by Sarah Gates
Since he still hadn’t asked her a question, Anna remained silent. She schooled her face to remain neutral.
‘So what I want to know is: are you interested in my son’s money, so he can finance your little café?’
‘No!’
‘Then what are you still doing on the show?’
‘Luke hasn’t sent me home yet.’ Her heart hammered in her chest. She wasn’t going to be there in the finale. Why couldn’t Tyson—who knew why she joined the show and who her sister was—see that she just wanted to leave?
‘And why is that?’
‘I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him.’
‘Are you in love with him?’
Anna hesitated. ‘No.’
It wouldn’t matter to Tyson Westwood how she felt. A man like that only cared about consequences and results, and Anna would not be the woman at his Christmas table that year or any other. She and Luke couldn’t be together. They were from different worlds and they wanted different things. Talking to Luke’s father only made that clearer. Luke was part of a world of much younger women, Rolex watches and seeing your life play out in trashy magazines.
Tyson Westwood didn’t seem to believe her when she said she didn’t love his son, if his critical stare was anything to go by. But he stopped and indicated a discreet door. Only then did Anna remember why she was walking with the media mogul in the first place.
‘It was a pleasure to meet you.’ He offered his hand and they shook once more. Anna bit her lip and escaped into the bathroom, desperately hoping she would be alone once she was inside. She couldn’t take any more questions today.
CHAPTER
18
‘So that’s it? We flew out for a photo shoot and some interviews, and now we have to leave?’ Jessica gestured at the airport through the window. They’d stayed overnight in a Sydney hotel with individual rooms, restricted swipe-card access, and none of the drama from their last trip to Japan.
Their vehicle pulled up against the kerb and Anna got out first, almost ploughing straight into Luke as she did so. He wrapped his arm around her waist.
‘Luke!’
‘Just who I was looking for.’ He smiled and Anna’s heart constricted. ‘Where are you going? We have a date planned.’
His facial hair was longer today, like he’d skipped shaving that morning. It kicked Anna’s desire into overdrive. ‘We do?’ she stammered.
‘Of bloody course,’ Liu Kun muttered, just loud enough for Anna to hear.
Luke pushed her suitcase back into the boot of the limousine before helping the driver to lift Jessica’s and Liu Kun’s luggage onto the sidewalk. He guided Anna back into the limousine and it pulled away once again. Behind them, the cameras circled around the two contestants who had been unceremoniously dumped.
‘Where are we going?’
‘I loved being in the snow with you. Showing you that part of my life.’ Luke’s eyes flashed towards the camera attached to the ceiling of the limousine. ‘So I thought, maybe you’d like to show me the places that are important to you?’
It was overcooked, so Anna knew it was meant for the cameras and not her. This was part of the act. Anna played along, turning her head until her lips were centimetres from Luke’s.
‘Okay, well then I guess I’m the navigator,’ she said, using her best husky voice.
‘So, where are we going?’ Unlike her feeble attempt, Luke could do sexy. His tone had her insides melting.
‘Um.’ Words caught in her throat. It was hard to think when Luke’s aftershave overwhelmed her senses. Warmth radiated from his body. He was intoxicating.
‘What would you like to do first?’ Luke spoke in hushed tones and inched closer. Anna glanced at the delectable man across from her. What would he taste like if she kissed him right now?
Whatever she was going to say flew from her mind as Luke shuffled across the seat. This time it was Anna who initiated the kiss. It was what she wanted so she gave herself permission to be reckless. She shoved her lips against his, parting them with her tongue. Urgency gave way to a burning within her. Luke brushed the hair from her face and deepened the kiss. It was slow and deliberate. All her tension melted away.
The limousine jolted as it hit a speed bump. Already off-balance, Anna pitched forwards. Luke cupped his hand around Anna’s head as they fell in a tangled mess to the floor.
‘Ow!’ she cried, even as she laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. She climbed back onto the seat and pulled Luke in to continue a kiss that she felt to her core.
‘No, don’t stop,’ Anna whispered as Luke pulled away. She tugged on his gorgeous hair.
‘We’re on camera, Anna,’ he whispered so quickly she had to strain to make out the words.
‘Aren’t we supposed to be pretending that we’re not?’
‘You don’t want your personal life on national television.’
They spoke quietly, with their lips pressed against each other’s skin. If the microphones were picking up their conversation, hopefully it wouldn’t be usable. Not that her hopes had held true in the past.
The limousine screen rolled down and the driver tilted his head back. ‘Where am I taking you, folks?’
With only a moment of hesitation, Anna gave the address for her café. Then she leaned back, grinned and let her excitement build. This was it. She would be seeing the product of all those expensive bills and tedious building plans. Would it match her expectations? Or had Ben been too distracted by her Instagram and Twitter accounts to be renovating her business?
If she had to share this moment with someone, she was glad it was Luke. Whatever else they were, she hoped there was friendship between them. He would be happy for her and he certainly understood working hard towards a childhood dream. This time it would be her achieving everything she’d always wanted.
* * *
Just as Luke was ready for the show to end, it became all the more serious. He was running out of ways to answer their interview questions: Would you be willing to move for her? Are you falling in love with her? Why do you belong together? Each question was asked three times over. Once for each woman. It wasn’t just filming for Love Elimination. He had radio interviews scheduled almost every day in the lead-up to the finale.
He’d made his decision. There was no competition. Anna was the only one he wanted in his life after filming ended. He’d spent his time in the snow questioning his motives, over and over again. Did he only want her because she wasn’t interested in him? Was he that fickle? Or was it something more?
He loved her. It was that easy. She was beautiful inside and out. She made him smile and he couldn’t tear himself away when she was around. The way she kissed him, he was sure she felt the same. He just needed to convince her to give him a chance. There was about a week left of filming. Being in her world would be a great start.
‘What’s the first thing you’re going to cook in your new kitchen?’ he asked. He wanted to learn everything about her. Even when she was talking about food in a way that went over his head, he wanted to hear the sound of her voice.
‘A great, big celebratory cake.’
‘Number of layers?’
‘Six.’
‘Flavour?’
‘Whatever everyone wants. The top six flavours, as voted by guests invited to the pre-opening night party I’m going to throw.’
‘That sounds great. Will I be one of those guests?’ He was pushing the boundaries, but her hesitation was brief.
‘Of course. What flavour would you like?’
He loved her instant confirmation and imagined himself in her café on the night it opened. The happiness he saw in her now would be nothing compared to the night her dreams came true.
‘Hmm … I should choose something to stretch your skills,’ he said. ‘What about rockmelon flavoured?’
‘That’s so random. Do you even like rockmelon?’ It sounded like wind chimes.
‘No,’ Luke said. ‘But you should try it anyway
. I would be incredibly impressed if you pulled it off.’ He smiled and stuck his tongue out, fully aware that he was acting like a teenage boy with a schoolyard crush. When he took her hand in his, it wasn’t because the cameras were rolling or because the producers told him to. Maybe he wasn’t ready for marriage and babies, but he was ready for Anna. He was ready to commit to a woman.
* * *
The car jolted as it pulled to a stop. It was like going to a fun fair with her family, anticipating the taste of fairy floss and the view from the top of the ferris wheel. Luke wrapped himself around her, embracing her from behind.
‘This is it,’ she heard herself murmuring. ‘This is really it.’
From the outside, her café didn’t look much different: it was still a brick building with a large bay window, although the fittings were either new or painted. Seeing that made it real. Her heart sat hard and heavy, concern wedged in her throat.
Without another word, she went to the door. Her hands shook and fumbled with the key that refused to fit into the lock. For a moment she panicked, thinking that Ben had changed the locks since she’d left to film Love Elimination. Luke took the key from her hands and guided it into the lock.
‘There you go.’ He left her to turn it.
And then she was inside.
The place wasn’t finished, but it was extremely close. The look-alike hardwood floors had been laid and the dents and cracks in the ceiling and walls had been patched up. A long counter and display cabinet were fitted on one side of the space. With a coat of paint, the tables and chairs Anna had her eye on, and some other accessories, the café would look exactly as she imagined it. The camera crew crowded in after Luke and the café felt no smaller. A sudden burst of happiness flooded through her. She’d found the perfect space and now it was even starting to look like it. It would only look better when it was filled with people, paying customers.
‘Just wait here a moment—Luke, Anna—while we set up the cameras,’ a cameraman commanded as his team spilled into the corners of the room.
Grabbing Luke’s hand, Anna rushed through to the kitchen. She needed to see it and she didn’t want the cameras capturing the moment. She also didn’t want to wait any longer for this moment.
There were giant holes where the fridge, ovens and dishwashers were supposed to go, but the cabinetry was mostly in place. Again, the floors and walls and ceilings were done. It looked just like she’d imagined when she planned it. She could hardly believe that Ben and her tradies had got it so right.
‘Anna, this is incredible.’ The sound of Luke’s pride filled the room.
Anna took a deep breath, savouring the smell of brand new cabinetry. Her heart swelled and her grin grew wider. There were taps and sinks. Counter space. Anna knew exactly where she would stand, how she would move about the kitchen, perhaps with a whole team at her command. For now, it was Luke by her side.
‘That’s one order of mud cake and two cherry tarts!’ he said, positioning himself on the opposite side of the counter.
Anna laughed, picking up the piece of paper he’d slapped down. It was a faded receipt for a coffee from his pocket. ‘What is this?’
‘That’s your first order, chef. How would you like to proceed?’
With only a moment’s hesitation, Anna raced around the kitchen to pick out the invisible ingredients she’d need if she were to cook them a dessert right then and there. She sped through the baking part in thirty seconds and mimed handing Luke a plate. It felt like being a kid again, jumping from imaginary tea parties to smearing the icing on her father’s cupcakes.
‘Waiter! These are ready to go out.’ Anna used her best top chef voice, which was really just a poor impression of Donat Monque. ‘Please.’
‘Waiter? No, no. I’m here to perform a very special duty.’
‘Really? And what’s that?’
‘My job,’ he started slowly, edging around the counter, ‘is to kiss the cook.’
His arm reached out and snagged her waist. Anna let herself be reeled in. Every time he touched her, she felt a twisting in her stomach and a rush of desire through every part of her. She let herself enjoy the moment. None of her newly discovered feelings had faded. A part of her heart was dedicated to the man before her, standing there, looking so handsome in his tight jeans and button-down shirt.
Luke kissed her. A spark of static electricity zapped at her skin. She kissed him back harder than before. He wrapped his hands around her arse and hoisted her onto the counter. Anna wanted to protest the treatment of her cabinetry, but she was too distracted by the bulge in his jeans and the feel of it against her as he pressed between her legs. Anna let her hands run down his back, feeling the coil of muscles and kneading her fingers against them until they loosened. They moved tighter, closer, without knowing who was pulling them together. She wanted to feel him. Every inch of his beautiful, coarse skin. The roughness of his stubble scratched at her chin, but she didn’t care.
‘Cameras,’ Luke grunted again. He nodded towards the door behind her.
Having the cameras there, filming the place and her conversations with Luke, reminded Anna of one of her reasons for signing up to Love Elimination in the first place: publicity. So what if her heart was on the line on national television? So what if she had made herself vulnerable? This could be worth it. The café and Luke.
He cared about her more than the other women, Anna was sure. A searing jealousy flooded her each time she thought of him with either of them. She couldn’t bear the thought of more evictions—the show had been drawn out enough already. Luke was never interested in playing their games; he should just whisk her away from the set and the cameras. They could figure out how a relationship might work without the nation watching their fumbled attempts.
With the positive we’ll-be-together-forever vibe the show encouraged it was easy to push aside thoughts of what a long-distance relationship would do to them. Those thoughts were even easier to ignore when his lips were on hers. Or his hands. When Luke was around, Anna simultaneously relaxed and forgot how to breathe.
‘I don’t care about the cameras.’ Anna nipped his lower lip. She slid her tongue into his mouth and a hot heaviness took over her body. Their play-acting in the kitchen had lit something within her: a desire to pull him close and not let go. She forgot everything but the taste of him. He filled her senses, his hands burned trails on her skin. They covered her, exploring every part of her body except the ones yearning to be touched.
The café was everything she wanted it to be, and so was Luke. Being here with him had Anna’s mind flitting through fantasies of them together, in the real world beyond the cameras.
‘Now, how about you take me home?’ Luke said in a deep, gorgeous voice that had her insides tingling.
CHAPTER
19
Anna glanced at the camera crew behind her, then back at the apartment before her. There was no way they could film inside her tiny home. Compared to the Love Elimination villa, the apartment she shared with her sister was a cardboard box on the side of the street. With Anna saving all her pennies and Kate spending hers on designer clothes, there wasn’t a lot left over for rent. Besides, Sydney was expensive.
‘This is where you live?’ Luke squinted at the rundown building.
‘I know it’s not much—’ Anna started, immediately defensive of her apartment. Because it was home, even if it didn’t have a jacuzzi or proper heating. Not everyone could afford to travel the world in five-star accommodation. And it had been her refuge since the day she finished her Year 12 exams.
‘No. It’s great.’ Luke turned and took Anna’s hands in his. ‘I want to see where you live. It’s just—did you know there’s a gnome in your window?’
Bursts of laughter spilled from them both. ‘Meet Henry! He’s our security system.’
‘What?’
‘Well, the cracks in the walls and dead plants help too. See, we seem too poor for most thieves to bother with. But we’re also an easy targ
et. That’s why we have Henry. Who would break into a house with a friendly gnome waving at them?’
‘That’s absurd,’ Luke said.
‘Oh yeah? Would you rob us?’
‘Maybe you should show me inside, so I can make an informed decision?’
While they’d been talking outside the apartment, the camera crew had circled, gotten their shots, and grown bored of the conversation. Two of them scurried into the house ahead of Anna and Luke.
Joe appeared from seemingly nowhere, making circling motions with his hands until Luke and Anna moved along the pavement and entered the house. The door was unlocked. There were more camera crew inside than had arrived with them; so many that Anna didn’t recognise the room. It didn’t help that all the furniture in the apartment now was new. Their own couch was so faded and torn it looked like a few scraps of fabric stretched over wooden planks. They also had fold-out chairs they’d bought on sale from Kmart for when people came over. The knot in Anna’s stomach squeezed tight as she peered around the equipment and people dressed in black.
‘Anna.’
The voice sent a cold shock down Anna’s spine. She didn’t want to believe what she was hearing. She closed her eyes tight and gripped Luke’s hand with all her strength. Then she turned to face her mother for the first time in six years.
‘Mum, what are you doing here?’
Her mother looked younger today than she had the day Anna left. Back then, the darkness under her eyes seemed stained onto her skin. Even with the entire room between them, it was clear that hair and make-up had worked miracles on the woman. Her wispy hair had been twisted into thick brown curls and only the folds in her neck gave away the years she’d aged since her husband died.
‘Kate invited me. Aren’t you going to introduce us?’ Leanne asked, like they were a normal, loving family. Like Anna might actually want to introduce the man she loved to her mother. As if nothing horrible had happened between them.
Her mother’s eyes flicked between Anna and Luke. A fierce tantrum of yelling and crying tore its way up Anna’s body and fought against her self-control, almost winning. Only Luke’s tight hold and deep frown kept her from exploding. She wondered if he’d had a hand in this. But no—he couldn’t have known and he certainly didn’t look happy to be meeting the family. This was Kate’s idea. It was her sister’s betrayal that led to their mother standing in their apartment.