“I wouldn’t say that.” Mikki chewed blissfully for several seconds and swallowed. “You’ve met Aaron. Mr Wells is kind of like him - all calm and quiet and authorative, but without the ‘don’t-mess-with-me’ vibe.”
“Aw, Aaron doesn’t really have that vibe,” Izzy protested.
Mikki just looked at her.
“Okay, sometimes he does.” Izzy caved in. “But not with us.”
“That’s because we haven’t crossed him.”
“Anyway, Uncle Harris is a big teddy bear.” Izzy scooped up a big spoonful of soft serve ice cream dripping with Diet Coke.
Shea was getting a little lost. “Uncle Harris?”
“Sorry. Quick Wells family lesson. Harris Wells is father to Aaron, Luke and Blue. He’s also the uncle of my husband, Jason.”
“Might as well add the other member,” Mikki said. “Lora is Uncle Harris’s sister and Jason’s mother.”
“I kind of have a handle on it.” Shea’s mind was buzzing a little with all the information. “I think.”
“Anyway,” Mikki continued, “I’ve seen Uncle Harris give the boys that calm, level look when they were growing up and doing something particularly stupid, and it always made them toe the line. Aaron has that same look and I’ve seen him give it to Luke and Blue when they were kids, too.”
“Just because he’s the older brother?” Shea queried.
“Because he’s older than them by quite a few years. Seven years older than Luke, nine years older than Blue. He was a grown-up while they were still tear-aways.”
“So he took on a lot of responsibility as well?” Shea was starting to see Aaron in a whole new light.
“Yep.” Mikki nodded. “He was always the steady older brother they turned to often for help. Aaron never got into trouble, was always the serious one, the one in charge when Uncle Harris had to go out to work.”
“So when did he go into security?” Genuinely curious, Shea rubbed at the condensation on the outside of the glass.
Izzy shrugged. “I don’t know. I came to this city like you, I didn’t grow up here. Mikki went to the same school as them.”
“One year behind Luke, in fact.” Mikki licked cheesecake off the back of the fork. “Aaron joined the police force, lasted a few years, left and joined a security group as a bodyguard. I don’t know much about it all, no one seems to. He doesn’t talk much about his experiences and no one is stupid enough to push him for answers. I know he went to a couple of eastern countries as security for politicians and other VIPs. He’s been around.”
“And yet he’s settled in this building on an obscure back street,” Shea said.
Mikki shrugged. “He built up his own security business, does surveillance, body guards, static guards, and possibly a few other things we don’t know about.”
“That last bit is Luke talking,” Izzy interjected. “Luke’s paranoid.”
“Like I’m going to argue that?” Mikki rolled her eyes. “That’s all Aaron’s fault, anyway. He leads Luke on. I keep telling Luke to ignore him but no, he has to poke the beast and then what happens?”
“What?” Shea was fascinated with this glimpse into the Wells brothers.
“Aaron just looks at him. And that sends Luke off into all kinds of weird-arsed suspicions.”
“Just Luke?” Izzy asked wryly.
“I have no idea what you mean,” Mikki said airily.
“You said yourself Aaron’s freaky at times.”
“Did not.”
“Geez, Mikki, you lying cow.”
Finding the soft serve ice cream yummier than expected, Shea scooped up more, but her interest was well and truly caught by the girls’ intriguing insight into Aaron. Silently she listened and watched.
“Just the other night,” Izzy said, “Aaron said something to you before he walked away and you just stared after him.”
“Fine.” Mikki scraped the plate clean with the side of the fork. “He does seem to know things. It’s true.” She looked at Shea. “At times he is freaky. He seems to know what someone is thinking or doing no matter how secret you keep it.”
“And that freaks Luke out.” Izzy sucked on the straw in the glass with satisfaction.
“No need to be so smug. Jason agrees he’s freaky at times, too.”
“Luke?”
“No. Aaron. Geez.”
Izzy’s eyes twinkled merrily.
Mikki turned to Shea. “And then there’s this Zen thing he does.”
“Zen thing?”
“We’ll be at a family gathering and everyone will be talking and having fun, and in the middle of it all, in his own little bubble of calmness, is Aaron. Just sitting there, or standing, quietly taking it all in. Just watching, smiling a little. Honestly, I’ve not seen anything shake that man up.”
“We’d give anything to see that calm persona shaken up a bit,” Izzy mused.
Shea looked at them both. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Do you not like him, then?”
Astonished, they stared at her.
“Don’t like Aaron?” Mikki was genuinely shocked. “Aaron’s the greatest!”
“He’s a man to have at your back if there’s trouble,” Izzy said. “There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his family.”
“And friends,” Mikki added. “Cripes, don’t get us wrong, Stella. We love Aaron. We all do.”
“Sorry.” Instantly contrite, Shea held up a hand. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Honestly.”
“No, it’s all good.” Mikki relaxed back in the chair. “I guess we didn’t exactly give a good impression of Aaron.”
“Not at all. It’s just… He doesn’t sound like he has much fun.”
Thoughtfully, Izzy and Mikki regarded each other.
“You know,” Mikki said slowly, “I actually don’t know what he does for fun.”
Izzy frowned slightly. “Me neither. I mean, I know he comes to the family BBQs, meals, drops in on Uncle Harris, drops in on all of us for a drink or to see how we’re going, but...”
“He has this gym at the back of his yard, pumps iron and things, jogs, keeps fit. But…”
“You think he goes out with Ryan?” Izzy queried.
“What the hell?” Mikki was startled. “Dates Ryan?”
Shea couldn’t help but laugh at Mikki’s expression.
“No, not date!” Izzy exhaled in exasperation. “I meant, maybe he goes out and has a social evening with his team.”
“Yeah, because that’s so much fun. They can all discuss the latest black op mission they’re going on.”
“I think black ops is military. And is it even Australian?”
“I don’t know. He has friends in the Federal Police.”
“And you think that’s social? Seriously?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he dates a fed.”
“Aaron doesn’t date.”
“How do you now?”
“I don’t. I mean, he’s never mentioned seeing a woman.” Izzy frowned. “Correction, he has dated in the past, but not recently. That I’ve heard or seen, anyway.”
“Doesn’t mean he’s not dating,” Mikki pointed out reasonably.
“Yeah, but if he’s serious he’d bring her to meet Uncle Harris.”
“True.” Mikki had a sudden gleam in her eye. “Do you think Aaron has sex?”
Choking on her mouthful of Diet Coke, Izzy coughed and spluttered, grabbing a napkin to slam over her mouth.
The thought of Aaron with a woman was…mind-boggling. Not to mention a little hot. Shea could just imagine what a focussed lover he would be, and that led to thoughts of what his torso would look like if he was stripped down to shorts…or undies…or - she swallowed a mouthful of ice cold Diet Coke, feeling suddenly a little hot - nothing at all.
“Gotcha.” Laughing at Izzy, Mikki glanced at her watch. “Darn. I have to go. Luke is picking me up in the car park in ten minutes.”
Shea stood up as well. “I have to get home and
open up for business soon. Thanks for inviting me for afternoon tea, I really enjoyed it.” And that was no lie. She felt light-hearted, happy, and relaxed.
“Our pleasure.” Mikki smiled. “We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
“Barbie,” Izzy croaked.
“We’re way past the age of playing with Barbies, Iz.”
“No.” Izzy coughed and regained control of her voice. “You bitch, you nearly made me choke to death!”
“You survived.” Mikki waved a hand nonchalantly. “Don’t be such a baby.”
“Barbie,” Izzy repeated, switching her gaze to Shea. “Next weekend we’re having a BBQ at our house. It’s only family, but it’ll be fun. Why don’t you join us?”
The unexpected invite was sweet, but Shea had to refuse. “Thanks, but I’m working.”
“It’s lunchtime, so we won’t start eating until about one.”
“I don’t close until four on Sundays. Plus, I have one starving teenage brother who wouldn’t survive until one.”
“Of course he’s included in the invitation. We have plenty of snacks to tide him over,” Mikki said. “Bummer. Seriously? Four o’clock on a Sunday?”
Shea nodded.
Mikki sighed. “Oh well. Another time, then.”
“Another time. Thanks for the invite, I really appreciate it even if I can’t come.”
“No worries.” Izzy picked up her shoulder bag. “Catch you around, Stella.”
They parted company outside the café.
Mood vastly improved, Shea drove home, unpacked the car and had just finished placing everything on the kitchen table where the three cats proceeded to investigate the contents of the bags, when the phone rang.
Flicking off the answering machine, she said in a soft, soothing tone, “The Mystic Room, Stella speaking.”
There was silence for several seconds then the caller hung up. Not totally unexpected, really.
Replacing the receiver on the hook, Shea crossed back to the table. “Okay, you handsome furry blokes. That caller either had the wrong number or ran out of nerve. Which do you think it is?”
Red was pawing at a package of ham, which she quickly rescued.
“Oh no, boyo. Ham and your belly are disastrous together. Not all the air freshener in the world can fix what happens when you get hold of ham.”
Ginger gave Carrot a slap behind the ear, which had his brother jump in the air and fall off the edge of the table.
“Don’t make me give you the Aaron look,” Shea warned. “You won’t like it if I give you the Aaron look.”
She was still laughing when a knock sounded on the back door. Turning, the laughter died away at the sight of the tall, broad-shouldered man with the direct - and exceedingly cool - gaze pinned on her. She might not have been able to see his face clearly through the security screen with the brightness of the yard behind him, but she sure as hell could feel that gaze.
Wondering guiltily if he’d heard her words, she opened the door. “Can I help you?”
With the light behind him, his eyes appeared dark as they studied her, but when she stood back to let him in and he stepped past her into the kitchen the illusion vanished. Nope, those eyes that swung back to fasten on her were a definite pale blue.
Closing the door, she moved up beside him, her hands behind her back to hide the sudden nerves that had her linking her fingers together and squeezing them. When he didn’t say anything, she followed his gaze to where the three cats sat on the table watching him.
Ginger was perched on the end, his baleful eyes narrowed on Aaron. Red lolled partly inside one of the bags, his face popping out to look at the man. Carrot gave an mrrp and jumped down to stand in front of Aaron. Moving forward, he sniffed Aaron’s boots, moved up to his jeans, and then with another mrrp he sidled around Aaron’s legs, winding his body around his calves, behind his legs and back to the front, where he proceeded to sit and blink happily up at Shea.
Wondering how he was going to take that sign of friendly kitty, Shea glanced up at Aaron to find him studying the three ginger cats with one raised eyebrow.
Slowly he turned that unfathomable gaze to her. “A ginger cat will cross my path, will it?”
“That’s what I said,” she replied brightly.
“Yes, you did.”
She grinned.
“Telling the truth, hmm?”
“Always.”
“Because it was going to come true.”
“And I was right.”
“Uh huh.” Unexpectedly he squatted down, letting Carrot sniff his hand before he scratched the ginger cat behind his ears.
Eyes closed in ecstasy, his purr spilled out into the room.
That caught Red’s attention. He was up and out of the bag, jumping down to sniff around Aaron a little more warily than Carrot had, but when he saw Carrot leaning into Aaron’s hand and purring non-stop, he butted his head against Aaron and was rewarded by his head being massaged right behind his ears. Red slid onto the ground and lay prone, his paws paddling the air as he purred lustily.
Only Ginger stayed on the table watching out of those orange eyes.
“Not so friendly,” he observed.
“Ginger likes to get to know people more before he throws himself shamelessly at them.” Moving over to Ginger, Shea stroked his head. “And even then he never does anything shamelessly. He likes to think things through.”
“Proceeds with caution.”
“Never gets overly friendly unless he’s one hundred percent sure of the person.”
“Wise cat.”
Shea shot Aaron a sly glance. “He reminds me of someone.”
That calm regard switched to her. “Oh?”
“Yeah, but for the life of me, I can’t think who.” She tapped one finger thoughtfully against her lip. “Now who do you think that could be?”
“I have absolutely no idea.”
“Oh come on, I’m sure someone as steeped in secrecy and knowledge as you can figure it out.”
“Is that so? Secrecy and knowledge?” There was a definite faint twinkle in his eyes.
“So I have it on good authority.” Crossing to the ringing phone, she picked it up, automatically falling into her persona, voice dropping as she answered, “The Mystic Room, Stella speaking.”
There was silence for several seconds.
“Hello?” Even as she spoke, she was aware of Aaron watching intently.
The phone went dead.
“Someone’s awfully shy.” She hung up the phone.
“Customer?” He straightened.
Red continued lying at his feet in hopes of more attention, but Carrot, his concentration easily diverted, returned to the table to poke among the bags.
“Either that or they need their glasses checked.” Shea started unpacking the bags.
“It’s not the first silent phone call.”
“Second time in about the last ten minutes.”
“Has it happened before?”
Carrying the boxes of cereal to the pantry, she opened the door and placed them on the shelf. “Yeah, the first time.”
“Cute.”
She flashed him a smile. “Why, thank you. Nice of you to say.”
His expression didn’t reveal a flicker of his thoughts as he continued observing her.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware this was a mutual exchange of admiration.” She smiled wider. “You’re cute, too.”
One eyebrow rose just a fraction.
Unpacking the tins of cat food, she loaded them into her arms. “So what brings you to my home of mystic marvels, Aaron?” Walking past him again, she added mischievously, “Needing a reading to assist your security company?”
Silence was the answer.
“You never know, I could be of immense help.”
“You’re cheerful today.”
“Well, I knew I was going to have a good day.” His knowing the truth about her was somehow relaxing. It made her feel easier, made her free to be h
erself. Enabled her to have a little fun. “It was in the stars.”
Suddenly feeling warmth at her back, she turned to find Aaron standing right behind her with the last of the cat food tins in his arms.
Okay, that was unexpected. “Thanks.”
“The phone call,” he prompted.
Taking the tins from him one-by-one, she stacked them in the pantry. “What about it?”
“How many calls have you had?”
“I told you. Two.”
“Two today, or two since you arrived?”
“Two today.”
He moved out of her way so she could pass him.
Maybe not far enough, she thought, registering the warmth of his body. Or maybe it was simply his presence. He was standing motionless but there was a leashed control about him.
A leashed control that she suddenly wondered…leashed what?
One hand in a bag, she went still, the teasing merriment fading as she became very aware of him watching her with intensity.
Controlled.
Something leashed.
In that moment there was something in the air between them, something unseen but felt, a hint of something else she couldn’t define but found disturbing on several different levels.
Hotly disturbing.
Aaron might have stood motionless but she suddenly knew that behind that quiet control was a man who could be dangerous. Who could see someone, make a sure judgement, act on instinct and gut feeling - and even scarier be correct. His intuition was razor sharp.
So what was he seeing when he looked so directly at her? What was he thinking? The twinkle in his eyes had disappeared, she had the oddest feeling he was eyeing her like…prey?
She swallowed.
His pale gaze intensified, following the line of her throat before sliding back up to linger at her lips. She felt the slide as tangibly as though his fingertips had trailed across her skin.
Nervously, she moistened her lips.
His eyes narrowed, appearing suddenly darker, sharper. He didn’t move an inch, the only motion that of his muscular chest rising and falling in deep, even breaths.
Oh God, he seemed suddenly taller, broader, she was acutely aware of his presence, of him. His shoulders filled out the plain black jacket that hung open, his legs long, thighs muscular beneath the jeans.
The Wells Brothers: Aaron Page 10