‘I probably should have mentioned this to you before,’ said Skye, ‘but I hadn’t really thought about it.’ She gulped at Zack’s stern look and questioning stare, and tried again. ‘I can see how this might look a little odd…’ she joked.
‘A little?’ asked Zack, checking to see where Emmie was and finding her grinning, as Leo held her hand and helped her to walk along one of the mid-height beams. ‘What is this?’
‘It’s an assault course,’ Skye said simply, as if he must be really thick. She sat down opposite him and took a cooling sip of her drink. Maybe she needed to calm her racing nerves, he thought, as she must know how bad this looked and be worried about his response.
‘An assault course, in a cottage garden?’ Zack clarified, keeping a firm check on his anger, but wanting either to put her over his knee to spank her, or kiss her until they both forgot she had pretty much destroyed all of his hard work. Both thoughts made it uncomfortable for him to sit opposite her and he stood up abruptly to go and look at the course, putting some distance between them, before he slung her over his shoulder and carried her into the woods. The woman was reckless and annoying, but he couldn’t get her out of his mind.
Skye jumped up and followed him, which made Zack even angrier. Didn’t she know enough to leave him alone before he did something silly, like pin her to a tree and run his hands along her taut thighs, embarrassing them both?
‘Uh… yep. It’s an assault course in a cottage garden,’ Skye said, reaching out to touch his arm to regain his attention.
Zack looked at her hand on his arm for a moment before responding. ‘Why?’
‘It’s for the self-defence training you mentioned earlier,’ she said casually, then she seemed to realise she hadn’t removed her hand from his arm, before whisking it away, flushing and trying to change the subject. ‘The course does take over the lawn, but it is perfectly formed and built to function in a fairly small space of grass, compared to the full version I really want to build.’
‘Why is it here, though?’ he asked patiently, as if she was a bit dim.
‘Well… about that,’ she hesitated. ‘I was hoping to ask you if I could relocate into the field behind the garden,’ she pointed vaguely in that direction, as if hoping he would give his assent, then move on to the reason he had approached her about at the school, as they seemed to have moved off topic. He watched her surprisingly powerful arms wave in the direction of the wall, but he was distracted by how soft her skin looked and the amazing smell that was wafting through the open kitchen door and window. Skye must be a sublime cook if she could create meals that smelt like that. His stomach rumbled in protest and he wished he had managed to eat more than a couple of slices of toast that day.
‘Would you like some dinner?’ Skye asked, openly pouncing on a way to ease the tension surrounding them. He had noticed a magazine that had been left open on the sofa as he’d walked past earlier. He’d glanced at the headline, which basically read, the way to woo a man was to stuff him full of tasty food. He grinned and wondered if Skye was trying to win him over? His timing couldn’t have been better as today the fragrance coming from the kitchen smelt like a chicken casserole and he’d spotted a Victoria sponge cake sitting on the counter. What man could refuse that?
‘Um…’ his stomach growled again and they both smiled.
‘I think your stomach is trying to tell us something?’
‘Well, it does smell delicious, and it might distract me from the huge pile of logs you seem to have constructed in my garden,’ he scolded, trying to lighten the atmosphere a little. ‘Plus, I do need to ask you a favour and I may have a way to make us both happy about your destroying the garden, without my having to resort to my earlier thoughts about slinging you over my shoulder and spanking you,’ he winked, making Skye flush red all over and her jaw drop open at his blatant flirting. She would be able to see he was still angry with her, but he was now using that energy to his advantage and had quickly worked out how he could benefit from it. He hoped she was impressed by the speed at which he had turned the problem around, and might be intrigued at the way he’d gone about it. Instead of stamping his feet and shouting, he was bartering with her and trying to be sexy and mysterious at the same time. It was a natural skill, he grinned to himself. He was an astute businessman who didn’t waste an opportunity to utilise anything as an asset, and was annoyed that she thought she could use him in some way by forgetting to ask for his consent. He assumed she was like Kay, and would expect him to be floored by her beauty (she would have to work on her grooming regime) and astounded by her business acumen (she would also have to start to treat this game like a profession, if she wanted people like him to take her seriously).
Skye looked a bit put out that Zack was concentrating on whatever it was he needed from her and thought a few sexy innuendoes would sway her, but mainly she appeared cross with herself for falling for it. He recognised that she wanted to take control of this situation, not be controlled by him, but this was his land and he was going to enjoy the process of making her see things his way.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The children looked a bit wary about eating dinner together when Skye called them over to ask them, as a way of avoiding looking into Zack’s teasing eyes. They appeared sceptical about their parents sitting around a dinner table together, and Zack understood this probably seemed like an intimate act and Leo might not have had to share his mum’s attention with another man before. Zack hoped not. He could see that Leo wasn’t sure he liked the idea of them being there, by his wobbly bottom lip. He’d enjoyed playing outside with Emmie, and had politely smiled and shown her how to use the assault course, but she was one of Miles’ close friends and it was conceivable that Leo was regretting being so nice to her now that they had to sit across the dinner table from each other. Zack wished Miles would go and find other friends and leave Emmie to play with kids like Leo, who seemed really polite.
The aromatic casserole melted in Zack’s mouth and he quickly forked in some more. It really was delicious. He’d forgotten to leave anything out for dinner tonight as he’d been so distracted by the thought of seeing Skye again. Emmie was glaring at him mutinously, but she was eating her dinner and being fairly polite to Skye and Leo. Skye was chatting about inconsequential topics while the children were with them and he found the soft lilt of her voice relaxing and surprisingly sexy. She always walked around in skinny jeans and black T-shirts, with those horrendous biker boots, and looked like she’d forgotten to brush her hair half the time, but the way she moved so fluidly and always seemed to be alert and vibrant (when she wasn’t scowling at someone) made him want to get to know her better. The sleek and well-oiled mums at the school held no interest for him although, he had to admit, he’d never really given them a chance.
Skye scooped up their now-empty plates and dumped them into the sink to clean later. She grabbed some ice lollies from the freezer and asked Leo to take Emmie to eat them in the garden. Leo looked like he was loath to leave this man alone with his mother, but was too polite to object in front of another adult. He had a determined look on his face that suggested he would certainly have to talk this through with his mum later though.
‘So, what do you want from me?’ Skye asked boldly, seating herself opposite Zack again and resting her elbows on the small wooden table that could just about squeeze four people round it if you folded it out.
‘You really want to know?’ he asked cheekily. Skye was more relaxed around him now, but the sexual tension was still there and he gave her a steamy look that made it clear that he fancied her and wasn’t just trying to throw her off centre with his flirty comments. He couldn’t believe how forward he was being after avoiding women for so long.
‘I do,’ she said, giving him her best beguiling smile but not blushing this time.
Zack laughed heartily at this and felt his pulse quicken again. She was such a mix of confidence and bashfulness, that he didn’t know if she was playing with him or
not. ‘What I really want is you sitting on my lap,’ he said cheerfully, almost making her fall off her chair in shock.
He was highly amused at her reaction and he wondered if she would run away or call his bluff. He’d never been so brazen with a woman before, but wanted to stake his claim on her before anyone else did. She was so adorable and crazy that she drove him nuts, he wasn’t about to let her get away from him now that he had her attention. She certainly wasn’t the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, with her distinct lack of grooming and dire wardrobe, but there was a quiet strength about her that drew him to her, plus she had gorgeous long legs and silky-smooth skin.
Skye’s face flamed, but she took on the challenge and straightened her back. ‘It’s a shame the children are in the garden, or I might just have done that,’ she purred, making his eyes go wide. He knew she was teasing him, but before she had time to check his response, Zack moved round the table in two strides, checked to see that the kids were still in the garden, pulled her to her feet and pushed her up against the wall in the living room. Zack’s mouth swooped down before Skye could protest and, as his lips touched hers, his senses exploded and, instead of grabbing his arm behind his back and throwing him to the floor for approaching her, which he was worried someone who ran a self-defence class might do, she wrapped her arms around his neck and wove her fingers into his hair to deepen the kiss. Hearing a noise from outside they sprang guiltily apart, both with glazed eyes and panting heavily. They looked at each other and then bent over laughing at their own behaviour.
‘Wow!’ said Skye, touching her hand to her swollen lips. ‘Maybe we shouldn’t have done that?’
Zack tried to compose himself, but the memory of her lips touching his had literally blown his mind. ‘I want to do it again,’ he said gruffly, reaching for her, but she danced out of his reach as she saw Leo nearing the back door.
‘What else did you need me for?’ Skye asked, catching her breath and disappointingly not swooning as the children walked into the kitchen and looked their way.
‘Huh?’ he asked groggily, not understanding the swift mood change before spotting the children. ‘Oh, that? I was going to ask you to help me write the invites for a ball I’m thinking of holding, but that was when I thought you were quietly sitting here alone writing a book. I thought you said you were an author?’ he raised an eyebrow in question.
‘The book business is a bit slow,’ Skye countered, as Leo filched a huge slice of Victoria sponge for himself and Emmie, dragging her back into the garden. ‘It takes ages to write a book and I got a bit distracted with the success of the ‘self-defence’ classes: your description, not mine. I call them playtime for kids, or Skye-Safe.’ She stuck her chin into the air defiantly as if challenging him to question her.
Zack really wanted to push her against the wall again and bite into her delicate skin until she groaned his name, but the kids arriving had forced him to step away and see things more clearly. Skye was so independent and didn’t look like she needed a man in her life, although she had all but burst into flames when he’d kissed her. She did what she liked and to hell with anyone else. Did he really want another headstrong female in his life? Zack’s raging hormones gave him the answer and he made a rapid decision about an idea he’d been mulling over during dinner.
Zack brushed past Skye, hearing her gasp softly as he touched her briefly, before continuing on to stand in the kitchen doorway and take a better look at the assault course. ‘I want you to relocate this to the base of the CloudClimb centre,’ he said steadily, not giving her time to argue. ‘You shouldn’t have put this up here without permission and it conflicts with my business.’ Skye opened her mouth to protest, but Zack put up a warning hand to silence her, clenching his fist again and dropping it to his side to stop himself from reaching out to pull her to him.
‘You’ll have room to expand the site there and it will complement what I offer. I’ve been looking at ways to keep the smaller children occupied while their siblings climb trees. They’re starting to drive me mad.’
Skye smirked at this, then evidently remembered she’d told him that she didn’t like small children either and cringed. Zack was steamrolling her and was completely satisfied that she would obey his every command. ‘I quite like the idea of moving the course away from my back garden and the snooping parents I told you about over dinner,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘The drawback being I would have to learn to cook for myself, which would be a nightmare as the mums pay me in food,’ she giggled at his shocked face as he glanced at the remainder of the delicious Victoria sponge, then laughed too.
Zack considered her options. It would mean fewer children in her home, but maybe more contact with school parents. She would have to smile at them and exchange pleasantries while they waited for their children and she had told him she was quite solitary and preferred working alone. She needed to make a choice but would be able to see, by the look of determination on Zack’s face, he wouldn’t be swayed lightly and would possibly make her dismantle the course she already had. She sighed theatrically, as if this was a hard decision and she was doing him a massive favour to help his business.
‘Okay,’ she said, ‘I agree in principle to your idea, but I have a few terms of my own.’ Skye’s eyes were sparkling and she began restlessly moving around the room before he reached out to stop her and scooped her into him with a sigh of pleasure.
Skye undeniably enjoyed the feeling of being in his arms as she moulded into him, before pushing away and standing next to him and staring into his eyes. ‘This would mean big changes in my life, and maybe finding a permanent home in the village, but I feel that it’s the right resolution.’ She was plainly used to making decisions very quickly and didn’t flinch at this change of plans. ‘I would want to design the course myself and check the ground was suitable. You would have to do the promotion with your business and I would have use of your refreshment facilities, which I hear are sublime by the way,’ throwing in a compliment and a dazzling smile at the end to distract him from her demands.
Zack started to feel his confidence drain away slightly. He had thought Skye would simply refuse, or shout and scream at him for ruining her plans. He had assumed he’d have to spend weeks talking this idea through and find ways to make her succumb to his plans for her and her business. Instead, she had turned it to her advantage and he felt like he would be the underdog in the deal. ‘Designing and implementing a full assault course might cost tens of thousands,’ he said grumpily under his breath.
‘It won’t,’ Skye said simply, giving Zack the impression that she knew what she was talking about. She had impeccable hearing too. He could see from the back garden that whoever designed the beams had a lot of experience.
‘Will you use the same designer as you did for this one?’ he asked, indicating the back garden.
‘It was me,’ Skye grinned, making Zack splutter slightly. She happily slapped him on the back, a little too hard, to help him regain his composure, then let her hand slide down his body for a cheeky feel of his bottom. The bold action made Zack jump in surprise and grab Skye’s hand, before trailing soft kisses on her frantically racing pulse, making her squirm in delight.
‘How?’ he began to ask, lifting his head to look into her eyes, then deciding he really didn’t want to know. As long as she accepted all of his rules, then they could work it out later. Preferably when they were in bed and after he had checked over every one of her delightful credentials. Lust aside, he knew a good idea when he saw one, and this could add great value to his business. Considering he had been avoiding women for years, suddenly he wanted to chain this one to him as swiftly as possible and in any way he could think of.
‘It will be expensive,’ Zack continued, thinking he would have to be generous if he wanted to partner a deal, in both senses of the word. He would make sure he had the greatest share capital in her business in return for investment, but the scent of her perfume was clouding his mind and all he was really bothered a
bout was how he could get inside those skinny jeans. Ideas were whizzing around his brain and excitement at how this could solve some problems at work, and earn him some more of her company, was setting in.
‘I have money,’ Skye said.
‘It will cost a lot. Having the tree centre fully designed by professionals cost me a fortune.’
Skye gave Zack a pitying look. ‘I am a professional. I set this course up safely, with minimal fuss, with just Thea’s help. I can upscale it with a few talented men or women, as long as Thea is employed too. It’s one of my stipulations for our contract,’ she said with a wink, making him wish he’d kept his mouth shut and let her have her garden full of logs. ‘Plus, I have plenty of money to set up a mainstream business,’ she said, surprising him again. ‘I won’t need investment except for the land and location, which now you have mentioned it, will benefit us both if we’re becoming partners.’ Skye gave Zack a cheeky grin and stepped closer to him. He backed away and into the garden, knowing he had been out-manoeuvred, but finding it particularly hot just the same. He grinned at her wolfishly and let his gaze slide up and down her body and Skye flushed at the memory of the taste of his lips.
Ninja School Mum Page 16