A Man Like Mike

by Sami Lee

  She couldn’t care less what antics Star and Sebastian and Charisma would get up to. She couldn’t stop thinking about Mike.

  That morning, he had said ominously as she dashed off to work that they ‘had to talk’, leaving Eve to fret all day about what topic he might want to discuss. For all she knew, it might be something as innocuous as what she wanted for dinner that week, and the sense of foreboding that had overcome her might be nothing more than her overactive imagination.

  Yet somehow she doubted it. She had the terrible feeling that Mike was finally going to tell her he was leaving. Eve couldn’t be sure of how she would react, although she should have come to terms with Mike’s coming departure by now. She was afraid he might detect her disappointment, regardless of any attempts she could make to conceal it.

  She was still sitting up in bed, gripped by apprehension, when she heard his car in the driveway. Cowardice got the better of her, and she extinguished the bedside lamp, burying herself under the covers so Mike would think she’d gone to sleep. Minutes later, she held her breath, not daring to move, as she heard footsteps approaching. They stopped outside her room, the silence deafening for several moments before they retreated back down the hall.

  Feeling as ashamed as she was relieved, Eve let out the breath she’d been holding. Potential disaster averted.

  But her reprieve was short-lived. It was early the following morning, after she had got Bailey up and given him breakfast, depositing him in his playpen while she got dressed, that there was a solid knock on her bedroom door.

  She halted in the middle of buttoning her blouse. “Eve, are you decent?”

  Her mouth opened but no words immediately formed. Before she could reply, her bedroom door swung open and Mike stood in the opening.

  Eve squealed and grabbed the lapels of her blouse, holding them together across her chest. “Mike! What are you doing? You can’t just burst in here like that!”

  His eyes were cast up at the ceiling as he took a few steps into the room. “Relax, I won’t look. I’m not here to sneak a peek.”

  “What are you—” puffing out an indignant breath Eve spun around. Despite his promise, she couldn’t feel blasé about dressing in front of him. With her back to him she fumbled with fastening the buttons on her blouse. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

  “Trying to catch you before you dart off again … or pretend you’re asleep.”

  She half turned to deny it before she remembered her state of dress and stopped mid-spin. She returned her attention to her blouse. She’d never had so much trouble fastening a few buttons before. “I … I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure you do, but I’m not going to waste time arguing that point with you. I want to talk to you about something else.”

  Eve took a deep breath to steel her nerve, arranging her expression to one of equanimity before turning to face him. “If it’s about you moving to Melbourne, I already know,” she confessed, relieved she managed an appearance of indifference. “You don’t need to worry about how I’ll take the news, because Bailey and I will be just fine. It’s no big deal, really.”

  He eyed her for several seconds. Bailey’s gurgling sound drifted down the hall to fill the silence. At length Mike crossed his arms over his chest and announced, “I’m not going.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I said I’m not going to Melbourne.”

  “But, your mother—”

  “My mother ran miles with the fact that I mentioned a job offer in passing. I considered it, briefly, but I turned it down.”

  Of all the scenarios Eve had pictured in her mind, this was not one she’d expected. “Why?”

  He showed her a deadpan expression. “What does it matter? It’s apparently no big deal to you, one way or the other.”

  She ducked her head on the pretence of locating her shoes. “I was only curious.” Picking up her pumps she sat on the edge of her bed to slip them on. She focussed on her feet until the task was complete, only then looking up at Mike.

  He was gazing at her calf like it was the most mesmerising thing he’d ever seen. Aware of the innate intimacy involved in dressing in the presence of a man, even if it was only her feet that had been bare, save for her pantyhose, she uncrossed her legs and brushed her skirt over her knees.

  Mike cleared his throat. “Bailey needs me.”

  She lifted her eyes to his. “You’re doing this for Bailey?” She had known how devoted he had become to his nephew, but she hadn’t anticipated the level of compromise he was willing to make.

  “It’s just a job, Eve.” He lifted a careless shoulder. “Bailey’s family.”

  But Eve had the impression the job offered was a lucrative one, certainly several steps above working nights at a casual pub restaurant in the suburbs. As much as he made light of his decision, it was an enormous sacrifice.

  In a rush like a tidal wave that engulfed her every emotion, the truth hit Eve. Derek and Jacinta had made a mistake. It was Mike who should have been named Bailey’s guardian all along, Mike who gave of his time and energy to look after Bailey without complaint, Mike who found taking the parental role as natural as breathing, who was strong and capable, yet had never completely let go of the big kid inside himself. He related to Bailey on a childlike level that was so alien to Eve … and now he was willing to forfeit his own career advancement for the sake of his nephew. As a father figure, a child couldn’t wish for a better one than Mike Wilcox.

  The thought made her heart stutter. One day, Mike would make a great father, a dream husband. She could hardly bear the thought of him making that life, that family, with some other lucky woman when he was states away in Victoria, but if he were right here in Brisbane and their mutual connection to Bailey forced her to see him with someone else… It was intolerable.

  “Look, Eve, we need to talk more about this.”

  From the outer room, there was a loud crash followed by Bailey’s triumphant clapping. Eve deduced they had left him alone far too long, in his opinion, and he had taken to throwing his toys out of the playpen to arrest their attention. “Bailey’s getting restless,” she noted, before glancing down at her watch and commenting further, “And I need to get going.”

  Thankfully he didn’t try to stop her as she grabbed her keys and briefcase and headed out the door. But all day she couldn’t get one image out of her mind—the image of Mike standing on the verandah, Bailey in his arms, watching her as she drove away.

  The week passed much as those before it. Eve fed and dressed Bailey in the morning, seeing Mike for only scant minutes before she left for work. She saw him for much the same length of time in the evening, before he left. On the surface, they lived much as housemates, two people inhabiting the same house for the sake of convenience.

  Yet if someone were to put a mere scratch in Eve’s aloof veneer, they would find a hotbed of emotions bubbling inside. The hurt and anger of the previous week, when she had thought Mike would soon leave, had gone. The emotions that replaced them were strange and frightening, causing her palms to sweat and her pulse to jitter every time she was within shouting distance of the man who engendered them. She could barely make sense of herself. She didn’t hold a hope of deciphering the tumultuous looks Mike would send her way anytime they were in the room together.

  It was not until Saturday, the first day of winter that dawned appropriately grey and chilly, that things came to a head. Eve took Bailey out to the supermarket before lunch, sticking faithfully to Mike’s written list of necessary items and curbing the temptation to stock up on chocolate bars. It wasn’t as though she ever went hungry, with Mike stuffing her full of balanced meals of the gourmet variety.

  And lately, it wasn’t a craving for chocolate that was causing her problems.

  After doing the shopping, she stopped at a café and bought a ham and cheese toasted sandwich that she shared with Bailey, thinking to herself that the less time spent at home, the better; but eventually Bail
ey started to get cranky, and she realised it was time for his nap. She couldn’t delay seeing Mike forever.

  At home once again, Mike met her at the car and wordlessly carried the groceries upstairs while Eve attended to Bailey. She fixed his bottle and put him down to bed. He was asleep by the time she tip-toed out of the nursery.

  When she returned to the kitchen Mike, had put away all the groceries. Not wanting to be standing around with nothing to occupy her, she announced, “I’m going to put on a load of washing,” and escaped to the relative safety of the laundry downstairs.

  She had found only enough to half fill the tub when Mike’s voice sounded behind her, causing her to nearly leap out of her skin. “Is there any room in there for a couple of my shirts?”

  With her hand on her chest, she turned to look at him. He was wearing a faded pair of jeans and a grey flannel sweatshirt that his shoulders filled out nicely. The sight of him did nothing to slow her heart-rate.

  It was a long moment before his question registered. “Oh, sure,” she said, waiting while he disappeared into his bedroom. He returned with an armful of multi-coloured cotton that he tossed into the machine. The act brought him so close to Eve that she virtually jumped backward, finding herself pressed against the wall of the laundry.

  Mike turned and studied her face. Eve was sure she must look like a rabbit caught in a spotlight’s glare. She supposed that made Mike the fox in this metaphor. By the hungry look in his eyes she had the sense that he wanted nothing more than to devour her on the spot.

  She could do nothing but stare back at him, feeling trapped. She could hardly draw air into her lungs, and the atmosphere in the ordinarily frigid laundry room felt hot and stuffy. She pulled her gaze away from his, feeling hypnotised. Instead of easing the knot of tension in her stomach, the action only made it intensify when she saw the way Mike’s chest was rising and falling rapidly beneath his sweat shirt.

  He needed to take only one step and he was before her. He reached up a hand to touch her face, the contact sending off explosions inside her.

  She couldn’t do this. She just couldn’t deal with the sensations. “Mike, we can’t go on like this.” Her voice was as frayed as her emotions.

  She would have to move out. There was no alternative. Being this close to Mike every day while they were so far apart in every other way was pure torture.

  But she realised Mike did not interpret her statement the way it was intended when a low sound came from his throat and he moved his hand to her nape, coaxing her forward. “I couldn’t agree more,” he rasped, before his mouth came down on hers.

  The moment his lips touched hers all thought of resistance fled Eve’s mind. She sank into him, her arms sliding around his waist as she clung to him and returned the fervour of his kiss with a healthy dose of her own. He gorged on her mouth, tasting with his tongue and nibbling with his teeth, gently, but with a barely restrained passion that set a fire inside her. His hands tangled in her hair until, with unqualified impatience, he tugged at the band that held her mane back and tossed it aside so he could run his fingers through it.

  Eve was as impatient as he. Barely registering her uncharacteristic boldness, she tugged Mike’s sweatshirt up until she could slide her hands inside it, touching smooth, hot skin.

  Mike dragged his mouth away from hers, breathless. He stared at her, his eyes flaring, as she trailed her palms over his back, revelling in the rigid strength of muscle. She wanted to find the words to tell him something of how she felt, to ask for what she wanted, yet assure him she would demand no grand promises. She wouldn’t hold him back, wouldn’t tie down a man who didn’t want to be tied down. But she could simply not continue living without knowing the feeling of being loved by Mike, in whatever small way she could be.

  “Mike, I think… I want…”

  “Shh,” he whispered against her lips, before kissing her again until she lost what little presence of mind she had left. He nipped at her lower lip in a tender way that had her gasping. “Don’t be frightened, Evie.” He looked deep into her eyes, compelling her to listen. “You can trust me.”

  In that moment she knew it was true. He would never intentionally hurt her. She could trust Mike.

  Beyond words, Eve merely nodded to convey her understanding, her consent. It was all the encouragement Mike needed, and he swung her into his arms without further preamble, carrying her to his room.

  Chapter 12

  “I wish I could stay.”

  It was late Sunday morning, and Eve had just put Bailey in his high chair, placing a virtual smorgasbord of cheese slices, kiwi fruit and biscuits on his tray. At Mike’s heartfelt declaration, she turned and drank in the sight of him standing there all freshly showered and shaved, his expression full of regret.

  When would she be able to stop looking at him as though she were a starving woman and he a chocolate fudge sundae? She found herself mentally agreeing with him, wishing he hadn’t promised to work Sunday lunch as well as dinner at the Marlin. To him she said, “You said Barry needed help.”

  “Hell of a time for a big family reunion to book in for lunch,” he groused. “Any other Sunday I’d be spending with you.”

  They both knew what they’d be doing with their time, too. After they’d made such thorough use of Bailey’s early afternoon nap time yesterday, Eve had no doubt that if Mike didn’t have to leave they would spend their time in a similar fashion today.

  The thought heated her from the inside out, despite her many qualms about allowing things to continue along this path. But her qualms hadn’t meant a thing last night, when she had drowsily awoken sometime around midnight to find Mike stretched out in bed behind her as she lay on her side, his arm twined possessively around her waist.

  When she’d stirred, he’d said by way of explanation, “It’s cold downstairs.”

  “There are spare blankets in the linen cupboard,” Eve had said dryly.

  “I like your blankets because they have you in them. I didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep, if you want.”

  Like there had been a chance of that happening. Eve’s heart rate had already picked up, as though she had downed a double espresso, her senses stimulated to wakefulness. She admitted, “It’s too late for that.”

  “Yeah?” His lips had moved to her ear, his breath teasing the tender shell. He had pulled her back against him, his hand moving to close over her breast through the lace of her nightie. “You know, this nightgown of yours drives me crazy. I don’t think you should wear it any more.” To prove his point, he’d proceeded to divest her of the garment with skilful hands.

  After that, neither of them had got much sleep.

  “Evie, are you listening to me?”

  Startled out of her daydream, Eve blinked as Mike approached, his frown showing concern. “I’m sorry … what were you saying?”

  “I was telling you this reunion is going to run over until tomorrow, and Barry’s going to need me again. I didn’t tell you last week because…” He left that comment with a shrug. They both knew they had barely spoken to each other last week. “I went ahead and booked the day at the childcare centre for Bailey. I’ll take him if you can bring him home after work.”

  “Of course. I’ll take him there in the morning, too. The centre’s right on my way. It doesn’t make sense for you to make a special trip.”

  He smiled his slow, genuine smile and reached out to pull her into his arms. Eve went without protest. She knew better than to fight her body when it came to Mike. “Did I mention what a fantastic woman you are, Eve O’Brien?”

  “I think you mentioned it yesterday,” Eve said, flushing. The things he’d whispered in her ear while they’d been in bed still hummed through her mind, intoxicating her senses.

  “I think it bears repeating,” he said. “In fact, I wish we could repeat the whole of yesterday, starting from when—”

  “Yes, I think I know which parts you’re interested in repeating, Mike,” she chided. “But you have
to go to work.”

  “Another five minutes won’t hurt.” The intent in his eyes was clear as he lowered his head and kissed her so exhaustively Eve could barely stand by the time he dragged his lips away again.

  He rested his forehead against hers, his ragged breathing filling the space between them. Eve wasn’t sure she was breathing at all, and she clung to his shoulders as though she might collapse if she didn’t.

  At length he declared ardently, “I won’t be able to stop thinking about you all day.” There was a heartbeat’s pause. He seemed almost unsure of himself in a wholly endearing way. “Will you be thinking about me?”

  Every waking minute. And when I sleep, my dreams will be full of you. The truth clogged her throat, and in reply Eve nodded.

  Drawing back, he looked down at her, his eyes searching. He brushed the hair back from her face where it had fallen after he’d tangled it in his hands. “Are you okay with this, Eve? With us?”

  It wasn’t the time to have the there’s-no-us discussion, although she knew the truth as sure as she knew her own track record. There was Eve, and there was Mike, and one day they would be separate again because that was how things had always been.

  Everyone left her. Her father had left without ever meeting her, her mother had abandoned her time and again, denying her the love and security she’d so desperately needed. Even Jacinta, though it was through no fault of her own, had left her eventually.

  There was no doubt in Eve’s mind that Mike would be next. She needed to hold onto everything that made her who she was, because when Mike was gone she would be all that was left. If she let these feelings she had for him eclipse her, when he left she’d be nothing more than a hollow shell.

  I never knew I could feel like this. I never really understood the term ‘making love’ before. God help me, I love you Mike Wilcox.

  Hiding her true feelings her entire life had made Eve skilful at evasion. She smiled a half smile. “I think you know the answer to that.”