Just for Now: Escape to New Zealand Book Three

by Rosalind James

  Sarah opened her mouth to mention that Finn and the kids would probably be visiting over Christmas as usual, then shut it again. No matter what Kieran thought, she was capable of some discretion. Because whatever was going on between those two now, who knew where it would be by December. But she liked Jenna in any case. And, she thought practically, she really did need good help. Especially over the summer holidays. Jenna would be a Godsend.

  “Thanks again,” Finn said the next day as the Land Rover neared the Auckland Airport. “I appreciate you helping with the kids. And bringing them up to me.”

  “No worries,” Sarah said. “Good excuse to get away for a couple days. Short as it was, that’s the last holiday we’ll have before March.”

  “Good thing it wasn’t longer,” Kieran pointed out. “Because Sarah spent enough yesterday. Give her another day, and she’d’ve been really dangerous.”

  “You’ll be at Mum and Dad’s for Christmas this year, right?” Sarah asked Finn, choosing to ignore her husband’s remark. “No other plans?”

  “Nah. No plans.”

  “So he’s not making any plans that include Jenna, at Christmas,” Sarah frowned as she and Kieran walked through the automatic doors into the small domestic terminal. “Which is what she said too.”

  Kieran looked at her in surprise. “Were you expecting him to?”

  She shrugged. “I suppose not. It’s early days yet. But they seem so right together. You didn’t see them at the wedding. I was sure I’d done right, then. I hope I have.”

  “Don’t think you had much to do with it,” Kieran scoffed. “They’re living in the same house, and she’s bloody fit. I doubt it would’ve taken him much longer to make that move, whatever you did or didn’t do.”

  “You don’t think that’s all it is, though, do you?” Sarah asked.

  Kieran shrugged. “He wouldn’t be the first bloke. But nah. Because remember, he likes her cooking too.”

  “What d’you reckon we should do tonight?” Finn asked on arriving home again. “Anyone want to walk over to Civic and choose a DVD with me?”

  “The pub first!” Harry exclaimed. “And then a DVD.”

  “What do you think?” Finn asked Jenna. “Do you fancy the pub tonight?”

  “Jenna isn’t going, though!” Sophie protested. “It’s Monday. It’s Dad Time. Jenna doesn’t get to come.”

  “Sophie!” Finn barked, his face thunderous.

  “No,” Jenna put in quickly. “Sophie’s right. It’s Dad Time. And my day off.”

  She got up from where she’d been sitting on the floor, helping Harry with his puzzle at the coffee table. “What am I doing here? I’m going to have words with my employer about unfair working conditions. I completely forgot it was Monday.”

  She was buttoning her blouse in her bedroom when she heard a knock at the door.

  “Just a moment,” she called as she zipped her skirt, then added, “Come in.”

  Finn stepped inside, shutting the door behind him, and stood leaning against it. “Sorry,” he said. “I don’t know where that came from. Are you OK?”

  “I’m fine,” she said with a determined smile. “And Sophie’s right.” She sat on the end of bed, patted the duvet beside her until he sat down. “I should have seen this coming, so we could have talked about it before. I blame you for distracting me, keeping me from thinking it through more clearly.”

  “What?” he asked in confusion.

  “You’re Sophie’s world,” Jenna said gently. “And she’s been the most important female in yours for years. That’s precious to her. And she isn’t used to sharing you.”

  “That’s rubbish,” he said angrily. “I’ve dated heaps.”

  “Sorry,” he added hastily, realizing what he’d said. “Shouldn’t say that to you. But I’ve been out with a fair few women these past years. And we’ve never had this before.”

  “And did you bring any of those women along, during your special times with the kids?” she asked. “Any of them go to the pub with you on Monday nights?”

  “Nah,” he agreed, running his hand through his hair in frustration. “I’ve always been careful about that. Specially as I’m gone so much. I’ve tried to preserve that time with them.”

  “And that’s a good thing,” she said. “That the kids have had their Dad Time, and that you haven’t had them get . . . intimately involved with everyone you’ve dated. Because getting attached, then having the person suddenly be gone . . . that would have been difficult for them. Especially if it had happened over and over.”

  “What about Nyree, though? Sophie’s never said anything like this about her. And Nyree’s been with us more than four years now.”

  “And did she go along during Dad Time?”

  “Nah,” he sighed. “She didn’t. Her day off.”

  “Right. The boundaries were clearer. Besides, Sophie’s sensitive. We’ve talked about that. She wouldn’t be able to tell you what she’s sensing, but I’ll bet you something’s coming in over her radar. And she’s reacting by trying to hold you closer. Hold you to her.”

  “What’s the answer, then? I don’t form any attachments till she’s out of the house? That’s not going to work for me.”

  “You don’t have to do that. But we need to go slowly here. For now, she needs to be reassured that she’s still important to you. Especially right now, when she and Harry have been gone. She needs her special time to reconnect to you.”

  “It’s all right, Finn,” she went on as she saw him still looking troubled. “I understand. She isn’t rejecting me. She just needs to know that her world’s still intact.”

  “Not Harry, though,” he pointed out. “He doesn’t seem to be having any problem at all with you.”

  “He’s a boy. Girls and their dads . . . that’s different. There’s bound to be some jealousy there.”

  “It’s completely natural,” she hastened to assure him as he frowned. “Even if there’s a mum in the picture. You’ve heard of Oedipus and Electra, right? There’s a reason behind those myths. There usually is.”

  “Right,” he said grudgingly. “If you think this is right. How do you know this stuff, though?”

  “What?”

  He made an expansive gesture. “You know. Kids. My kids. All that, that you just said. I reckon you’re right about Sophie. But how did you know?”

  “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I just do. Why are you so good at rugby? Plenty of people play it. But almost nobody else is as good at it as you. Why is that?”

  “Training,” he suggested. “Luck.”

  “Talent,” she agreed. “And a whole lot of hard work. This is what I do. What I’m good at. Too bad it doesn’t pay as well as rugby, huh?”

  “It should,” he said. “It matters more. Anyway. What will you do tonight? Go to your friend’s?”

  “No. She’s gone to Northland for the school holidays, with her boyfriend and his family. I’ll find a movie of my own, I guess. A pub of my own, too. Someplace to have dinner first.”

  “No pulling,” he warned, reaching out to pull her close.

  “I don’t need to pull, do I?” she asked, looping her arms around his neck and smiling into his eyes. “With any luck, I can wander into the wrong bedroom tonight and talk some big, strong man into groping me a little. What do you think?”

  “I reckon you can, at that,” he grinned, then bent to give her a lingering kiss.

  “Take the car, though, if you’re going into the CBD,” he added practically as he got up to go.

  “Nope. I want my glass of wine. Plus, I don’t like to park down there. I’ll take the Link bus. And I’ll be back before eleven.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” he promised. “Ready to do some of that groping you’re so keen on.”

  Chapter 24

  “You can do it,” Jenna encouraged from her spot a few meters out from the side of the pool. “Come on. I’ve got you.”

  Harry stood, knees bent, hands together above his hea
d, at the edge of the deck. Jenna could see him taking a deep breath, gathering his courage. The first dive of the day was always the hardest, she knew. He pushed off at last, landed in the water with a splash.

  “Swim to me,” Jenna urged him as he bobbed up. “Come on.”

  “You did great!” she congratulated him when he reached her, sweeping him into her waiting arms.

  His grin was huge. “I did it!”

  “I’m going now,” Sophie called out from the deck. She performed her own dive, swam to join the two of them.

  “Excellent,” Jenna approved. “You both tucked your heads so well. Let’s try it again, and think about keeping your legs together as you jump off.”

  This was the fourth day of their swim lessons. After enjoying her own ocean swims so much the previous week, Jenna had determined to use these final few days of the spring holidays to get a start on the instruction she’d promised. Both children seemed to be getting something out of them, and the pool wasn’t as crowded as it would become during the summer months.

  She was watching Sophie practice her crawl when she heard the familiar deep voice from behind her.

  “Can anybody join this party?”

  “Dad!” Harry swam to his father, laughed as Finn swept him up overhead. “Toss me!”

  Finn tossed him a couple meters, smiled with pride to see Harry swim back to him. Sophie demanded her own toss, shrieked as she sailed through the air.

  “Didn’t get enough training at the gym, huh?” Jenna asked, coming to stand next to him. “You needed to add some more weight lifting?”

  “Decided I needed to see the progress,” he told her.

  “Let’s see this diving you’ve been telling me about,” he said to the kids. “Show me what you’ve learnt.”

  “Very impressive,” he commented, watching the two of them take off with the increased assurance they’d begun to show. “You’ve done a lot in four days.”

  “That’s the best way,” Jenna agreed. “Daily lessons. It gives them confidence, making that rapid progress. And your body remembers better, if it’s going through the same motions every day.”

  He grinned at her, and she blushed. “Sorry,” he apologized. “Can’t help it. It’s seeing you in your costume. Gets my mind on that track. But you’re right. That’s how we train too.”

  “Yeah, well. This’ll give them a good start. They can work on it more during the summer holidays, now that they have the basics down.”

  “Time to get out,” she told the kids. “We’re all becoming prunes.” She held out her wrinkled fingers for inspection. “Let’s see yours.”

  “Yep,” she decided, looking at Harry and Sophie’s little hands. “Definitely prunes. Time to hit the showers.”

  “I get to take a shower with you, right, Dad?” Harry asked excitedly. “I don’t have to go in the ladies’ with Jenna, right?”

  “Too right,” Finn agreed. “We men’ll meet you girls out front in a few minutes.”

  “Need to talk to you, at home,” he told Jenna in an undertone, helping her gather towels to wrap around the shivering children. “An idea I have.”

  “Jenna.” She heard the knock, the low voice at her door, opened it to let him in as she finished tightening the drawstring on her running shorts.

  “Ah.” He looked at the sturdy athletic bra. “Exactly what I came to talk to you about.”

  “What? My chest?” She went to the drawer for her running top, pulled it over her head. “I’ve noticed you like it, but I’m not sure how much it has to offer as a discussion topic.”

  “Your limited lingerie selection, I mean. I went out for a coffee with a couple of the boys after the gym. And we walked by a boutique on High Street. The Pajama Company, it’s called. Made me have some thoughts about that. Not sure what you have planned for this afternoon, but I’m thinking you might do a bit of shopping for me.”

  “You want to wear ladies’ lingerie?” she asked, opening her eyes wide. “Why, Finn. This opens up a whole new dimension in our relationship.”

  He laughed. “Getting pretty saucy, aren’t you? Nah, you know what I mean. I’d like you to buy a couple of things. I saw a bra and thong in the window. Lacy. An aubergine color that I quite liked. I thought you might get that, maybe another set as well. Looked like they had some pretty nighties, too.”

  “I know the shop you mean,” she admitted. “But their things are a little pricey for me. My employer pays me pretty well, but French lingerie isn’t in my budget.”

  “Which is why I went by the bank,” he told her, pulling out his wallet and extracting a sheaf of $100 bills. “Call it my birthday present.”

  “Is it your birthday?” she asked with shock. “You should have told me.”

  “Nah. Months away. Call it my Unbirthday present, then.”

  “I don’t know,” she hesitated. “It seems a little . . . mistressy, doesn’t it?”

  He sighed. “You have a beautiful character. I admire and respect you. You’re an awesome swim teacher. And I want to watch you walk round my bedroom tonight in a thong. Can’t help it. It’s my own Neanderthal brain, I reckon. You want to watch me tackle, and I want to take lacy undies off you.”

  “Well, if you put it like that . . .” She smiled up at him, took the money he held out. “You’ve got me.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping.”

  “Could make me late fixing dinner,” she warned, putting the cash safely away in her wallet. “It’s going to take me a while to do that shopping. You’d be surprised how long it takes to find bras that fit.”

  “That’s what they make pizza for.” He opened the bedroom door, stepped into the hallway. “Oi! Kids! Who wants pizza tonight?”

  “Me! Sophie cried, shooting out of her room.

  “Pizza!” Harry shouted. “Yay!”

  “All right,” Jenna laughed, coming to join him. “And salad, though.”

  “Go do your run,” Finn urged. “And this afternoon, you can take yourself out to lunch, do your shopping. I’ll give these hungry beasts their lunch.”

  “Dad,” Harry complained.

  “I can make sammies,” he protested. “One of my few talents.”

  She took some extra time in the shower that evening, then used some of the Manuka honey body butter she’d bought to complement her new lingerie, massaging it in until her skin was soft and glistening. Then dressed in the bra and thong set he’d requested, inspected herself critically in her bedroom mirror, twisting to look at the rear view. She wouldn’t have chosen, personally, to display that much of her backside. But he seemed to like it. As long as he didn’t have too many lights on, she supposed it was all right.

  It looked good from the front, anyway. He did have fair taste. The blue lace overlay on the deep purple background was striking. And the balconet bra made the most of her considerable assets. She smiled at herself in the mirror. She knew he’d appreciate that.

  She gave herself one last look to make sure everything was adjusted properly, then slipped on her dressing gown and made her quiet way upstairs to his room. Found him lying propped against the headboard, fully dressed, an open binder in his lap.

  Locking the door behind her, she leaned back against it and looked at him. “Studying, huh? All Black stuff?”

  He closed the binder, set it on his nightstand. “Yeh. A bit.”

  “Still want to do this tonight?” She suddenly felt a little shy. He’d obviously imagined how she’d look in this outfit. She hoped the reality would measure up. “If you have work to do. . . .”

  He laughed. “Nah. Just trying to distract myself.” He swung his legs off the bed, came across to her, slid his hands under her hair and took her mouth in a long kiss.

  “You took your time, eh.” He smiled down at her. “Making me wait for it.”

  It was going to be all right. She had this. She reached down and untied the sash of her dressing gown, lifted her shoulders and slowly shrugged the garment off so it fell to the ground near her fe
et. Stepped out of it.

  “Was this what you had in mind?” she asked him.

  “Shit, yeh,” he breathed, standing back to look. “That’s it.”

  “Want me to take it off, then?” she teased. Raised her hands to the hooks at her back, hesitated there. “Oh, wait, that’s right. I forgot.” She came to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his head down for a kiss. “You said you wanted to be the one to do that, didn’t you?”

  “Bloody hell. Going to do more than that.” He took her hand and pulled her across the floor, not to the bed, but to a spot near his mirrored closet door. He kissed her again, and she opened her eyes to see him watching her reflection in the mirror. She’d been right. The amount of backside on display in those panties seemed to work for him.

  “Going to ask you to do something,” he told her, his hand moving to a breast. “Can I say that bit again first? About respecting your many fine qualities, and that?”

  “Oh, boy. I can tell this is going to be good,” she sighed, tilting her head to allow him access to her neck, feeling herself melting as he kissed her there, his hand inside the lacy bra now. “You know you can ask. I told you. Anything.”

  “Right, then. Want you to get on your knees for me. I want to watch in the mirror while you take me in your mouth.”

  “Ah. That’s your fantasy, huh?” She smiled slowly. “I can do that for you. Oh, yeah. I can do that.”

  She reached under his T-shirt, ran her hands over his abdomen, then slowly pulled the shirt up. Kissed his chest as she uncovered it, ran her tongue over one flat nipple, heard him suck in his breath.

  “Yeh,” he got out. “That’s one I’ve thought about a fair bit.”

  “Mmm,” she agreed, pulling the shirt over his head. She spent a bit more time on him, her hands and mouth working on his neck, his chest. Only when she could see the sweat beginning to glisten there, hear his breath coming hard, did she reach for his belt buckle, then his zipper. She pulled his jeans down his hips, together with his underwear.

  “Step out,” she breathed against his chest. “Give me some room to work here.”