Christmas Down Under: Six Sexy New Zealand & Australian Christmas Romances

by Rosalind James

  “Yes,” she admitted. “It would.”

  “I’ll pay for your return ticket to Welly,” he assured her. “I realize it’s an inconvenience. I don’t even know where you’re living now. Just that you left.”

  “Auckland,” she said. “And I’ll take you up on that, since you’re the one who wants this. What date are we talking about?”

  “As soon after the tenth as you can do it.”

  She consulted the calendar on her desk. “The fourteenth is a Monday. That’d work for me. If not then, the following Monday.”

  “The fourteenth should work. I’ll be in touch, let you know. And Jenna. Thanks. You’re awesome, as always. I really appreciate this.”

  Yeah. Awesome. She ended the call and sat for a minute holding her phone, made a note on her calendar. So awesome that here she was, alone. And about to become unmarried as well.

  * * *

  Finn looked up as she came back into the kitchen. “Everything all right?”

  “Sure.” She busied herself with sliding the pan of lasagna into the preheated oven, then went back to her salad. Her hands were trembling as she sliced the carrots, she realized with surprise. She swore under her breath as a vegetable skittered out from under her knife. Not a good sign. She set the sharp implement down and took a deep breath.

  Finn moved Harry from his lap, where he’d been reading him his dinosaur book. “Look at the pictures for a minute, mate, while I talk to Jenna,” he told his son.

  “What’s happening?” he asked her in a low voice, coming up beside her at the kitchen island. “Anything I can do?”

  She blinked the tears back. “Sorry. I’m all right. Something I wasn’t expecting, that’s all.”

  “Need a hand?”

  She began to refuse, then looked down at her hands, still gripping the edge of the island. “Would you mind slicing some vegetables for me? I’m not doing too well right now. I may need a little help to get this dinner on the table.”

  “Course. Just tell me what to do.”

  She began to relax, his solid presence nearby comforting her as she moved around the kitchen, warming the loaf of Turkish bread and setting the table.

  Luckily, she wasn’t required to make much conversation during dinner. Sophie and Harry had plenty of news for their father, and he was clearly happy to be back amongst his family again, laughing at their stories and asking questions. The bedtime routine went more quickly than usual as well with Finn chipping in, to her relief.

  “Sit with me for a bit, if you don’t mind,” he offered. She’d come out of Harry’s room just as he was closing Sophie’s bedroom door. “I’m not going to be able to sleep for hours yet. I’d like the company.”

  “Actually, I think I need some quiet time. Thanks for all your help tonight, though.”

  “Anything I can do,” he promised. “Just ask.”

  My Android

  “Do you have time for a schedule check, before I take off?” Jenna asked Finn the next morning when he came back in after walking the kids to school.

  “Course.” He watched with amusement as she made them each a fresh cup of tea and picked up the pages she’d set ready. “You are the most orderly person I’ve ever known.”

  “Except you,” she said. “I’ve never seen you set anything out of place yet.”

  “Yeh, I pick up after myself. But you pick up after everyone.”

  “No, I don’t. I make sure everyone picks up. There’s a difference.”

  “Whatever it is, I like it,” he decided. “Now. Schedule?”

  “You leave for Buenos Aires when?”

  “Sunday afternoon. Can you and the kids give me a lift to the airport? Around eleven. And d’you mind collecting me again, Tuesday week?”

  “Of course.” She made a note of the times. “What else this week?”

  “Barbecue at Drew and Hannah’s on Friday night, as we won’t have training that day.”

  “Just you? Or you and the kids?”

  “Just me. So you’ll be on your own with them.”

  “I’m pretty used to that by now,” she assured him. “Anything else?”

  “I thought I’d take the kids out to the pub on Saturday night before I leave. We’ve missed a fair few Dad Times here, and we’ll be missing a couple more. Thought it’d give you another night off, too, before you’re stuck again, ten more days.”

  “OK. Friday and Saturday night out, Sunday afternoon to the airport. Check. Otherwise, you’re home?”

  “Otherwise I’m home. Putting the oven’s capacity to the test.”

  “I think I can handle that. But you tell me.”

  * * *

  “Oh, sorry,” Nat said regretfully that evening over a rainy-evening dinner of mulligatawny soup and salad. “I made weekend plans already.”

  “OK. I’ll find something else to do. Good plans? Date?”

  “Yeh,” Nat said with satisfaction. “One of my students’ dads, can you believe it? Came in for a parent-teacher conference, and …” She shrugged. “Sparks flew.”

  “Guess you weren’t telling him his child was out of control, then,” Jenna said dryly. “That’s the only time sparks ever flew during my parent-teacher conferences.”

  “Fortunately, he has a well-behaved daughter, so it was all good. And amidst all the mutual complimenting, he managed to ask me out for a coffee, ‘to get my advice.’”

  “And you gave him your advice,” Jenna guessed.

  “Gave him more than that,” Nat said, a satisfied smile growing.

  “How long has it been going on?” Jenna asked. “You haven’t said anything.”

  “Well.” Natalie shrugged. “You know how it is. Or, you don’t. But trust me, when you’ve been single as long as I have, you want to be sure before you start getting chuffed about it. It’s been a couple months now, though. Not a long time, but feeling more … more solid every week. He’s dead nice,” she sighed. “And I know that sounds boring, but it isn’t. He’s an engineer. His wife went off with somebody else, year or so ago. More fool her, I say.”

  “Long enough ago that he’s not in the rebound stage,” Jenna said. “He can’t get his dissolution yet, but he isn’t reeling through those first months, either. That’s great news, Nat. I’m really pleased for you. And if my coming over on Mondays gets inconvenient, say the word.”

  “Nah. We’re just doing the weekends, so far. Specially when his ex has the kids.”

  “More than one, then.”

  “Yeh. The boy’s older, Year Four. We’re keeping it low-key for now, going slowly.”

  “Not too slowly, I take it.”

  “Well …” Natalie laughed. “A girl’s got to have a shag now and then, after all.”

  * * *

  “How about a free babysitter, Saturday night?” Jenna asked Siobhan the next morning.

  “Why?” Siobhan asked, looking up to thank their server as their coffees were delivered to the café table. “Are you volunteering?”

  “Yeah. Finn’s taking the kids out before the Argentina trip, so I suddenly have a free evening, and nothing to do. Don’t make me hide in my room. Please. Let me come over and watch Cinderella with Caitlin instead.”

  “Nah. We can do better than that,” Siobhan decided. “Come out with us. We’ll get an actual babysitter.”

  “With you and Declan?” Jenna stared at her. “That’s not exactly a date for you.”

  “Nah. With us and Declan’s mate. Richard Evans. He’s separated from his wife, just starting to go out again. I think you might like him. He’s a pretty good bloke. Declan’s accountant.”

  “My heart’s going pitter-pat already,” Jenna said gloomily. “I don’t know. I’ve never even met the guy.”

  “Hence. The date,” Siobhan enunciated.

  “I should tell you, I’m still married,” Jenna admitted. “Technically, anyway. For a few more weeks.”

  “And so is he,” Siobhan pointed out. “You don’t have to shag the bloke, just have a bit
of a laugh, some adult conversation, let somebody else pay for dinner. You’ve been babysitting so much, Declan and I’ve run out of topics for discussion. Come on, give us something to gossip about on the way home.”

  “All right,” Jenna smiled reluctantly. “But we’re all going together. I don’t want someone I don’t know coming to the house to pick me up.”

  “Done. Let me check with Declan, and I’ll get back to you. Assuming we can get it all sorted, we’ll be by to collect you. I’m thinking around eight.”

  * * *

  “So, you two, how’re you going with the wedding plans?”

  Finn turned his head to look at the speaker, Hemi Ranapia’s wife Reka. The group of players and their partners were all relaxed now, sitting over the remains of their Friday dinner on Drew and Hannah’s spacious deck. The sparkling waters of Waitemata Harbour were no longer visible now that night had fallen, but the lights of the City and the Harbour Bridge, not to mention a brightly lit cruise ship coming in to dock at Princes Wharf, provided their own spectacular view.

  “Pretty well,” Kate Lamonica, a pretty, petite brunette, answered. “Not that Koti has any idea. Let’s hope he remembers the date. December twelfth,” she reminded her fiancé. “Just in case.”

  “Been traveling a bit here, you know,” Koti protested. “Besides, nobody wants my opinion. Between my mum and all my sisters, Kate’s hardly able to get a word in edgewise, never mind me.”

  “Where are you having it?” Reka asked. “I never heard the final decision.”

  “At the marae,” Koti said. “We thought about doing it the way Drew and Hannah did, flying everyone to Tonga to get away from the media. But my mum said it had to be the marae, or it wouldn’t be a real Maori wedding. ‘What about all the cousins?’” He imitated his mother’s wail of despair. “You know how it is. And in the end, we realized that no journo’s going to want to try to get past the boys in my whanau. Plus we hired a security firm,” he added practically.

  “Coals to Newcastle,” Drew said. “Can’t imagine the security firm that’s going to outperform a marae full of Maori boys.”

  “I take it you didn’t sign with Woman’s World, then,” Hemi put in for the first time. “I was half expecting to hear the announcement, knowing what a show pony you are.”

  Koti sighed theatrically. “Yeh, nah, Kate wouldn’t go for it. I told her she could have a really flash car if we did, but no joy.”

  “Oddly enough,” Kate said tartly. “Thank you very much, but I have no desire to have every woman in New Zealand looking at photos of me in my wedding dress, telling each other I’m not really that good-looking and that Koti could have done better. Guess I’ll have to keep driving the Yaris.” But she smiled at Koti as she said it, and Finn could see the love behind their teasing ways.

  “Think we can do better than that,” Koti smiled back. “I do have something in mind. Wedding present.”

  “Oh, goody,” Kate said happily. “I can’t wait.”

  “What about you, Finn?” Reka asked. “Can’t help but notice you’re here alone again tonight. When are we going to see you with somebody special? Somebody I get to meet more than once?”

  “I’m looking,” he protested. “Not that easy with two kids. Maybe you can put out the word, vet them for me.”

  “Nobody you’re even interested in?” Reka probed. “Nothing on the horizon?”

  “Maybe,” he admitted. “But it’s a bit complicated.”

  “Ah.” Reka sat back with a smile. “By the way, how’s Jenna working out? Your new nanny? We met her while we were all waiting for you boys after the semifinal,” she explained at his startled look. “We were surprised that she was American.”

  “Not entirely,” Finn said. “She’s applied for citizenship.”

  “So she’s planning to stay,” Reka said with satisfaction. “I’m glad. We liked her. Very pretty, too. Didn’t you think so?” she asked her husband.

  “Dunno,” Hemi answered. “I didn’t notice. I was looking at you.”

  All the men laughed at that. “Good one,” Koti said appreciatively. “I’m writing that down.”

  “Been married eight years,” Hemi told him. “Watch and learn, cuz. Watch and learn.”

  “Well, we thought so, anyway,” Reka said to Finn. “Nice, too. And the kids certainly seem to love her.”

  “Yeh. They do,” Finn said. “She’s awesome with them, you’re right.” He cast a hunted look at Hemi. “Help.”

  “Dessert.” Hannah stood with a smile, began to pick up plates with the tact that made her such a graceful partner to the Skipper. The other women rose with her, to Finn’s relief.

  “I’ll do it.” Drew moved to get up, but Hannah waved him back down.

  “Save your strength for the washing-up,” she told him. “Maybe you could get Finn another beer instead. I think he needs one.”

  “Too right,” Finn said gratefully as the women moved into the house and he took the bottle of Mac’s from Drew. “I’m knackered. Meant to know a wee bit about defense, aren’t I. Not sure I came off best there.”

  “Never mind,” Hemi said consolingly. “You were up against a force of nature this time.”

  “We’ve all been there,” Koti grinned. “What Reka can’t winkle out of you isn’t worth knowing. No shame in that.”

  * * *

  Finn got up at the sound of the front door opening the following night. He’d been sitting in the lounge, sipping a beer, his mind wandering over the previous evening’s conversation, the kids, and the upcoming match against the Pumas. Not waiting up for Jenna, he’d told himself. Just thinking.

  He went into the entryway to find her slipping inside. She took off her jacket, hung it on the hook. “Hi,” she told him. “Still up, huh?”

  “Geez,” he said blankly, barely hearing her. “You look beautiful.”

  “Huh. Thanks.” She reached down to pull off one high heel. He saw her wobble a bit, put out a hand to steady her. Her cheeks were flushed, he noticed, the waves of her hair mussed. But there was nothing at all wrong with the collarless, deep purple blouse or the flirty black tulip skirt that made the most of her curvy shape.

  “Is there any more of that wine?” she asked, holding onto his shoulder while she took off the other shoe, settled back down to her normal height. “I need it.”

  “Think so,” he said, a grin beginning to form. “Go sit, and I’ll check.”

  “Brought the bottle too,” he said as he returned to find her slouched on the couch, arms folded, bare toes curled around the edge of the coffee table. He took his usual spot in the chair across from her, poured wine into both glasses. “Emergency supplies. Hot date, I take it.”

  “Huh,” she snorted again. “Total waste of makeup. ‘It’ll be fun,’ Siobhan said. ‘Some adult conversation,’ she said. ‘You don’t have to shag the bloke.’ Somebody should have told him that.”

  “That good, eh,” he sympathized.

  “And I know I’ve drunk too much. I needed some help, to get through the evening. It just went on and on.” She glared across at him. “He’s an accountant. How is that a glamour occupation? What gives him the right to judge me?”

  “Nothing,” he agreed. “He didn’t think a teacher was up to standard?”

  “We didn’t even get that far. I told him I was a nanny. Watched his eyes glaze over, and I got stubborn. I didn’t tell him I was a teacher. If a nanny wasn’t good enough for him …” She shrugged, took another gulp of wine. “Tough. I could actually see the moment,” she continued. “When he said to himself, ‘Great rack. Kinda hot. Embarrassing job. I’ll just do her, and not tell my mates about it.’”

  He choked on his wine. “You could, eh,” he got out when he’d finished coughing.

  She finished her glass, poured another one. “He wasn’t interested in my views on Labour’s chances in the next election, put it that way.”

  “I said you were a baby out there. Reckon I was wrong.”

  “I went t
o high school,” she told him in exasperation. “I know when someone’s staring at my chest. When their brain has switched off and they’re thinking with …” She flushed. “Well, I do know. I’m not that stupid. It was one thing with Ian. You can’t blame me for not being able to tell there. He was so respectful, it was almost insulting. And Ben, all right, he’s young. But he at least pretended to look at my face when he talked to me.”

  Finn held up his hands. “I stand corrected. In vino veritas. Didn’t know you were so … perceptive.”

  “Yeah. Well, I am,” she muttered. “Now I know what my single friends have been talking about, all these years. Men are jerks.”

  He registered that, moved on. “Want me to hunt this fella down? Do him over for you? I have time. My plane doesn’t leave till one-thirty.”

  “No,” she said grudgingly. “He didn’t do much, other than the emergency tonsillectomy. I didn’t give him a chance.”

  He frowned, suddenly not finding it all quite so funny. “That’s all?”

  “Yeah. Oh, he tried,” she admitted. “But I got my shoulder in there.” She demonstrated the twist, shoving her elbow up.

  “You have hidden depths,” he said appreciatively.

  “I did go to high school,” she repeated. “Is there any more of this wine?”

  “You’ve killed it.” He picked up the empty bottle to show her. “And I reckon it’s going to be getting its revenge tomorrow morning.”

  “OK,” she sighed. “I’m going to bed.”

  He got up with her, steadied her as she swayed a bit. She leaned into him, pulled his head down and gave him a soft kiss that he couldn’t help returning.

  “You’re nice,” she murmured against him. “If he’d kissed like that, I wouldn’t have used my shoulder.”

  He set her away from him with an effort. “Time for bed,” he said firmly. “Or you’re going to be very, very sorry tomorrow.”

  * * *

  “Ah.” Finn looked up as Jenna appeared in her dressing gown, one hand going out to grasp the kitchen doorway. “Sleeping Beauty awakes.”