It’s Love, Dude

by Jenny Schwartz

  ‘What else?’ Zane said bluntly.

  Tom raised a thick grey eyebrow.

  ‘You don’t like many people, Granddad. And you trust even less. So why is Molly special? Why do you trust her?’

  ‘The girl’s proven she’s a good friend.’

  ‘She dealt with an overdue water bill. That’s hardly fighting in the trenches with you.’

  Tom looked away, out through the kitchen window. The house stood on a ridge. The position meant they could look out over the ocean. There were storm clouds massing on the horizon. The old house would take the first blows of the storm. It always did. That was the price you paid for living close to the sea.

  In Jardin Bay, it was hard to be closer to the beach, yet secure on high ground, than Tom’s house.

  If you jogged down the back steps and turned left instead of keeping straight, a faint path would take you past the washing line, through a side gate and down a rough path to the beach. He’d taken that beach path any number of times in his youth. Tom had let him keep his surfboards in the shed and he’d hung his wetsuit there, too. Brodie had kept his fishing rods there. Still did.

  ‘Molly helped me fight off the property developers,’ Tom said.

  Chapter 2

  ‘So how was the opening, Molly? Did you meet Zane Carlton?’ Julie Cooper, Greg’s wife, pounced as soon as they entered the office.

  ‘Um, yeah.’ Molly tried to sidle past Julie to her desk. ‘How’s your tooth?’

  Julie waved a hand, dismissing her tooth, although her left cheek was still swollen from the trip to the dentist. It was this emergency appointment that had led to Molly replacing Julie at the skate park opening. Usually Julie was by her husband’s side, as she had been for the past 36 years.

  ‘The tooth’s fine. Filled and forgotten. Tell me about Zane. I haven’t seen him in years — or only on TV. Is he as good looking in person?’

  ‘The reporters thought Molly was better looking, ’ Greg chuckled.

  Molly slid behind her desk and dropped her handbag in the bottom drawer.

  ‘Did they?’ Julie’s eyes lit with interest. She was forever urging Molly to be more outgoing. ‘Tell me everything.’

  ‘I handed out the press release.’

  ‘Yes, yes.’ Julie leaned forward.

  ‘I don’t think the city media were really interested in youth issues, though.’

  Greg snorted as he sifted through the message slips he’d scooped up. ‘You’ve got that right.’

  ‘Although, they tried to convince me to discuss Greg’s political opinions over lunch.’

  ‘What are you waiting for?’ Julie demanded.

  Molly blinked and looked up from switching on her computer. ‘I said no.’

  Julie groaned.

  ‘She didn’t have a chance to say yes, anyway,’ Greg said. ‘Zane hauled her out of there.’

  ‘Zane did?’ Julie’s eyes grew round.

  ‘He didn’t like me talking to Tom, his granddad.’ Molly frowned. ‘Although, I don’t understand why.’

  Greg shrugged and dropped half the message slips into the wastepaper basket.

  ‘So?’ Julie prompted.

  Molly stared at her.

  ‘What did Zane look like? Was he sexy?’

  A deep, hot blush engulfed Molly.

  ‘That good?’ Julie grinned.

  Molly snatched up the phone on its first ring, blessing its timing. ‘Good afternoon. Greg Cooper’s office. Oh , Mrs Li. How are you?’

  Julie grimaced and straightened from the edge of Molly’s desk. Phone calls from Mrs Li always took a long time.

  After 15 minutes listening to Mrs Li relate her latest experiences, Molly had her wayward thoughts and tell-tale blushes under control. Sexy didn’t even begin to describe Zane Carlton. He was a force of nature. Just standing still, he compelled attention.

  Fortunately, she’d never meet him again. He’d be off touring the world. A man like that could scramble a good girl’s brain.

  ‘Yes, Mrs Li. Yes, I’ve noted your concerns. I understand and I’ll be sure to inform Mr Cooper. I’m sure he’ll be interested.’ Molly crossed her fingers. It was only a little white lie, the sort all political advisers learned to utter, and it was almost true. Greg was interested in all his constituents’ concerns. It was what made him such an effective Member of Parliament. But the truth was he probably wasn’t interested in Mrs Li’s visions of Atlantis and her assurances that it had sunk somewhere off the West Australian coast ‘in all that ocean, somewhere between here and Africa’.

  Nonetheless, Molly tapped a quick note into the software program that tracked constituents’ contact with their local MP. ‘Mrs Li suggests navy submarines could be used to search for Atlantis somewhere off the west coast.’

  Last month Mrs Li had been fascinated by the concept of reincarnation and had phoned the office to inform them how the ancient pharaohs had prepared for long years of drought and famine. Big seed bins, apparently, and lots of cats to eat an expected plague of mice.

  Molly smiled wryly as she hit save. Then she clicked open the letter she’d been drafting for Greg’s signature. The letter would go out to the local sport clubs, inviting them to nominate outstanding volunteers for a new award aimed at promoting healthy communities.

  The door pushed open, letting in the sounds of Jardin Bay’s main street. Cars, a bus, the shouts of kids released from school.

  Her eyes collided with those of the man entering. Zane Carlton. Her breathing stopped.

  Julie’s chair grated back over the wooden floor of the old building that housed the office.

  ‘I want a word with you.’ Zane prowled across the room.

  How could a casual shirt and soft, muscle-hugging jeans look menacing? Perhaps it was the intensity of his gaze?

  ‘Um.’ Molly looked down, breaking the mesmerism of his scowl.

  ‘Zane Carlton.’ The quick click of Julie’s heels brought her to Molly’s desk at the same time as Zane reached it.

  Molly sneaked a look.

  ‘I’m Julie Cooper, Greg’s wife.’ She held out her hand.

  Zane shook it, but his attention remained on Molly.

  She ducked her head again.

  ‘Thank you for attending the skate park opening,’ Julie continued. She edged around Molly’s desk and kicked her chair. ‘How may we help you?’

  Molly got the message. Julie was about to throw her to the wolf — with the best of misguided match-making intentions. She took a deep breath and forced her mouth into the shape of a smile.

  ‘May I borrow Molly for a minute?’ Zane’s smile was dazzling.

  ‘Absolutely.’

  Molly stood before Julie tipped the chair out from under her.

  As it was, Julie gave her a nudge forward. ‘I expect Molly could do with a coffee. Emma’s café next door does a great caramel latte.’ And Emma was Julie’s cousin. She’d get all the gossip.

  ‘I don’t need a coffee.’ Molly turned determinedly away from the café as she exited the office. Her skin tingled where she’d brushed past him as he held the door.

  ‘I wasn’t going to buy you one. Hop in the car.’ He beeped the locks of a shiny, huge 4WD.

  There was no way on earth she could “hop” into that monster with her tight skirt. It would be more like an undignified scramble. Besides, he was a stranger — albeit a famous one — and one whom Julie was watching avidly through the office window. He wasn’t about to drive off and strangle her, but it was the principle of the thing. Only a stupid woman hopped into an angry man’s car.

  ‘You do not want this conversation in public,’ he warned in a low voice.

  She bit her bottom lip and reached for the door handle. The door swung open and she contemplated the high step up.

  Powerful hands settled at her waist, lifted her and dropped her in.

  She stared at Zane as he walked around the front of the car and got in beside her. ‘I don’t understand why you want to talk to me. Why are you an
gry?’

  ‘We’ll park by the ocean, then talk.’

  He cut through the town and pulled up at Lookout Point. In summer, it would be filled with tourists’ cars. Just now, they had the place to themselves. No wonder. The storm that had been threatening rolled in. The first fat drops of rain hit the windscreen. The ocean was a sullen grey.

  ‘Tom is my granddad.’

  Molly nodded.

  Zane rested a forearm on the steering wheel as he turned to face her. As big as the 4WD was, he seemed larger, filling the space. ‘He doesn’t like anyone.’

  ‘That’s not true. Tom can be a bit grumpy.’ She stopped at the expression in Zane’s eyes. Frustration and disbelief she could understand, but he looked hurt. Understanding hit her and her shoulders slumped in relief. If Zane weren’t so sexy, she’d have seen the situation earlier. After all, she’d lived it before. Her voice relaxed, losing its defensive tone. ‘Everyone needs a little help now and then. People come into Greg’s office as the local MP and we help them.’ She hesitated. Zane might be Tom’s grandson, but that didn’t give her the right to discuss Tom’s private affairs with him.

  ‘Like you helped him with the water company?’

  ‘Yes. I’m good at dealing with bureaucracy.’ She ventured a small smile.

  Zane’s intent gaze shifted from her eyes to her mouth.

  Her pulse, which had slowed as she slipped into her work role, abruptly accelerated. She couldn’t help but look at Zane’s mouth.

  His lips were smooth, not chapped like those of many surfers. They had a beautiful masculine shape:a slightly fuller lower lip and a straight upper one. When they parted for him to say something, his teeth were white and strong. He would kiss as expertly as he did everything else. He’d be in control. Now would be the time to go slow, then fast, to own her mouth with the thrust of his tongue.

  ‘Ouch!’ She banged her head on the window of the passenger door as she retreated fast from her own fantasies.

  He looked at her quizzically.

  Undoubtedly, women threw themselves at him, not away from him. Little did he know how explicit her thoughts had been.

  ‘I’m not worried about Tom’s water bill,’ he said.

  She remained cautiously silent. Forget her sexual and impossible fantasies, she was here because of her work — and the water bill was the least of what she’d done for Tom. On second thoughts, Zane probably had more to accuse her of than most relatives. She’d introduced Tom to his new passion. Since her left hand was out of Zane’s sight, she superstitiously crossed its fingers. Maybe he didn’t know.

  ‘What I want to know is why you didn’t tell me about his fight with the property developer.’

  He knew. Well, he knew some of it.

  Molly sighed and rubbed her head where she’d bumped it. It didn’t hurt, but she needed time to think. ‘There are a lot of retired people in town, either because they moved here for their retirement or because they’ve lived here all their life while younger people have moved on in search of work. I was lucky after university to get the job with Greg.’

  She thought Zane would tell her to hurry up and get to the point. Instead, the shift of his body suggested he was settling in to listen. She tucked her own legs up so she could face him.

  ‘The result is that Jardin Bay has a lot of elderly people who live independent of their families, but occasionally need assistance. Often they contact Greg’s office, especially if it’s something to do with bureaucracy. We get involved to varying degrees.’ She paused. ‘Actually Julie — you met her. She’s Greg’s wife. She tells me I shouldn’t get so emotionally involved, but I don’t know how to stay detached. Someone has to care.”

  Zane’s eyes darkened. Or perhaps that was a trick of the light? The rain was falling steadily now, enclosing them in a private world within the car.

  ‘But getting old doesn’t mean you lose the right to privacy or the desire for it. If anything, the elderly are even more aware of maintaining their independence. They come to Greg’s office for help. Maybe they need information. Maybe they want something changed in the law. Maybe they just need a sympathetic ear. The point is that I have no right to discuss their concerns with their families.’

  ‘Tom might be old, but he’s not exactly doddering his way into a nursing home,’ Zane said.

  ‘No, but that’s all the more reason why it’s up to him how much he shares about his life with you.’

  Zane’s mouth compressed.

  She softened her voice even more. ‘Believe me, I haven’t tried to push my way into Tom’s life or to take advantage of him. I enjoy his company and we share some interests. I’m glad you’re here and that you’re looking out for him.’

  ‘Tell me about the property developer.’

  He hadn’t let go of his anger and she tried to guess what that meant. ‘Do you think Tom should have sold?’

  ‘Hell, no.’

  She smiled, relieved. Sometimes families treated an elderly relative’s home as their asset. She was glad Zane stood with, not against, his grandfather. ‘You sound like Tom. He fought them all the way. They were sneaky. They got a couple of Tom’s neighbours to complain about the car bodies in his yard. That’s the way they operate. They put pressure on the people whose land they want. Except pressuring Tom is like…’ She waved her hand, searching for the right words.

  ‘Trying to chip granite with a feather,’ Zane said.

  She laughed. ‘Yes. I helped Tom clarify the zoning on his land and that he had a perfect right to use it as he always had. Then we went digging for other examples of the property developer’s behaviour. They’d pushed the line between legal and illegal activities a bit. Greg and Sergeant Forrest got involved, and we encouraged the developer to leave town.’

  Zane tapped the heel of his hand against the steering wheel. ‘Someone should have contacted me. You were lucky to sort it. If they’d tried less legal methods of intimidation…Tom might be tough, but he is old. And if he’d needed money to take them to court or challenge local zoning laws, I’ve got money.’

  ‘I’m sure he would have contacted you if it had come to that.’

  ‘Are you? I’m not. He’s stubborn.’

  ‘Cantankerous and independent. But he’s not stupid. When the situation gets tough, you call family.’

  He raised an eyebrow. ‘Have you met my father?’

  She blushed and stared at the windscreen streaming with rain. ‘Tom mentioned Rob to me, but he never mentioned anyone else. I guess I should have thought about you. I’ve seen the photo of you and your brother in his lounge room — or I’m guessing that was you?’

  ‘Photo? Oh, that one when we were kids. I don’t think he’s dusted it since Brodie hung it there.’

  ‘Is Brodie your brother?’

  ‘Two years older than me. He’s a sergeant in the army.’

  Her mouth dropped open.

  ‘Yeah,’ Zane said sardonically. ‘If you’d bothered to contact Tom’s family you’d have found he had solid reinforcements for his fight against the developers — and don’t tell me you couldn’t have mentioned the fight to us. A concerned neighbour would have had the same information. Repeating town gossip isn’t breaking a confidence.’

  ‘In your opinion.’ Molly’s back went straight.

  ‘Yes, in my opinion. And Tom’s my grandfather.’

  ‘Then shouldn’t you be having this conversation with him?’

  ***

  Zane blinked, then grinned at the sudden snap in Molly’s voice. ‘I tried,’ he said ruefully. ‘He kicked me out of the house. Told me to mind my own business. Which was probably why I was in such a bad mood when I hit the office. Sorry about that.’

  Her nose wrinkled. It was obvious that she didn’t want to accept his casual apology.

  And he was astonished to realise that his bad mood had totally vanished.

  In his car, with the rain locking them in their own world, he could smell the feminine scent of her: a light perfume and war
m, smooth skin.

  ‘I think you should drive me back to the office.’ She looked away from him, straightening in her seat so that she stared straight forward at the windscreen.

  It meant he saw her perfect profile.

  When he didn’t immediately reach for the car keys, she added a pointed question. ‘If you’ve quite finished growling at me?’

  He liked that she was cute and shy, but not a pushover. He’d guess she’d figured he was owed an explanation of her friendship with Tom, but now she was finished owing him anything.

  ‘I don’t growl.’ Okay, so he lowered his voice on purpose. Even to his ears it sounded rough.

  Her head snapped around. ‘What do you call — ’

  He winked.

  Her eyes widened; her lips parted on a small breath of surprise. Those lush lips curved upward a moment before she flat out laughed. Her laughter was husky, joyous, and as sexy as another woman’s striptease. It promised uninhibited adventure.

  He hadn’t made out in a car since he was a teenager, but the notion was suddenly there. If he pushed his seat all the way back…no, the steering wheel was still in the way. He’d have to slide beneath Molly in the passenger seat. He’d take her hair down, shove her skirt up.

  ‘You’re a tease,’ she said as her laughter ended and left her expression open and friendly. Then her eyes hit his and the friendliness vanished.

  She tugged at her ponytail, twisting it through her fingers and around the curve of her throat.

  Anticipation roared through him. She felt it, too. The pull of sexual hunger.

  Much as he wanted to lunge across the cab and claim her mouth, he hauled in his baser instincts and went with the socially acceptable alternative, the one that would still get him what he wanted. ‘Will you have dinner with me, tonight? A meal is the least I owe you for “growling” at you.’ He smiled the lazy grin that had worked on women since he was sixteen and which added the big money to the sponsorship deals and advertising campaigns he’d earned.

  Her breath hitched.

  Dinner, then the kiss. He had it planned.

  ‘I can’t,’ she said.

  Chapter 3