Lean on Me
By
Angela Verdenius
(The Mackay Sisters book 2)
(BBW Romance)
Copyright 2013 Angela Verdenius
cover image courtesy of iconogenic & istock.com
cover by Joleene Naylor
ebook Edition License Notes
No part of this book may be reproduced or copied without prior consent of the author & publisher.
All characters and towns are figments of the author’s imagination and bear no resemblance to any person living or deceased.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Bio
Other Books by this Author
Foreword
I found that some overseas readers were having difficulty with the Australian slang, so I thought a list of the slang I’ve used will help while reading the following story. If I’ve forgotten any, I do apologise! Also, you’ll find some of our Aussie words have different spelling to the US.
* please note that sizes in the US and Australia differ, so when reading of a set dress size, check the conversion on-line if you want!
Cheers,
Angela
Australian Terms/Slang
Arvo - afternoon
Barbie - BBQ
Beaut - beautiful, awesome, great, wonderful
Biccies - biscuits. The same as cookies
Bikie - biker, person who rides motorcycles.
Bloke/s - man/men
Bloody - a swear word ‘no bloody good’, in place of ‘no damned good’
Boofhead - idiot, simpleton, etc. It’s an insult, though sometimes we use it as a term of affection. It depends on how it is said and meant.
Boot (of a car) - trunk
Budgie smugglers - men’s bathers, small, brief and tight-fitting
Buggered - many Aussie use it as a slang word for ‘broken’ (it’s buggered), ‘tired (I’m buggered), and ‘no way’ (I’m buggered if I’m going to do that). Just some examples
Bung/Bunging - as in ‘bunging onto something’, putting on something (bung veggies on a plate, putting veggies on a plate), usually in a careless or ‘easy’ manner.
Chemist - pharmacy
Chips - in Australia we have cold crunchy chips from a packet, or hot chips known in some countries as French Fries
Crash cart - resuscitation trolley in a hospital or medical setting - used for life threatening situations such as cardiac arrest
Dander – temper
Dill - silly, idiot
Doona - like a padded quilt that fits inside a cover and lies on the bed. Can have the warmth of two, three or four blankets, etc.
Donger - penis. Also another meaning is a place people sometimes sleep in, such as ‘dongers’ on mine sites.
Dunny - toilet. When used in the terms ‘built like a brick dunny’, it refers to something built solid, unmoveable.
Giggle-box - TV, television
Got his/her/their goat – annoyed him/her/them
Hoon/s - person/people who indulge in antisocial behaviour. Great explanation in Wikipedia
Iced coffee/chocolate - a milk drink flavoured with chocolate or coffee
Lolly - sweetie, candy
Loo - toilet
Lug - face
Milo - chocolate malt drink. Can have it hot or cold. Yummy!
Moosh - slang for face/mouth
Mobile phone - cell phone
Nong - idiot
Nooky - sex
Panadol - paracetamol, similar to Tylenol in the US
Pav/s - Pavlova/Pavlovas - best dessert ever!
PCYC - Police and Citizens Youth Club
Pedal Pushers - three quarter pants/knickerbockers
Porking - having sex
Primapore - sticky patch with a pad in it, a medical dressing
Pub - hotel
RAC - Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia. Covers insurance, holidays, loans, etc
Red backs - poisonous spider, black in colour with a red stripe on its back.
Rubbers - condoms
Servo - service station
Shag - sex
Sheila - female
Snaggers - sausages
Soft drink - soda, fizzy drink
Tea - some people call the evening meal dinner. In my family, we’ve always called it tea, as in breaky, dinner and tea, or breaky, lunch and tea.
Thongs - worn on the feet, same as ‘flip flops’
Tickled pink - delighted
Tim Tams - a brand of Arnott’s Biscuits. Yummy!
TLC - Tender Loving Care
Torch - flashlight
Tucker - food
Ute - small truck
Vegemite - most Aussies find this spread yummy, many non-Aussies find it too salty. Here’s the hint - if you ever have Vegemite, use it spread thinly, never thickly!
Yamaha & Suzuki - ‘brands’ of motorcycles.
You wally - silly
Wanger - penis
Waterworks - crying
Whopper - a lie
Driving - In Australia, you cannot get a driver’s licence to drive a car until you are 17 years old. You get your Learner’s Permit (which requires you to drive only in the company of a qualified driver), then at 18 you can go for your Probationary licence (you can drive on your own but at restricted speed limits), and then finally you are a fully qualified driver.
Chapter 1
She was standing in the rain. The clouds were dark, the wind starting to pick up, and the rain was pattering down more earnestly. And she was just standing there with an umbrella; head tipped back, one hand outstretched.
In the rain.
Situated at the window of his friend’s second story house, Matt looked across at the woman in the backyard next door. At her feet sat an old cat. He knew the cat was old, because he knew the owner. Wanted to know her a lot more, in fact, which was easier said than done. She wasn’t exactly the outgoing type.
“Lori’s standing in the rain,” he observed, frowning.
Ghost glanced up from where he was trying to stop Abraham, the big tabby, from pawing the spring from the printer. “Damn it. She shouldn’t be.”
“Shouldn’t be,” agreed Matt. “But is.”
“What’s she doing?” Picking Abraham up, Ghost deposited him on the big armchair as he crossed the room.
“Standing in the rain.”
“I know that, genius.” Drawing to a stop beside Matt, Ghost peered through the window. “Oh. I see.”
Matt raised his eyebrows.
“Minx insists on a last walk outside before nightfall,” Ghost explained. “And as usual, Lori spoils her.”
“Because you wouldn’t do that,” Matt said dryly, casting his eyes over the cat toys littering the floor, one of which was a new feather duster that Mort had decided was dangerous and had immediately dragged upstairs, depositing on the floor when he grew bored attacking it.
Ignoring him, Ghost frowned. “Minx is getting a little senile.”
Returning his gaze to the figures in the yard, Matt winced as the rain started to come down harder. “Lori shouldn’t be out there. Nor should Minx.”
“Tell that to Lori.” Ghost stepped back. “Not that she ever listens to me.”
Maybe she wouldn’t listen to Ghost, but there was no way Matt could watch her standing in that hellish rain, umbrella and gumboots or not. Swinging away from the window, he started across the room, only to find Ghost heading the same way.
“Where are you going?” Matt asked.
“To talk to Lori, of course.”
“What’s the point if she never listens to you?”
“It’s never stopped me before.”
They both went down the stairs a whole lot faster than they’d come up.
“I have to go home anyway,” Matt said. “No sense both of us getting wet. I’ll call on Lori.”
“Front door will be locked,” Ghost informed him. “She won’t hear you.”
Matt arched one eyebrow. “So how were you going to get her attention?”
“Jump the back fence, of course.”
“Of course.”
Jumping the back fence in the rain wasn’t exactly tempting, but seeing as how his friend spoke the truth in regards to Lori not being able to hear him above the rain, it looked like jumping the back fence was the only was he was going to gain her attention. If it meant getting wet to move her out of the rain, then it looked like the back fence was his route of departure.
Not his first choice, but still…it was Lori.
Opening the kitchen door, Matt stepped out onto the veranda. The rain was really starting to pour down now. Good grief, surely she wasn’t still standing out in the rain?
Matt glanced at Ghost, who shrugged and said, “She’s a Mackay,” as though that explained everything. Seeing as how he was an old school friend of the Mackay sisters and was, in fact, engaged to the oldest sister, Matt supposed Ghost would know what he was talking about.
“You sure you want to do this?” Ghost glanced towards the fence. “Maybe I should-”
“I’m doing it.” Taking a deep breath, Matt looked out at the rain. Damn, it was going to be cold.
“Yeah, but-”
“She won’t listen to you, but I’m a whole other story.” And with that, Matt strode out into the rain.
Cripes, it was freezing! Bolting for the fence, Matt grabbed the top of it, pulling himself up and over easily to land in the Mackays’ backyard. A quick glance around showed the backyard to now be empty, so without hesitation he dashed for the veranda. The long, wet grass slapped at his jeans, his sneakers disappearing into a couple of wet puddles.
Swearing, he skipped over a couple of steps until he was running on the cement slabs leading from the clothes line to the veranda. Finally he leaped up the several steps to come to a gasping stop in the shelter of the back veranda. Shoving his dripping hair back from his face, he noticed the gumboots neatly sitting side-by-side not far from the raincoat that was hanging from a hook. The open umbrella was lying on the wooden bench to dry.
“Matt?”
He looked up to see Lori regarding him in surprise from the back security screen door. “Hi, Lori.”
“What are you doing?” Her gaze slid down him. “You’re soaked.”
“Yep.” There was no doubting that, not when he was dripping huge puddles on her veranda.
Looking past him to the rain now teeming down, she frowned slightly and opened the door. “You’d better come in.”
Best invitation he’d had all day, except… “I’ll make a mess on your floor.”
“Take your sneakers off.”
He looked down at himself. “I’m afraid it’s a bit more than just my sneakers that are wet, love.”
“So take off your shirt and…” Her cheeks coloured.
“Pants?” he finished dryly. He had no doubt she’d go right up in flames of embarrassment if he did that. “Maybe I better just hike over the fence to my side.”
“Um…” She bit her lip.
That luscious lip, so plump and pink. His gaze dropped down to where she worried the tender flesh with small, white teeth. Nibbling on those lips was a huge temptation that he refused to contemplate. Except in his daydreams…his very hot daydreams.
For now.
There was always later, if he could ever get past her shyness and reserve. He just had to go slowly so as not to frighten her off. Taking off his pants to reveal his semi hard boner was not part of the plan.
Yet.
So instead of just ripping off his pants and shirt and waltzing right into her kitchen as he really wanted, Matt smiled at her. “It’s all right, Lori.”
“You’ll catch a cold.”
He winked. “You can’t catch a cold from getting wet. Old wives tale to get the kids inside out of the rain.”
Okay.” Those big, beautiful green eyes suddenly took on a wary light. “Um…Matt?”
“Yeah?”
“Exactly why are you here? On my back veranda and soaking wet?”
“Oh. Well, I spotted you standing in the rain with your cat.”
She didn’t blink.
“I jumped the fence because you wouldn’t hear me knocking on the door above this rain.” He pointed at the veranda roof upon which the rain beat down loudly.
One slow blink, the heavy black eyelashes sweeping down and up again as she continued to watch him curiously.
“You shouldn’t be out in the rain,” he finished, immediately realising how dumb that sounded. “You’ll get sick.”
“I won’t catch a cold,” she replied. “You just told me that.”
“Well yes, true, but-”
“And I wasn’t technically in the rain. I had on a raincoat and gumboots and stood under an umbrella.”
Okay, put like that…
“So what was the concern?”
For that, Matt actually didn’t have a reply. When he’d seen her from Ghost’s window standing in the rain and so, well, unprotected, it had seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea to come over and tell her off.
Tell her off, a grown woman in protective rain gear who had the sense to go back indoors with her old cat as soon as the rain got too hard.
Closing his eyes, Matt pinched the bridge of his nose. “Uh…” Opening his eyes again, he found Lori regarding him steadily. “Okaaay.”
Her eyebrows rose in query.
“Now I feel like a fool.” Taking a deep breath, he tipped his head back and regarded the veranda roof, absently noticing several cobwebs high up amongst the exposed beams. Hopefully not the cobwebs weaved by red-back spiders. He’d have to come and check it out later.
“Matt?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you all right?”
At the note of concern in her voice, he tipped his head back down to look at her. Yeah, she was watching him with concern. Opening the security door completely, she stepped out to move a little closer.
Man, was she built like a woman. All woman. Her light jumper hugged those big breasts, following the indent of her waist to end at those generous hips which curved out and down to her legs clad in long, cotton pants. When she moved, the ends of that thick brown braid that fell over her shoulder curled around the bottom of her left breast. She had no idea how much that affected him, because he could just imagine that it was his hand curving under that full, heavy breast.
She was all curves. All luscious curves he itched to lay his palms against, to follow the hills and valleys, to draw that rubenesque figure against him and revel in all that soft, woman flesh and her sweet, sweet scent that made him want to bury his nose against her warm neck and just breathe her in and-
A cool hand pressing against his forehead snapped him right out of his unbidden daydream. Refocussing on Lori, he saw her smooth forehead creased in a worried frown. “Matt, are you sick?”
“What? No, of course not.” Managing a laugh, he caught her hand and pulled it down.
Such a soft little hand, the stain of oil lingering on the side of her little finger regardless of how she must have washed it after her shift at the only service station in town. Well, soft except for a few small callouses on her palm. A working hand.
Keeping his much bigger hand securely wrapped around hers, Matt smiled down at her. “I’m in perfect health.”
Going by the dubious expression on her face, she wasn’t so sure.
“Honestly.” He rubbed his thumb against her palm.
Almost immediately she stiffened, tugging at her hand.
Damn it. Releasing her hand, he stuck his own into his pocket, the cold wetness a rather unpleasant sensation after her warm skin. “So.” Trying to appear nonchalant, he rocked back and forth in his soaked sneakers. “Any plans for this evening?”
She stared at him.
Couldn’t blame her really, here he was standing on her back veranda, drenched to the skin and trying to win her over with his friendly smile and sodden body, and there she was undoubtedly thinking he’d lost his mind.
But he was a desperate man trying to appear very un-desperate.
Then his salvation wound her way slowly past Lori’s legs to come to a halt at his feet. Gazing solemnly up at him out of big, gold eyes, Minx looked exactly what she was - a very old cat. Frail, a little tatty, with a wise expression on her furry little face.
Unable to help himself, Matt squatted down, reaching out to let her sniff his fingers. “Hey, old girl.”
Minx sniffed his fingers before suddenly butting her head against his hand. With a smile, he gently rubbed around her ears and under her chin, rewarded almost instantly by her purring.
“How old is she?” he asked.
“Twenty,” Lori replied.
Glancing up, he caught her expression as she gazed down at Minx. Love, softness, and a touch of concern.
“Hey.” He straightened, unfolding to his full height which was a head taller than Lori. “Everything all right?”
“Sure.” She smiled.
“You just seemed a little…I don’t know, sad?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Not liking that answer, he continued to watch her.
Lori sighed. “For a cat, Minx is very old. She’s been having some trouble getting around lately, more so than usual. I know it’s natural for an elderly cat, but still…” Voice trailing off, she lowered her gaze to Minx.
Yeah, there was a definite huskiness in her tone now. She was worried about her old cat and Matt could relate to that, having had animals most of his life. He knew how devoted she was to Minx, how close they were, and it was more than evident in the way she gently scooped Minx up into her arms and cradled her close.
Lean on Me (The Mackay Sisters) Page 1
