War of Hearts

by Nina Levine

  “There was.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing that would harm you.”

  “Yeah, but what was it?”

  The irritation he stares at me with isn’t anything new. I’m so used to it that I hardly even acknowledge it. It’s simply the look I associate with Fury now. Finally, he says, “There was a cat and a duck walking down the road.”

  “Like, together?”

  “Yeah.” When I don’t reply—because this is not at all what I expected him to say and I’m lost for words—he adds, “The cat lifted the duck by the scruff of its neck like it was its baby.”

  “Huh,” I say slowly, taken aback by his clear surprise. I mean, the guy’s a hard-ass; I’m surprised that anything surprises him or catches his attention like this. But I like that something so simple and natural as two animals getting along has caught his attention.

  “Huh what?” he asks.

  I smile, which isn’t something Fury ever brings out in me, but this time he does. “I like your amazement. That’s all.”

  He changes the subject completely when he says, “So are you leaving?”

  “No. King wants you to have dinner with us.”

  The way his mouth pulls into a straight line tells me he loves this idea as much as I do. But he nods and says, “Okay.”

  He follows me inside and I feel self-conscious the entire way. My damn attraction to him has me all kinds of flustered. I’m grateful when we reach the kitchen and he carries on out to the back deck where King is.

  Good God, Zara, get a grip.

  It’s Fury.

  Infuriating Fury.

  Ugh, but he’s so damn hot.

  And moody.

  Gah. Why am I always attracted to assholes?

  “Zara,” Mum says as I stare out at Fury talking to King, “Can you please make the salad?”

  “Yes,” I mumble, tripping over my words and then my feet when I attempt to shift my attention from Fury.

  Mum frowns. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” I mutter, getting my feet to agree to move without making me look like a klutz.

  Mum and I spend the next twenty minutes getting the salads made, the drinks out, and the table set. By the time King and Fury come back inside, I’m sitting at the table feeding Meredith, who is in her high chair. I’m so engrossed in what I’m doing that I almost miss them coming in. However, as Fury walks past me, his arm brushes mine and he slows to look back at me. When our eyes meet, the heat in his is unmistakable, causing butterflies to take up residence in my tummy.

  Oh. My.

  He’s feeling this too.

  As soon as we connect, though, he turns away and keeps going. The moment is fleeting, and when he comes back to the table, his eyes firmly not on me, his face blank again, I almost wonder if I imagined it.

  But I didn’t.

  I’m sure I didn’t.

  Fury takes the seat next to Cade across from me. He still doesn’t make eye contact; instead, he chats with Mum. I realise after a few moments or so that I’m staring at him, so I quickly look away. As I do so, I find King watching me with a frown.

  “What day are you heading down to Melbourne?” Mum asks him, drawing his attention from me.

  “Next week. Monday, probably,” he says. “Why?”

  “Fury said he’ll come over and help you clear the gutters. I was just wondering if you’d be home this weekend, and since you will be, I figure Saturday might be as good as any day to do it.”

  I try not to laugh. Mum’s always trying to boss King around. Even after living with him for years and knowing he wears all the pants in this family.

  King’s brows arch and he turns to Fury who simply looks at him like he’s caught in the middle with no hope of being saved. King then looks at Mum and says, “It’ll have to wait. We’ve got the Brisbane boys coming down on Saturday.”

  Mum’s eyes widen and she places her utensils down. “It’s Thursday, King. When were you planning on breaking this news to me? I’m guessing we’re putting on a barbeque at the clubhouse Saturday night?”

  “I’m telling you now. And yeah, if you’re up to it, I need you to organise something for Saturday night. If you’re not, I’ll get Monroe on to it.

  “I can help,” I say.

  Mum’s face fills with gratitude. “Thanks, baby.” She then eyes King again. “I can do it, but seriously, a little more notice next time would be appreciated.”

  My phone rings and I quickly reach into my bag that’s hanging on my chair and reject the call. It immediately starts ringing again so I pull it out and silence it after seeing Marissa is the caller. She’ll just keep calling and that will piss King off; he has this thing about phone calls at the dinner table.

  When I rejoin the conversation, Mum and King are going on about his lack of keeping her in the loop about Saturday, Meredith is babbling to herself in the high chair next to me, Cade is trying to get Mum’s attention, and Fury is watching me with his irritated expression again. It’s a freaking madhouse and way too much for me to deal with. Or maybe it’s just Fury who is way too much for me to deal with. Either way, this meal needs an intervention.

  “Who owns the cat with a thing for ducks?”

  All sets of eyes land on me.

  “What?” Mum asks, perplexed. “What cat?”

  “There was a cat walking down your street this afternoon with a duck. The cat picked the duck up like it would a kitten. Who owns it?”

  Mum and King live in the kind of neighbourhood where neighbours still knock on each other’s door looking for sugar when they run out. People know each other here, so I expect one of them to know who owns this cat.

  “That’s John’s cat,” King says. “He’s the homesteader a few doors down. Makes the cheese you like.”

  “Ooh.” I grin. “I’m gonna drop in next time I visit and see him. I wanna meet that cat.”

  Mum is still confused. “The cat picks the duck up by its neck?”

  “Yeah,” I say, looking at Fury, “Fury saw them this afternoon and told me about it. I wanna see it for myself.”

  Meredith starts bashing on her high chair table and Mum pushes her chair out to stand. As she does, a sharp pain hits her and she doubles over in agony, a loud cry escaping her lips.

  King moves fast, standing and rushing to her. The pain is so intense that she is unable to hold herself up. She clings to him and he ends up scooping her into his arms. Eyeing me, he says, “Can you take care of the kids?”

  I nod. “Yes.”

  His eyes say thanks but he doesn’t voice it; he leaves us to take Mum to their bedroom.

  Meredith begins crying as she watches her parents go. “Hey, baby,” I coo, standing and unstrapping her from the chair. Lifting her, I say, “I’ve got you.”

  She fights me, wanting nothing less than one of her parents. Holding her close, I eye Fury. “How are you with kids? Like, can you look after Cade and help him finish up his dinner while I go take care of Meredith?”

  He doesn’t hesitate. “Yeah, you go, I’ve got this.”

  “Thanks.”

  I take Meredith, with her flailing arms and kicking legs, to the lounge room and settle us on a couch. Cuddling her, I softly sing her favourite lullabies, the ones that Mum sings to her over and over. I spend a good twenty minutes in here with her, soothing her until she’s gurgling happily up at me with that dimpled smile I adore.

  “You wanna go see Cade?” I ask as I stand.

  Her smile grows as she nods. “Cay!” A whole lot of excited babbling occurs after that; Meredith loves her big brother. I’m relieved to have taken her mind off Mum and King. Judging by the fact I haven’t heard either of them come back out of their bedroom, I think Mum’s pain is probably too great for her to take care of the kids tonight.

  Shifting Meredith to my hip, I walk us out to the kitchen table to find Cade, but neither he nor Fury are there.

  Meeting Meredith’s gaze, I say, “I wonder where they are. Maybe in his bedr
oom?”

  She bounces on my hip, nodding. “Cay!”

  “Okay, let’s go find him!” I inject as much enthusiasm as I can into my voice in an effort to keep her attention on anything but her parents. Meredith can be clingy with them sometimes, especially with Mum. The last thing any of us needs tonight is a clingy Meredith.

  We find Cade and Fury in Cade’s bedroom. They don’t hear us come in because I managed to persuade Meredith into complete silence as we walked down the hallway. I don’t want to disturb Mum.

  Their backs are to us as they play together on the floor with Cade’s toy cars. My lips slide into a smile. Of course he convinced Fury to play with his cars.

  Fury is stretched out on his side as he tells Cade about a car he used to own that’s exactly like one of the toy cars. My eyes are drawn to his ass and then his back. The man is made of muscle. It’s distracting as hell. Especially when his clothes fit so damn well. And when he wears that black T-shirt he’s wearing today. I’ve seen him in it a few times, and I don’t know what it is about black tees, but I’m all about them. If he were my boyfriend, I’d tell him to wear nothing but a black T-shirt. In particular, that one. Or at least one that’s as tight as that one.

  Shit.

  Enough.

  He’s not your damn boyfriend and never will be.

  You don’t like him. Remember?

  “Zawa!” Cade catches sight of me and hops up, running my way.

  Fury turns his head and our eyes meet. Gone is that irritated expression he wears as well as he wears that black tee. In its place is a softer expression. One I’ve never seen on him. I like it.

  Cade slams into my legs, his little arms going tightly around them. Meredith wiggles in my hold, excited to see her brother. They’re both so strong for such little humans.

  “Okay, guys, let’s calm down,” I suggest, but neither listens. Cade tries to climb up my body while Meredith tries to wiggle out of my hold. I fail in my attempt to subdue both of them.

  Fury moves quickly, his legs pulling in as he pushes himself up off the ground. Coming my way, he reaches out and takes Meredith from me. I expect her to resist, but she doesn’t. She goes to him more easily than I’ve ever seen her go to someone she doesn’t know. She then lifts an arm and pulls his hair, bubbling with happy Meredith-talk. Fury smiles at her and then at me, and good God, his smile is everything. It completely changes his face and body, and the way he fills the room. Because that’s what Fury does: he fills any room he’s in. Usually it’s in a forceful, dominant way, kinda like King does but on a smaller scale. When he smiles, it relaxes the whole feel. I’m drawn to him when he’s like this. The space between us feels intimate now.

  “Thank you.” My words are soft, a little tentative. I feel all kinds of uncertain with him now. We only know each other in terms of irritation and frustration. Neither of those is here and I’m unsure of him like this.

  His smile eases but it never leaves his eyes. “What time does she go down?”

  He talks like he knows kids. Maybe he does; I know nothing about him and his life. “Usually around now, but she’s wide awake. It might take a while for her to fall asleep.”

  “You wanna try or do you want me to?”

  “Umm, do you know much about getting kids to sleep?”

  Amusement fills his features. “You’ve really got me pigeonholed, haven’t you, princess? Yeah, I know about kids. I helped get my niece through her first two years.”

  If it weren’t for Cade distracting me with his insistent need for attention, I’d put more thought into that answer. Fury helped raise a baby? I kinda do have him pigeonholed. “I’ll do it if you can occupy Cade again.”

  Holding Meredith out to me, he says, “You got it.”

  I leave him and my brother to play with toy cars again while I take Meredith to her room. After I’ve changed her nappy, I put her in her cot and dim the lights. I then read a book to her like Mum does. By the time I’m finished, she has the drowsy look in her eyes that means she should fall asleep soon. But she doesn’t. She fights it, which is what she does every single time I attempt to put her to sleep.

  I suck at this.

  The next twenty minutes pass with me trying to leave the room and Meredith crying each time I try. Honestly, I have no skills whatsoever when it comes to getting a baby to sleep.

  King interrupts us when he comes in and says, “I’m going to take your mother to the hospital. Can you stay the night and watch the kids?”

  “Is she okay?”

  “Her pain is pretty bad and she’s bleeding. Just lightly, but I wanna make sure it’s just the fibroids and nothing else.”

  I’ve spent the last few months worried about Mum and this pregnancy, and this news only increases that worry, but I push the fear down and nod. “I’ll stay and look after the kids. And I don’t have work tomorrow, so I can stay as long as you need.”

  He exhales a long breath. “I appreciate this.”

  I nod. I know he does.

  He leaves and I do my best to put the worry out of my mind. That’s not as hard as usual because Meredith is giving me enough grief to put anything out of my mind.

  Another fifteen minutes pass with no change in her sleepiness. The only thing that does change is she grows increasingly fretful.

  I’m pulling my hair out ten minutes later when Fury puts his head around the corner. “You need help?”

  “Oh my God, I suck at this,” I whisper-yell while nodding.

  He enters the room and scoops a crying Meredith into his arms. Cuddling her, he says, “Cade wants you to go kiss him goodnight.”

  “He’s in bed?”

  “Yeah. I got him bathed and in his jammies, and I read a book to him. He showed me where everything was. He’s pretty tired but is hanging out for a kiss from his sister.”

  “Holy fuck,” I say quietly, “You’re the freaking kid-whisperer. Nothing gets these kids to sleep that easily.”

  He chuckles softly. “I’ve just had enough practice.” He jerks his chin towards the door. “Go. I’ll get her to sleep.”

  I still hold some doubt he’ll have as much luck with Meredith as he had with Cade, but fifteen minutes later when he joins me in the kitchen, I let go of that doubt. I also un-pigeonhole him in my mind. Gone is the asshole. In his place is a man I’m interested to know a lot more about.

  I stop washing up. “Seriously? She’s asleep?”

  “Yeah.”

  I pull one hand out of the washing-up water and flick bubbles at him. “Shut up. Ugh. I’m gonna need you to tell me all your secrets. That kid never falls asleep for me.”

  He wipes the bubbles from his face and reaches for a tea towel and a dish to dry. “Sorry, princess, I have no secrets to tell. Either you got it or you don’t.”

  His tone is playful and I have to admit I really like it. I flick more bubbles at him. “Smartass. I don’t know what you’ve got, but I bet it can be learned.”

  “I bet you’re right. But wait, how old is Cade? Three?” His eyes sparkle with more of that playfulness. “You’ve done so well in those three years.”

  I don’t flick bubbles this time; this time I smack him. “Has anyone ever told you what an asshole you are?”

  As soon as my hand lands on his abs and the words leave my mouth, the playfulness disappears from his eyes and is replaced with heat. Before I know what’s happening, he’s in my space, staring down at me. “You’ve told me plenty,” rumbles out of his mouth, all gravelly and rough.

  The mood between us shifts. I realise my hand is still pressed to his abs. I also realise I really freaking like it there and it seems he does too.

  I stare up at him. I don’t know what to do. It’s the first time in my life I’ve not known what to do with a guy. That’s not because I’m a slut like Tommy thinks, though. It’s because I’ve only ever flirted with guys my age and they’re all pretty predictable with what they want from me. They’re also predictable with how they’ll react in any given situation
. Fury’s different. He’s older, and I don’t find him easy to read. Until tonight, he didn’t even appear to like me, let alone find me attractive.

  I bite my lip as warmth floods my body. The way he’s looking at me is doing all kinds of crazy things to me, the least of it that warmth. “I don’t actually think you’re an asshole anymore. I mean, you definitely have asshole tendencies, but I, uh, I’m beginning to think there’s some good traits buried deep inside you.”

  He rests his hands on the kitchen counter either side of me, bringing his body even closer to mine. “Is that so?”

  “Yeah.” My voice is all breathy and that seems to affect him. His nostrils flare and his eyes leave mine to travel down my body. Oh God, I like having his eyes there. I like it a lot. “I now know you like kids, cats, and ducks. It makes me wonder what else you like.”

  His eyes don’t return to mine straight away. He takes his time with my body. By the time he’s done, I feel all needy. I want to kiss him and touch him and have him in a way I’ve never wanted anyone. “It seems I like things I can’t have,” he murmurs sexily.

  “Oh.” It falls from my mouth before I can stop it.

  What is happening here?

  “Yeah, oh.” It’s a low growl.

  I scrunch a handful of his shirt and pull my body to his. I’m not sure exactly what I plan to do next, but Fury takes charge and pushes off from the counter, taking a step back. “Fuck.” He rakes his fingers through his hair. “Fuck.” This time it’s a deeper growl.

  I let go of his shirt. The moment is broken and I’m left with a whole lot of awkwardness. Fury seems less than impressed with what’s happened. In fact, he’s looking at me like he just made a big mistake. I don’t know what to do with the feeling that leaves me with so I turn back to the sink and reach for a dirty dish to wash. Maybe we can just pretend that never happened. I’m sure that’s what he wants to do.

  “Zara,” he starts but stops.

  Before he can say it, I say, “I’ll finish up here; you can go back to work.”

  He’s silent for a beat. “Yeah, okay.”

  I try to ignore my disappointment at the sound of his boots walking away. The fact I’m even feeling disappointed is just as confusing as what just happened. How the hell did I go from hating him to wanting nothing more than to kiss him?