by Piper Rayne
“Don’t tell me you’re here to see that stuffy bloke,” scoffed one of the workers, who was grimy from a windy morning working the excavator. “Come on now. A pretty lady like you needs a bit more excitement than that.”
“And you’re the one to show it to her, are you Greg? How’s the missus feel about that?” Mack shot the guy a hard look and it got the intended result. Greg muttered something under his breath and headed back to work, the other guys trailing behind him, equally pissed off that their fun had been spoiled.
“You show ’em who’s boss,” Zoey said, an amused smirk hovering at the edge of her lips. She’d shrugged out of her leather jacket and slung it over one arm, leaving her under-layer—a black sleeveless top so tight it looked spray-painted on—to capture his attention. “I do like the big bad wolf side of you, Mack.”
“What are you doing here?” He shook his head, drawing a steadying breath. “How did you even know what site I was working on today?”
“I called the office and spoke with Nick.” She smiled sweetly. “Said I wanted to deliver you some lunch.”
“You know that’s going to get tongues wagging.”
“Is it?” She cocked her head in feigned innocence.
“What’s your game, Zoey? It feels a lot like you’re trying to force my hand at something, but I don’t know why.”
“You’ve been avoiding me.” She tucked a strand of mermaid-coloured hair behind her ear as she reached into the compartment on her bike and produced a container which appeared to contain some sandwiches, fresh fruit and mini muffins. “And I really did want to bring you lunch.”
He sighed. Zoey was sweet, but he knew there was no such thing as a free lunch. Literally or figuratively. She wanted something from him, and his greatest concern was that she wanted something he’d be very happy to give.
“Let’s walk down to the park,” he said. “One, it’s dusty here and two, I don’t want the guys gawking at us.”
“Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” She said it in a teasing manner, but he caught the flicker of doubt in her eyes.
“No. But I’m worried that one of those vultures will come in and steal my food.”
She laughed and they headed away from the construction site, down the quiet tree-lined street. This area of Patterson’s Bluff wasn’t very built up and the “park” he’d mentioned was little more than a patch of bush leading through to the ocean. There was a railing to sit on, and endless blue water to admire. The breeze kicked up the lengths of Zoey’s hair and he tried not to think about how beautiful she was.
When they settled, she opened the box and handed him a neatly wrapped sandwich. Ham, cheese and tomato—his favourite.
“I know you’re attempting to get your way by feeding me,” he said, taking a bite.
“Don’t they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?” she said, stifling a laugh as she unwrapped one for herself. “I felt like we should… talk. About what happened, I mean.”
“Disagree.” He took another bite.
“Why?”
How could he tell her the truth without putting any ideas in her head? “Because it’s bad news.”
She let out a huff. “I’m sick of you looking at me like I’m a kid, Mack. I’m twenty-five. I’m not that scared little girl you used to check on anymore.”
“You don’t think I know that?” Was she really so blind? “You don’t think I’m fully aware of much you are not a kid anymore?”
She sucked in a breath. “Then why—”
“We’re not compatible.” He chanced a look over at her. She was staring out at the ocean, a crease between her brows and her silvery blue eyes fixed on something in the distance. “Trust me, it’s nothing to do with me thinking you’re a kid or anything like that. We want different things, that’s all.”
“You don’t know what I want,” she replied stubbornly.
Yes, he did. Because when he’d asked her that question, she’d shown him what she wanted. The way she’d pressed her body against his, holding him and looking up at him in a way that would haunt him for the rest of his days… that’s what she wanted.
And part of him wanted it, too. But that didn’t mean it was the right path for either one of them.
“You want a fun-time guy who’ll do crazy, spontaneous stuff with you like going sky-diving on a whim. The kind of guy who doesn’t worry about things like saving for the future and five-year plans and other boring crap like that.”
“You’re wrong. I like those things about you.”
“Why?”
Mack wasn’t even sure he liked those things about himself, in truth. But it wasn’t worth fighting against it. Humanity needed both types of folks—the wild ones and the steady ones. The wild ones created art and made people smile and added colour to things, and the steady ones made sure there was safety and security and order. It was all about balance. His desire not to be with a woman like Zoey had nothing to do with him being unable to see her value. Nothing at all.
It was more that he feared they were too far apart on the wild-to-steady spectrum.
“You… make me feel grounded,” she said.
“I’ll make you feel six feet under in the long run,” he quipped.
She frowned. “You really think we’re that incompatible?”
“I do.” He toyed with whether or not to add further to his statement, but he felt the hurt simmering around her. “It’s…”
Shit.
He raked a hand through his hair and tried to think of the best way to phrase it. “It’s got nothing to do with a lack of attraction, okay? I find you very attractive, but you know I’m not the dating around type. I want to have a family and I would never ruin our relationship by sleeping with you purely based on the physical aspect.”
There, that was the truth of it out in the open.
“I honestly don’t know if you just complimented me or insulted me.” She wrinkled her nose and took another bite of her lunch. “You basically said I’m hot but not family material.”
“That’s not what I said.”
She lifted one shoulder into a shrug. “Well, I think you’re wrong. We’re compatible because we’re different. We balance each other out.”
He laughed. The girl was certainly selling it—but every time he even thought about indulging, an image of his parents popped into his head. After he figured out all the money they’d invested in his sister’s business was gone, he’d found his mother sitting on her kitchen floor, sobbing. He’d never seen her so broken like that. So… helpless.
He’d dug way into his own savings to make sure they didn’t lose the house. So how could he then date a woman who ate risk for breakfast? Who bought a broken-down hunk of scrap on a hope and a prayer? Who could never seem to find the line between dipping a toe in and flying headfirst off a cliff into the things she wanted to do?
“You’ll get bored of me,” he countered. His ex certainly had—she’d said all his plans and precautions and fallbacks were stifling.
You don’t know how to live in the moment, she’d said as she left. You wouldn’t even know what happiness looked like if it slapped you in the face because you’re too focused on what could go wrong.
As angry as he’d been, he didn’t exactly blame her for saying those things. He was focused on what could go wrong. He was busy making plans for the future. And what was the big fuss about the present moment anyway? If you only ever worried about that, you’d end up walking straight into a hole in the ground.
“I’ve known you for a long time, Mack. If boredom was an issue, then I wouldn’t be here now, would I?” Zoey’s eyes sparkled with sincerity. He loved the almost colourless nature of them. It reminded him of the early part of the morning after dawn broke, when the world was quiet and peaceful.
“And what if we dated and then broke up, huh?” He shook his head. “That would put your brother in a position to choose, and if he didn’t choose you then I’d be pissed at him. I’d lose you bo
th.”
“Typical Mack, always jumping to the worst-case scenario.” She rolled her eyes.
“Someone has to think about those things.”
She hopped down from the railing and dusted her hands down her thighs. “Well, you think about the worst-case scenario and I’ll do my best to show you why the best-case scenario is worth the risk.”
He didn’t like the sound of that at all.
“By the way, Sean will be calling you later to ask for a hand. We’re having a working bee to get the food truck cleaned up.” She tossed him a look over her shoulder that said she thought she had the upper hand. “You’ll help us, right?”
Damn her. She knew he could never refuse a friend in need. “Sure.”
“See you then.”
He watched as she left him sitting on the railing, her long hair swishing above her backside with each spring-filled step. The woman had something up her sleeve, he knew it.
Chapter Seven
Zoey had everything planned. Today was going to serve a couple of purposes, because every working woman knew the power of multitasking. One, she was gathering friends to help her get the food truck sparkling clean. Two, Gwen was bringing along a test batch of some of their possible menu items to reward everyone and also get feedback. Three, Zoey was going to show Mack exactly what he was missing.
Incompatible, her arse!
Mack was simply too tangled up in his own risk aversion to see how great they could be together. Frankly, sitting around and waiting for him to come to that conclusion had gotten her nowhere. She needed to take the approach with him that she took with every other aspect of her life—jumping in with both feet.
And yes, she knew he wanted to settle down and have a family. It had been the major bugbear between him and his ex, according to her brother. But the truth of it was… Zoey also wanted those things. Running a successful business wasn’t her only goal in life. She wanted to be a mum and a wife, too.
She wanted to have it all.
And while she might not have come from the best family situation, she had tried to find the silver lining. A bad upbringing meant she knew what things to avoid. She’d never neglect her children’s needs like her mother did. She’d never leave her family to struggle alone like her father did. And she’d never avoid communicating with her partner the way both her parents had.
Something good could be found in even the darkest of situations.
By eleven a.m., her wonderful helpers had arrived. Sean was already out the front, dismantling anything that would come loose from the inside of the vehicle so it could be cleaned on the lawn, and Gwen had set up a trestle table and an Esky for drinks and snacks.
“What did you bring?” Zoey asked, rubbing her hands together.
“So many things.” Gwen’s eyes sparkled with excitement. The woman lived to feed people. “I’ve got a batch of ANZAC biscuits, a Cherry Ripe slice, vanilla cake balls and a salted macadamia tart.”
Zoey’s mouth popped open as Gwen arranged all the items on the table, carefully covering them with fly nets. “You have outdone yourself.”
“Make sure people grab a bite before we get started, okay? It’s going to be a hot one.” Gwen’s eyes skated over Zoey’s outfit. “Which I can see you’ve dressed for.”
She grinned. Okay, so maybe wearing her tiniest pair of denim shorts and a strappy white bikini top was a little on the nose, but if that didn’t break Mack she had no idea what would.
“I don’t want to ruin any of my nice tops cleaning out the green beast,” Zoey replied with a cheeky shrug.
“Sure.” Gwen laughed, not buying the story one bit. “Although it’s not a bad idea. I have my bathers on under this because I was going to head to the beach after. I may follow your lead.”
“Don’t forget to put some sunscreen on. I put one of those big pump bottles by the front door.” As much as Zoey liked getting a tan, all Aussies knew the importance of sun protection because it was way too easy to go from zero to lobster before you knew what was happening.
“Good reminder.” Gwen ditched her T-shirt and showed off the adorable palm tree printed one-piece underneath. She too wore denim shorts and a pair of brightly coloured Havaiana thongs on her feet. “Let’s do this thing!”
Zoey’s father’s work van and Mack’s ute pulled up at the same time and they both got out and awkwardly shook hands. Zoey bit down on her lip. She knew what Mack thought of him—that he was a deadbeat dad—but he really had been trying to make amends. In fact, he’d spent a whole three days away from his mechanic business to work on the Westfalia, and now it was running! Her father might not have won any World’s Greatest Dad awards when she was growing up, but she meant what she said about second chances. Everybody deserved them.
At that moment, another car pulled up on the other side of the road, and Gwen’s older brothers piled out to join them. It warmed Zoey’s heart to see people pulling together to help her and Gwen, even if they might have reservations about the idea. That was Patterson’s Bluff in a nutshell—folks helped one another. They cared about one another.
“Hey guys!” Zoey waved and went over to greet the group gathering in the driveway. She caught Mack’s eyes narrowing at her and in her peripheral vision, Gwen clamped a hand over her mouth, stifling a giggle.
Oh yeah. Today was going to be fun.
Mack spent the entire afternoon trying his hardest to ignore Zoey and that ridiculous scrap of fabric she called a bikini. In truth, people wandering around in swimwear was not unusual in a town like Patterson’s Bluff. They lived by the credo of “always be ready for the beach” and readily embraced the surf-to-street way of life.
But that’s not why Zoey was wearing a bikini.
She was doing it to taunt him for walking away after their almost-kiss. For saying they were incompatible. For years of putting her in a box she didn’t want to be in. Oh, he knew that she’d crushed on him for years—because she was as subtle as a ton of bricks—and it had taken every ounce of willpower not to give in.
Just like it was taking every ounce of willpower right now…
He crouched by one of the food truck’s tires, cleaning the rims with a sponge and a bucket of soapy water. The sun beat down relentlessly on his back and he dragged his free hand across his forehead. At the front of the truck, Zoey was cleaning the headlights. The angle gave him a perfect view of her. Her blue, purple and green hair fell over her shoulders and there was plenty of opportunity to admire her surfing-fit body. But it was the hint of smugness in her smirk as she glanced up at him—catching him staring again—that got under his skin.
Didn’t she know he was trying to save them both a lot of heartache?
He threw his sponge into the bucket of water, sending suds over the edge, and then stood and walked over to her.
“I know what you’re doing,” he said under his breath. The group had started dissipating—Zoey’s father had helped for a few hours but had to leave for an appointment, and Sean had left for work. Gwen was packing up the leftover food and drinks, and her brothers were inside the van fitting the refrigerator back in after the whole area had been scrubbed.
“Cleaning?” Zoey asked innocently. She stood and Mack kept his eyes straight ahead.
“I’m not an idiot,” he growled.
He was standing close to her so nobody would overhear their conversation, but that in itself might have been a misstep. She smelled like coconut and sunscreen and something vanilla-sweet, and pink gloss highlighted her lips. His throat tightened and every muscle in his body coiled in preparation, but for what he had no idea.
For nothing, because this isn’t going anywhere.
“It sounds like you have something on your mind, Mack,” she said, smiling up at him. A pair of sunglasses hid her eyes, but he could read the rest of her face—she was having fun with this.
“I don’t appreciate you pushing my buttons for sport.”
“If you actually listened to me, I wouldn’t need to push your butt
ons at all.”
Her words were like burrs under his skin. “You have my attention. It’s impossible for you not to have my attention because you’re as loud as a fucking police siren.”
“Good.” She squared her shoulders. The last thing anyone could ever accuse Zoey of was being a shrinking violet—the woman was loud and proud and never shied away from something she wanted. He respected her for that, usually. But right now, it was a giant pain in his arse.
“Why are you taunting me?”
“I wanted to show you what you’re missing,” she replied. “Because the truth of it is… I want you, and I’m sick of being ignored because of your stupid rules.”
“You think all rules are stupid.”
“I do. But yours are especially stupid,” she replied without missing a beat.
In spite of his frustration, Mack laughed. That was something he did a lot around Zoey—he laughed, and he smiled, and he enjoyed himself. She had the kind of buoyancy and effervescence that he only saw in others and never in himself.
“Rules protect people.”
“Your rules don’t protect people, Mack. They protect you.”
He blinked. That’s what she thought? That he only cared about safety and security for himself? “That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it? Because I know how you felt when we almost kissed—it wasn’t for show. It wasn’t to avoid hurting my feelings. You wanted it.” Her face was tilted up to his, and he wished he could see her eyes. Or maybe he wished for the opposite, because to see all that passion burning up…
“Of course I wanted it,” he said under his breath, hoping that the others couldn’t hear them sparring. “I wanted it more than anything. But that doesn’t mean I should give in to you.”
“But it would feel so good.”
The softly spoken words wrapped around him, tightening his muscles and stirring his desires. Lust gripped him in a chokehold. For a moment, he couldn’t move, rooted to the spot with the desperate need to kiss her. To finish what they’d started.