see no possible solution. She wouldn’t want to be bought out.

  Or maybe she would. Her loan would be cleared once the bond was returned. And if he bought her out, she could set up business elsewhere.

  Hell, he could afford to buy the place ten times over.

  The house was quiet as he crossed the foyer. He groaned as he looked up at the two flights of stairs with the landing in the middle. He’d run a hot shower and get some heat onto his blasted knee and then he was going to go and see the solicitor.

  Climbing the staircase was slow, and he was drenched in sweat by the time he reached the first floor. As he lifted his foot onto the last step, his knee clicked back and the pain disappeared as quickly as it had come.

  Bloody unpredictable injury. It had the specialist mystified but all Taj wanted was to get back to normal and into the surf.

  He wondered which bathroom Rosie was using as he crossed the wide hall. The floor up here was checkerboard black and white tiles, and a large window at the end turned it into a wide and airy space. Even though a bit tired and old, it really was still a beautiful home. It would be a bit of a shame to have the renovators in; maybe they could keep the 1930s look and work around some of the existing features. There were at least three bathrooms on this floor that he’d seen so far. Even though he’d used the one closest to his room, there’d still been lacy underwear draped around and he suspected it was the bathroom Rosie used. He tapped on the door and waited but all was quiet. Pushing open the door, he grinned as he stepped into the foyer and closed it behind him. How many modern bathrooms had a foyer? He reached down and pulled his T-shirt over his head and threw it onto the chintz-covered sofa against the wall. Slipping his hands into the waistband of his board shorts, he took a step through the arch that led to the shower and barreled straight into a wet, soft chest.

  “What the—?” He lifted his head and looked into a pair of gold-flecked hazel eyes but not before he’d got a brief flash of a small black bikini bottom.

  “What the heck do you think you’re doing?” Rosie gasped and crossed her arms in front of her bare breasts.

  “I knocked but you didn’t answer.”

  “I had the water running. Surely you heard it?”

  “No. I didn’t hear anything. I was going to take a shower.” He couldn’t stop the appreciative grin spreading across his face. “But now I’m appreciating the view.”

  Rosie took a step back and the view got even better. He dropped his gaze and skimmed his glance from the red-painted toenails up long, toned legs. Her fair skin was accentuated by the flush on her cheeks as red as the rosy lips that were now pursed in disapproval.

  “Well, you can just stop—”

  Taj couldn’t help himself. The last thing he wanted was another spray of words from this little firebrand. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers and the gasp that followed warmed his lips.

  “If you haven’t got anything nice to say, just don’t say anything. Okay?” he murmured against her mouth.

  OH.MY.GOD. Had she died and gone to heaven? Was she asleep and dreaming or was she almost naked in her bathroom with Taj Brown’s lips locked on hers?

  Rosie closed her eyes and revelled in the warmth of his lips against hers and the roughness of his bare chest against the backs of her hands. Years of imagination, and dreaming about this moment made it impossible to pull back. Why not just give into the dream for a few seconds and worry about what happened after that? His lips moved into a smile she could feel against hers when she snaked her arms around his neck and held on tight. She opened her lips to welcome him, ignoring the quick flutter of panic that rushed though her when he pulled back. The dim light falling through the skylight highlighted whorls of blond chest hair and broad, muscled shoulders. The glorious muscles were well defined and continued down his abs. Rosie lowered her hand and traced a gentle finger around his nipple and smiled as he sucked in a breath as his lips met hers again.

  Awareness of time and rational thought fled as his mouth plundered hers. His teeth scraped over her lips and a jolt of pleasure hit every nerve ending in her body. An exquisite quiver tingled between her thighs, a pleasure that she’d not indulged in for over a year. Too busy with Aggie to think about sex. But sex had never been like this with anybody. This was her wildest dream coming true. The sensation of his hands gripping her butt was soon replaced by the hard erection against her bare stomach. Only his thin board shirts were between her and heaven.

  Another shaft of excitement whipped through her as his fingers slipped beneath the edge of her bikini bottoms. Beneath his hungry mouth, she was aware of her breath catching and her pulse pounding, but she didn’t want him to stop. He walked her back towards the wall and she moaned as he slipped her bikini down a little.

  “Rosie? Are you in there?” Reality hit like a bucket of cold water as Sally’s voice came through the door. Rosie gasped and pushed him away, grabbing for her bikini bottoms and then trying to cover her naked breasts at the same time.

  Thank God, Taj was quick thinking.

  She gathered her thoughts, and a towel, as he crossed to the door and called out. “No, I’m in here, Sally. But I won’t be long if you want to use the bathroom.”

  “No, it’s okay, Taj. I was just looking for Rosie. Take your time. There are plenty of other bathrooms in this house.”

  A pair of twinkling eyes met hers as Sally’s footsteps faded. Taj took a step back towards her and that damned sexy smile almost broke her resolve.

  “Did you hear that? We can take our time.” His eyes were heavy with need and for a moment she was tempted but she put one hand up, as she clutched at the towel with the other.

  “Uh uh. Not going to happen, surfer boy. I don’t know what happens in your world but I need to know someone longer than twenty-four hours before I sleep with them.”

  Again the sexy grin crossed his face. “But we’ve known each other for fifteen years.”

  “Good try. But not on.” She hitched the towel higher as he stared at her. One more minute and she was going to melt into a puddle in his arms. “I’ll go and wait in my room while you take a shower.”

  Without looking at him, she scurried over to the door and listened. When she was sure there was no one outside, she opened the door and hurried across the hall and almost fell into her room. She closed the door and leaned on it with her eyes closed.

  Finally when her heart had stopped pounding erratically, she opened them and let out a huge sigh as posters of Taj Brown looked down at her.

  They were coming down now.

  Chapter 10

  Dr. Brennan shook his head as he looked up from the report in his hands. “You’re a
mystery man, Taj. There’s no sign of anything in the reports and I’m really at a loss to understand what’s causing your knee pain.”

  Taj leaned forward dangling his hands between his knees as he stared back at the specialist. “So what does that mean? Is it good or bad news? Can I get back in the surf?”

  “The only thing I can suggest is that you’ve twisted too far, either on your board or even just walking. The ligaments around your knee can stretch but only a certain distance. If you try to put the joint through too much motion...who knows what it’s done.” The doctor shrugged. “But there’s no sign of any tear or damage on the MRI scan. We could open you up and have a look but quite frankly I don’t think there’s any need.”

  “Well, that’s one good thing, I suppose.” Relief shot through Taj, but it was tempered with uncertainty. “Should I get out in the surf and see if it holds up?”

  “Entirely up to you. The source of the pain and the way it just happens is something I can’t understand. If it was there all of the time I would say there was an injury, but”—Dr. Brennan’s shoulders raised in another shrug—“it appears that there is nothing. Maybe it’s psychosomatic? You need to think if anything sets it off. Stress? Come back and see me if it’s still like it in three months.”

  Taj muttered to himself as he walked back to the car. “Bloody three months.” His whole life seemed to be on hold for three months. He picked up his pace daring his knee to give way, but he strode along the footpath without a problem. His mood deepened into frustration which wasn’t helped by the lingering memory of Rosie’s body pressed up against his in the bathroom this morning. It had taken fifteen full minutes in a cold shower to get rid of the hard on.

  He focused his thoughts to the present, trying to sort out what he’d do. There was a surfing competition coming up at Narrabeen in two weeks. If he got out in the surf, and his knee held up, he could stay at the house, and get back onto the circuit at the end of the three months. The problem was if he was out for much longer than that his world ranking would plummet.

  He turned into the lane at the back of the house just as the sun was setting. As directed by Sally—who seemed to be the only sane person in the household—he opened the door manually from the outside, drove in and then locked the garage from the inside.

  Great. There were three other cars in there which meant the Witches of Eastwick were all home. He grinned at his own joke and his mood improved. No point being shitty, there was little he could do about either situation. And the anticipation that filled him at seeing Rosie again gave him a pleasant buzz. Hell, the way she’d responded to him morning—if Sally hadn’t interrupted them when she did, things would have gone past the point of no return. And he wouldn’t have minded that one bit.

  Taj liked to be organized and he formulated a list on his head. One—live in the house for the three months and get to see the solicitor about Rosie’s debt as soon as he could. Two—get back into the surf and test his bloody knee. Three—get into Rosie’s bed. As soon as he could.

  He pushed open the door of the kitchen. Sonia was standing at the stove stirring a huge pot and the witch image flicked through his head.

  “That smells good.” He walked over and peered into the pot. Meatballs floated in a rich red sauce. “You must tell me about this roster. I don’t mind helping out with the cooking, too.”

  Sonia stepped back and smiled. A strange smile as though she could read his thoughts.

  “Hmmm. Feeling a bit needy, are you, Taj?”

  “What? You mean hungry?”

  “Uh-uh.” She shook her head and shot him a cheeky grin. “Your aura is fair pulsing red. You’d better hurry up and do something about it.”

  “My aura?” He barely managed to choke the words out.

  “Yep. Looking good. Shame Rosie’s got her sights on you, because I’d take you on without hesitation.”

  “Rosie?” This time he did choke. Did they share everything in this house?

  Sonia ignored his question and tapped the wooden spoon on the side of the pot. “But I could be wrong...the red could just mean you are a high achiever or an adventurer. You’ll have to let me read your cards and we’ll sort it out.”

  “Sort it out?” His voice was weak now.

  “But it can also mean heat too. Do you have any injury? It could be that crook knee of yours that’s causing it too. But Rosie could fix that.” He almost waited for her to cackle as she stirred the pot.

  “Whatever it is, Rosie can fix it. That’s where your future lies.” With those enigmatic words and without a backward glance, she put the spoon down and left him in the kitchen alone.

  Taj shook his head and dropped into the chair, shaking his head. What did she mean Rosie’s got her sights set on me? What games were being played? He’d been quite surprised when she’d almost jumped him this morning and then quickly changed her mind.

  The women in this house were doing his head in. The door opened again and his head flew up but this time it was Sally. She walked gracefully into the room and her calm settled his mood.

  “Hi, Taj. Are you going to have dinner in with us tonight? It’ll give us a chance to get to know you better.”

  “Yeah, that’d be great. What time?” Like she said, it would be a chance to get to know them and more about Aggie’s final years. Maybe he could piece together what had happened to rip the family apart.

  “We eat early because I’ve got classes and I know Lily’s got a couple of appointments, but I’m sure Rosie will keep you company.”

  “Okay, I’ll just shoot upstairs and get changed. Anything I can do to help?” He wondered how Rosie would feel about that. He could disappear to his room if needs be but getting to know her much better was high on his agenda.

  “Not yet. Maybe you can help clear up.”

  Taj nodded and headed upstairs. He wanted to see Rosie before dinner. Coming face to face with her for the first time after the bathroom interlude might be embarrassing for her, and he didn’t want to complicate matters between them any more than they were already.

  ROSIE ROLLED UP THE posters she’d taken down from the wall and slipped an elastic band over each one and placed them in a row that covered her entire bed.

  Time to get over all that juvenile stuff. She should have taken them down years ago. She squashed the Blu-tack into one big blob and stuck it on the side of her desk and glanced at the clock on her bedside table just as a knock sounded at the door. Must be Sally.

  “Come in.” Sally wanted to sort out a roster now that Taj was part of the household and they’d just have time to talk before dinner. As far as Rosie was concerned, she just wanted to pretend he wasn’t here in the house, but it was only fair that he helped out. Even if he is a world famous surfer.

  She shook her head; she still couldn’t believe that Taj Brown was here in the house, in this very house and that she’d been up close and personal with him in the bathroom. No more of that. The door opened slowly and she threw the last poster onto the bed. They could go down to the garbage bin later. “Well, I did it. My walls are bare.”

  “They sure are. Are you redecorating?”

  Rosie jumped and put a hand to her chest as Taj walked in and pulled the door shut behind him. Her heart pounded in her chest and trembling in her legs began again. “Oh, I thought it was Sally.”

  He looked down with a grin. “Nah, last time I looked I was me.”

  “Very funny.” She folded her arms over her chest and stared at him. “What do you want?”

  “That’s not very friendly.” He strolled across the room and plonked his butt on her desk. “I wanted to talk to you about this morning. In private. Before we have dinner.”

  She drew in a deep breath, willing the trembles to stop and the heat creeping into her neck to disappear. Taking a step to the side of her bed to hide the rolled up posters, she tried to appear as nonchalant and casual as he was. “Nothing to talk about. Just forget it.”

  “That’s the problem. I can’t. Yo
u’ve been in my head all day.”

  A warm shiver ran down Rosie’s spine as he stared at her with those blue eyes. His gaze was intense and she fought to keep her face expressionless as she shrugged. Not only had he filled her thoughts all day, she couldn’t get rid of the feel of him against her skin. Lusting for him from afar for such a long time had deepened her reaction to his touch this morning. He was imprinted on her senses and she didn’t think she would ever forget the feel of his chest against her bare breasts. And his lips against mine. And his erection against my skin.

  Her lips parted as she stared at him and he must have read the need in her eyes because he pushed himself away from the desk and took a step towards her.

  “Oh, no you don’t.” Forgetting the bed was close up behind her, she backed away and fell on top of the rolled up posters. “Damn.”

  The posters crackled and rolled beneath her as she tried to get up and as he held his hand out to help her the elastic band on one of the rolls broke with a twang and the poster unfurled onto the bed.

  More heat rushed up Rosie’s neck as he stared down at an almost life-size photo of himself surfing at Bells Beach. It was the biggest poster and obviously needed a stronger elastic band.

  “Where did you get that?”

  Before she could answer, his gaze scanned the pile of posters on the bed and his lips pulled up into a broad smile. “And there’s more? Can I see the others?”

  “No.”

  “So these were on your walls?” If it was possible, his smile got even wider and mortification settled in Rosie’s chest. She could actually feel it, like a solid object.

  “And now they’re bare?”

  “No. I mean, yes they were.” She dug deep for an excuse. “But it was Aggie who followed your career.”

  “Really?”

  Somehow he’d got close enough to her that she could feel his warm breath on her skin. Either that or she was about to spontaneously combust with embarrassment. She dropped her gaze as her face burned red. All was quiet until two gentle hands cupped her chin.