by Claire Raye
Slowing down a little, I glance at the sign, mentally noting the estate agent who is handling the sale as my gaze moves to the fields of trees that fill the property, the almost new sheds and a tiny farmhouse far off in the distance.
It isn’t a winery, but a fruit orchard and as I slowly drive past it, an idea starts to form in my head. A spark that given enough fuel and encouragement could turn into something explosive.
But now, as I park the car in front of Lu’s place, I know I’m going to keep these thoughts quiet for a bit. At this stage, it’s only an idea, nothing certain and definitely far too soon to start thinking long-term.
“Honey, I’m home,” I call out, as I walk in the front door, my arms loaded with shopping bags.
“Out here,” comes Lu’s voice. I dump the bags on the bench before heading out to the back deck where Lu is stretched out on the sun lounge, a glass of wine in one hand and a book in the other.
“Hey, what’s happening?” I ask, standing beside her.
“Uh huh,” she replies, not looking up at me, and clearly not listening to me either.
I reach down, take the glass from her hand and lift it to my mouth for a sip. Lu barely even notices. “Good book?” I ask, taking another.
“Yeah.”
Shaking my head, I lean down and grab it from her hands, straightening as she scrambles from the chair, reaching for the book. Holding it high, I turn my attention to the page she was just reading, a slow smile spreading on my face when I see exactly what’s captured her attention.
“Oh my god,” I ask, half laughing. “You’re reading porn?”
“No!” she says, even as a small blush starts to creep over her cheeks.
“You totally are,” I say, smiling as I flick over the page, taking in the words.
“It’s chick-lit,” she says firmly. “Not porn.”
I chuckle, shaking my head as I read from the page. “His fingers slide down to my clit, rubbing in slow circles before…”
“Give me that,” she says, snatching the book from my hands.
I turn, reach and pull her against me. “Sure sounds like porn to me, Lulu,” I tease. “You miss me that much you had to read this, huh?”
Lu rolls her eyes. “Actually,” she says. “It’s has an adorable Aussie character,” she continues. “He’s a perfect boyfriend and amazing in bed.”
“Does it now?” I say, leaning in to kiss the end of her nose. “Bet he’s not half as adorable as me,” I tell her. “Or as good in the sack.”
She swats at me with the book in mock annoyance. “He calls his girlfriend, Pet,” she says. “Why don’t you ever call me Pet?”
I burst out laughing. “Fuck me, are you serious?” I ask as Lu nods her head. “Jesus,” I say. “Pet is what my eighty-year-old grandma calls the nurse who comes to help her each week,” I continue. “It is not a term of endearment, nor something any self-respecting Aussie guy will say.”
“Really?” Lu asks, confused.
“Really,” I repeat, grinning. “But,” I continue, lowering my voice a little. “If you’d prefer I call you Pet…”
“Nope, no,” she immediately says, cutting me off. “I do not need you channeling your grandmother when you’re talking to me,” she says.
My grin widens. “Good answer, Lulu,” I whisper, kissing her mouth. “Now, let’s go see if we can take advantage of all that porn you’ve been reading while I was gone.”
“It’s not…”
“Shhh,” I say, cutting her off. “I’m busy thinking about how my fingers are about to slide down to your…”
Now it’s Lu who cuts me off as her mouth presses against mine in a hard kiss. Groaning, I take the book from her hand, throwing it on the sun lounge as I wrap both arms around her waist and pull her against me.
Mirroring the words I’ve just read, I slip a hand into the top of her shorts, under her panties and between her legs where I discover just what reading this book has done to her.
“Jesus,” I breathe out, as my fingers slide against her. “You’re so…”
Lu groans at my touch, her eyes closing as her head falls back a little, exposing her neck. I press kisses along her jaw and down her neck, along her collarbone to her bare shoulder, biting it gently.
“Let’s go inside,” I murmur against her skin, even as I’m backing her up to the door, one arm around her waist, one hand inside her pants.
We make it as far as the dining room before I can’t control myself any longer, letting go of her waist and undoing the button of her shorts. With fumbling hands, we both push them and her panties down, before Lu rips off her tank top and bra.
When she stands naked in front of me, I step back, running my eyes appreciatively over her body, taking in her flushed skin, her hooded eyes. Smiling, I slowly pull off my own clothes before guiding her back to the table with my hands on her hips.
“Lie back,” I whisper, mouth at her ear.
She does and I step closer, a hand on each of her knees as I slowly push her legs apart. Leaning down, I brush my lips against hers before slowly kissing my way down her neck again and between her breasts, stopping briefly to lick and suck each nipple.
Lu arches off the table and I smooth a hand down her stomach, over her hip, urging her back down. Stepping between her legs, I continue my path of kisses, down to her stomach and over to her hip, gently biting the rise of her hipbone before kissing down her thigh to her knee.
Crouching, I kiss a path up her inner thigh until I reach the top, pausing before I press a kiss to the exact place she was just reading about.
“Fuck, Jack,” she says, body arching again.
“Mmmm,” I murmur as I slowly start to tease her with my tongue, alternating between licking and sucking until she’s writhing against the table, fingers in my hair, gripping me tightly as though she’s holding me in place.
“Ohh god,” she says, her voice husky with desire. “God, Jack…”
She trails off with a moan as I slide a finger inside her and up the tempo with my tongue. I can feel her getting closer, her thighs clenching on either side of me, and goose bumps rising up on her now sweat-slicked skin.
“Tell me,” I murmur, slipping a second finger inside her.
“Yes,” she says, her voice echoing in the quietness of her house. “Oh god, yes, yes…”
And then I feel her, her whole body clenching around me as she lets go and lust washes over her. I slide my fingers out, moving them to take over from my tongue as I stand up and slide my dick inside her now, feeling the last of her orgasm as it crashes through her.
Leaning down, I cover her mouth with mine, slipping my tongue inside as I slowly start to move my hips against hers. With my free hand, I grab her ankle, lifting it and resting her foot on the table.
She mirrors the action with her other foot, widening her legs as I push even deeper inside her.
“God, fuck you feel so good,” I tell her, hand on her hip as I start to move a little faster. She looks amazing spread out beneath me and I can’t take my eyes off her, lifting my head so I can watch my fingers as they work against her and see everything this is doing to her.
We fuck for what feels like forever, the table creaking under the weight of our movements. With my fingers, I make her come again, Lu screaming my name as I up the tempo of my hips, my body slamming into hers.
Eventually, I can’t hold back any longer, my hands gripping her ankles now, holding her against me as I throw my head back, my body arching into hers as I come and her name falls from my lips in a low growl.
I collapse on top of her, our bodies covered in sweat, both of us breathing hard.
Moving my mouth to her ear, I can’t resist saying, “Now tell me your real-life Aussie boyfriend isn’t a million times better than that fake one you were reading about…Pet.”
Lu bursts out laughing, her mouth on my neck as she slides her hands up my back. “You cheeky shit,” she says as I lift my head and meet her stare, a huge grin on my fac
e.
“Come on, admit it. You know it’s true.”
She grins back at me as she locks her legs around my waist and contemplates her answer. “Well,” she starts, biting her bottom lip. “Better, yes.”
“Better?” I repeat. “Just…better?”
Lu laughs. “Well, I might need some further study on the matter,” she says, cocking her head in invitation.
I slip my arms beneath her, pulling her up so she’s in my arms, legs still wrapped around me and our bodies still joined. “Now who’s the cheeky shit,” I murmur before walking us back to her bedroom.
A couple of hours later, we’re in Lu’s kitchen putting something together for dinner, both of us well and truly sated.
“It’s kinda quiet without the two O’s around isn’t it,” I say as I throw some steaks onto the hot pan.
“Who?” Lu asks, handing me a glass of red wine.
“The two O’s,” I repeat. “Oscar and Ollie.”
Lu laughs. “Yeah, it is. Same when they go back to school.”
I watch as the meat sizzles on the pan, monitoring the time so I can flip them to create the perfect medium rare. “I actually kinda miss them,” I admit. “Even if they’re nosy little buggers with incredibly bad timing.”
Lu doesn’t say anything and when I turn to look at her, I see she’s leaning against the bench, silently watching me.
“What?”
She shrugs, biting her bottom lip for a second or two before eventually saying, “You’re really good with them, you know.”
I shrug, because it’s no big deal, before flipping the steaks.
“You ever think about having kids?” she asks, surprising me a little.
I keep my eyes on the steaks for a few seconds longer, pressing them with the tongs to check if they’re done before switching off the gas. “Yeah, I’ve thought about it,” I say, shooting her a glance. “You?”
“Mmmm hmm,” she says.
I slide the pan to the side and leave the steaks to rest for a few minutes before turning back to Lu. Leaning against the bench, I take a sip of my wine before asking, “What does Mmmm hmm mean?”
Lu swallows, stalling a little by moving the salad she was just mixing to the island where our plates and cutlery are, not looking at me. When she moves back toward the stove, I reach for her, a hand on her hip as I pull her to me.
“I’ve thought about it,” I say, tilting her chin so her eyes meet mine. “And it’s something I want, one day,” I add.
Lu nods, her whispered, “Me too,” barely audible.
I smile, lean down and brush my lips against hers. “Well, it’s good we’re on the same page then, isn’t it?” I say, before moving back to the stove and dishing up the steaks.
We eat in silence for a few minutes, neither of us elaborating on the somewhat major and potentially life-changing discussion we’ve almost just had. While it’s true, it isn’t something I want right now, it doesn’t stop my mind from wandering to the future, to a time when there’s a mini Lulu running around this house with us.
It feels surreal just to think about it and not just because I have no idea how to make that future a reality.
“Tell me why you took this job?” she suddenly asks, interrupting my fantasy of domestic bliss.
I look up at her, flashing her a smile. “So I could look you up,” I say, as though the answer is obvious.
Lu smiles, but I can tell she’s not really buying it. “Sure, but why did you leave Australia?” she asks. “I mean, why’d your job end and why were you able to come here?”
I exhale a long, slow breath, putting my knife and fork down as I contemplate how best to answer her. “Generally speaking,” I start, “I don’t stay at one winery too long. Usually I’m brought in to get things started or fix up a production. I’ll do my thing, take someone under my wing and train them up and then move on.”
Lu nods. “But this time?” she asks, and I can tell she knows there’s more to it than just finishing up a job.
“This time,” I say. “I wanted to leave for other reasons. Wanted to get as far away as possible to be honest.”
“Why?” she asks, her voice quiet.
I smile at her, reaching for her hand. “I got involved with someone,” I say, knowing I owe her some sort of explanation even if it’s the last thing I feel like talking about. “It didn’t end well and it was awkward as fuck being around her there. I needed a break and this…this came up. It felt like…I don’t know, perfect timing, a sign, the right thing to do.”
“She worked at the winery?” Lu asks and I know exactly what she’s thinking now. Mixing business with pleasure; how if it couldn’t work out with this other girl, how the hell is it going to work out with Lu.
I shake my head. “No, she didn’t,” I tell her. “She was the sister of the one of the workers. She worked in town but we all ran in the same crowds, it was impossible to avoid to her.”
Lu exhales, relaxing the tiniest bit when she understands that it’s a different situation to us. “How long ago did you break up?” she asks.
I scrub a hand across my jaw, not taking my eyes off her as I answer, “About four months before I came over here,” I tell her, even though it feels like both a lifetime ago and only yesterday that it all happened.
Lu nods, biting her bottom lip as she stares back at me. Pulling my stool closer to her, I reach for her other hand, lifting them to my lips and pressing a kiss to the back of each hand.
“It was over long before that,” I tell her, knowing it’s the truth even if I didn’t know it at the time. “And it was over long before I was with you.”
She nods again but still doesn’t say anything.
“It’s nothing like this, Lu,” I say, needing her to understand how different this is, how different we are. “You and me, we…we have history and friendship and…” I pause, wondering how best to explain this without freaking her out or admitting more than I think either of us is ready for.
“We have a connection,” I say settling on that. “We’ve always had that.”
Lu smiles now, a tiny smile that tugs at the corner of her mouth. “Yeah,” she whispers, squeezing my hands.
“I love that about us,” I say, skirting dangerously close to unknown territory here. “And I don’t…”
My phone ringing cuts through the moment, interrupting my almost confession and startling us both.
“Fuck,” I say, glancing at it as it sits on the counter.
Unknown number flashes on my screen, the shrill ring tone cutting through the silence of the kitchen. I make no move to answer it and it eventually goes to voicemail.
Turning back, I find Lu watching me, a strange look on her face that has me wondering if she hasn’t read my mind and heard all the things I can’t admit to her out loud.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lauren
The phone rings for a third time, but Jack has now shoved it in the back pocket of his jeans, making no move to look at it.
And when the person calls for a fourth time, I ask, “Do you think you should answer that?”
Jack’s usually tanned face has turned a pale shade of white, his eyes telling me that the person on the other line is not someone he’s willing to give his time to. There’s something he’s not telling me.
He lets out a hard sigh before pulling the phone from his pocket and answering with a clipped, “Hello.”
He’s silent after that, but I watch his already pale face take on an even paler shade of white as I hear the muffled sound of the person’s voice on the other end.
Seconds after answering the call, he hangs up and looks back at me, making me question what just happened.
“Who was it?” I ask, my curiosity eating away at me, building something up in my head that’s probably far worse than the reality.
“Just one of those recordings. Something about a car warranty,” Jack replies, but he struggles to get the words out, and the color has yet to return to his face.
>
“You sure you’re okay?” I ask, not trying to pry, but this is the first time I’ve seen Jack react anything but casually.
“Yeah, yeah, all good.”
I don’t push the conversation any further. As much as my thoughts are swirling, and I know the phone call was more than just a telemarketer by the look on Jack’s face, I can’t bring myself to ask anything more.
I take our empty plates from the table and walk over to the sink as Jack comes up behind me and slips his arms around my waist. He presses his lips to my neck and I turn in his arms, my back now against the sink.
“So, why’d you and Nate break up?” Jack asks and the question catches me off guard.
“You jealous?” I ask, deflecting the question away.
“Me jealous of that fuckwit? Never,” Jack says pursing his lips and giving me a side eye as he tips his head and begins biting at my neck. “I just want to make sure you know you’re mine,” he growls in my ear and something about it is so fucking hot.
“Jack,” I warn, because he knows exactly what he’s doing to me.
“It took me this long to get back to you and I’m not going lose you again.”
“You never lost me,” I reply, pushing against him as I feel my heart hammering in my chest as the rest of the words settle heavy in my throat. They rest on the tip of my tongue, waiting to be said, but I swallow them down.
“Confession,” I whisper, my heart slamming harder, wondering if Jack can feel everything he’s doing to me. “You’re the only guy to ever…” My lips are parted and it’s difficult to get the words out, my breaths coming hard and fast. “To ever turn me on so fucking hard. Even when we were kids.”
I had no idea what I was feeling at fifteen, but I knew I wanted Jack, that something about the way he teased me, about how angry he made me, made a fire burn inside my body. I wondered what it would feel like to have his hands on my body, to have him touch me, to explore me.
“Fuck, Lu,” Jack hisses, his mouth now sucking and biting at my neck as his hands slide under my shirt. “You were so fucking hot at fifteen and time has been really good to you. I dreamt about you, about your body, about one day being inside you.”