"Now, don't forget to let the line slide," Alastair's breath whispered over her cheek as he leaned in behind her. "The line wants to fly out over the water, it wants to find fish, and you don't want to be the one getting in the way of that."
She smiled ahead of her at the murky water as she watched Alastair grasp the rod.
"I don't ever want to leave here," he said wistfully.
Rainne stilled as he wrapped his arms around her, all pretence of teaching her to fish now gone.
"This is my home," he said. "I can't imagine being anywhere else, and I want you here with me, Rainbow."
"I told you, I'm staying," she said, trying to keep her tone light.
"No, I mean I want you here forever. To become a part of this place the way I am. To get married here. To have children here. To be at home here."
He didn't say to be married to him, or have children with him, but Rainne heard it in his words. A ripple of excitement raced through her. It wasn't the kind of thing people said, and it sure wasn't the kind of thing they meant.
"You don't know what you're saying," she said. "People don't plan the rest of their lives when they're twenty. You're too young to know what you want."
"I might be younger than you, Rainne, but I know what I want. I've always known what I want. To be here. A part of the landscape and the heritage. To be a tiny piece in a history that spans time. I want to grow old surrounded by people I know, and comfortable in places I know. I don't have a burning need to be anywhere else."
She shook her head as she felt his arms tighten around her, as though he wanted to keep her rooted with him.
"I don't understand that feeling," she said. "We moved all the time when I was a kid. My parents still live out of a bus. I've no idea where they are half the time. If they hadn't gotten mobile phones they'd be lost forever. I don't know what it would feel like to be a part of a place. The way you talk about it is strange to me."
She felt his lips on her cheek as the crisp winter breeze stole what little heat she had left.
"Stay here and find out what it feels like. Stay forever. Stay with me," he said.
She turned her face towards his lips and felt the warmth of them through to her toes. He stroked his fingers down her cheek.
"I know where I want to be and I know what I want," he told her softly. "I don't want to scare you off with my saying it out loud. But you have a place here, Rainbow, a permanent home. Here. With me."
Rainne wrapped her arms around him and lost herself in his kiss. She wanted to believe him. To believe every word, but he was so young. And if she didn't know what she really wanted out of life at twenty-six, how could he know at twenty? Still, his words bounced around inside of her, setting off little bursts of excitement. A home. And Alastair. Forever. Could she do it?
"Let's forget fishing for today," Alastair told her as he rested his forehead on hers.
"Good idea. I think my toes are falling off."
He chuckled as he put his hand in hers and led her towards the shore.
"Let's get a vegetable curry and watch Star Trek DVDs."
"You are such a nerd," she told him.
"A sexy nerd, Rainbow, never forget the sexy part," he said as he waggled his eyebrows at her.
Rainne took a deep, shuddering breath as she followed him onto land. How could she ever forget the sexy part?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Lake rang Kirsty's doorbell at seven o'clock on the dot. He'd come empty handed because he wasn't exactly sure what he was attending. Dinner for rivals? A date? A meeting about the fashion show? It seemed a bit presumptuous to turn up with flowers, or a bottle of wine, when there was that much confusion. He thought he'd been pretty clear. He wanted Kirsty, and if she was going to invite him over, then she had to know that. The problem was he wasn't sure she knew what she wanted. He heard footsteps on the stairs and the door opened.
"You came," she said a little breathlessly.
He liked her breathless. He'd like to see her a lot more breathless than that.
"You invited me," he said.
"So I did." She threw open the door and motioned for him to come in.
As he stepped past her, she peered anxiously into the street and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
"Are you worried about that loser ex of yours?"
He sure as hell was. So far his research into Brandon—what kind of sissy name was that, anyway?—was setting off more alarm bells than he'd wanted.
"No." She waved away the notion, which made him feel slightly relieved. "Food," she said, and pointed at the stairs.
"After you."
She climbed the stairs in front of him. Which meant he got to watch her hips sway all the way up to the top. And they swayed beautifully in that figure-hugging green dress she wore.
"Welcome to my home," Kirsty said as they went into the living room.
Lake took off his denim jacket and handed it to her. She opened a closet and hung it up, every movement infused with nerves. He'd never seen her so jumpy. Even the day she'd posed in the street she'd been calmer than this, and that was saying a lot.
Lake decided to take matters into his own hands. Watching Kirsty bumble through, trying to make him feel welcome, was painful. Before she could stop him, he stepped towards her, cupped the back of her head and pressed his mouth to those plump, juicy lips of hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck instantly and relaxed against him. Lake ran the tip of his tongue over her bottom lip, seeking access, and almost went weak at the knees when she opened her mouth without hesitation. He stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight against him as he kissed her thoroughly.
"Now you don't need to worry about when I'm going to kiss you," he said when he reluctantly stepped away from her.
"Maybe you should have been worried about if I was going to kiss you," she said.
Her eyelids were heavy with desire and her lips were plump from his kisses.
"Yeah, I was so worried about that."
"You are too cocky for your own good, you know that?"
"I've been told it a time or two, yeah." He grinned.
When Kirsty was done scowling at him, it seemed like she wasn't sure what to do next. He watched as she tried to figure it out.
"I could use a drink," he said when he lost patience. "If you have one?"
She looked to heaven and muttered something under her breath.
"Of course, what would you like?"
"What have you got?"
Kirsty grimaced.
"Everything," she said as she walked into the kitchen. "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got everything."
She signalled to the counter and, sure enough, there was a bottle of pretty much everything he'd come across in the local supermarket. He lifted one of the cartons.
"Guava juice?"
"Panic buy," she said as she opened a cupboard high on the wall and came out with two glasses, one for juice and one for wine. She handed both to him.
Lake grinned at her.
"You really don't have folk over to dinner that often, do you?"
Her beautiful green eyes blinked at him, then she swallowed hard.
"You're the first," she said.
Lake stilled, holding the glasses.
"First?"
"You're the first man I've ever invited up here," she said, and turned away to stir something on the stove, as though her confession was nothing.
Lake felt his chest expand as he poured himself some guava juice. He was the first. Kirsty looked over her shoulder at him nervously. She smiled when she saw what he was drinking.
"Thought I'd give it a try, seeing as you went to so much trouble." He gestured towards the counter top. "I've got a lot to get through."
She laughed a deep, throaty laugh that made the nerves in his body zing. Suddenly, making her laugh again went up his list of priorities for the evening.
"What's for dinner?" he said as he perched on one of the stools beside th
e breakfast bar.
"Steak," she said. "Men like steak."
He grinned at her back.
"They do," she said over her shoulder. "Right?"
"Men love steak."
Her shoulders relaxed at his words, which made him wonder just how many dates Kirsty had been on.
"So," he said casually, "you don't date much?"
"Smooth topic change," Kirsty told him as she poured some guava juice into the empty wine glass. "Are you poking around hoping for information on my love life?"
He shrugged. The answer was yes, but he wasn't going to say it out loud.
"It's no big deal. It's probably all online for you to read, if you make the effort." She sipped the juice. "Yum," she told him.
Lake stared at her. "Yum" indeed.
"So are you going to tell me all about your sordid past, or are you going to make me dig around some more?"
"You're not one for small talk, are you, Lake?"
"I can do it when I have to," he said.
He was hoping this wasn't one of those times. She smiled at him.
"I was engaged to Brandon for six months. We'd been together two years."
"You were really going to marry that loser?"
He found that hard to believe. From his limited research he'd been repulsed by the guy. Not only was he as dodgy as a three-pound coin, the pictures showed that he dyed his hair and had a tan that bordered on orange.
"He could be very charming."
"That isn't reason to marry someone."
"I thought I was in love." She shrugged.
"But you know now you weren't?"
"I know a lot of things now that I didn't know then," she said darkly. "Lots of things I wish I didn't know."
Like pain, Lake thought.
"And before the moron?"
He was pleased that she laughed. He loved the sound of her laugh. It was borderline dirty and promised things he badly wanted.
"Before Brandon, the skanky thief, there was the odd date, mainly with other models. Nothing serious. I was too busy working to go for anything serious. Before that there was Brian. He was my teenage crush. He's still around, married to a girl called Joanne. They have two kids and run a farm outside of town."
"You obviously have a thing for guys with names beginning with B," he said drolly.
"What about you? Girl in every port?"
She leaned against the counter, keeping things casual, but he could tell she really wanted to know.
"That's the navy. I was special forces."
"Well...where did you keep your girls, then?"
"You make it sound like I had a harem."
She fixed him with a look.
"Fine, there isn't much to tell. No one serious, anyway." He shrugged.
He sure as hell wasn't going to go into detail about his years chasing army groupies. They frequented the pubs in every town he'd been stationed in, and they were only too happy to be caught. That was back when he was young and stupid, and thought if his dick stayed in his trousers two days straight it would shrivel and fall off.
"No one serious, then?"
She licked her bottom lip and he was distracted for the moment.
"There was a girl called Carla, for a while, but it fizzled out."
"What happened?"
Kirsty pushed a plate with crackers and dip towards him.
"Come on, Lake," she teased. "You're the one who didn't want to do small talk. I wasn't the one who brought up the topic of past romance. 'Fess up or call chicken."
He straightened in his stool. Chicken his hairy behind.
"Carla wanted to get married and have kids. I didn't."
Something shifted in Kirsty's manner.
"You're one of those guys, then," she said.
"Those guys?"
"Playboy, not interested in settling down."
Lake bristled. He sure as hell wasn't a playboy.
"I said I didn't want to get married and settle down with Carla. She was..." He cast around for the right term. "Flighty," he said eventually. The last straw for him had been when she'd taken up reading auras. He could get that kind of crap from his family. He didn't need it from his girlfriend too.
"But no," he told Kirsty. "I'm not against marriage. In general."
They stared at each other for a moment. Lake could have sworn that the temperature shot up in the kitchen. At last Kirsty blinked and turned away.
"How do you like your steak?" She reached for a pan.
"Medium rare," he said.
For some reason he was rewarded by a smile that lit up his world.
The fact Lake hated small talk actually made Kirsty feel more relaxed rather than less. She wanted to know about him. She was curious. He wasn't like anyone she'd ever met before. Plus it was a relief to talk. She'd been half expecting him to jump her as soon as she opened the door. She'd been thrilled, and terrified, at the thought. But now a new thought was creeping through her brain. What if he'd changed his mind about her? What if he didn't want her any more? What if the scars had put him off? Stupidly, that thought was growing louder by the minute, while the more sane thought of whether or not she wanted him was being drowned out.
They took their food to the little round dining table in the corner of her living room. It was nestled into a space by the window. Kirsty had spent ages setting the room up, making sure that the atmosphere was perfect. She wanted her home to be comfortable and welcoming, the lighting to hint at romance and the food to seduce. A little. Not a lot. She didn't want anything to give out the "slut" message. She also didn't want anything set in stone, just in case she changed her mind and sent him packing. She tried to stifle a sigh as she put her plate on the table. Unfortunately, Lake heard her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to stand beside him. He hooked an arm around her waist and looked down at her.
"You have no idea why you invited me over, do you?" he said.
"I thought I did."
He ran his free hand over his chin.
"Okay," he said. "How about this? Nothing is going to happen between me and you unless you want it to. Why don't we eat and see where it goes after that?"
Kirsty's stomach lurched. It was the scars. He didn't want her any more. She turned her head and was about to pull away when he yanked her back.
"Just in case there is any confusion, I know where I want this evening to go. Straight through to the bedroom, with you naked on top of me."
She gasped as her cheeks burned. Lake's eyes darkened. And then something caught Kirsty's attention out of the corner of her eye.
She looked out of the window, and clear as day, under the streetlights, she could see her mother, Heather and Shona. They were dressed head to toe in black. They even had black makeup smeared on their faces. And it looked like they were trying to break into Lake's shop.
"Kirsty." Lake shook her lightly to get her attention. "What is it?"
Lake's head turned to the window to see what was holding Kirsty's attention. Kirsty panicked. She grabbed Lake's chin, turned his head back towards her and kissed him.
Lake was picking up mixed messages. One minute she was as scared as a cat in a box of dogs. The next she was kissing him like he was dinner and she was ravenous. He didn't stop it. No matter what the reason, it was always good to have Kirsty's lips on his. He pulled her hard against his chest. It wasn't close enough. And when she made that little sighing noise deep in her throat, he wanted to lift her up and march to the bedroom. His muscles actually hurt from the effort it took to stop them. He growled when she pulled away, pleased to see that she looked flushed and disorientated. His hand curved down her waist and over her hip as she reached behind him. It took him a minute to realise that she was shutting the curtains.
"That's better," she said before taking her seat at the table.
Lake didn't care whether the curtains were drawn or not; it wasn't like there was anyone to look in. His flat was directly opposite and it was empty. Rainne was with Alastair. Betty was watching T
V with a cardboard cut-out of him in a tux—one he couldn't get back. He'd had to go buy another for the shop. And he was at Kirsty's trying to figure out what was going on in her head.
"So," she said with a lot more enthusiasm than the word deserved. "I've just realised that outside of Invertary and your plan for lingerie domination, I don't know anything about you. Tell me about your life."
She smiled a little too brightly as she cut her meat.
"My whole life?" he said.
"Only the interesting bits." There was a clang outside. Kirsty jumped. She smiled, more flustered than before. "Tell me about being in the war. Men like to talk about war. Right?"
He cocked an eyebrow at her. It was as though she'd read some manual somewhere on the likes and dislikes of all men and he was reaping the benefits.
"Men like steak. Men like war. Men like beer and football and women," he said. "How about we forget what 'men' like and concentrate on hanging out with each other?"
"Of course, of course." She forked some mashed potato.
She was far more distracted than he wanted her to be. Something was going on in her head and he couldn't figure out what it was. There was a loud curse from outside. Kirsty jumped to her feet.
"Music. I forgot music." She marched to the stereo.
Lake narrowed his eyes at her as music blasted into the room. She looked at him and chewed her bottom lip.
"Too loud?" She adjusted the volume.
Lake still thought it was too loud, but he didn't say anything. He was also beginning to think that Kirsty might be on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
"You were saying?" she said brightly.
Lake stared at her for a moment. Her cheeks were flushed and she had the same kind of panicked look that animals get in front of an approaching car.
"I was saying that you need to relax. This is only dinner."
"Yes." Her eyes went to the plate as though she'd forgotten it was there.
She stood up quickly.
"I need to get something, I mean do something, in the bedroom. I'll be right back."
And then she was gone.
Lingerie Wars (The Invertary books) Page 16