“Had fun choosing cat things?” Aaron queried.
“Saw us, huh?”
“Kind of hard to miss Luke’s backside waggling in the breeze while he’s trying to choose a basket.” The corners of Aaron’s eyes crinkled in amusement.
“Tell me about it. The man could talk the hind leg off donkey.” Opening the ‘fridge, Blue peered inside. “Damn, Jason did drink the last of the Iced Coffee. Want a Coke or a hot coffee or tea?”
“I’ll have water, thanks.”
“Sure? I can put the kettle on.”
“Water’s fine.”
Not really surprised, Blue poured a glass of icy water, topping it off with a couple of ice cubes before handing it to Aaron. Standing on the opposite side of the counter, he popped the tab on a Coke and took a long swallow, enjoying the fizz of the drink as it went down his throat.
Aaron glanced around the kitchen. “Charley’s got a fondness for yellow.”
“She does.” Blue followed his gaze. “Sunflower clock, yellow print tea towels, bits of this and that.”
“She’s made the place homey.”
“Yeah.”
“Good tenant.”
“She looks after the place.”
“Now she’ll look after your cat while you’re away.”
“Yep. She’s already in love with Kitty and the cat hasn’t even arrived yet.”
“How is Kitty?”
“Recovering well. The vet said she had some lacerations and bruising, and he was a little worried about trauma from being unconscious, but she woke up the same night we brought her in and she’s doing well.”
“Blood tests and x-rays came back all right, then.”
“She’s fine. A little malnourished but nothing some TLC won’t fix. She’s had IV therapy, some pain killers for the first couple of days, but is over the shock and serious stuff. She’s coming home tomorrow. I’m actually looking forward to it,” Blue admitted.
“That’s good, I’m glad. On both accounts.” Fingers loosely gripping the glass, Aaron looked at the pink food and water bowl sitting on the counter. “Fancy bowls for the newest family member.”
“She’s a Wells now.” Blue grinned. “Nothing but the best for our women.”
Plucking a ginger hair off his sleeve, Aaron regarded it with a slightly raised eyebrow. “And men.”
“Ah, the three ginger miscreants that came along with Shea.” Moving over to the table, Blue hooked a chair out with his sneakered foot and dropped into it, stretching out his legs. “And her teenage brother. Mate, when you married her, you had an instant family.”
“Shea and four male kids - three furry and one human.” Moving across the floor with measured steps, Aaron drew out a chair and sat opposite Blue, placing the glass of ice water on the table. “Best thing I ever did.”
Blue studied him. Always calm and unflappable, there was something that his brother had now that he’d never had before. It wasn’t anything any one person could pick up on, but Blue could feel it. Contentment? Aaron had always been content with his life, but now it was complete. Yeah, that was it - complete. Shea made Aaron’s life complete. There was nothing more that could possibly make his brother any more content or happy. He never complained about dealing with a teenage boy who went through girlfriends like water through a sieve, nor did he complain about his once spotless dark clothes sprouting odd ginger hairs. In fact, he didn’t even complain about the way one of the ginger cats sprawled across his desk. Because Aaron’s life was complete. Shea made it complete, and whatever family she brought with her was a part of Aaron’s life.
“Married life suits you,” Blue murmured.
“I’m happy.”
“I’m glad.”
Silence descended for several moments as they drank and just enjoyed each other’s company.
When Aaron finally broke the silence, Blue wasn’t surprised by the question.
“How are you doing, Blue?”
“I’m doing fine.” He met his brother’s direct gaze steadily.
“The Middle East can be a bit challenging.”
“I’m not alone there.”
“A man can be alone in the middle of thousands.”
“Yeah. I’m lucky.” Blue idly rolled the bottom of the can around on the table. “Got a good Sergeant, Alex Lawson.”
Aaron nodded. “I’ve heard of him. Good man, steady, patient. Looks after those under his command.”
“He debriefs us. Talks to us. Makes sure those who need some help get it, those who need to blow off some steam get the chance.”
Taking a mouthful of water, Aaron studied him before asking quietly, “Anything troubling you?”
“No.”
“You need to talk about anything while you’re home, you know where I am.”
“Yeah, I do know. Thanks, Aaron. Seriously. I’m fine this time around, haven’t lost any mates. But knowing I have you to talk to if it all turns to shit makes life easier.”
“Okay.” Aaron’s eyes softened. “As long as you remember that, Blue. I’m always here. I’ll always understand. Dad’s here, too. But I’ll always understand.”
Blue actually had to swallow the sudden lump that filled his throat. Yeah, his Dad would love him no matter what, Luke would always love him, the girls would always be there to heap TLC on him if he needed it, but the one who would understand the most, who would have the closest inkling of what he’d be feeling if things went to shit, was Aaron. He might never have been military, but he’d been in dangerous situations, he’d been in gun fights, he knew what it was like to be pinned down, have the enemy throwing things at you, losing a mate to some bastard that managed to get off that one shot that had some man’s name on it.
He could talk to fellow soldiers, talk to the Sarge, talk to the Army chaplain, but having someone so close to him, family to talk to, Aaron to confide in, that was his lifeline when things went to shit. All of them, each of them, but mostly Aaron.
Hell, one time when he was particularly low after the death of a fellow soldier who happened to be his friend, out in the middle of bloody nowhere, Aaron was suddenly at the camp, spoke to the captain, and next thing Blue knew he looked up and there was Aaron coming through the doorway.
To this day he couldn’t even begin to describe how that had felt. His big brother there, just like he’d been all Blue’s life. He’d simply hugged Blue, then they’d sat and talked for ages, interspersed with comfortable silence, and when Aaron finally left four hours later Blue was a lot better.
Aaron had always made things better.
Blue didn’t know the real reason Aaron just happened to be there, the only thing his brother revealing a brief “Work” when asked. That was enough for Blue, he knew Aaron’s company did more than simple security and bodyguard work, knew that they sometimes worked in grey areas, did retrieval work on kidnap victims and who knew what else, but he never asked more than Aaron was willing to reveal which was very little.
Somehow that visit had strengthened Blue, made him stronger, made him realise that while his family loved him, Aaron really understood what he faced, and that gave him courage, put steel in his spine, and he’d never looked back.
But good old Aaron was still here, right across the table checking up on him.
“Thanks,” he said. “Thanks so much.”
“Always,” Aaron replied simply.
By silent mutual agreement the conversation turned to lighter things.
By the time Aaron left, anyone would have thought the original reason for his visit had been forgotten. However, at the doorway, right before he walked out, he turned and gathered Blue into his arms, hugging him close.
Blue hugged him back, squeezed him, remembering almost immediately other times he’d been hugged by Aaron - when he’d scraped his knee, when he’d gotten into a fight, when he’d gotten a shockingly low grade on his maths and had been ashamed to tell Dad. So many times his big brother had been there. Older than him by nine years, Aaron had been the one to be in charge of him and Luke when their father was working.
Aaron had never stopped caring, never stopped being the big brother.
Blue never stopped loving him for it.
Aaron gave him a squeeze before stepping back, clapping his hand on Blue’s shoulder. “You and Charley need to come over for tea. Soon.”
“We will.” Blue grinned. “She really needs to meet the family properly.”
“Yes.” Aaron smiled slightly. “Yes, she does.”
~*~
Sitting in the empty waiting room, Charley stared down at her shoes. She’d been looking forward to picking up Kitty and now finally here she was with Blue, waiting for the vet.
Casting a sideways glance at the man sitting beside her, she couldn’t help but admire the way the muscles in his arms bulged as he leaned back comfortably in the chair with his arms folded across those impressive pecs, one ankle resting on the opposite knee. Old, scuffed sneakers shod his feet, the worn cargo shorts seeming to accentuate his hard thigh muscles.
Hmmm. She glanced down at her plump thighs in the pedal pushers, contemplated the sandals on her feet, wriggled her toes. Even when she got up early to go to work, Blue was already out running somewhere or going to a gym to pump weights. He had a morning routine he worked before doing whatever he wanted for the rest of the day. She supposed soldiers had to keep fit, he certainly worked at it.
Damn sure gave him a body that had women taking a second look. Combined with a handsome face and steady gaze, it was a winning combination. But what really drew her was his kind, caring nature. As soon as she’d found out that he’d been visiting Kitty every day, her heart had practically melted. He hadn’t told her, she’d only found out when she’d slipped in to visit Kitty after work and the receptionist had laughingly commented on the visits the patient was getting from both her and Blue. Add that to the things he’d bought for the cat - all in pink because she was a girl, which was so cute - and, well, that kind nature just made her feel all warm and fuzzy.
“You’re quiet,” his deep voice interrupted her thoughts.
Not wanting him to guess she’d been thinking warm and fuzzy about him, Charley replied, “Just thinking about you working out.”
It was his turn to cast her a sideways glance.
“Makes me think maybe I should work out.”
“Why?”
Suddenly a little self-conscious, she cleared her throat.
That had his head turning, those piercing blue eyes regarding her seriously.
Running her palms along her thighs, she immediately wished she hadn’t when his attention shifted to her thighs. Cripes, her plump thighs.
When his gaze slid up her body to lock onto her eyes, she gave a sheepish smile. “Not model material.” When his expression turned thoughtful, she blushed and looked away.
Good grief, did he think she was fishing for compliments? How pathetic would that be? How-
“Why would you want to look like a model?” Blue queried.
“Um…I don’t really…” Trying to regain some composure, she scratched an elbow. “Not much. Well, no more than some girls, I guess.”
“I think you look just fine.”
Aw, there was that caring nature again. “You’re sweet.”
“No. I’m honest.”
“Honestly sweet.”
“You’re perfect just the way you are, Charley. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
“Even if I wear too much yellow?” she teased. “And fill your house with yellow things like yellow tea towels and sunflower clocks?”
His big hand touched her smaller one, gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “I’m finding myself starting to really like the colour yellow.”
Amused, she turned to face him. “Then I reckon I could give Army fatigues a go.”
One dark eyebrow arched. “Is that a promise?”
“Sure. We could start with the shower door. I can replace the motif with something in fatigue colours.”
“Hmmm.” He thought, shook his head. “Nope. I like the yellow sunflower motif on the screen.”
“Give me a minute.” She mock frowned. “Let me think about it. I’m sure I can come up with something.”
“No need,” he replied easily. “Everything in the house stays as is. I like the yellow touches.”
“If you lived around it long enough, you might not. It’s probably just a novelty right now.”
“Honey, I could never get sick of the yellow. It’s you all over.”
“Is that right?”
“Sunshine and happiness.” He tapped the tip of her nose. “Unmistakeable.”
The man had a way of giving a compliment that instead of flustering her, made her laugh and feel good.
His eyes were warm, smile slightly crooked.
Smiling back up at him, she leaned in close and he obliged by leaning toward her so that their arms pressed together. Almost immediately she smelled his soap and deodorant, beneath it warm, clean male.
Crooking her finger at him, she waited until he’d lowered his head before murmuring, “So you’ll use my yellow flowered glasses and yellow tea towels and flowered soap?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Touch my manly soap on pain of retaliation.”
“What about my flowered deodorant?”
“Touch any of my manly stuff on pain of retaliation.”
She pouted.
“Cute. Still no.”
Before she could tease him further, the vet called out, “Blue Wells.” They both looked up and the vet gestured to them. “Come in. Kitty is ready for you.”
Picking up the carry basket by his foot, Blue followed Charley into the consult room.
The thin tabby and white cat, now sporting the fancy pink collar and yellow name tag containing their mobile numbers and address that Blue had brought into the clinic the previous day, looked at them a little cautiously until he spoke to her and held out his hand, which she sniffed before bumping her head against his knuckles. He rewarded her by rubbing around her ears gently, which set her purring.
“She’s so sweet.” Charley couldn’t resist carefully smoothing her hand down the furry back.
“That she is,” the vet agreed. “Now, Kitty is doing well. She’s recovered nicely with no side effects, her lacerations are healing well, and she’s made no attempt to chew the stitches which, by the way, need to be removed next week. You can make an appointment at the reception for that.”
Charley and Blue nodded while the vet nurse put Kitty into the cat carrier and closed the door securely.
“If she does chew the stitches, then it’s the cone of shame.” The vet pointed up at the plastic Elizabethan-like collar hanging on the wall. “We did put it on her at first but she freaked out pretty badly, so we took it off and watched her. The whole time she’s been here she hasn’t touched the stitches, so I doubt it’ll be needed but you never know.”
Blue and Charley nodded again.
“Now, even though she’s recovered well, she’s still a little tender in places. Not enough to need pain killers but enough to warrant careful handling. No running around and playing rough, so be careful if you have kids.”
“No kids.” Blue nodded. “That leaves out Luke, then.”
Charley elbowed him while assuring the vet, “Luke is older than Blue. No kids.”
Blue rubbed his rock-hard abdomen. “It’s only us in our house.”
“Time for that later, hmm?” The vet nurse smiled.
Realising what she meant, Charley said quickly, “Oh, we’re not having kids.”
“Yet,” Blue added.
Startled, she stared at him.
He shrugged. “Never know what the future holds.”
Dumbfounded, Charley didn’t quite know what to reply to that. True, the future held many options, but surely he could see that the vet nurse mistakenly thought they were a couple?
Apparently not, because Blue calmly picked up the cat basket. “Anything else we need to know?”
“The microchip has been transferred into your name, Blue,” the vet replied. “You’ll need to keep her inside for several weeks until she gets used to being in your home.”
“No worries. We’ve got everything she needs in the line of food and litter, and she’ll have the run of the house.”
Giving up worrying about what the vet nurse mistakenly thought, Charley added, “We’ll be careful coming in and out that she doesn’t slip past us.”
“Well, then.” The vet smiled widely. “I guess you’re good to go.”
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for her.”
Blue held out his hand. “Thanks from me, too, mate.”
“Anytime.” The vet shook his hand. “After all, you gave her the chance at life, too, so let’s just agree that it was a team effort.”
Once in the ute, Charley carefully set the cat carrier in the middle.
Kitty sniffed the air.
Blue got into the driver’s seat and looked at Kitty. “Okay, we’re bona fide cat owners now.”
“Bona fide?”
“Blame Luke.”
“You might have to explain that to me one day.”
His eyes twinkled. “You’ve met my brother, what is there to explain?”
Pretending to give it serious thought, she nodded solemnly. “When you put it like that…”
Sticking one finger through the wire door of the carrier, he smiled as Kitty rubbed her face against it. “Let’s get her home and settled.”
On the trip home, Charley cooed and talked to Kitty, who kept peeking up at her out of huge eyes before returning her attention to the windscreen. Granted, she couldn’t see above the dashboard, but there was no doubt she was nervous.
Once back at the house, they settled her into the spare bedroom with the litter tray, basket, food and water, deciding that it would be better for her to get used to one room before letting her venture into the rest of the house.
“Besides,” Blue said, “she can use this room as her safe house.”
“Safe house?” Charley grinned. “How about safe room? Wait.” She held up a finger. “Our cat has her own panic room. How cute is that?”
“I’ll give you cute,” he muttered, opening the cat carrier door.
Grinning, Charley knelt down on the carpet and gently rubbed under Kitty’s chin, rewarded by her purring. When Blue eased his long frame down on the carpet on the other side of the carrier, she felt that familiar warmth go through her as he spoke to the cat, rubbing behind her ears before laying his hand palm up on the floor and wiggling his fingers enticingly. Obviously settling down to spend some time with her, he stretched out with his upper half propped up on one elbow, resting his head on his hand.
Kitty took a few tentative steps out of the basket, looking around cautiously in-between sniffing his palm.
In unspoken agreement, Charley and Blue remained sitting and talking softly about movies and books, letting their voices and presence comfort the cat and bolster her courage. She knew them from their visits so, as Blue suggested, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to stick around for a little while and let her get used to the room and them.
They ended up staying in the room for half an hour, finding out that they both had similar tastes in books. However, they disagreed on other things - Blue loved motorcycle racing which prompted her to christen him a ‘Revhead Two-Wheeler’.
“What the hell?” His expression was indignant. “That makes me sound like I ride a kiddie’s pushbike with training wheels.”
“Oh sweetie, no.” She pulled a pitying face. “That’d make you a Revhead Four-Wheeler. You’re out of the training wheels.”
“That doesn’t make it sound better.”
She batted her eyelashes at him.
His eyes narrowed. “Listen, Sunflower-”
“Sunflower? Is that the best you can do?”
“Maybe I’ll just ring your Mum and tell her you’re calling me names.”
“Mum wouldn’t believe you. I’m her little round pumpkin.” When his eyes widened, she pointed at him. “Not one word out of you.”
Ignoring that, he grinned. “She calls you her little round pumpkin?”
“That came about when I was six years old and dressed in a pumpkin outfit for a school play.”
“What the hell were you doing dressed as a pumpkin?”
“We were soup ingredients.”
“Holy crap. Was your teacher a cannibal or something?”
“What?”
“Dressing kids up as soup ingredients. That’s just sick.”
“I played a very good pumpkin, I’ll have you know.”
He eyed her. “You’re getting defensive there, Sunflower. Got something to confess?”
“What, you think maybe I manhandled the zucchini?”
He choked.
“Yeah,” she added ruefully, “that didn’t come out right.”
“You can say that again.” He snorted a laugh.
“I did kick the carrot’s arse.”
“Jesus, Charley.”
“Hey, he kicked me first.” She pointed at her hip. “Put a dent in my pumpkin.”
Blue’s eyes danced with enjoyment. “What did the cannibal teacher do then?”
“The carrot and I got separated, he was put with the squash and I got the beetroot. I didn’t mind beetroot, she was my best friend.”
“Is beetroot still your best friend?”
“No. She moved away the next year and even though we swore friendship to our dying days, by the end of the month I think we’d pretty much forgotten each other.”
“Sad.” Blue shook his head. “That’s the way of soup ingredients, though.”
Kitty chose that moment to walk under Blue’s arm, her tail in the air as she sniffed at his chin. He stroked her back and she blinked at Charley, sniffed Blue again and wandered over to Charley for some loving before jumping up on the window sill and looking out into the garden.
Seeing her interest, Charley and Blue decided it was okay to leave her for awhile.
Making sandwiches for lunch, Charley cut extra to take to work for dinner, silently wishing she could stay home and spend time with Kitty, especially the first day. She had to admit to a bit of envy when she spotted Blue sprawled out on the sofa reading a motorcycle magazine, munching on the sandwiches she’d made for him and sipping from a tall glass of homemade iced coffee.
Before she left, she peeked in at Kitty to find her curled up near the pillow on the bed. The cat raised her head and Charley blew her a kiss and shut the door again, not wanting to disturb her.
“Don’t work too hard,” she said with trace of sarcasm as she passed the lounge room door on the way out.
“Perish the thought.” He winked. “I’ll be thinking of you slaving away while I’m sitting here doing this…” He slurped a mouthful of cold drink and flapped the magazine at her.
Curling her lip, she flipped him the bird and walked out, his laughter following her.
The afternoon at work went fairly quiet, the routine undisturbed by anything out of the ordinary. There were several inquiries from family members, some care plans to update, and delivery of new Webster packs from several pharmacies. Though the shift went fairly quickly as it always did because staffing never seemed to quite match the workload, Charley had to admit she was looking forward to going home and seeing how Kitty was settling. She’d never thought much about getting a pet while renting, mostly because she’d never met her landlord and therefore hadn’t been able to ask him, but now she had both the landlord and a cat at home.
She’d certainly never expected to like the landlord as much as she did, but Blue was a man easy to be around. She didn’t feel self-conscious around him, and in simply a week he’d become a friend, one she could joke and laugh with and engage in conversation without having to put effort into it. As for Kitty, well, she was half in love with her already.
It was ten o’clock at night by the time she pulled into the garage. The lounge light was still on, the spare bedroom light glowing through the side window. Entering, she heard the TV playing in the lounge and glanced in, expecting to see Blue sitting on the sofa.
The lounge room was empty.
Putting her things away, she was puzzled at the seeming emptiness of the house. Quietly opening the spare bedroom door, she peeked in, took a second look and smiled.
Blue was lying on the bed, motorcycle magazine partially on the bed, several pages hanging over the edge where it had slipped from his hand while he’d been reading. He was fast asleep, muscular chest beneath the t-shirt rising and falling with each even, deep breath.
Lying in the curve of his other arm was Kitty. She was in a little ball tucked up into his side, his big hand protectively cupping her back and tail.
The man just made Charley gooey inside. How was it possible, she thought, moving up to the bedside and carefully easing the magazine back onto the bed so it wouldn’t fall onto the floor and disturb man or cat, that Blue could possibly be this sweet, this caring, and - remembering their banter earlier - this funny, and Shona wasn’t prepared to wait for him?
If Charley had a man like this, she’d wait. If I loved him, that is, she hastily tacked on, glad she was the only one privy to her wayward thoughts.
Straightening, she made to ease away but instead halted, gazing down at the sleeping man, studying him frankly.
Big, handsome, tall, muscular. Caring, kind, efficient, protective. Funny, serious, thoughtful, honest. A man a woman could lean on, walk beside, share secrets and trust.
In fact, though undeniably handsome, it wasn’t good looks alone that attracted her, but his other tributes, his character, it drew her like a moth to a flame. A very hot flame.
Careful, Charley. You’re getting a serious case of hero worship.
Blue shifted slightly, the movement making Kitty raise her head and blink at first him then up at Charley.
Not wanting him to wake and see her watching him - how embarrassing would that be? - she quickly left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
Her dreams that night were hazy, a warm, hard body, big hands, hot skin...decadent touches that had her turning restlessly in the bed.
Awakened by the alarm clock ringing, she blinked sleepy eyes, slammed her palm on the top to switch it off and rolled onto her back with a groan to stare up at the ceiling.
Lordy, lordy. That would teach her to ogle the landlord right before bed.
Shifting her legs impatiently, she pointedly ignored the slight ache between her thighs, the flare of desire at the memory of some pretty lucid and lewd dreams.
Shoving back the sheet twisted from a fidgety sleep, she downed the glass of water sitting on the bedside drawers before staggering to the door while shoving the hair out of her face with one hand. Pulling it open, she rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and walked straight into a wide chest, saved from bouncing back into the bedroom by big hands grasping her upper arms.
Blinking groggily, she looked up into amused eyes.
“’Morning,” Blue said.
Oh boy, the man of her dreams. Literally. “Uh, ‘morning,” she mumbled.
“Sure you’re awake, Sunflower?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be running that very fine arse down the road this time of the morning?” Realising what had just fallen out of her unchecked mouth, she added quickly, “All those working girls need something to ogle on their way to work.”
“I just fed Kitty. You know.” His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Doing my daddy thing.”
“Aw, that’s so cute.”
“I know. I’m falling into the role so well. Are you going to do your mummy thing now?”
Mmm, being the mummy to his daddy sounded naughty. In her mind, at least. Damn those hot dreams.
Managing not to give away her thoughts, Charley asked, “What’s the mummy thing?”
“Cleaning the litter tray.”
She smacked him on one hard bicep.
“Ow. Geez.” Laughing, he caught her hand. “Little grizzly in the mornings, huh?”
She squinted up at him. “I need to be woken gently, Revhead.”
“I’ll remember that.” He winked. “You’re still going to clean the tray though, huh?”
“If you think that’s going to be my job every time-”
“Settle, Sunflower.” Laughing, he dropped a kiss on top of her head. “I’ve already done it.”
The kiss took her by surprise, but not as much as when he used his grip on her hand to whirl her around, gave her a gentle push and a small smack to her backside while saying, “If you’re going to be on time for work, better move it, Charley.”
Gaping, she swung back around, one hand on her bottom as she stared after him vanishing around the corner of the hallway. The man didn’t wait to see her response to his unexpected action, just whistled merrily as he went out of sight, his very fine arse clad in shorts, big feet in sneakers, t-shirt over his impressive torso.
She felt his hand print like it was burned into her flesh. He hadn’t smacked her hard, it had been done in teasing fun, but holy cow, she… Holy cow!
Okay, she should be indignant, should probably rip him, but heck…to be truthful, she felt…well…all kinds of delightfully confused, her stomach dipping.
She was even more nonplussed when his head came back around the corner, a frown on his face. “Sorry. That wasn’t nice.” At her no-doubt glazed expression, he added, “Smacking you on the…uh…bum. Sorry.”
“I’m not.” Almost instantly she realised what her bloody unchecked mouth had said again and inhaled sharply.
Blue’s eyebrows shot up, then down, his head angling slightly while studying her with…interest?
Probably bloody puzzled as to her no-doubt stupidly glazed expression. She was lucky her tongue wasn’t hanging out. No to mention that, oh cripes, how must she sound? “I mean.” Gathering the shreds of her dignity, she drew her shoulders back. “It’s okay. I know you were just messing around.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “I apologise if I offended you. I’m not normally handsy like that.”
“That’s okay.” She grinned a little ruefully. “I guess I can’t talk.”
His expression turned inquiring.
“I made a comment about your very fine arse. Maybe I offended you.”
His eyes twinkled. “If I took offence at every little thing said to me, I’d be rocking away under the desk in a foetal position. I have a tough hide.”
“Same.” She nodded.
“My tough hide goes with my very fine arse.” He winked. “In fact, thank you for noticing my very fine arse. I’ll run with my head held high now.”
“Just think of it as giving the working girls a treat.” She closed her eyes. “My mouth is running away with me this morning.”
“I’ve noticed that about you.” At her wince, he laughed. “I like it. Don’t ever stop on my account, Sunflower.” With that, he waved and left.
Close call. With a sigh, she went into the bathroom, pulling off the nightie before catching sight of her reflection. Oh, wonderful. She wrinkled her nose. Her hair was a mess, her eyes bleary, a crease on her cheek from the sheet. Not to mention she was wearing an old nightie.
“Gah. You’re lucky he was even game to touch you.”
Stepping under the shower spray, she tipped her head back while reaching for the soap. The block she ran over her arms didn’t smell like lavender. Nope, she saw as she inspected it, the soap was Blue’s manly cake. Placing it down in the soap dish she fished her lavender soap out from under it and resumed soaping.
When she ran it over her bum cheek, she couldn’t help grinning slightly. So shoot her, it’d be pathetic if she couldn’t admit to herself in the privacy of the bathroom that the memory of his hand on her bum produced another little hot dip of her belly. And the kiss on top of her head? Sure, it was nothing more than friendliness, maybe a little bit of affection, but it still warmed her.
Feeling much more settled than when she’d first awakened, Charley checked on Kitty.
The tabby and white cat was lying in the middle of the bed like she owned it. Lifting her head at Charley’s entrance, Kitty meowed.
“Aw, sweet.” Sitting on the side of the bed, Charley stroked her carefully, mindful of the healing abrasions and lacerations. “How are you, gorgeous?”
Getting to her feet, Kitty stretched and yawned, arching her back blissfully before bumping her head against Charley’s hand.
“You are so cute. How could people be so mean to you, huh?” Charley tickled her under the chin. “What a baby. Maybe tonight you can come out into the rest of the house with us. I think you’re looking pretty settled, and if there’s only me and Blue here, you know us already. I’ll ask Blue, shall I? Hmmm?”
Purring, Kitty rubbed herself along Charley’s side.
Looking down, Charley noted the white cat hairs now sticking to her navy blue pants. “Oh, look. Guess I’ll have to buy a brush. One for you and one for me.” Giving her a last pat, she stood up. “Okay, I have to get something to eat and head off. I’ll see you later, sweet cheeks.”
Kitty followed her to the door, and Charley had to put her back on the bed and make a mad dash for the door, slipping out and closing it just in time to stop Kitty following. At the plaintive meow on the other side of the door, she sighed. Then she laughed when she glanced down to see the tip of one paw exploring along the bottom edge of the door.
“I think you’re going to surprise us, Kitty.”
In the kitchen she noticed a piece of paper on the counter. Pouring milk into the cereal bowl over top of the Sultana Bran, she wondered what Blue had planned for the day. Chewing on a mouthful of cereal, she couldn’t help but read the note.
Hi Sunflower
My invite for the wedding is for me plus one. As you know, my ‘plus one’ ditched me. Mikki said your invite was for you and a plus one, too. As we’re now both single, how about we be each other’s ‘plus one’ for the wedding?
Blue
She stopped chewing for a few seconds, resumed chewing and re-read the note before leaning back to thoughtfully contemplate it. Go to the wedding as Blue’s date? No, not date. Companion? That sounded odd. Friend? Really? Tenant? She laughed at herself. Plus one. And he’d be her ‘plus one’.
Actually, walking in beside him sounded really aweso- nice. Very nice. Why not? It was either they both walked in alone or together. Trying to find someone to take at this late date - geez, the wedding was only a couple of days away - was almost impossible. It made perfect sense.
Okay, be honest. You’d love to go with him.
Taking up the pen, she wrote beneath his words.
~*~
Running along the road, Blue couldn’t believe what he’d done.
He’d actually smacked Charley’s bum, not to mention kissed her on top of the head. It had seemed perfectly natural, he hadn’t even thought about it, just reacted. Hell, he’d liked it. In fact, he’d have really liked to do more than playfully tap that curvy derrière, he’d have liked to cup it, squeeze, use the grip to draw her back against him so he could lean over her and explore all those lush curves.
How, in two weeks, had he become so comfortable with this woman? She made him laugh, made him frown, made him think of things he hadn’t before, made him see things in a different way.
Made him a little hot at the decadent thoughts that were starting to form.
Not only hot thoughts, but fondness, affection, all those little words that combined to attract him to her. She was all sunshine and brightness, that sense of humour bubbling so easily to the surface.
With the fondness she had for the colour yellow, ‘Sunflower’ was the perfect nickname.
Did she have any idea just how adorable she’d looked coming sleepily out of the bedroom? How warm her body had been when she’d walked right into him? Even now he could remember the feel of that big bosom against him, the thinness of the old nightie, those lush curves against his hard frame.
Truthfully, she’d been lucky he’d just done the tap and smooch. He’d had the insane desire to hug her close and…okay, admit it, Blue. Kiss her. Not a friendly little peck on the head, either, but something a little deeper. Hotter.
Pondering this, he ran the remaindered of the route he’d set for his morning runs, circling back to return to the house a half hour later. Sweating, he saw Luke’s work ute parked in the driveway. His brother was sprawled on the swing chair, Dog lying on his back with a goofy expression on his face while Luke rubbed his belly with a bare foot.
“My, don’t you look all hot and yuck,” Luke observed as Blue came up onto the veranda.
“My, don’t you look all lazy and useless.” He fitted the key in the lock. “Oh wait, you are.”
“Up yours.” Slipping on a pair of battered thongs, Luke followed him inside, only to stop in the doorway and look down at Dog.
Knowing the hesitation when Dog would normally come right on inside, Blue said, “Kitty is shut in the spare bedroom. Dog’s fine.”
“Goodo.” Luke continued to follow him, Dog right on his heels, nose sniffing the air enthusiastically.
“Shouldn’t you be out spreading shit around plants?”
“I’m officially on holidays. I’m getting married the day after tomorrow, you know.”
“How could I forget? I bet Mikki’s hearing the clink of the ball and chain already.”
Smugly, Luke smoothed a palm down the front of his shirt. “Red can’t wait to shackle me.”
“I think that’s more the other way around.”
“Please. She’s lucky to have me.”
“You just keep telling yourself that.” Blue waved a hand towards the kitchen. “Help yourself. I’m going to have a quick shower.”
“How about this cat of yours?” Luke trailed after him. “Where is she?”
“You’re dying to meet her, aren’t you?”
“This is the love child of you and Charley. What do you think?”
“Pathetic. Just pathetic.” Blue cautiously opened the door and peeked in to see Kitty sunning herself on the window sill.
After firmly telling Dog to sit and wait in the hallway, Luke walked in behind him quietly. Blue wasn’t surprised at the softening of both his eyes and voice as he approached the cat. Luke talked big, but his heart was soft as butter when it came to animals.
After making sure Kitty was relaxed under Luke’s gentle strokes and nonsensical words, Blue headed for the shower. Dog waited patiently in the hallway, eyes fixed on the closed bedroom door, nose twitching and nostrils flaring, but he didn’t get up. His tail thumped on the floor as Blue gave him a pat before entering the bathroom.
The air still held the lavender scent of Charley’s soap, her yellow towel hanging neatly over the rack behind his navy blue towel. He could almost imagine her in the shower, soft skin sprinkled with water, rivulets of water from the shower spray following those lush curves, the lavender soap smoothing along her warm skin…
Holy shit, he was getting a hard-on. But who could blame him? Charley was sweet, funny, and as he was unexpectedly discovering, desirable. Those big brown eyes and honey-blonde hair. Not cold blonde like his ex’s, but a blondness as warm as, well, Charley.
Breathing deep, Blue took hold of his burgeoning shaft, only to remember that his brother was in the house and this was definitely no time to indulge in a little erotic fantasy.
This time his deep breath was more controlled as he turned his thoughts away from a certain curvy female and more to what his brother wanted. It also helped to turn the water on cold. Made him jump and swear, but definitely helped beat down his wayward shaft that seemed to have a mind of its own. Okay, it was guided by his apparently dirty mind, but through sheer determination and cold water he managed to make it behave so that by the time he was dried, dressed and walking out into the kitchen, the front of his shorts wasn’t tenting.
Luke was slouched in a chair munching on a Tim Tam. On the table at his elbow sat a little stack of the delicious chocolate biscuits. Dog lay under the table chomping on several plain sweet biccies.
Blue’s eyebrows rose. “You doing all right there?”
“I’m fine.” Luke grinned slyly. “Sunflower answered your note.”
Blue ignored the intonation of the nickname. “My note?”
Luke flapped a hand towards the kitchen bench.
Oh, the note. Reminding himself that he was an adult and in perfect control - not to mention that his brother was watching him with eagle eyes - Blue moved nonchalantly to the bench to pick up the note. Below his message Charley had neatly written Consider me your plus one.
“Oh yeah,” Luke said with major satisfaction.
“That biccie is just doing it for you, huh?” More than pleased with her acceptance, Blue put the note down.
“Nope. Well, yes, but right now you’re doing it for me.”
Blue gave him a curled upper lip.
“Not like that, you dirty bastard. I meant your grin.”
“Still not feeling comfortable.”
“Don’t be an arse, you know what I mean.” Luke winked.
Maintaining a nonchalant expression, Blue filled a glass with water from the tap and drank it straight down. Setting the empty glass on the sink, he said, “Charley’s broken up with Dickhead, I’ve broken up with Shona, we’re both lacking a partner for the wedding. What’s wrong with going together?”
“Nothing’s wrong with you two going together. In fact,” Luke’s eyes gleamed, “Red’s really happy to hear it.”
“Mikki? Cripes, how fast were you to ring her? After, I might point out, you read my note.”
“I rang her as soon as I violated your privacy, of course. Mate, I don’t mess around with news.”
“You mean gossip.”
“How the hell is that gossip? I was just letting her know so she could sort out the arrangements.”
“It’s a small wedding, Luke. What is there to arrange?”
“Oh, mate.” His expression crossed into genuine sympathy. “One day you’ll find out.”
“Yeah, I doubt that.” Blue put two slices of bread into the toaster.
“I’ll have some, too, ta very much.”
“I didn’t offer.”
“”I’m telling you.”
“Doesn’t Mikki feed you? Or rather, you’re a big boy now, Lukey, don’t you get your own breakfast?”
“Red was still in bed when I left.” Luke winked. “A little tuckered out, if you get what I mean.”
Oh yeah, he knew exactly what his brother meant. At the best of times Luke had a hard time keeping his hands off Mikki - or Red, as he often called her because of her red hair. No doubt waking up together, neither having to go to work, had resulted in some intimate bonding which Blue definitely didn’t want to contemplate. Mostly because Luke was his brother and the thought of him and - yeah, that was just ick.
“Oohh,” cooed Luke. “Did I embarrass my baby brother?”
Plucking the toast from the toaster, Blue buttered the two slices and with unerring accuracy slung them across the room with a twist of his wrist.
Not expecting the slices whizzing through the air, Luke fumbled them, one smacking him right in the face while the other spattered against his t-shirt.
“Shit!” He pulled it off his shirt, grimaced at the butter smeared across the material. “Mikki’ll kill me!” He glared at Blue. “I ought to beat the living shit out of you.”
Unconcerned, Blue plopped two more slices of bread into the toaster.
“And I could,” Luke muttered. “With one hand behind my back.”
Blue grinned. Luke had lean, solid muscles from hard work, no doubt about that, but Blue was stronger, his muscles bigger, and he knew moves that would pin his brother to the ground begging for mercy. Which would actually be pretty entertaining but not right now.
“You’re just lucky I don’t wipe the floor with you.” Luke took a bite of toast, spraying crumbs as he continued, “But you turning up to our big day with a black eye would upset Mikki. Lucky for you.”
“Sure.”
“Anyway.” Unperturbed, he took another bite of toast. “You and Charley, huh?”
“Me and Charley, what?”
“You know.” Luke waggled his eyebrows up and down.
“No, I don’t know.”
How much did his brother suspect? Blue cast him a sidelong glance. Luke might laugh and joke, be the clown of the family, but sometimes he was as sharp as a tack which could be a little uncomfortable for the recipient.
“Come on, any idiot can see that you’re taken with her.”
“Taken.”
“Mate, you put your arm around her shoulders, Izzy spotted you holding her hand.”
“When did Izzy see that?”
“The day you took the cat to the vet. Izzy and Mikki were in the café and they saw you pull into the car park. Izzy said Charley was giving you the eye - don’t preen just yet, sunshine, I meant the evil eye, not the admiring eye - and you walked back and grabbed her hand.”
“Charley was just trying to make a point.”
“And you grabbed her hand and didn’t let go.”
Okay, now Blue was feeling a little uncomfortable. “So?”
“So?” Luke’s eyes were pinning him to the spot, amusement still visible but tinged with seriousness, too. “So you’re easy going, Blue, but not that easy going. I’ve only ever seen you hold the hands of your past girlfriends.”
“Not so.” He buttered the toast. “I’ve held Aunt Lora’s hand.”
“Once.”
“I’ve even held Izzy’s hand. And Mikki’s.” He slathered Vegemite over the butter.
“You’re related to them through marriage! And both times it was to drag them into the sea to swim. They were yelling at you and you, of course, were laughing at them. That was the only time.”
“So?”
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“What should I tell you?” Choosing to remain at the counter, Blue folded a slice of toast in half and took a big bite so he had time to think of answers.
Luke’s finger tips drummed on the table top as he studied Blue.
Blue met his gaze inquiringly.
“You’re not fooling me,” his brother stated.
Blue waved his toast-holding hand around in reply.
Dog’s gaze followed the movement eagerly, ears up. Blue tossed him a plain sweet biscuit which he snatched out of mid air and took under the table to chomp on noisily.
“You’ll make him fat,” Luke objected.
“You were feeding him biccies when I walked in!”
“That’s me. I’m allowed to.”
Blue rolled his eyes and tossed Dog another biccie.
Bright-eyed, tail waving madly, Dog slid under Luke’s chair to crunch happily.
“Back to Charley,” Luke said. “I’ve seen you watching her. I’ve seen the way you’re so tentative to her. At lunch the other day you were filling her glass and making sure she had plenty to eat.”
“Manners,” Blue managed to mumble around toast.
“You sat beside her, your arm slung across the back of the bench.”
“Tired.”
“Bullshit. Are you seriously going to tell me that you’re not even the slightest bit interested in her?”
“I didn’t say that,” Blue admitted.
“Ah ha!” Satisfied, Luke placed two Tim Tams on the last slice of toast and took a big bite.
Blue recoiled in revulsion. “God’s sake.”
“Don’t like it when I guess your secrets, do you?” Luke smirked.
“I meant your weirdo tastes. Seriously, Tim Tams on toast?”
“Don’t change the subject. It’s delicious by the way. However, back to the matter at hand - Charley.”
Blue studied his brother while his mind sifted through what he’d been told. Okay, he guessed he had been a little more attentive than normal, but heck, he made sure that Izzy, Mikki, Shea and Aunt Lora had also had enough to eat and drink. Actually, he hadn’t needed to because Aunt Lora’s Jim had been on hand to pander to her every need, while Aaron, Luke and Jason had seen to their wives and fiancée. In fact, while they’d been seeing to their women, he’d been…
Blue stopped eating as it hit him.
Hells bells, he’d been attending to Charley, seeing to her comfort, sitting beside her, anticipating her needs and wants, and yeah, he had slung his arm along the back of her chair, had watched her even while laughing and joking with his family, drawing her into the conversations, so aware of her the whole time.
And this morning he’d kissed her head and smacked her on the bum. Had a freaking hard-on in the shower thinking about her body, her naked body.
Wondering just where this might be going, what it might mean, if it was even going to go anywhere, Blue picked up the last slice of toast and wandered out the back door. Going down the step, he meandered to the lemon tree to stare unseeingly at the yellow fruit.
Did it mean anything? Might it not just be attraction to a pretty woman? Besides which, there was one really troubling problem that had just reared its ugly head.
Make that two.
“Hey.” Luke’s voice came from behind him.
“Three.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.” Blue frowned at a lemon. “Is that fruit fly on it?”
“Nothing there.”
“You sure?” He peered closer.
Luke yanked it off the tree, the branch jerking down with the movement before flinging back into place.
“Bloody hell!” Blue leaped back.
“Don’t be a sook.” Luke tossed the lemon in the air. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?”
“You got this funny look on your dial right before you went walkabout out the door. What’s wrong?”
“Just wanted some fresh air.”
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Did I say something wrong?”
“When do you say anything right?” Blue grinned.
“Blue, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Luke just looked at him, and for an eerie moment Blue could see both his dad and Aaron, looking right back at him from Luke’s face. There was a similar set to the strong, square jaw, a jaw all the Wells men shared. The seriousness on Luke’s face, the set of his shoulders, his sudden watchfulness - well, hell, that was Aaron all over. And Dad. And hells bells, even himself when shit turned bad out in the field.
He’d underestimated his older brother. It was always so easy to do with easy-going Luke, he’d never been serious for long in his whole life, but times like this, times when he was watching his little brother with a knowing, instinctive air that something was wrong, that he’d touched a nerve, that reminded Blue again that he might be bigger than Luke, might be tougher and stronger, but this was still the older brother who had watched over him at school, been by his side in a scuffle, and stood side-by-side with him when the eldest brother or their dad had quietly but efficiently hauled them over the coals for misbehaving beyond the boundaries set down for the Wells boys.
Luke knew him too well.