by Shona Husk
‘Lads, two more trainees. Leading Seaman Miller and Able Seaman Hessey, both stokers.’ Smither waited for a response.
A couple looked up and nodded. The man with his back to them turned. As soon as he moved, cold raced down Rainy’s back while heat rushed up her throat and prickled her jaw. It couldn’t be. Her heart thudded on her ribs.
‘This is Sweetlips, best cook on the boats.’
Kurt. Was. Here.
On her boat. How was that possible?
His eyes widened for a split second before covering his surprise with what could only be called a forced smile. ‘Garland is fine.’
His gaze locked with hers. There was no way she was ever going on another date with him and if the rest of the crew ever found out … oh God … had he already told them about the chick he’d picked up?
How long did she have until everyone knew she’d slept with the cook?
***
As much as Kurt would like this to be some kind of horrible dream—he was dressed and wide awake—there was no mistaking Rainy, not even with her dark hair pulled back and her body hidden beneath the shapeless cams. When she’d said she was a mechanic, he’d assumed cars. He hadn’t asked, though why would he?
She hadn’t asked where he cooked either. Noise returned to the mess and he made himself swallow. It was pretty obvious that she was going to treat him like part of the furniture. What else was she going to do?
What else could he do?
While away, occasionally someone accidentally slept with someone else after too much to drink, but it didn’t happen to him. He didn’t have or want that kind of reputation. He suspected Rainy felt exactly the same way.
Smithy looked at him for a moment too long. Kurt’s heart beat a little faster as his guilty conscience worked overtime. He’d never been in this situation before. But Smithy should be able to recognise an affair when he saw it. His wife barely concealed them. ‘Get your hair cut, Garland.’
‘Yes, Chief.’ He turned away, biting his tongue on the annoyance simmering in his veins. He’d known it was coming. He should’ve got a haircut over the weekend but he hadn’t wanted to because he was meeting Rainy.
He’d better show up with a haircut tomorrow. He could live without the extra duty if he didn’t. Sometimes it felt as though he was at school, not an adult. He drew in a breath, knowing that the dissatisfaction and chafing over the rules had more to do with him than anything else. The rules hadn’t changed. He had. He didn’t know when it had happened, but something had changed over the last twelve months and the navy was no longer the lifeline it had been when the economic downturn had left him to drown in a tide of unqualified and unemployed apprentices.
He stared at the list he’d been making, grocery shopping for when the boat started its seagoing evolutions. He’d been making menus and checking quantities. Stuff he could almost do in his sleep. But he wasn’t seeing the list. He was seeing Rainy standing in her kitchen eating his lame dessert and the curve on her lips as she agreed to see him again.
It didn’t take a genius to work out that wasn’t going to happen now.
In exchange for dating her he’d be seeing her every day and none of it would involve getting naked and sexy black underwear. It didn’t seem like a fair trade.
The memory of her lying on the bed formed; he could almost taste her skin on his lips. It had been less than twelve hours. He wanted to rewind the clock and tell her about his job, maybe then they could have made a plan. He closed his eyes. He was clutching at straws. They had one good night. That was all.
Move on.
‘Hey, Sweetlips.’ Blue slid into the booth opposite him. Because he stood outside with the smokers he smelled like cigarette smoke, even though he’d quit five months ago when he’d found out he was going to be a father. They were the same age, but because James Tasker had joined straight out of school he was getting close to being made up to Petty Officer. If Kurt stayed in, Blue would outrank him. Not that would matter, they’d been friends for too long.
Today, though, everything was bothering him. ‘What do you want?’
Blue grinned. ‘Just making sure you got pizza and nice bit of roast lamb on that menu.’
‘Friday night is always pizza night.’ Kurt closed his folder. He could find somewhere else to work before he was due up at the main mess on HMAS Stirling. While alongside and not doing workup, he didn’t spend that much time on the boat. But because they were getting ready for STG and then seagoing assessments, he was getting ready to feed the forty-eight crew plus the guys from STG.
‘You got a bug up your ass today?’
Kurt let out a sigh. ‘Apparently so.’
‘You need to get laid.’
Rainy in uniform and then out of it appeared in his mind. He’d like nothing better than to tap that again, but she was on his boat and that was the cause of his foul mood. He’d been looking forward to seeing her on the weekend and now that had been stolen. However, he couldn’t say any of that. ‘Don’t we all. How’s the missus?’
Blue lifted his left hand. He pointed at his ring finger. ‘Not the missus. I come to work to get away.’ He stood up. ‘I’d better find out which trainee I’ll be babysitting … I mean mentoring.’ He crossed his fingers. ‘Please let it be the pretty one.’
‘Aw, I knew you had a thing for boys.’ Kurt managed a smile and a laugh. He wasn’t sure he wanted his friend working that closely with Rainy, but there was nothing he could do about it except hope that Blue didn’t realise that Rainy was the woman he’d tried, and failed, to pick up a week ago. He was immensely grateful he hadn’t mentioned getting the second chance or what had happened last night.
Blue reached out as if to swipe him over the head. ‘See you at lunch.’
Kurt ducked out of the way. Life was moving along as usual. Usual wasn’t what he wanted anymore.
Chapter 6
‘Well?’ Sunny said as she chopped up carrots for dinner.
Rainy had been hoping that Sunny and Lily would be out when she got home so she could slink into her room. Her head was spinning with names, and her heart was spinning for all the wrong reasons. The way her luck had panned out today though, she wasn’t surprised to see Sunny’s ute in the driveway. Nor was she surprised that the first thing Sunny had said to her was, ‘Well?’
‘Well what?’ She dropped into a chair and feigned ignorance. The TV was going, keeping Lily distracted. That wasn’t pre-planned at all.
‘First date last night.’ Sunny raised her eyebrows. ‘First day on the ship today.’
‘Boat.’ Rainy automatically corrected.
‘Black tubey thing.’ Sunny countered with a wave of her hand. ‘I want details. Juicy details.’
Rainy sighed and rested her head on her arm. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
Really, she didn’t want to say what a mess she’d made out loud. Not that anything had happened. In fact she hadn’t seen him again after that first heart-stopping meeting in the mess.
Sweetlips … yeah, he sure had. Fortunately she’d spent most of the day busy helping with maintenance repairs under the watchful eye of Leading Seaman Tasker, better known as Blue. The drive home had given her plenty of time to wonder how Kurt had ended up with that nickname, and to remember what his lips had felt like on her—all over her.
She was willing to bet that name had come from a well-deserved reputation. Look how easily she’d invited him home to screw his brains out. One smile and she’d been the one asking him to meet her next week. How many other women had he charmed?
The knife clunked onto the chopping board. ‘You can’t deny me. I have been single for a year, haven’t had sex in two. I’m living vicariously through you.’
‘You could do so much better.’
‘I’ll make you an Italian hot chocolate … real chocolate and real cream … real Kahlua.’
There was a mischievous tone in Sunny’s voice, as if she knew exactly how to get her younger sister to open up.
> Say no. Be strong. I can resist. No I can’t. ‘Okay.’
‘Yes.’ Sunny said with a fist-pump. She banged around in the kitchen grabbing what she needed. ‘You know you can start talking while I make it.’
Rainy lifted her head up. ‘Did you want some help?’
‘Listening to you will be enough.’ Sunny grinned.
‘Kurt showed up at the pub. He was lovely.’ And had known exactly what to do and how to win her trust. Cook, yeah, but he’d left out that he was a navy cook. She’d left out navy as well. If one of them had been honest, this mess might have been avoided because then the next question would’ve been where are you posted to and that would have been that. This was her punishment for lying.
‘And? Did I go out for no reason? Were you hiding in your room when I got home because you were busy on your own or because you were exhausted?’ Sunny put a hand to her forehead and pretended to wilt.
Rainy almost smiled. ‘He came around. Did everything right and I agreed to see him again.’
‘Woo-hoo! I still can’t believe you picked up on my birthday.’ Sunny placed the hot chocolate in front of her. It was so thick she almost needed a spoon to eat it. It smelled awesome. Sunny gave a sniff. ‘You aren’t going to be washing that uniform in my machine, are you?’
‘It’s not that dirty. Just smelly.’ However, by the time she got back from three months away her uniforms would be impregnated with the scent of oil and diesel. That first wash she’d do onboard.
Sunny went back to prepping dinner. ‘When’s the second date?’
Rainy shook her head. ‘It’s not going to happen.’
‘What? He was gorgeous and from all accounts a gentleman, not that you elaborated much.’ Sunny raised one eyebrow and mouthed was he small?
‘I’m not giving you any more details. Buy a magazine already. Or better yet actually go on a date. You’ve been part of that online site for months now and you’ve done nothing.’
‘Divorced, mother of a nine-year-old, who lives with her sister and is on the wrong side of thirty. What a catch.’
‘You’re just chicken.’ Sunny hadn’t attempted to contact anyone through the site even though she’d looked at heaps of profiles—Rainy had helped and offered to babysit.
‘This is about you, not me. Why no second date?’
Rainy drew in a breath. She could have dealt with discovering he was navy, they could’ve had that second date, but finding him on her boat wrecked all of that. They couldn’t see each other at all. ‘When we met we kind of lied about our jobs.’
‘Lied how?’
‘More of an omission. Turns out he’s Navy.’ Rainy gave her sister a pointed look.
Sunny frowned. ‘How’s that a … oh. You saw him today. Does he have a girlfriend?’
‘No!’ At least she hoped not. Maybe he did and he was one of those guys who had a girlfriend back home and one where he was based. Thank God they’d used protection. ‘He’s the cook on my boat.’
‘He’s a cook?’ Sunny frowned as she missed the point.
That wasn’t the problem. ‘On. My. Boat. We acted like we’d never seen each other before, but how long until he tells everyone?’ Maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe she was overreacting, but a sailor didn’t get a name like Sweetlips for no reason.
Sunny shrugged. ‘Maybe he won’t. Maybe he was just as embarrassed.’
‘I doubt it. His nickname is Sweetlips.’ Her voice petered out to a mumble.
Sunny started laughing.
‘It’s not funny.’ It was terrible. A disastrous way to start her posting.
‘It is funny. The first guy you’ve been interested in, and slept with, is not only going to be working with you so you’ll see him daily, but he has an awesome nickname.’ She kept laughing like it was the best thing she’d heard all day.
‘I’m still not seeing the funny side of this.’ Although if it was happening to someone else she might be able to see how it could be slightly amusing.
‘You have no excuse not so see him now.’
‘Fraternisation?’ It was kind of a big reason. While it happened on ships, it was easier to hide, but even then when things went bad it got ugly. On a boat. She shuddered. No way. Besides she didn’t want to get known as one of those female submariners. She’d heard a few stories about some who saw it as a challenge to sleep with as many of the guys as possible, or even snag themselves one. Submariners were seen as better catch than skimmers because they earned more.
That said, all of the women she’d met had so far been more worried about doing their job than anything else. Still, the rumours had to come from somewhere. So at some point someone must have started them, perhaps a jilted lover?
Please don’t let Kurt start any gossip about me.
‘Hmm. Okay. Well, are you going to tell him the second date is off?’
‘I don’t think I have to. I think that is pretty clear.’ She drained her cup and enjoyed the last of the silky chocolate and the heat of the alcohol. ‘Aside from that one thing, the rest of the day was okay. The guys I deal with directly seem pretty decent.’ They’d made it clear they thought she was riddled with bad skimmer habits and that it was easier to train green newbies like Hessey. Some of that was probably true. At least they hadn’t made any references to her not being able to do the job because she didn’t have a dick. She’d been given an honorary one on a ship once. The dildo was in a box somewhere.
‘No girls?’
‘Not in engineering. And I didn’t get a chance to do any more than nod and say hi as I was taken around the boat.’ She considered griping that Hessey was on the boat but couldn’t be bothered wasting her breath on him.
‘While dinner is simmering, how about I do your cards?’ Sunny was already walking around the dining table and lifting up books and papers to find them. Resistance was futile so Rainy nodded and shuffled when the tarot cards were handed to her.
They were old and familiar. They’d been their mother’s at one stage—one of her many sets. When each of them had turned sixteen, their mother had let them choose a set. Sunny picked something bright and colourful, full of intricate designs. Nothing had really interested her so she’d picked a set with dragons. She kept it because it was her mother’s, not because she used them.
She cut the deck and restacked then let Sunny lay out the cards.
Seven of Swords. The Devil. Two of Cups.
‘Well that is interesting.’ Sunny tilted her head as if that would help unravel the mystery. ‘The good news is that everything will turn out okay.’
Rainy could tell that from the picture. The Devil in the middle didn’t look so promising. In fact, that card looked all bad. Even the swords didn’t look that great. The person looked as though they were stealing them.
‘I think that you need to tread quietly. The Devil is a warning not to get caught up in a hopeless cycle of despair. Don’t chain yourself and give in to fear.’
‘Right, that was super helpful.’ But it was nice that everything turned out okay in the end, even if it did go bad. And she was sure that with Kurt ‘Sweetlips’ Garland it would.
***
After three days of being on the boat she’d managed not to see Kurt again. No one had said anything and Rainy was beginning to relax about the one-night mistake. He hadn’t rung her, so she figured they were on the same page and they’d never talk about it, or to each other, again. Easy.
When she finished up for the day, she saw his car parked next to hers. Worse, he was there. Surely he couldn’t be waiting for her? Most likely he was. This would be the first chance they’d had to speak. If it was that important for him to say something he could’ve called her. Why wait in person where they could be seen talking?
Like a coward, she almost turned around and went back to the boat. Perhaps she could pretend she was going to the gym. But she hadn’t brought her gym clothes. Damn it. She had to get home anyway as it she had to pick Lily up from the parents because Sunny was at TAFE.
&n
bsp; Suck it up. You were going to run into him at some point, there are less than fifty people on the boat.
He leaned against his 4WD and watched her approach. He was definitely waiting for her.
Her heart did a nervous skitter that made her stomach tremble. He looked different with his hair cut short. There was more of an edge and nothing to soften his nose or jaw. He’d also shaved. So very regulation, unlike the guy she’d seen on Sunday night. She could almost pretend that she hadn’t slept with him … maybe, not really. Her body remembered his touch and desire spiralled through her blood. He was still too good looking. He gave her a tight smile as she walked up.
‘Garland.’ She couldn’t bring herself to use his nickname.
‘Miller.’ Gone was the flirty smile and easy conversation they’d had on their one, and only, date.
Awkward.
She pulled her keys out of her pocket. He didn’t move away. ‘We don’t have to do this. It was one night.’
He nodded and glanced away, as if this was uncomfortable for him too. ‘I wanted to let you know that I won’t say anything.’
‘Thank you. I won’t be mentioning it either.’ But it was still something he had on her, which she wasn’t sure she liked.
‘Though I have to admit I’m disappointed you’re here.’
She’d like to admit the same thing. He looked good in uniform, and even better out of it. Did she risk it? No one else was around and they were just talking. They weren’t doing anything wrong. ‘Me too. It was a surprise.’
‘Yeah, and not a pleasant one. I’d been looking forward to giving you call mid-week and catching up on the weekend.’
She’d been hoping that he would call. ‘That can’t happen now.’
He scuffed his boot on the asphalt. ‘I know. Pity.’
This wasn’t the conversation she’d been expecting with him. After hearing his nickname she’d been expecting the worst and for gossip to start. Instead he was acting as though he really was interested in her and did want to see her again. That was making it so much harder to dislike him and smother the attraction zipping through her body. The memory on Sunday night was still too close. If she took a step forward she’d be in touching distance.