Abby pulled his head back down to hers. ‘We can dance later.’
* * *
Later that morning, Abby had a shower and waited for Luke to come back with a casual outfit for her to wear and some underwear. It gave her a little thrill to think of him choosing knickers and a bra for her. Handling those intimate items with his clever hands, knowing he would be the one to take them off her when they next made love.
Abby wandered through Luke’s house, a part of her feeling guilty at snooping, but the other part wanted to know everything about him. He was like a really gripping book she’d started reading and couldn’t put down. She’d got him to open up about his girlfriend Kimberley...although she felt a little guilty her back story had overtaken the telling of his. Had that been deliberate on his part? Using her little trick by taking the searchlight off his life and shining it on hers?
Abby didn’t regret telling him about her background. She’d thought she would but somehow she didn’t. Luke was a safe person to tell. There hadn’t been too many safe people in her life. But he was trustworthy and dependable, exactly like Ella, which meant Abby would have to tell her at some stage too.
But then, as if summoned by the thought of her friend, Abby’s phone rang and she picked it up and saw it was Ella. ‘Hi, I was meaning to call—’
‘Is it true?’ Ella said, excitement ringing in her voice. ‘Luke actually went with you to the ball?’
‘Yes, I finally got him to—’
‘It was a rhetorical question, silly.’ Ella laughed. ‘I’ve seen the pictures of you from last night. They’re all over Twitter. Don’t you make quite the stunning couple?’
Abby wasn’t sure she was ready to tell her friend everything about her and Luke. Like how her body was still humming from his lovemaking like a struck tuning fork. ‘It was a fun night. Your brother is a surprisingly good dancer.’
‘Oh. My. God.’ Ella gasped. ‘You got him to dance? Really?’
‘Yes. We had heaps of fun and we even went out and had supper afterwards.’
‘Are you serious?’ Ella’s voice was rich with delight. ‘What else did you two get up to?’
Abby retreated into a protective silence. How could she just blurt out what had happened between her and Luke, even if it was to her best friend?
‘Oh. My. God,’ Ella said when the silence went on too long. ‘Don’t tell me you actually slept with my brother?’
‘We—ell...’
‘But that’s marvellous!’ Ella’s voice wasn’t far off a squeal. ‘He hasn’t slept with anyone since Kimberley. I’m sure of it. He hasn’t even been on a date that I’m aware of. Well done, you.’
‘You mean you...you don’t mind?’
‘Why should I mind? It would be a dream come true if you and he—’
‘Don’t get too excited.’ A strange little pang struck Abby in the belly. ‘We’re just having a one-week fling.’
‘Fling, schming,’ Ella said. ‘You’re not the type of girl to have a fling. If you were, you would’ve had one by now. You certainly haven’t had one since I’ve known you, otherwise I would have known about it. Are you sure you’re doing the right thing? I mean it’s great Luke’s getting back out there, but a week isn’t long enough for either of you to—’
‘Ella...there’s a lot of stuff you don’t know about me...’
‘You mean stuff about your childhood?’
Abby’s heart missed a beat. ‘What do you know about my childhood?’
‘Just that you don’t like talking about your family. You always change the subject or get me talking about myself instead. I see you doing it with other people too. You shift the focus off you.’
‘Why haven’t you said anything about it until now?’
‘Because I figured you’d tell me when you were ready,’ Ella said. ‘You’re not close to your family, are you?’
‘That’s because they’re not my family.’ Abby filled her friend in on most of what she’d told Luke. And, just like when she’d told him, a little more weight went off the burden she’d been carrying for so long.
‘I wish you’d told me earlier,’ Ella said. ‘Poor you—having such a horrible childhood. But I can see why it would have been difficult for you to talk about, even to me. It’s kind of nice you told Luke first, though. He’s always been a good listener.’
‘He’s good at lots of things.’
‘Speaking of which, fling or no fling, I think it’s brilliant you and he are getting it on. It’s what you both need.’
‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’
‘Why should I?’
‘But what if it makes things uncomfortable in the future?’ Abby said. ‘Like when I’m with you and Luke is present once this week is over. It could be awkward for everyone.’
Most especially me.
‘Think of it this way,’ Ella said. ‘Your fling with Luke will be a positive thing, no matter how it works out. It will help him move on.’ There was a tiny pause. ‘But you have to be careful, you know. Don’t get your hopes up in case—’
‘You don’t have to worry about me,’ Abby cut in with far more confidence than she felt. ‘We’ve agreed it’s only going to be for a week. No one is going to fall in love in that time.’
‘I’m not so sure you can predict that with any certainty because—’
‘Enough about me,’ Abby said. ‘How’s school going? How were the parent teacher interviews?’
‘I know what you’re doing, Abby, but this time I’m going to let it slide,’ Ella said. ‘You don’t want to talk about it, so fine. We won’t talk about it. But please be careful. Luke has a thing about commitment. I think it comes from having a father like ours.’
‘I’m sure Luke is nothing like his father.’
‘He’s not, but that doesn’t mean he’ll change his mind about settling down,’ Ella’s voice had a note of warning. ‘I know what my big brother is like. Luke is so stubborn he could be conducting workshops and tutorials for mules.’
Abby couldn’t help smiling. ‘Believe me, I know.’
* * *
Luke bought an outfit and some lingerie for Abby at a boutique in Bloomsbury and walked back to his house, but he couldn’t help feeling conflicted. Making love with her was amazing. Amazing and fulfilling and unlike anything he’d experienced before. But he couldn’t quite dismiss the niggling worry he was stepping out of his comfort zone.
Way, way out.
Letting someone close, that close, was like peeling back the edges of a wound and preparing for the lightning strike of pain. So far it hadn’t happened. So far. But how soon before it did? Letting someone into his life made him uneasy. As if he was walking over a lake of ice and not being sure where it was thick and where it was thin, every step a potentially dangerous one.
A potentially lethal one.
Abby had got under his guard like someone slipping under crime scene tape while the forensics team turned their backs. He had told her things he had told no one. But then so had she revealed things about herself to him that were painfully private.
Her disclosure made him feel...trusted. Yes, that was the word he was looking for. She trusted him with the truth about her difficult background. The shameful truth she had deliberately and desperately hidden behind a complicated web of white lies, like a magician using smoke and mirrors to fool the audience.
Abby’s seemingly perfect life was exactly that—just an illusion.
So what the hell was he doing getting stuck in the middle of it? Pretending to be her Mr Perfect. Taking her on a luxury holiday for two like a freaking romantic honeymoon.
What was he thinking?
That was the trouble when he was around Abby. He didn’t think. His body took over his mind and every primal desire in his system pumped and pounded and pushed against his willpower like a bulldozer against a cardboard box.
Because he couldn’t resist her.
That first kiss had been his downfall, the second splintering his self-c
ontrol like a sledgehammer on glass. Those kisses had flicked a switch inside his body, making every attempt on his part to withstand the potent lure of attraction a dismal failure.
Abby was his kryptonite. His peanut. He had to have more and more of her because it was impossible to resist her.
And for the next week he wasn’t even going to try.
* * *
Abby had never been on a shopping spree before where someone else footed the bill. Shopping for herself was usually a tricky business of balancing her bank balance with her constantly overstretched credit card. She knew she couldn’t really blame her background on her issues with money. In spite of her parents’ woeful example, she had witnessed her various foster families balance delicate budgets and still provide meals and essentials, although not too many luxuries. She had great intentions of saving but something would always crop up—another bill, a friend in need, a charity she just had to make a donation to because she perceived their need to be greater than hers.
But when Luke took her shopping there was no question of her whipping out her credit card. He took care of everything and was a surprisingly helpful shopping wingman. And he was great at carrying all the bags.
Abby was in a boutique with him where there was swimwear as well as other casual fashion items. She ran her hand along the row of hanging bikinis and wondered if she had the courage to wear one. She had always worn a one-piece because it held in her less than toned stomach.
‘Why don’t you try one on?’ Luke said.
Abby dropped her hand from the rack. ‘I don’t have the figure for it. I’d be too embarrassed.’
‘There won’t be anyone else but us on the island so what’s to be embarrassed about?’
She turned back to the row of colourful bikinis in the section where her size was located and sighed. ‘I don’t know...’
‘Here.’ He reached past her shoulder and took three bikini sets off the rack: a black one, a vividly hot pink one and a bright canary-yellow one. ‘You’d look great in any of these. Go on. Try them on.’
Abby took them from him but she was still feeling uncertain. ‘Do you really think—?’
Luke bent his head to just near her ear. ‘Personally, I’d prefer you totally naked, but yes, I think you’ll look fabulous in all three of them. Now get in there and try them on.’
She shivered at the erotic promise of his words and the way his warm breath caressed her skin. She gave him a mock salute. ‘Yes, sir.’
His dark eyes glinted and he gave her a playful pat on the behind. ‘Cheeky minx.’
Abby went into the changing room and peeled off her clothes, trying to see her body in the mirror as Luke saw it. Since her early teens she had struggled with body image. The rush of hormones in puberty had turned her boyish figure into a lushly womanly one but she hadn’t been emotionally ready for the impact it would have on the male gaze. Comments and leering looks from men had triggered some of the memories of her mother’s clients and it had made her ashamed of her body instead of proud of it.
But when Luke looked at her she felt none of that shame. Almost from the first time she’d met him her body had been aware of him, but not in a threatening way. The way his gaze would drift to her mouth had given her a secret thrill that in spite of his standoffish demeanour he found her attractive.
Abby turned this way and that in front of the mirror, cupping her breasts in her hands, remembering how it felt to have Luke hold and caress them. Just thinking about him touching her sent another frisson through her.
She lowered her hands and tried on each bikini, unable to make a choice between them. She got dressed back in her clothes and, carrying the bikinis, came out to where Luke was waiting for her.
‘How did you go?’
‘I like them all but—’
‘Good, then we’ll take them all.’ He took them from her and handed them to the hovering shop assistant. ‘We’ll take these.’
The young female assistant smiled at Abby once the bikinis were paid for by Luke and wrapped in tissue paper and placed in the shop’s signature bag. ‘Wow, he really is a perfect fiancé. I love your column, by the way. Your advice is always spot on.’
‘Thank you,’ Abby said, taking the bag’s cream satin ribbon handle.
‘Oh, is that your engagement ring?’ The assistant peered across the counter at Abby’s left hand. ‘Can I see it?’
Abby lifted her hand for inspection but, looking at the ring, she realised it wasn’t the sort of ring Luke would buy his fiancée if he ever had one. It was too flashy and cumbersome and it didn’t really suit her hand. It was a nouveau riche type of ring—the sort of ring worn by someone trying too hard to impress. It was a status symbol, not a ring about the relationship status itself. She held out her hand and was excruciatingly conscious of Luke standing silently beside her.
‘It’s lovely,’ the assistant said. ‘I hope you’ll both be brilliantly happy, but then of course you will. You’re the perfect couple.’
Abby couldn’t get out of there fast enough and was glad when Luke took her hand and walked her out of the shop. ‘How about a coffee to finish up?’ he said.
‘I think I need something stronger than coffee.’
‘That ring you’re wearing is a cliché.’ He turned the bulky setting around on her finger. ‘And it’s not even a real diamond.’
‘How do you know it’s not real?’
‘It’s a good fake, I’ll give you that.’
Abby gave a self-deprecating grimace. ‘I would’ve bought a real one if I’d had the money.’
His mouth tilted in a smile. ‘You’re a funny little thing, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, well, that’s me—a living, breathing joke.’
A frown pulled at his brow. ‘Hey.’ He lifted her chin again, his intelligent blue gaze warm and darkly intense. ‘I’m not laughing at you, sweetheart. I like your quirkiness. It’s refreshing.’
Abby’s heart gave a stumble. ‘You just called me sweetheart.’
His hand fell away from her face. ‘Wasn’t that the deal? To call you terms of endearment in public? Honey and babe and sweetheart. Those were the correct words, right?’
‘Yes...’
‘But?’
She shrugged. ‘I just didn’t think you’d do it, that’s all.’
His eyes held hers. ‘Why’s that?’
‘You don’t seem the type of man to say things you don’t mean,’ Abby said.
‘You can thank my father for that.’ He took her hand and continued walking with her down the street. ‘He was big on words and small on action. I sometimes wonder what my mother saw in him. He doesn’t seem her type at all.’
‘I have heaps of readers who fall for the wrong men,’ Abby said. ‘It’s like some women are programmed to choose the worst possible partner for them. And some do it repeatedly.’
‘Thing is...’ Luke paused. ‘I think she’s still in love with him, even after the way he humiliated her. I don’t get it. Who does that?’
A woman in love.
‘I guess there’s no accounting for chemistry,’ Abby said. Isn’t that the truth? ‘When it strikes it strikes and there’s little you can do to stop it.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
THEY CONTINUED ALONG the street until they came to an exclusive cocktail lounge Abby had heard heaps about but never visited. Luke led Abby inside and they were soon seated at a velvet-covered sofa in a private corner.
Abby swept her gaze over the beautiful décor and wanted to pinch herself. She’d always wanted to come in here but it had always been out of her price range.
‘What do you fancy?’ Luke asked, handing her the drinks menu. ‘A cocktail and peanuts or something more substantial?’
What I really fancy is you.
‘Gosh, this place is amazing. Look at the list of food. And I’ve never heard of some of these cocktails. It makes me want to try them, just to see. I guess my diet can wait another day.’
He gave Abby a mock ster
n look. ‘If I hear you say the word diet ever again I will not be answerable for the consequences.’
Abby gave him a quizzical look. ‘You don’t believe in diets?’
‘Firstly, diets have a woefully high failure rate,’ he said. ‘Most people lose weight and as soon as they stop the diet they put it all back on again and more. And, secondly, you look fine just the way you are.’
‘Thank you for saying that.’ Abby reached across the table for his hand. ‘I’ve struggled for years with body image.’
His warm, strong fingers wrapped around hers, sending a wave of longing through her. ‘You have a beautiful body.’
She gave him an on-off smile and lowered her gaze to their joined hands. How nice would it be if a ring Luke had bought her was on her finger instead of that ridiculous fake?
After a while the waiter brought their drinks and a tasting plate of delicious food to share. Abby sat back and started on her cocktail, which seemed to go straight to her head, or maybe that was because of the way Luke kept looking at her as if he was reliving every moment of their lovemaking. She looked at the pattern around the edge of the tasting plate rather than meet his gaze. ‘I guess not having parents around who loved me unconditionally has messed with my self-esteem.’
‘Understandable, given what you’ve been through.’
Abby sighed. ‘I’ve always been a bit jealous of Ella, you know. Growing up with two parents, well, at least one highly functioning one and a big brother to boot. That’s why I made up so much stuff about my background and never told her the truth. As far as I’m concerned, that girl with the dodgy parents no longer exists.’
His eyes were warm with understanding. ‘I think you underestimate Ella, but I hear what you’re saying.’ A shadow drifted through his gaze. ‘I haven’t told anyone I broke up with Kimberley that night. No one but you, that is.’
Abby put her cocktail glass down. ‘Do you think she told anyone? I mean, before she got...?’
‘Not that I’m aware of.’ He shifted the base of his cocktail glass a quarter turn. ‘There was a window of a couple of hours after she left my place and the accident. She might’ve just sat in her car and cried, for all I know.’
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