by Raquel Lyon
“Actually, it’s mine,” Amy said.
Nessie gasped. “Why did you let her borrow it? She should be wearing something more suitable for her age.”
“Oh, stop being cranky. At least she refused to wear the L-plates and fairy wings, and she’s having fun.”
“I am not cranky.”
“Yes, you are. Relax. That’s what we’re here for. Or would you rather be back at the hotel with Garrett?”
Nessie flinched. Amy was right. Anything was better than that.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Amy bit her lip. “Ness?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you know who Johnny’s best man is?”
“You mean Matt?”
Amy’s mouth dropped open. “You know?”
“So do you, apparently.”
“Not before we came, I swear. I was stunned when he turned up to dinner last night. I hardly recognised him.”
“Me neither.”
Her eyes widened. “You’ve seen him?”
“This afternoon.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t let you know sooner. I meant to mention it earlier, but then, you blindsided me about Garrett, and I kind of forgot. What happened?”
Nessie sipped her water. “When?”
“When you saw him.”
“We spoke a little.”
“And?”
“He apologised. I left.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing.”
Nessie felt the weight of her sister’s sceptical stare on her cheek, as the music quietened and the deejays faced each other. One of them spoke. “Is it time, Nick?”
“I believe it is, Dave.”
“A-l-righty,” Dave drawled. “A little birdie told me someone’s getting married.” He practically sang the last three words.
The crowd cheered.
“Yes, ladies. It’s one of you. But which one is it?”
The lights dimmed and a spotlight fell on Cora.
“There she is. The lovely Cora Carmichael,” Dave shouted.
Cora swivelled in her chair. “Oh, my word. Who told them? This is so embarrassing,” she muttered, shielding her eyes from the glare.
“Now, Cora,” Dave said. “Your friends wanted to give you a little present. Who’s got it?” The spotlight moved to Gina, and she shook her head. “No? Not you? How about you?” The light lit up Diane, who laughed and shook her head too. “No one? No? Perhaps it’s been stolen. I say we bring in someone to strip search each and every one of you luscious ladies. What do you say, Nick?”
“I agree, Dave. But who could that possibly be? Uh-oh. Watch out ladies. Here comes the law.”
From the dark shadows behind the deejay’s box, a policeman stepped out, twirling a baton.
Amy turned to Nessie and sniggered. “Well, that’s the first time I’ve seen a policeman wearing a mask.”
Music blasted through the speakers, and the policeman swayed seductively.
“Make some noise for Sergeant Rod!” the deejay shouted.
“Holy hell. Mum’s having a stripogram!” Nessie covered her mouth to suppress her laughter. “This ought to be good.”
Women went wild clapping and cheering as the stripper grabbed his crotch and gyrated his way slowly through the crowd, making his way over to their section.
Sheila stood up and squeezed between the chairs, but Gina snagged her arm. “Where are you going?” she shouted. “You’ll miss all the fun.”
“I need a top-up. I’ll watch from the bar,” Sheila said.
Alison shot from her chair, waving a couple of notes. “Hey, bring that tight tushie over here. I’ve got something for you.”
The stripper closed in, thrusting his hips and pushing his baton between his legs with a nod for Alison to stroke it. She licked her lips and obliged before reaching up to steal a kiss. The stripper stepped back, wagging his finger. He discarded the baton and ripped open his shirt to reveal a perfect set of ripped abs. The screams were deafening as the shirt followed the baton onto the floor.
When the stripper’s attention turned to Cora, she giggled and looked away, but she soon turned back when he rolled his abs in her face and picked up her hands to smooth them down his oiled chest.
Nessie couldn’t stop laughing. Never could she have imagined her mother would actually enjoy something like this.
Amy’s hands landed on Nessie’s shoulders and pushed her to the side. “Will you keep still?” she said. “I’m trying to watch.”
Standing in front of Cora, the stripper clutched the fabric covering his thighs and ripped his trousers away.
“Holy fucking lunchbox. I think my panties just melted,” Amy screamed. “Either there’s something wrong with my eyesight or that guy is seriously deformed… in a good way,” she angled her head, “I think.”
Nessie was staring too. “Girl, there’s nothing wrong with your eyesight.” Was it her imagination, or were the guy’s eyes now on her? She wished he’d take the mask off, so she could see if his face was as dishy as his body.
Yes, he was definitely looking at her… and coming over! Shit! No, not me, she thought, as muscular thighs enclosed her chair and he sat on her lap. Why had he come to her? She wasn’t the bride. Shouldn’t he be draped all over her mother? Sure, her mother was old enough to be his mother, but wasn’t it a stripper’s job to make the woman of the hour the centre of attention—whoever she was? Besides, her mother didn’t need another reason to lecture her.
Nessie could feel the weight of his balls on her legs, and her eyes dropped to his silver package. Something that big could split a girl in two. She jumped when he placed her hands on his thighs and moved them slowly up towards the bulge she couldn’t take her eyes off. Feelings, she’d almost forgotten she had, surfaced. His thighs were so hard with a soft, furry cover. She pulled her hands away and forced herself to look at his face. Didn’t she know those lips? She shook away a thought. Perhaps a lot of lips looked the same. It wasn’t as if she’d been close to that many. Laughing, his eyes glistened sinfully. The eyes were familiar too. She tried to get a closer look, but he leapt from her lap and returned to her mother.
“You should have stuck a note in his G-string,” Amy said. “That looked as if it was worth a few quid.”
Chapter Ten
Matt paid the taxi and tossed his jacket over his shoulder. Thank God that was over with.
He’d told himself he was going to keep it strictly professional, but when Nessie openly stared at his dick, he couldn’t resist the cheeky lap dance. He’d wanted to stay with her longer, but he was enjoying the feel of her hands on his thighs too much, so he was relieved when she removed them. Any more stroking and he would have given the ladies a bigger show than they were expecting.
Back in his room, he showered away the oil and scrubbed off the make-up—so much for hiding his identity. He saw the way Nessie was trying to see behind the mask. It was stupid of him to get too close. He changed into jeans and a T-shirt, zipped his outfit into the suit holder for the last time, and tossed the mask into the waste bin. Piece of crap.
Stuffing his key into his back pocket, he went to see if the boys were around while wondering what his next move should be.
Downstairs, the bar was packed with bodies.
“Here he is.” Johnny wrapped his arms around Matt’s shoulders. “Did the girls enjoy the show?”
Matt held his hands out. “What’s not to enjoy?”
“I hope you left my future bride all hot and panting. I’m expecting to reap the benefits when she gets back.” Johnny laughed.
“She kept the handcuffs.”
“Nice one. I’m excited already. That deserves a beer.” Johnny leaned on the bar and waved the barman over.
“I didn’t know if you’d still be here,” Matt said.
“I thought we’d leave the town to the girls tonight. It’ll be our turn tomorrow.”
Josh slid in between them, placed his empty glass on
the bar, and ordered a refill. “What’s up, dude?”
“Is that the band?” Matt asked, nodding at a group of men playing cards.
“Yep. Great bunch of guys. You should come and meet them,” Josh said.
Matt was staring at their manager, who’d already shot him a warning glare. What did Nessie see in him? “I don’t think your buddy would be too happy about that.”
“Who? Garrett? He’s cool.”
“Doesn’t like me much, though.”
“You’ve met him?”
“Briefly. I was talking to Ness earlier. He didn’t like it.”
“Don’t take it personally. He was probably just knackered from travelling.” Slamming a handful of coins on the wooden surface, he sucked the foamy head from his beer. “Well, you know where we are if you change your mind.”
Matt watched Josh return to the group before asking Johnny, “Not joining the game?”
“Nah. Gotta respect Cora’s no gambling order.”
“Fair enough.”
“So,” Johnny said, “talking to Nessie, huh?” His lip curled into a smirk.
“Little bit.”
“Anything I should know about, you know, in my stepfatherly capacity?”
“It’s early days.”
“The spark’s still there?”
“Never went away.”
“Really? You kept that quiet. What are you planning to do about it?”
“Are you pulling rank on me again?”
“Maybe.”
Matt laughed. “I’m gonna win her back, man.”
***
It was almost two o’clock when Nessie tiptoed into her room with her shoes dangling from her hand. Amy had a lot to answer for, dragging her onto the dance floor and holding her captive there for over two hours. Her feet were killing her, and her legs had jellified. Happily, Garrett was out for the count, sprawled across the bed as if he owned the whole thing, so, without bothering to undress, she squeezed onto the narrow strip of mattress remaining on her side.
She spent the night tossing and turning, her waking hours peppered by small amounts of sleep plagued with strange dreams involving a fat boy, wearing glasses, and a stripper. By the time the sun rose, she could almost have believed they were the same person.
In the middle of the night Garrett had woken briefly and pulled her into his arms. She’d waited until he resumed snoring to unhook herself from his grasp. Looking at him now, lying in a wet patch of drool and making a noise like a whale shooting air from its blowhole, she struggled to see how she had ever found the man attractive.
Two more days, Nessie. Two more days.
Easing her tired and aching body from the bed, so as not to wake Garrett, she quickly washed, changed into a dress more suitable for daytime, and packed a bag, trying to come up with a believable reason her mother might need her for the day. How much time could she risk away from Garrett? Would he be mad when she returned? Was she making things worse by avoiding him? Was she overthinking things?
Leaving the room, she looked over to the door across the corridor. She wanted to talk to Amy, certain her sister would have the right answers, but it was only six fifteen and far too early to wake her, so she hitched her bag further onto her shoulder and hobbled down to the dining room, with her calves feeling like two pieces of wood that someone had put a match to.
“Breakfast starts at six thirty,” the receptionist said before Nessie had even reached the door.
“Can’t I go in and wait?”
“Of course, madam.” The receptionist smiled smugly. “In ten minutes.”
Patronising bitch. Whatever.
Nessie rooted in her bag for her phone and headed for the lounge. With ten minutes to kill, she might as well check her emails and see what her friends were up to at home.
The lounge doors were locked. She peered through the glass at the maid running a vacuum cleaner over the carpet. So much for that thought.
“Alone again?”
Nessie turned at the words and was shocked to find Matt staring down at her. “As you can see.”
“I never figured you for an early riser.”
It was as if his eyes were magnets attached to hers. She’d missed looking into their depths and trying to count the tiny flecks of brown amongst the blue. He smelled good too, as if he’d just stepped out of the shower. Lemons, yes, she could definitely smell lemons. “Nor I you.”
“On the force, I had to get used to getting up at all hours of the day and night.”
“You’re a policeman?” Nessie could understand that. He was always helping old ladies to cross the road and refusing to use a fake ID to get a drink, and his job would account for the fact that he’d buffed up too. He’d need to be fit for a job like that. She could almost feel the power radiating from the pumped up biceps straining the sleeves of his T-shirt, and the big softy she used to snuggle up against was fast becoming a faded memory.
“Not anymore. I quit.”
“Oh? Why?”
Freeing her eyes to ignore the question, he asked, “Join me for breakfast?”
“I… um.” She racked her brain trying to muster a reason to say no, but her head was spinning and her brain refused to cooperate. What the hell? Why not? She was going to eat anyway. “Okay.”
Nessie’s stomach tightened at the feel of Matt’s hand pressing into the small of her back to steer her towards the dining room.
“Are you okay?” Matt asked with a curious tone.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You’re walking like a constipated duck.”
“I overdid the jogging yesterday,” she said, as they passed through the door without being stopped this time.
Matt chose a table for two and ordered their breakfast, then asked, “What’s in the bag?”
“Just some stuff for the beach.”
“Planning a lazy day away from it all?”
“Something like that.”
“What about the boyfriend?”
Nessie accepted her plate of fresh fruit and thanked the waitress. “What about him?”
“Does he not like the beach?” Matt asked through a mouthful of scrambled eggs.
“He’s busy.”
“Too busy to give you the attention you deserve?”
How could Matt possibly know what she deserved? “You don’t even know me anymore.” Not that he ever had, or he wouldn’t have dumped her. He wasn’t the only one who’d been surprised that Easter. “Just like I didn’t know you.”
“Ness. Please understand. Letting you go was the biggest mistake I ever made, but I’m not that boy anymore.”
“And I’m not that girl.” She discarded a piece of half-eaten apple onto her plate. Breakfast with Matt had been a bad idea. “I don’t want to have this conversation.”
“What conversation?”
“Talking about the past, dredging up memories best forgotten.”
“Have you forgotten? I haven’t. I remember every date we shared, every movie we saw, and the little dimples that appear when you laugh.”
“Stop it, Matt.” Why was he doing this to her? She had enough drama to contend with at the moment, and she didn’t need any more complications, particularly ones with history in a newly packaged, extremely hot body.
“You might have moved on, but there’ll never be anyone else for me, Ness.”
What a crock of shit. “Don’t tell me you’ve spent the last four years without a woman in your life, because I wouldn’t believe you.” She pushed her plate to the side and picked up her things. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a date with a patch of sand… and I’m not expecting a break up text in the morning.”
***
Strike two.
Matt cast his eggs aside, no longer hungry. He had to hold himself back from following her. Fate had done a great job of getting them alone, but clearly, he was doing a shit job with his apology, and if he couldn’t get that part right, and gain her trust, how the hell did he expect to win her back
? He should have just taken her in his arms and kissed her hard, up against the lounge door. The way she’d been looking at him gave him hope that such an action would yield the result he craved, but then, with no warning, she’d launched a tirade of anger at him across the breakfast table, and he was back to square one.
Nessie had been right about one thing, though. He hadn’t exactly been celibate in their time apart, but none of the girls he’d taken to his bed had ever come close to replacing her. It was the same story every time. If it wasn’t the uniform that got them wet, it was the prestige of being the one girl who managed to take home the stripper with a six-pack. Not that he’d cared. He wasn’t in the market for anything permanent. He couldn’t feel anything except the need for release with any girl. Not until the one with the kooky dress sense and the crooked, little smile got out of his head, and he’d long since realised she never would.
He knew he’d fucked it up. If he hadn’t been such a chicken, they’d still be together. But like he’d said, he wasn’t that boy anymore. He was a man—a man who knew what he wanted and was determined to get it.
He’d come here with one goal in mind, and he couldn’t give up yet. He still had a few days left before they both went back to their lives, and he couldn’t let that happen without them being together, because he might not get another chance.
His morning workout would have to be a quick one. He had a beach to get to.
Chapter Eleven
Nessie found a secluded spot behind a rock and laid out her towel. She wanted to be completely alone—not difficult at seven o’clock in the morning—but it wouldn’t be long before she was surrounded by families with shrieking children, and she wanted to get some reading time in before the peace was shattered. Two days here already felt like a week, and with so much craziness around her, she almost wished she was back at work… almost.
The sun had barely had chance to warm the air, let alone the sand, and she shivered a little in the morning breeze as she opened her book.
Three chapters later, she closed it and leaned back against the rock. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t the solitary type, or the reading type. She hadn’t read a full book since the patternmaking textbook she’d devoured at uni. A full day of reading the chick-lit nonsense Amy had lent her would drive her insane. But what was she going to do instead? She couldn’t return to the hotel and risk having to spend the day with Garrett. Amy had mentioned hitting the shops to get Josh some new gear, but she wasn’t in the mood to play gooseberry to a loved-up couple when her own love life was such a disaster.
