Not the request he’d hoped for. “I’ve already arranged for her to go. Mum and Piper are taking her.”
“I think you should take her. It’d be good for her to see you loosen up a little.”
“I’m loose.” He shrugged to demonstrate his laid-back-ness.
Kezia rolled her eyes. “Not with Jade, you aren’t. You edge around her like you’ve got that riding crop stuck up your butt.”
Goddamn—sparring with this woman was the best fun he’d had in months. “Why Kezia, I thought you were a good Catholic girl…yet you’re thinking about my butt.”
That shocked a full-out belly laugh from her. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been a good Catholic girl, and don’t change the subject—you and Jade need to relax and have fun.”
“Oh, I know how to have fun.” He closed the gap between them and braced a palm against the door jamb.
She sniffed and arched a brow. “I mean fun that doesn’t involve the kinds of things men like you think is fun.”
“Beer, sports, and sex?”
“Precisely.” She placed one small palm on his chest and shoved him out of her doorway. “Now stop flirting, and go swim with the sharks.”
She shut the door in his face.
The brief warmth of her hand against his tee shirt sizzled through his skin and he grinned at the closed door. “Yes, Mistress Murphy.”
***
Easter Monday, a “corker” of an autumn day according to the locals, drew big crowds to the sports ground where the gala was held. Bunting strung overhead between staked poles flapped in the breeze, the bouncy castle’s eye-hemorrhaging yellow walls vibrated as kids leaped about like tiny lunatics, and someone had wrapped silver tinsel on the rugby goal posts. Ben squinted behind his wrap-around shades. Sparkles on a rugby field? Sacrilege.
Thirty minutes later, he’d forked out twenty bucks on cotton candy, a hot dog, and for the kid to hurl a wet sponge at Ford’s grinning head—which she missed, because Jade threw like a girl. Plus, he’d bought her an over-priced Angry Bird helium balloon that wouldn’t last the day.
But even after all that, Jade still wasn’t smiling. Or having fun.
Dammit.
Muscles twitched across his shoulder blades, tightening to hard knots. The plan involved Kezia seeing Jade have a good time with him. To prove he was fun—prove he was loose.
Ben raised a hand at West, who served home-brewed ginger beer and charmed Oban’s geriatrics with his barman banter. Closer to the goal posts, Shaye dabbed the last touches of paint to a boy’s red and black Spiderman face. Zoe waved at them from in front of the face-paint booth. Shoving her balloon string into his palm, Jade took off.
A quick-fire raffle wheel rattled like a machine gun as he followed her zigzagging path past giggling teenagers, and Betsy Taylor’s disciples arguing the merits of her Oban-famous banana cake. The crowd thinned, people swerving off for a cellophane bag of Russian fudge, or to barter for some useless junk at the White Elephant booth.
He glanced to his left and tensed. Kezia. Mouth dry, he stared. She wore a pretty yellow dress with a matching ribbon taming her curls.
Tension of a different kind wired through his body. For a moment, he stood anchored to the mown grass beneath his feet. People brushed past, laughter and whoops and chaos swirled around him. Kezia tilted her head at something Jade said and laughed. Even among all the other voices, her smoky laugh electrified him. A shaft of midmorning sunshine fell on her, making her glow…making her look like a beautiful sunbeam.
Holy shit. Comparing a woman to sunbeams? He may as well turn in his man-card. Pronto.
He shook off the weird sensation and strode across the grass.
“Nice balloon,” she said when he reached her. “It suits you.”
He blinked at the red face of Jade’s Angry Bird balloon trailing behind him. Ah. He’d probably scowled at her the whole way over. He hadn’t meant to—but his default expression leaned to the morose rather than the moronically cheerful.
“Red’s more your color, Kez.”
She smiled at him, dark eyes creasing to long-lashed slits as the sun blinded her. Ben pulled off his sunglasses and slipped them onto her face.
“Thanks,” she said. “I forgot mine.”
“Now you can look mysterious, rather than cute-as-a-button.”
“A look all women aspire to.” Her lips curved, exposing her straight, white teeth. “Having a good time?”
Ben caught Jade’s eye and forced his mouth into a smile. “Having a great time, aren’t we?”
Jade stood with one hip cocked and her arm linked with Zoe’s. “I guess.”
“Mamma, can Jade and I have a pony ride?” Zoe bounced on her toes.
“Of course.” Kezia glanced at the face-painting booth. “I’ll grab some change.”
Ben dragged a ten dollar note from his pocket and handed it to Jade. “Here. My shout.”
Both girls chirped their thanks and ran across to where a fat, bored pony munched grass.
Kezia touched his arm, her soft fingertips doing all sorts of damage to his composure.
“Can we talk? Privately?”
“Okay.” He tied the balloon to a nearby chair.
They slipped between tables of homemade preserves and jams, walking toward the changing rooms and away from the masses. Privacy was relative in Oban. Already Betsy Taylor’s lavender-permed head swiveled in their direction. He kept a large gap between him and Kez, though he was dying to put a guiding hand on the small of her back. Any excuse to touch her.
By silent agreement they sat on one of the wooden benches near the white sprayed rugby field, Kezia a “we’re-just-friends” distance away.
She smoothed her dress over her knees. “So.” His wrap-arounds masked her expression. “The truth. Is Jade having fun yet? Are you?”
Fun? Hah. Ben stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles. Call him optimistic, but he’d kinda hoped for a little flirtation before she bought out the big guns. He snuck a glance at the smooth line of her shin and the yellow flip-flop dancing on her toes as she jiggled her foot. He’d have a lot more fun if he knew what she wore under her dress. Sensible cotton bra and panties? Or something lacy and wicked cupping her naked skin?
Quit it, pervert.
He’d end up with yet another hard-on—this time in broad daylight with half the town bearing witness. He snapped his gaze across the field, shifting the front of his shirt so the tails draped over his groin. Just in case.
“I’ve bought Jade loads of crap and smiled at her and everyone else like the frickin’ Joker. What else can I do? She’s still not happy.”
“Well, for starters, you’ll get your face painted.”
Ben jerked around to face her. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” Kezia slid the sunglasses onto her head. “Then you’ll sign up for Due South’s Manly Man of the Year contest.”
Ben barked out a laugh, even as his gut gave a hard twist. “I bloody well will not.”
She watched him with dark-chocolate eyes and that Mona-Lisa smile. If resistance was a tangible object, it would’ve melted under the power of her gaze. What the hell? He should be on his feet and gone. Insulted and a little pissed at her bossiness.
Instead, he nudged a clump of grass with the toe of his boot and sighed. “Why? How will making a complete dick of myself help?”
“Since when does Ben Harland care what people think?”
Ben grunted and looked away. He didn’t care what people thought about him, but he’d started to care what she thought.
“Jade needs to see your softer side.”
“I don’t have a softer side.”
After Piper bailed to Wellington soon after their father drowned, Ben took over his dad’s dive business, trying to support his remaining family. He did as well as a twenty-year-old could, but they’d relied on the community a lot during that first year. His mum had been a basket case and even though he contributed financially, he couldn’t, just didn’t
know how to support his mother and sister emotionally.
Emotions weakened you, and when your mother and baby sister needed your strength, then by God, you became the man your father raised you to be. There was no room for softness in his life.
“Rubbish.” Kezia nudged his ribs with an elbow.
She’d moved closer to him. Or had he moved closer to her? He angled his chin, and a whiff of her signature spicy scent tickled his nose. Their arms brushed together, but she didn’t pull away.
“You want everyone to think you’ve got a chunk of ice in your chest, but you’re not as cold as you’d like to believe. Jade still sees you as a big, scary stranger who’s going through the motions of being her dad.” She smacked his knee and grinned. “Enter the contest—get a little messy and out of your element. Show her a dad who’s strong but also a bit playful.”
Ah…the “you’re a teddy bear” speech. He didn’t have it in him to make extravagant gestures to win the favor of a little girl. Or a woman.
He only did things to benefit himself. But one attractive, prospective benefit returned his stare.
“What’s the payoff if I do win? Other than the humiliation of being crowned Due South’s Manliest Man?”
“The payoff is creating a building block in your relationship with Jade.”
He’d like the kid to be unafraid of him, but in less than a week she’d be gone. The ribbing he’d get from the guys was not enough to seal the deal. “Hmm. I’m thinking more along the lines of another kiss.”
“Really. A kiss?” Her forehead crinkled.
“So how ‘bout it?”
He fired off his most winsome Harland smile, but she slipped the sunglasses over her eyes and only his reflection grinned back.
“No. I’m not kissing you again—”
He toned the smile-wattage down. “A winner’s hug then. A no-strings, deep into the friend-zone hug.”
And shit—begging for a woman’s affection? Get a grip, man. Yet when her mouth curved and a stray curl blew onto her pouty lower lip, all bets were off.
He’d beg if necessary.
“I thought you weren’t a hugger, Ben?”
He wasn’t. Platonically hugging the hot little package beside him was low on his list of things he’d like to do to her. But beggars couldn’t be choosers. “I’m making you the exception.”
Kezia slapped a palm to her collarbone. “Be still, my poor, girlish heart. Anyway, you’ve got some steep competition from Noah, Joe, and Kip.”
“How come West can weasel out of it?”
“Due South’s the sponsor. He said it would look bad for the manager to win.”
“What a crock.”
“Yes.” She chuckled. “Scared the guys’ll beat you?”
Shaking his head, Ben cut her a glance. “No. But will you hug one of them, if by some fluke, they win?”
“Maybe.” Kezia kept her face forward, but the corner of her mouth quirked up.
“A cop, a doctor, and a bartender won’t beat me, Ms. Murphy.”
“You’ll sign up?”
“Yeah. I guess I’m not cold enough to miss getting a hug from you.” And then attempt a kiss when there weren’t any crowds around.
“Uh-huh.” She rose, and in that way women did, ran a hand over her butt to make sure her dress hadn’t bunched up. “Well, let’s get your sister to paint you green.”
“Green?”
“The Incredible Hulk, remember?”
She’d called him that after he rescued her in the parking lot. Ben sighed and stood. He was screwed. Who the hell wanted to kiss The Incredible Hulk?
***
Boys would be boys.
Kezia cheered alongside Zoe and Jade as Ben and the eight other men wielded their knives. All nine men focused on the task single-mindedly, as if they were performing life-saving, triple-bypass surgery instead of filleting a fish. The contest started as silly fun, then the competitive urge kicked in.
Ben had won the kindling-chopping event, but Dr. Joe Whelan beat him by a mile with his knife skills.
“Comes from dissecting cadavers.” Ben grumbled his disgust at the doctor’s unfair advantage and swiped his forearm across his green-painted face.
“Aw, now. You’re sore because you’ve got bleeding great mitts on the stumps of your wrists, while I”—Joe clapped him on the shoulder—“have hands both nimble and talented.”
Kezia smothered a smile. Half a dozen females in the audience were as fixated on the handsome doctor as he’d been on the blue cod’s innards only minutes ago.
“Yeah? Let’s see how you do in the one-handed bra release then, Doc.”
“I’ve plenty of practice freeing my lady friends’ knockers, don’t you fret.”
Loud heckles and laughter erupted from the crowd gathered around the filleting tables.
“Not as much practice as Kip has!” hooted West’s father, Bill.
Glenna elbowed Bill in the ribs on one side, while West’s mother, Claire, stood on the other side and shook her head.
“Keep it clean, boys,” Kezia shouted. “There are kids around.”
Joe raised an apologetic hand, and Kip winked, but Ben—Ben razed her with a gaze that was both promising and predatory. The Incredible Hulk with sex appeal—go figure.
Glenna tapped her shoulder. “Kezia? Shall I take the girls off for ice-cream?”
“Good idea. I imagine the heckling will get pretty wild. Bring them over for the last event. The horizontal bungee should be fun.”
Glenna wrinkled her nose. “After the rain we’ve had, the men’ll get filthy.”
“That’s half the point, I think.”
“Men do love to roll around in the muck. Come along, girls, Gran’s buying ice-cream.”
Jade took one of Glenna’s hands while Zoe took the other.
“Can I call you Gran too, Mrs. Harland?”
“I’d like that very much, Zoe. Two beautiful granddaughters—I’m a lucky woman! Now, who’d like chocolate and who’d like vanilla?”
Kezia sighed as they disappeared into the crowd. With her parents gone and Callum’s choosing to remain emotionally distant, Zoe longed for a real Nonna and Nonno. A big, happy family with loving grandparents, but more importantly, a daddy and siblings—something Kezia couldn’t give her. Never again would she be dependent on another person for love and support. Because when life got complicated? People who were supposed to hold you up always let you down.
She retied the yellow ribbon around her hair. No point following that thorny road to its ultimate dead end. If Glenna was happy to act as a surrogate gran, then she’d count their blessings in having such a sweet substitute in Zoe’s life.
The high-spirited crowd swept her past the stinky, fish-gut-laden tables to a bunting-marked area. A female mannequin, dressed in a mini skirt and a black bra, was staked into the center of the clearing.
Good Lord, the local guys would never hear the end of this. Not that the last five contestants seemed concerned. They laughed and tussled like her class’s boisterous eight-year-olds—Ben the worst of the bunch.
He accepted easy handshakes and backslaps, shoulder-checked Noah over a comment lost in the crowd’s dull roar, and even flashed a sharp grin as Bree Findlow made the rounds and kissed each contestant good luck. Kezia might’ve suffered more of a jealous twinge if Bree, a stunning blonde, didn’t have a policy of not dating men who considered un-ripped jeans formal attire.
Though any twinge was ridiculous.
Accompanying the girls for ice-cream would be the sensible option. Dismiss the sharp gut twist returning her to the twenty-two-year-old who’d attended her in-law’s first formal dinner party with her new husband, all starry eyed and hopeful. She’d been introduced to one of the other guests, a perfect, ash-blonde WASP type and the daughter of one of the Murphy’s closest friends. Dr. Murphy had laughed and patted Kezia’s arm. “This is Miranda,” she said. “Miranda nearly married Callum a few years ago, didn’t you dear? Broke everyone�
�s heart when you called off the wedding.”
The stab of jealously was one of the many things that ruined her evening.
But pedigree Miranda, who’d looked at Kezia like part of the caterer’s staff, wasn’t Bree. And Callum, who’d been embarrassed but not embarrassed enough to correct Miranda’s referral to Kezia as “Cal’s little Italian bride,” wasn’t Ben.
Kezia clenched her fists, turning to go.
“Who’s your favorite?”
Kezia jumped and looked up at Piper. “Gesù! How long have you been there?”
“Long enough to observe you checking out the talent.” Piper wriggled her eyebrows.
“I’m an old widow, remember?”
Piper snorted. “Kez, you may be a widow—but you’re not old and you’re not blind. Don’t even think of telling me you weren’t ogling Kip’s ass in those tight Levis.”
Actually, she’d been ogling Ben’s ass, but she’d take the fall for Kip to get Piper’s snoopy-cop nose off her case. “Busted. He’s probably going to win.”
“Nah, my money’s on Noah. The man’s got hidden depths.”
Kezia glanced over at Oban’s only full-time officer. Dark hair trimmed short and built like a rugby full back, Noah gave nothing away as he scanned the horizon. He was popular with the locals, and with his slightly unapproachable and mysterious aura, even more popular with women. Though their interest seemed to ping off him like bullets off body armor.
“You’re not supporting your own brother?”
“In a bra-removing contest? I can’t begin to tell you how wrong that would be.” Piper kept her gaze fixed on the men lined up by the mannequin, which Joe had loudly dubbed “Siobhan.” “Besides, since I heard you and Ben hang out a lot, I thought you’d be rooting for him.”
Kezia’s eyes narrowed on her friend’s bland expression. Her cop face. “What are you implying?”
“Nothing.” Piper’s hazel eyes widened. “Should I be implying something?”
“Zoe and Jade spend a lot of time together, so as a result, I’ve seen more of Ben than usual.”
“Uh-huh. You’ve got kind of a tic thing going on there, Kez.” Piper touched Kezia’s cheekbone, beneath her right eye. “Classic sign of untruthfulness.”
Melting Into You (Due South Book 2) Page 7
