He returned to his seat and smiled. “Shouldn’t be long.”
“So, no wife? No girlfriend, Tuck? I kind of thought you’d be settled by now.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve had a couple of long-term things but not the right girls I guess.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to tell.”
“Sometimes it isn’t, but the heart wants what the heart wants.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve had a couple of girlfriends who I knew weren’t right for me, but I really liked them and I wanted it to work, so . . .” He shrugged.
Had she done that? Probably. “Maybe next time.”
“You?”
“Me? Let’s not go there.” She took a long slug of her drink. “I’ve sworn off men for a while. I need to get my head on straight.”
He nodded as if that made perfect sense. “Lucky for me, then, or you might have been off having a hot date tonight.”
“Yeah, lucky.” Her tone sounded bitchy and bitter even to her. “Sorry, Tucker, I’m very happy to be having dinner with you. I just wish I had better taste in men in general.”
He patted her hand in a gentle way, but the warmth went all the way from the tips of her fingers to the tips of her toes. “You’ll work it out.”
“How do you know?”
“You’re a smart girl.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m not so smart when it comes to men.”
This was depressing. Apart from Tucker’s warm hand resting on hers, because that was lovely, still she was not a woman who went for lovely.
The waiter arrived with the meal, and Tucker moved his hand. God, she was a mess if Tucker touching her hand was affecting her. It was Tucker for goodness’ sake.
Dinner was nice. Sadly, he hadn’t been able to find another reason to touch Mel until the walk home when he put his hand in the small of her back to guide her out the door of the pub. Damn, she felt good. And she smelled delicious, like a bowl of ripe fruit.
When they got to her apartment, Tucker had to go up to retrieve his bag. Lucky because he needed more time to figure out how to see her again. He already knew it would lead to heartache. She’d sworn off men, and he was not her type. Too clean-cut, too sensible, not wild enough, but still, he was a glutton for punishment and Tucker felt an attraction, even if she didn’t.
He liked her apartment. It was cozy. In fact, he’d like to curl up on the couch with Mel draped across his body, but that was not going to happen.
“So this was nice, Tuck,” she said as she let them in. Nice. Nice was not exactly what he wanted to hear. Nice was the kiss of death.
“It was. Great to catch up.”
A flashing light across the room caught his eye. “You have an old-school answering machine?”
“I do.” She shrugged. “It’s for my mum. She won’t call my cell or text. And the flashing light reminds me to check.”
She crossed the room and hit the button.
The first message was her mum. “Hi, honey, it’s me. Call me.”
The second message was from an ex. “Mel, it’s Greg. We need to talk. I’m sorry I screwed up but . . .” She pushed erase and slumped on the sofa.
“Want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “I wish it was as easy to erase the guy and the memories as it is to erase a message.”
“That would be good. Is he harassing you?”
“No, he just doesn’t think two-timing me is a good reason for us to break up.” Of course, Tucker knew the story from the plane, but Mel didn’t know he knew.
“He’s a moron, and seriously, you can do better.”
“Yeah, well, it would be hard to do worse.”
She was right there. “I’m not much of one for giving dating advice but hang in there.”
“Nope, I’m definitely taking a break from men.”
“Switching to women?” He teased. Anything to make her smile.
And it worked. She swatted him. “Don’t be silly. I’m just taking a break in general.”
“Well, if you get bored and you’re up in Brisbane, let me know.”
“Actually, I have an overnight there next week. Maybe we could hang out?”
Sure, well, that was promising. “You have my card, right?”
She gave me a nod. “I’ll call you.”
This time he actually believed she might.
Tucker stood to go and pulled her in for a hug. “Thanks, Mel. It was fun.”
She felt soft and womanly, she smelled divine, and it occurred to him that he definitely wasn’t over his teenage crush. He still kind of thought marrying the girl next door wasn’t the worst idea in the world.
2
Tucker arranged the cheese and crackers on the wooden board. They looked pretty good to him. He added a few grapes. It looked like the picture on the internet. That was a good start.
Mel was coming over for dinner. It was a boiling hot summer night. It was thirty-eight degrees, or over a hundred as his American friends would say. They were going to swim in his pool and hide out in the air-conditioned house. For the first time since he’d moved in, he was kind of happy for the big house with the pool. Of course, he knew it was more suited to a family, but he’d enjoyed redesigning it and seeing the project come to life. He probably should flip it, but he hadn’t quite gotten around to it yet.
Mel had said she’d be here around seven, and it was just about time.
Tucker was wearing board shorts and a white T-shirt. His feet were bare, and he was trying to look casual as if any old friend was coming to visit.
The truth that he’d come to accept in the week since he’d seen Mel was that she was not just any old friend. She was more than that to him. He’d woken from sleep thinking about her, she’d been in his dreams, and he’d replayed bits of their conversation from the other night. It was pathetic and tragic and utterly hopeless, but Tucker accepted that he was a huge idiot and had feelings for Mel Garibaldi and there didn’t seem to be a way that he was able to easily shake them.
It was ridiculous. He hadn’t seen her in fifteen years. They didn’t even really have much in common as far as he knew. He shouldn’t feel this way, and yet, here he was, looking up how to arrange cheese on a freaking wooden board in order to impress the woman.
The doorbell rang, and his stomach lurched.
“Get a grip, Tucker,” he muttered before opening the door for her.
She was wearing what appeared to be a little all-in-one white jumpsuit of shorts and a top. Her pink bikini could be seen beneath it. She had flip-flops on and pink polish. Her hair was up in a messy bun. Her sunglasses rested on her head. She wore no makeup, and heaven freaking help him, Tucker had never wanted a woman more than he wanted her in that moment.
Tucker opened the door, stopped, and stared at her. His eyes took her in, ate her up was a better description. Well, she hadn’t lost her touch entirely, she thought.
“Hey, Tuck.” She stood up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek and offered him a chilled bottle of pinot grigio. “I have beer as well.”
“Welcome. Thanks, you didn’t need to do that.” He seemed to recover himself.
“Are you kidding me? You’re rescuing me from this heatwave. I looked at the hotel pool on my way past, and it is full of middle-aged men on some sort of sales conference. It’s like every sleazy guy in Australia is in there.”
“Happy to be of service.” He grinned at her. “We can’t have all those sleazy guys ogling you.”
“This place is awesome. Did you design it?” She looked past him down the hallway to the sleek interior of the house.
When the cab had pulled up, she’d been surprised by how big Tucker’s house was. He was just one guy. It looked like a big old Queenslander. She loved these old houses with their stilt legs, tin roofs, and ornate balconies. Tucker’s was a crisp white all over, and an orange bougainvillea snaked its way up the corners of the balcony.
Inside, it was a cool mix of modern and old.
> “Yeah, it was a dump when I bought it, but a dump with potential. Would you like the five-cent tour?”
“Sure.” She nodded.
“Let’s lose your bag, get a drink, and take the tour, then.”
Mel followed him down the hall. He was tall and had a big frame. He must be six four. And the man had great calves. She wondered if he worked out, then shook her head. No thinking about Tucker’s calves. First, she was on a man-ban, Mel reminded herself. And second, it was Tucker. She didn’t really know grown-up Tucker. He was certainly better looking and cooler than teen Tucker, but he was also a nice, earnest guy. Not her type and not the sort of guy you could just have good old love ’em and leave ’em sex with. That was a shame. She had a feeling sex with Tucker would be . . . again, no thinking about Tucker that way, she reminded herself.
He put the beer in the fridge and grabbed two wine glasses. He poured one for each of them. She dumped her bag on a barstool at the very swanky marble island. This place was amazing.
“Tucker, you have great taste.”
“Thanks. We have an interior designer who works with us. She gave me a bit of help. We do lots of houses where everything is monochromatic, which works well to sell them and well for a magazine but not so well when you live in a house. I like houses that feel like someone actually lives in them.”
That made sense. His kitchen was a light green wash and had white marble counters. There were a couple of vintage surfboards hanging on a rack on one wall, and there was an internal herb garden in a window that had a mini sprinkler system that, as she stared at it, sprung to life.
It felt like someone lived here all right.
“Do you surf still, Tucker?”
“Yeah, a bit.” He handed her the wine glass, and their fingers touched. She got that warm feeling again. “You?”
“Ah no. I do yoga now mainly, I teach, actually, part-time.”
“Cool.” He was leaning against the counter, one leg crossed in front of the other, and he looked hot. If one of her friends, gay or straight, were here, she was certain they’d be telling her how cute he was and smart and how hot. Yep, they’d be all over Tuck, and she didn’t like that idea one little bit. “What sort of yoga do you teach? I did a hot yoga class once to impress a girl.”
“Did it work?”
“Nah, I puked at the end. I think she was anything but impressed.”
Mel had to laugh. At the situation and the fact that he’d told her. “It’s not as easy as it looks, is it? I teach Iyengar mainly; it’s gentler.”
“Maybe I could handle that. Maybe not, I’m getting old, not so flexible.”
“You’re not old, Tuck, you’re only thirty.” Did he really think he was old? “You can’t be old, because that would mean I’m getting old, and I’m not.”
He grinned at her. “You definitely don’t look old. Tour?”
“Tour, then a swim.”
Touring the house with Mel was fun for Tucker. She asked intelligent questions about why he’d done certain things and why he’d chosen certain fixtures.
Then they entered his bedroom. He’d left it until last. Really, he would have preferred to have left it off the tour entirely. He definitely wanted her in his bedroom but not to show off the cornices.
“Tuck, you have a fireplace in your bedroom!”
“I know.” He loved her enthusiasm.
“I love it. Do you even need it? I mean, it’s Brisbane. It’s warm here pretty much year-round.”
“Sometimes it’s not a matter of need, it’s a matter of want.” And right now, what he wanted was Mel. Maybe he even needed her, but unfortunately that was not going to happen.
“Oh really, Mr. Big Shot?” She leaned in for a good look, her pert little bottom in the air.
“It’s gas. You just flick a switch.”
“Fancy.” She turned and grinned at him. “It must help you with the chicks. This room is gorgeous.”
“You’d think that.” He wasn’t going to tell her he actually hadn’t brought any women home since the house was finished because he was Mr. Nice Guy and didn’t usually last long enough in a relationship to get the chance.
“Am I wrong?”
“I’ll never tell.”
“Such a gentleman,” she said, giving him a playful nudge. He wanted to touch her, but really wished it wasn’t for a nudge.
“So, ready for a swim?” He wanted to get her out of his bedroom. Then again, Tucker wasn’t sure in the pool in a skimpy bikini was going to be any better for him. This pretending to be friends plan was harder than he expected.
He topped up their wine and grabbed some towels before meeting her out at the pool. She was already down to a very small hot pink bikini. Two little triangles up top not hiding all that much and a small scrap of fabric down below. Tucker tried to breathe and not to stare too hard. Eyes up, buddy, he reminded himself.
“Is it warm?” It was freaking hot is what it was, and not because of the heatwave. “The pool?”
“Not too bad, then again today . . .”
She didn’t wait, she just dove right in. Re-emerging wet and smiling. It was possible Tucker had never seen a sexier sight in his entire life. Dear heaven, he felt like he was fifteen again with a serious case of raging hormones. He turned and put the wine and towels down, peeled off his shirt, and dove in without looking at her again. He seriously needed to cool off. Fast.
The man let the water engulf him. He’d have to come up eventually. Drowning didn’t seem like a great option.
And when he did, he was greeted by Mel sitting on the pool’s second step, reclining like a goddess in her tiny bikini.
“That’s so good, isn’t it?” He just nodded at her like a fool because words failed him, and he couldn’t form a coherent thought. “Thanks for inviting me over. I like traveling, but hotels, hotel food, well, they’re not that exciting anymore, and it gets kind of lonely.”
“Don’t you travel with friends? I mean, other crew.”
“Sure, but you know we’ve worked together all day already, and some I like more than others. Today’s crew is fine, but none of my favorites. I’d much rather be here with you.”
Well, that was something. “I’m glad you came, especially as you have sworn off men and all.”
“I’m making an exception for you. I’m assuming that you’re not a total dirtbag. Although you could be, I mean, I wouldn’t know.”
“I don’t think I am, honestly, but do total dirtbags think of themselves that way I wonder?”
“Good point. And if you were, I’d be the last one to know because I can’t seem to spot one.”
He hated that she was sad. More than that, Tucker hated that she doubted herself now. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be out assuming your boyfriend is a cheater.”
“No, but there are always signs. You know, looking back, I was a total moron.”
“You’ll know for next time.”
“Will I?”
He got out of the pool and grabbed the wine glasses. “I’m sure you will. You’ll probably be ubersuspicious, and the next guy will be wondering why, but then you’ll settle down.”
“Great, so the next guy gets to date a paranoid loser.”
“You’re not a loser. You’re smart, funny, beautiful, definitely not a loser. Your ex is a loser. I mean, look what he lost.”
She blinked at him. It was as if she couldn’t quite process what he’d said. “Thanks, Tucker, that’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long time.”
“Then if I may say so, I don’t think you’re hanging with the right people, Mel.”
She looked at Tucker again. He had a broad chest, a nice smile, and was easy with a compliment. He liked her. Sure, he liked her, but he was also attracted to her, no question, but he really liked her as a person as well. That was new. She had to take a moment and remember the last guy she’d hung out with who liked her just for her, who wasn’t a brother or gay. She had a lot of gay friends, and they adored he
r, but heterosexual men of a dating age, they didn’t seem to like her. Or maybe they liked the look of her and the idea of having her as their girlfriend and never dug any deeper. The truth was they never bothered to really get to know Mel, when she thought about it. They’d kept it surface and maybe she had too.
Maybe it was because she was a bit tough, a little bit brash, and dressed in a fairly sexy way. Despite those brothers, Mel didn’t know how men’s brains worked, honestly. But when she thought about it now, she wasn’t sure if her last boyfriend had ever asked her what sort of yoga she taught and actually listened. He just found it annoying when she got out of his bed to go teach a class.
“I think you’re right.”
They sat there amicably sipping their wine. Cicadas were singing in the trees all around, a heat haze hung over the city, and Mel couldn’t remember when she’d last felt so content.
“How come you’re single, Tucker?”
“Don’t know. I guess I just haven’t met the one yet.”
“The one. You believe in the one?”
“Sure, of course, don’t you?”
Did she? “I don’t know, maybe not.”
“I do. Look at my parents? If those two complete oddballs could find each other, there’s got to be hope for the rest of us.”
Mel laughed despite herself. “Your folks are kind of unique, from what I remember.”
“Exactly. If those two people somehow found each other without even online dating or one of their freaky algorithms to help them, well, that’s destiny right there.”
“I suppose. My folks are a bit like that too. Opposites but perfectly matched.”
“There you go,” he said as if that was the last word on the topic.
“What if we met the one and we let them go already?” She was pretty sure she hadn’t, but still, the idea unsettled her.
“Yeah, well, if it’s meant to be.”
Was Mel talking about them? How they’d met and then separated? He doubted it. In fact, he was almost certain she wasn’t. That was a ridiculous notion.
Be Mine: Valentine Novellas to Warm The Heart Page 3
