‘I hope the weather holds out,’ Ruby said, biting her lip. ‘The forecast is for rain in the afternoon.’
‘So we’ll get a little wet.’ Stella shrugged one shoulder and looked at Adam. ‘So what. It’ll still be perfect.’
A smile stretched across Adam’s face and he leaned across Heidi and kissed Stella full on the lips. Everyone cheered and even Heidi beamed. Just looking at these two, you could tell how perfect they were for each other. Both tanned, fit and gorgeous, they looked good together but it was so much more than that. They made each other smile in a way no-one else did, they finished each other’s sentences, and when they looked at each other, it was like they shared a secret from the rest of the world.
Simone couldn’t help but watch, a wistful sigh escaping her mouth as she silently acknowledged sparks didn’t fly like that when she and Logan kissed. His lips were soft and sweet but they didn’t cause her heart to skip a beat. Were they flogging a dead horse or did she just need more time? She couldn’t help feeling slightly relieved that he’d be otherwise engaged tonight when they were supposed to be taking the next big step in their relationship—especially after she’d told everyone about her plans at the hens night. How Frankie, Stella, Faith and Ruby would laugh if they knew how much she was dithering over this decision.
Maybe she just needed to go for it, throw caution to the wind and leave her head behind when she took him into the bedroom?
‘You okay?’ Angus leaned towards her and she caught a whiff of some delicious scent wafting off him; something exotic and enticing that she swore had a hint of dark chocolate. Her spine tingled but she made a concerted effort not to inhale deeply and let it consume her.
‘Sure,’ she lied. ‘Are you?’ After all, he was the one who didn’t know anyone.
He nodded. ‘This lot seem like a good bunch, and Heidi said I could help colour in one of her pictures after dinner.’
Simone laughed at the idea of Angus bent over a colouring book. He really was not at all like Logan portrayed him. ‘Thanks for agreeing to come to the wedding with Frankie. No-one likes to be alone at these things.’
‘I wonder how they’re doing?’ Angus asked, his voice still low.
‘Probably a lot better than if we were there offering assistance,’ she replied.
His lips quirked upwards. ‘I hear you are almost as bad a chef as me.’
She smiled back. ‘I think it’s safe to say I’m probably much worse.’
Not long after that, Heidi returned to her new best friend, climbed back up into his lap and resumed her colouring in. As promised, she handed Angus a pencil and instructed him to ‘help’.
Simone took a sip of her wine and tried to focus on the conversations going on around her, rather than staring at Angus and Heidi. It was adorable the way he interacted with her, speaking as if she were his equal and asking her opinion on which colour he should use next. And if he’d looked sexy before, he looked even more delicious when his face adopted an expression of deep concentration and he tried not to colour outside the lines. She couldn’t help smiling—it was easy to see how he’d have made an awesome surrogate dad for his little sister, but it was sad that he’d never had the opportunity to father his own children. Again she thought of the fiancée who had left him, and wondered why.
Across the table, Ruby and Stella were discussing what time they all needed to be up to get ready tomorrow morning. ‘Well, the hair and make-up lady is arriving at seven-thirty,’ Stella said.
On the other side, Simone’s mum and daughters were trying to work out what movie they would watch tonight and she tried to make the right noises for each suggestion.
‘I think I’ll get an early night,’ Graham said when a recent romantic comedy was decided on.
‘You gonna watch too, Mum?’ Grace asked.
Ruth jumped in, ‘Your mum needs to get an early night as she’ll be up at the crack of dawn for hair and make-up.’
Harriet grinned, seemingly pleased with the news her annoying mother wouldn’t be joining them. Simone struggled not to feel disheartened by the fact her oldest daughter would rather hang out with anyone but her.
Ruth met her eye and winked over the top of the girls’ heads. Not privy to the cake disaster, she still thought Simone and Logan would be sharing a room that night. Instead Simone faced the prospect of going to bed all alone, with not even Frankie next door to talk to. While it would give her another night to rally her courage before taking the next step, it did feel a bit of a let down after all the anticipation. Sighing, she picked up her glass of wine and took a big gulp.
* * *
Frankie stood in the immaculate kitchen the resort manager had generously offered them and took a deep breath. Now was not the time to start hyperventilating again—she had serious work to do. The afternoon had been a whirlwind: the kangaroo, the cake disaster, meeting Angus and not feeling the instant attraction she was hoping for, then Logan coming up with his plan to save the day.
Which brought them to this moment.
The sexiest guy on the planet, the man she’d been trying to forget since the kiss in her café and who was now going to save her butt, was standing before her, his shirt sleeves rolled up ready to work. She couldn’t help glancing down to admire his smooth, tanned, muscular forearms. She squeezed her lips together to stop from whimpering at the sight. Work, work, work. She repeated the word in her head, hoping if she thought it enough she’d remember that was the only reason she now faced the prospect of a night alone with Logan Knight. Her insides quivered at the thought and she stood there gawking at him like some mute idiot.
‘Shall we get started?’ he asked, breaking the awkward silence that had descended the moment they’d ushered Simone and Angus out of the kitchen.
‘Yes,’ she managed, hoping there wasn’t drool on her chin. ‘Good idea.’
Logan surveyed the stuff they’d bought that afternoon. They’d cleared out the local IGA of baking supplies and although whatever they created wouldn’t be quite the same as the cake she’d dedicated the last two weeks of her life to making, he’d promised her it’d be something spectacular.
‘I’m so sorry about this,’ she gushed for what had to be about the fifth time in the last hour. Tonight was supposed to be his big night with Simone and she’d hijacked it.
He shrugged one delectable shoulder and hit her with a smile so potent she almost lost her balance. ‘Stop apologising. Now, don’t be shy about ordering me around. I’m at your service. This is your gig. I’m just the hired help.’
Frankie swallowed as her mind snagged on his declaration. What would he do if she told him she needed him to work in his underwear? She imagined he’d wear snug, black boxers and … No!
She shook her head—self-loathing and guilt squeezing her heart—she shouldn’t be imagining that at all. He was here with Simone. Her sister, her best friend.
‘Okay!’ The determined tone was as much for herself as for him. ‘First things first—making the cupcakes. I’ll start the first batch. Can you turn the oven on and get the patty pans sorted? And then you can start on the stand.’
It had been his idea to make a cupcake tower and when she’d pointed out that they didn’t have any kind of stand, he’d promised her a solution for that as well. He’d bought some thick card from the newsagent, several rolls of aluminum foil, ribbon and a sixpack of little glasses. She been dubious but he’d told her to trust him and really, what choice did she have?
‘Yes, sir.’ He nodded and saluted her, his silliness making her laugh as he dug out the silver patty pans. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as she’d first imagined—and maybe spending some real time with him would help her see past his incredible looks and the memory of his lips on hers the first time they’d met. She valued her relationship with Simone more than anything in the world and she knew it was wrong to be thinking about her sister’s boyfriend in this way.
As Logan got to work, Frankie located the equipment she needed. What a stroke of luck that the person L
ogan had managed to sweet-talk into lending them her kitchen happened to have a whiz-bang Kenwood mixer and a lot of the other tools they would need. The manager had snuck off to her room when they’d arrived, promising to make herself scarce but telling them to call on her if they couldn’t find anything or required assistance. Frankie felt bad about putting the nice woman out, but drastic times called for drastic measures and every time she thought about the sight of the wrecked cake in the back of her car, she remembered how drastic this situation was.
She did not want to be the one to ruin Adam and Stella’s wedding day.
‘Who taught you to cook?’ Logan asked as she began measuring out her ingredients.
‘No-one,’ she said, embracing his attempt at small talk. ‘I think I probably taught myself out of necessity. Apparently Dad was a good cook, but Mum was dismal and when Dad left, I got sick of her boring dinners. She didn’t have much imagination in the kitchen, and to give her some due, it’s not easy coming up with interesting food for two kids after you’ve spent the day working—ask Simone. Before I took over, dinner at our place mostly alternated between spaghetti bolognaise with Dolmio’s sauce, sausages and instant mashed potatoes, and shepherd’s pie, also with instant mash.’
Logan laughed and screwed up his nose. ‘What did you cook instead?’
‘Oh, everything. I used to experiment with the few ingredients Mum kept in the cupboard and often what I created wasn’t half bad. By the time I was ten, I was doing most of the cooking. Mum used to give Simone her bank card and we’d do the food shopping on our own. What about you? How’d you learn?’
‘My mum was the opposite of yours,’ Logan said, a wistful smile crossing his face. ‘She loved cooking and every meal was different and magnificent. I don’t remember Dad ever making so much as a piece of toast—and while Angus loved being Dad’s right-hand man on the farm, I’d often stay at home with Mum and help make dinner. Much to Dad’s disgust, I asked for a recipe book for my tenth birthday, but after Mum died I think he was grateful that he didn’t have to worry about putting meals on the table as well as everything else.’
‘I can’t imagine losing my mum,’ Frankie confessed, a chill washing over her at the thought. ‘How old were you?’
‘I was seventeen. Doing my year twelve exams. She was driving to Perth to take me out to celebrate when a truck hit her head on, on the Brand Highway.’
Frankie couldn’t help but gasp at the brutal image. Although she knew Logan’s parents were both dead, Simone had never told her the details.
He nodded and his voice cracked a little as he spoke. ‘Only consolation is she would have died on impact.’
Frankie’s heart went out to him. Although he was speaking about something that happened a long time ago, the expression on his face told her the pain was just as strong as it would have been that day. She wished she could say something, do something to comfort him, but no words seemed right. ‘I bet it’s not much consolation. I don’t know how I’d cope if something like that happened.’
Logan shrugged. ‘It wasn’t easy. I took a few years off studying and hung about at home, helping Dad and Angus with the farm and my little sister. But life goes on, well, for most of us. Dad couldn’t cope. He took his own life a few years later.’
‘No!’ She couldn’t keep the shock from her voice. ‘I knew you and Angus raised your sister but I didn’t know—’
‘He hung himself in the shearing shed,’ Logan confessed, glancing down at the benchtop.
‘That’s awful,’ she whispered, her words sounding futile even to her own ears. Silence hung between them a few long moments and then Logan turned his head and met her gaze.
‘I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m telling you this. As if today isn’t stressful enough.’
Despite the topic of conversation, the way he looked at her took her breath away. Sensations she knew she shouldn’t be feeling flooded through her body and at that moment she didn’t care about the cake, she only wished Logan would keep looking at her that way, keep opening up his heart.
It wasn’t her right to wish this—not when he was here in Kalbarri with her sister—but she couldn’t help her feelings, no matter how much she knew they were wrong. And the more time she spent in his company, the worse they got. ‘It’s fine,’ she said, struggling to breathe steadily as she gestured to the mess already forming on the bench. ‘We’ve got hours ahead of us. Gotta keep each other awake somehow.’
His solemn expression transformed into a light one again and he nodded. ‘Damn straight. By tomorrow morning we’ll have a magnificent cake—or rather, cakes—and I shall know all of your deepest, darkest secrets.’
She shivered at the thought. ‘I don’t really have any,’ she lied, looking away.
‘I’ll be the judge of that,’ Logan said. ‘What was the name of your first boyfriend?’
‘Adam,’ she told him, with a half chuckle.
‘Ha! You mean this Adam?’
‘Yep. At least I wanted him to be my boyfriend, but everyone else told me my cousin couldn’t be my boyfriend. It broke my heart.’
She looked up at the expression on his face and smiled as well. ‘It’s okay, you’re allowed to laugh. From a very early age, I’ve had a habit of falling for Mr Wrong.’
Chapter Fourteen
Angus knew he shouldn’t be having this much fun with his brother’s girlfriend—not while Logan was slaving away with Frankie fashioning a replacement wedding cake—but he couldn’t help himself. Following dinner, Adam’s mum Esther had whisked Heidi off to bed and Simone’s mum, stepdad and daughters had retreated to their apartment to watch a movie. The bride, groom and their bridal party had chosen to stay on and enjoy a few more drinks. It had been a long time since he’d last sat up with a bunch of adults like this—had a meal and enjoyed the conversation following.
Maybe this was what his life would have been like if his parents hadn’t died, if he hadn’t ended up as Olivia’s guardian, if he and Sarah hadn’t suffered their own tragic loss. Things might have been very, very different. He didn’t begrudge the sacrifices he’d made for Olivia. To be honest, most of the time he didn’t think he missed having a social life, but sitting here with Simone made him wonder if maybe it was time to make some changes.
‘Want a top-up?’ Simone asked as she pushed back her chair and gestured at his empty bottle.
‘Sure, but it’s my shout,’ he said, standing and reaching into his pocket for his wallet.
She hit him with her potent smile. ‘I’m not going to argue with that.’
‘Who else wants another one?’ Angus asked the rest of their party.
‘Actually I think I’ll call it a night,’ said Faith, who Simone had told him wasn’t drinking because she was pregnant.
‘Are you okay?’ asked her boyfriend, Monty, reaching over to grab her hand, concern in his tone and on his face. Angus remembered feeling anxious and protective when Sarah was expecting, but he pushed that thought aside.
Faith smiled back at Monty. ‘I’m fine, just tired. I need my beauty sleep for tomorrow.’
‘There’s nothing like pregnancy fatigue,’ Simone said and Stella nodded her agreement. Angus remembered that too; Sarah had slept and slept and slept.
The others declined another drink and after bidding Faith and Monty goodnight, he headed over to the bar to get their drinks.
‘We’re just about to close up,’ the barman said, as he placed a bottle of beer and another glass of wine on the bar.
‘No worries,’ Angus said, handing over his money. When he returned to the table he found that Ruby and Drew, and Stella and Adam were also leaving.
Goodnights were exchanged and before he knew it he was all alone with Simone, except for the few staff members wiping and setting tables for the breakfast service.
She glanced around and then looked up at him. ‘Do you get the feeling we’re not wanted here anymore?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘Pity. I was enjoying mysel
f and I didn’t want to rush this.’ She picked up the wine glass he’d just put in front of her and twirled it between her two fingers. ‘Do you want to go watch TV or something in my and Frankie’s apartment?’
No, his subconscious told him firmly. Not a good idea. But he’d had such an enjoyable night and it was still early; he didn’t want it to end just yet. Besides, it wasn’t like she was offering anything sinister. Just a little bit of TV.
‘Okay,’ he said, telling himself that he’d sit with her while he finished his beer and then he’d get an early night, maybe stop in on Logan and Frankie and see how the cake making was going.
Without another word, they stood and Angus saw the relieved expressions on the resort staff’s faces as he held the door open for Simone.
‘Thanks for keeping me company tonight,’ she said in a near whisper as they walked quietly down the row of townhouses to her accommodation. Her shoulder was about an inch from his and he’d never felt more aware of another person—at least not for as long as he could remember.
Although it wasn’t even eleven o’clock yet, the resort was deserted, everyone already barricaded in their rooms, and Angus felt like a criminal trespassing on someone else’s land. Palm trees swished gently in the wind and the beer bottle felt cold in his hand as Simone stopped and fumbled in her pocket for her key.
Ignoring the voice of caution inside his head, he followed her into the apartment as she flicked on the lights. ‘Well, here we are,’ she said, turning to look at him and then gesturing to the one small couch that occupied the lounge room. ‘Make yourself at home.’
‘I wonder how Logan and Frankie are doing?’ he asked, forcing himself to focus on something other than how amazing Simone looked, standing before him in a flowing hippy-type skirt and a figure-hugging black crochet top. Forcing himself to remember why exactly they were here.
She kicked off her shoes and flopped back onto the couch. ‘They’ll be fine. If anyone can fix this cake mess, they can. Are you gonna sit?’
In absence of any other chairs, Angus perched on the edge of the couch beside her and took a long drag on his beer. He felt crazily like a young bloke on his first date, which was pathetic, because he wasn’t young and this wasn’t any kind of date. Simone would probably laugh or feel very uncomfortable if she was aware of some of the thoughts he was trying to suppress.
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