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

by Rosalind James

  “Already did, I reckon,” he heard her say behind him as he made his escape to the stairs and the privacy of his own room. He loved his sister, but she really was the nosiest woman in the Southern Hemisphere.

  * * *

  “This is choice.” Kieran reached for another slice of the pear- and dried-cherry-filled coffee cake, only to have Sarah slap his hand. “What?” he protested.

  “You’ll get fat,” she admonished him. “Two was enough.”

  “Oi,” he complained. “Finn’s had three already. I saw. Bet he’s not done, either.”

  “Yeh, and when you’re playing rugby instead of spending the day cutting the grass and unblocking toilets, you can have three too,” his wife told him firmly.

  “Would you like some more eggs, Kieran?” Jenna asked him. “They’ll be ready in a second here, along with another pan of bacon.”

  “Am I allowed to have more eggs?” Kieran asked Sarah with exaggerated concern. “Would that fit into my dietary program?”

  “Eggs are allowed,” she pronounced.

  “Thank you so much,” he said sarcastically. “And thank you,” he told Jenna with genuine warmth as she brought the pan of scrambled eggs and vegetables over to him. “Great tucker.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled back at him. “Finn, what can I give you?”

  Kieran gave him an elbow in the side when he didn’t answer. “Eyes glazing over, bro,” he muttered.

  “Sorry,” Finn said hastily. “What did you say?”

  “Can I get you something else?” Jenna asked him patiently. “Eggs? Bacon?”

  “Both, please. And then come sit,” he told her, pulling out the chair next to him.

  “May we be excused?” Sophie asked.

  “Yeh. Go ahead,” Finn told his children.

  He thanked Jenna as she refilled his plate, then watched her as she dished up her own meal and sat down at last. She shouldn’t look so good dressed in gray yoga pants and a white T-shirt. But the knit fabric clung in all the right places, the V-neck was almost tight and just a bit low, her feet were bare, and the whole thing made him want to take her back to bed right now. Well, maybe he would’ve let her finish breakfast first, if there’d been a hope of sneaking her away. Which there wasn’t, not with his sister looking knowingly at the two of them from across the table and his brother-in-law using his napkin to hide a smile.

  Jenna wouldn’t agree to it anyway, he thought with an inward sigh. Even if it were fast. In the bathroom, maybe. His mind began to explore possibilities as he sat, absently chewing a strip of bacon, and watched her eat.

  “Right. Washing-up.” Sarah got up and nudged Kieran. “Come give me a hand.”

  “I’ll do it,” Jenna offered. “As soon as I finish. My job.”

  “Nah,” Sarah said. “You didn’t sign on to look after us. And I’m not used to anyone waiting on me. Brekkie was a treat, though. Why does food always taste better when someone else makes it?”

  “One of the mysteries of life,” Jenna agreed. “Fish tonight, OK? Salmon. Finn’s favorite.” She smiled at him. “Cooked the way you like.”

  “I’m a lucky man,” Finn told the others. “As you see.”

  “Yeh, mate,” Kieran said, standing up and beginning to gather plates from the loaded table. “We’re getting the picture.”

  “What d’you reckon today?” Finn asked Jenna. “Kieran and I were planning to take the kids to Mission Bay, give them a bit more beach time. Want to come with us? You could have a swim, wouldn’t have to worry about them. Water’s still a bit cold, but you don’t seem to mind.”

  “In my inappropriate costume? Are you sure Kieran’s ready for the sight?”

  “Oi. I already apologized for that. And you know why I said it.”

  “Heard about that,” Sarah remarked, scooping up jam and butter containers. “You’re a fool, Finn.”

  “Cheers,” he said, lifting his mug to her. “You wouldn’t understand. It’s a man thing.”

  Sarah snorted. “Reckon I understand better than you think. But Jenna, let’s leave this boy’s mind in the gutter and move on to more important things. I’m going to take my chance to do some shopping on High Street. Want to come with me, keep me company?”

  “Wow, two good options,” Jenna sighed. “Both sounding really attractive. But no, thanks. I don’t want to tempt myself. I’ve bought a lot of new clothes lately, thanks to somebody telling me my wardrobe needed an overhaul. Anyway, I want to go for a run, as soon as I’ve digested all this food. And I need to do some grocery shopping, finish the kids’ washing, start on tonight’s pudding. I think I’d better hang around here today. I was thinking gingerbread, with an apple-pear sauce and homemade custard,” she mused. “That would go well. Everyone all right with that? Anybody hate molasses?”

  “I don’t think I’ve had it,” Sarah said, looking at Kieran, who shook his head as well. “Gingerbread, I mean. Or even molasses, that I can think.”

  “It’s more American, I suppose,” Jenna said. “Spicy and dark. I’ve made it for people here, though, and they seem to like it.”

  “We’ll give it a go,” Sarah promised. “You know these boys’ll eat it. How do you make all this, Jenna, without gaining weight? That’s what I’ve been wondering.”

  “She never eats it herself. Didn’t you notice?” Finn put in.

  “How can you do that?” Sarah asked. “I couldn’t.”

  “Easy,” Jenna said, standing up and carrying her dishes to the dishwasher. “I can’t stop once I start. I know that about myself, so I don’t eat sweets, period. That’s my amazing diet plan, and it works for me. But I confess, I still love to make them.”

  “And as I love to eat them, it’s working out well for me too,” Finn said. “Though I do try to restrain myself. Luckily, she feeds me pretty well with the healthier stuff, as you’ve seen. But she lets me indulge my sweet tooth, too.”

  Jenna laughed. “All this flattery is going to my head. But if I don’t get busy, it’s going to be McDonald’s tonight, and my reputation will be ruined. I’m going to say thanks for doing the washing-up, and get on with it.”

  Finn’s eyes followed her as she left the kitchen, and Kieran looked at him in exasperation. “Get your A into G, boy.” Kieran snapped a tea towel at his brother-in-law. “If we’re taking the kids to Mission Bay, better get them sorted, because I’m not hanging around here all day watching you look at that girl. It’s a bit sick-making, tell you the truth.”

  “Kieran!” Sarah scolded.

  “Nah, that’s OK.” Finn got up and cleared his place. Somehow, he realized, he’d managed to finish off his eggs and bacon. He grabbed a final slice of coffee cake, to the accompaniment of another caustic comment from Kieran, before heading off to round up the kids.

  He’d better have a swim himself, he decided. And a trip to the gym later. Because with another couple weeks off before All Blacks training started up again, and Jenna cooking like this, he really was going to turn up unfit if he didn’t get his workouts. And he had a feeling that sex in the bathroom wasn’t going to happen today.

  Dad Time

  “So,” Sarah said that evening, loading the dishwasher as Jenna dished leftover roasted potatoes and kumara into a plastic container, ready to become home fries the next morning. “Where are you going after this? I know you said you were teaching in the new year, but you’ll be done here soon after Finn’s back from the Northern Tour, eh. Before Christmas, he said. What happens in between? Back to the States?”

  “No. I haven’t gone back for a long time,” Jenna told her. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Something new, hopefully. I haven’t spent nearly enough time in the South Island, considering how long I’ve been down here. That trip to Dunedin made me realize what I’ve been missing. I was considering looking for an interim job over the holidays. Someplace where I could get away, though, enjoy the summer. Do you have any suggestions?”

  “I have a perfect suggestion,” Sarah said. “Come to m
e. To us. We always need extra help at the holiday park during the summer holidays, specially those two weeks starting on Boxing Day, but before that as well. It won’t be glamorous, but seems like you don’t require that.”

  “Motueka, right?” Jenna asked. “Is it nice?”

  “Best weather in En Zed,” Sarah pronounced. “Nah, really. It’s gorgeous. That’s why I’ve never left. People come from all over the world to visit. Farewell Point, the Marlborough Sounds, Abel Tasman. You can put in a day’s work, then be off to the beach. Borrow my car, when I don’t need it. Sweet as. I can use you over Christmas especially, if you’re free.”

  “I’m free. Nobody freer. And that’d be great.”

  “Housekeeping OK?” Sarah asked. “Don’t want to deceive you when I say it’s not glamorous. Doing the washing, cleaning the toilets and the kitchen.”

  Jenna laughed. “In other words, exactly what I’m doing now, minus the cooking. Will there be someplace for me to stay?”

  “Staff cabin. You’re sure? Should I mark you down?”

  “Please,” Jenna decided. “It sounds perfect.”

  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. 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 said. “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?”

  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 said. “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.

  “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. I’ve dated heaps. Sorry,” he added hastily. “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 said, 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 said. “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. 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.”

  Unbirthday Present

  “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 head, 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.”

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

  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 this time, 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.