Isaac smiled at Margaret. “You mean Sam never got caught pranking a teacher again. I didn’t completely redeem him.”
“Ah, well,” said Margaret. “The pranks were never mean-spirited with you Ngata boys, and you both grew into fine men. Your old math teacher is proud of you.”
“You are?” Maybe he sounded a little incredulous, but wasn’t this the woman who insisted on Nat acting as a babysitter in case his unsavory nature badly influenced the girls?
Margaret straightened to her full height and met his gaze square on. “I misjudged you, Isaac, and I’m sorry. The mistakes we make in life aren’t nearly as important as the direction we choose to take afterward. You chose not to engage with the media attention and turned instead to helping your family and your community. In my book, that makes you a man to be proud of.” She huffed out a disdainful snort. “And if our own dirty laundry was publicly aired and our sins judged as harshly as yours, we’d all being living under a rock, trembling with shame.”
His gaze shot to Nat, who looked at him with a furrowed brow and a slight tilt to her head, as if Margaret had said something she’d never considered before. He didn’t quite know what to say—words not being his thing—so he muttered a gruff, “Thanks.”
Margaret patted his arm and excused herself, striding over to speak to another of the remaining parents.
“Uh, I gotta get going,” he said to Nat. “Owen informed me there’s a potluck lunch for the usual gang at my place in an hour. Are you and Olivia coming?” His stomach gave a sudden twist, jumping back to the same visceral sensation he’d had the night before when he’d sat with Nat on the bathroom floor. A bone-deep fear that at any moment she’d pull away from him.
But her gaze softened and her lush mouth curved into a smile. “We’ll be there.”
And when she turned away to walk toward Olivia and Morgan, who were still chattering like magpies to their friends, something small but powerful broke free from inside his heart to follow after her.
Chapter 13
Bounty Bay’s marae, a meeting place for the local Māori iwi or tribe, was the perfect place for an afternoon of baking mayhem. Perched on a rolling hillside that overlooked the stream, the cluster of single-story structures with the marae’s traditional carved amo either side of the main building’s entrance was both beautiful and deeply spiritual. More than that, a marae was central to the Māori community and used for everything from weddings to meetings for the local iwi and hapu to a funeral tangi. The old-style but scrupulously cleaned and cared for kitchen facilities catered events held at the marae, because food and hospitality were important parts of Māori culture.
Nat organized parents and other volunteering adults to help the teenagers prepare and bake a range of cakes, cookies, and cupcakes to sell. It’d been a huge undertaking, and the past two weeks since the girls had won their first game against East Coast High School had flown by in a blur. A blur in which she’d only spoken to Isaac during their morning runs and at after-school training. Frustrated, horny woman, much?
Two Saturdays ago the girls had lost by five points to St. Mary’s College and last Saturday tied with Paihia High School. But their spirits were good, and all the team had shown up to help with the baking and packaging of items that needed to be prepared fresh for the next day. Nat had a rotating roster of jobs for the girls including the actual baking using the marae kitchen’s four big ovens, with other groups icing cupcakes, packaging cookies and fudge in pretty plastic bags, and pricing items. With parent help came younger siblings. On the marae’s grassy slopes a small herd of kids played with helpfully volunteering dads to keep them out of the way of the budding chefs.
Nat had also called in favors with some of her newer friends. Savannah Payne, a former actress who now taught drama classes to local kids, was playing tag with Charlie, William, and a few other kids Nat didn’t recognize. Savannah’s husband, Glen, a novelist working on this third book, sat with a smaller group of quieter kids—probably spellbinding them with one of his stories.
Lauren Fraser and her husband, Nate, were supervising the cupcake frosting station in the dining room next to the kitchen. Nat glanced over and spotted Nate smiling down at his wife, holding out a finger with a dollop of pink frosting on it for her to lick. He murmured something and smiled, then pressed his palm to the swell of her stomach. Twins, they’d discovered at their first scan. Nate had taken to calling them ‘Thing One’ and ‘Thing Two’ whenever his wife wasn’t in earshot, since it was too soon to discover the babies’ gender.
“They’re supercute, huh?” Gracie said from beside Nat at one of the long wooden tables, packing little bags of fudge. “I can’t wait until my brother knocks up Sav so I can be an auntie again.”
“What’s knocked up mean?” piped a little voice from beneath the table.
Gracie and Nat glanced at each other and ducked down to spy Drew, six-year-old big brother of the unborn twins. He wore his favorite Superman T-shirt and sat cross-legged licking frosting off his fingers. Nate’s stepson was the most excited of their little family to be having not one but two siblings on the way.
“Oops,” Vee said, having arrived at their table in time to overhear Drew’s comment. She picked up two small pieces of chocolate fudge from the tray, wrapped them in a paper napkin, and offered them to Drew. “Honey, would you mind going out and seeing if Ruby is still happy to stay with Sam? One of these pieces is for you and the other for her.”
“What about Sam?” Drew said with a frown. “I bet he’d like some, too.”
“Tell him he’s a big boy and can come in and get his own,” Gracie said. “And don’t let Owen spot you with that fudge—chocolate is his favorite.”
Drew grinned and cupped the fudge close to his chest as he hurried outside.
“You girls can take a break,” Vee said to Sapphire and Lynda who were tying ribbons around the bags of fudge. “I’ll cover you.”
The girls vanished after Drew, phones in hands, thumbs rapidly firing out updates to their friends.
Vee slipped into the seat one of the girls had vacated and propped her chin on her fist. “So,” she addressed Nat, “Isaac’s looking kinda hot in that Mr. Good Lookin’ is cookin’ apron the girls made him wear while he’s all MasterChef over the cake baking team.”
Nat’s gaze flicked through the open serving counter space into the kitchen for the hundredth time in the past thirty minutes. Isaac’s team consisted of five girls and Donna, who’d arrived late and inserted herself into the group without checking with Nat as to where she was needed. Isaac did indeed look hot in a snug-fitting gray Henley with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and blue jeans that made her mouth water every time she caught a glimpse of his tight rear filling them out.
Olivia held a large metal mixing bowl over a prepared cake pan, while Morgan scraped the gooey chocolate batter into it. Isaac stood at Morgan’s shoulder, apparently directing the process, and laughing at something Olivia said. Nat’s stomach went topsy-turvy watching the two of them and noting the ease in which Isaac had slipped under her carefully constructed maternal barriers and become a small but integral part of Olivia’s world.
“You and Isaac seem to be getting along better,” Vee said, dragging Nat’s attention back to the fudge-laden table.
“Much better,” Gracie agreed solemnly, then her face split into a cheeky grin. “The kind of better that comes from really good S-E-X,” she added, whispering the last spelled word.
Not that anyone would’ve overheard them with the noise of chattering teenagers and the cranked-up sound system blasting someone’s playlist throughout the kitchen and dining room.
Nat focused on tying the ribbon into a fancy bow on a completed packet of fudge. “We are getting along better. In fact, I’d say we’re friends again.”
“It’s definitely good to see him smiling again.” Vee pursed her lips. “The kind of smiling that comes from really good S-E-X.”
Gracie giggled and held out a fist for V
ee to bump.
“Shut up, you two.” But Nat couldn’t prevent a flush of heat sweeping through her or her lips kicking up into a grin.
“Friends with benefits,” Gracie said. “Never gets old.”
“And please don’t tell me it was a one-night-only special.” Vee nibbled on a stolen piece of fudge. “Because in all seriousness, it’s good to see you smiling like this again.”
“Like what?” Nat asked.
“Like someone who’s lived through a long Antarctic winter in complete darkness and suddenly emerged into the summer sunshine,” Vee said.
“Very poetic,” Gracie said. “And I agree. I’d also add, if I didn’t think you’d kick my ass, that you look ten years younger.”
“Great bone-melting sex’ll do that—right, Nat?” Vee winked at her, then her mouth twisted. “Although sex of any kind hasn’t been on my radar for such a long time I think I’ve forgotten how tab A is meant to fit into slot B.”
“You just need a quick refresher course.” Natalie made the mistake of glancing into the kitchen again.
Isaac’s gaze met hers across the countertops and mixing bowls. Beside him, Donna’s mouth was in constant motion, but Isaac’s gaze remained locked with Nat’s. She should be used to his intensity by now. The way one loaded glance could cause her brain to empty of everything except wanting him.
She broke eye contact with Isaac and looked down at her hands. There was something she needed to get off her chest to her friends. “I asked Isaac to tell me about that night. About what happened with Lucy Gilbert.”
“Oh, hon,” Gracie said. “That must’ve been hard to hear.”
“It was time you heard his version,” Vee said. “Considering you’re bonking each other’s brains out now.”
“Vee!” Gracie’s shocked gaze flew to Nat, gauging her reaction.
“If I tell you we’ve bonked our brains out once, will you stop bugging me about it?” Nat said, but she managed a smile, knowing it was Vee’s way of trying to soothe some of the hurt she knew would’ve been raised by that conversation.
“Only once?” Vee asked, then waved a hand. “Never mind, we’ll discuss that part later. For now, what did he say?”
Nat’s stomach curdled around the few pieces of fudge she’d swallowed. “Maybe we should talk about the bonking.”
“If it were only about the bonking with you two, we would,” Vee said. “But we all know it isn’t, and we all know you need to get this off your chest.”
Yeah, her girls knew her too well, but that statement was getting a big fat pass from Nat because bonking, as Vee so delicately put it, was the only thing that was going on between them.
“He admitted his intention to sleep with Lucy that night,” Nat blurted, her hands curling into tight fists on the tabletop. “That he fought with Jackson about it outside the pub just before the car jumped the curb. I know everyone surmised that was what happened, since Lucy would never confirm nor deny it and Isaac claimed it was on his suggestion that the three of them left the pub together.” She pressed her lips into a thin, almost painful line. “But to hear him actually say it out loud…I can’t imagine how devastated his girlfriend must’ve been.”
“She broke it off with him via text message, so the magazines reported,” Gracie said. “She said the intention to cheat was almost as bad as if he had.”
“But is it a deal breaker if a guy doesn’t actually go through with it? Haven’t we all said that if one of the Hemsworth brothers came knocking, we’d go a-rocking?” Vee moved around the table to sit on Nat’s other side. “Are you wondering if Isaac’ll cheat on you?”
“We’re not exclusive,” Nat said, though her heart said otherwise.
“Not in my world view,” said Gracie. “Once I rock a man’s world, that man better not be sniffing around any other women until we both agree we’re done with each other.”
And were she and Isaac done with each other? Nat shot another glance into the kitchen. Isaac had pink spotty oven mitts on his hands as he carried a cake pan from oven to counter. He set it down to cool, his gaze unerringly finding hers through the gap of the serving counter. His mouth curving into a smile that told her he was probably picturing her naked, he lifted one mitt-covered hand and flexed his fingers, waving like a two-year-old, which, dammit, was bloody adorable. She rolled her eyes at him, then turned her attention back to Gracie and Vee, who stared at this exchange as if both Isaac and Nat had crash-landed from another planet.
“What the hell?” Vee said when Isaac turned away. “Gurl, if you’ve got Isaac doing cutesy stuff like that in public you’re both in a world of trouble.”
Gracie tilted her head, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. “He’s a smitten kitten,” she said. “Don’t think you need to worry about him stepping out on you.”
Vee nodded sagely. “The guy narked on his own sister for shoplifting a pair of flip-flops when she was eleven. Tui told me about it once. He made her return them to the store and apologize, which she said was humiliating, but he cut her a break by not telling their parents—unless she ever did it again.”
Gracie frowned. “That doesn’t sound like the kind of guy to screw around on a woman.”
Spidery shivers inched down Nat’s spine to sit icily in the pit of her stomach. Vee’s story and even Margaret’s a couple of weeks back were worms burrowing deep into her subconscious. And she didn’t like the feeling one little bit.
“People cheat for many different reasons,” she said. “I met Emily a couple of times while Isaac was with her. The last time I saw them together there was tension between them. Add being a long way from home, an attractive girl who flirted with him, testosterone of a win pumping through his veins, and alcohol…” She shrugged. “It happens.”
“But do you trust Isaac?” Gracie asked. “I mean, could you ever trust him the way you trusted Jackson?”
A long way from home, an attractive girl flirting with him, testosterone of a win pumping through his veins, and alcohol…
Isaac wasn’t the only one who fit that description.
No. Nat squeezed her fingers so tightly her nails dug crescent moons in her palms. She absolutely wasn’t going there.
With a superhuman effort, she unclenched her fists and peeled off another plastic bag to fill with fudge. “Jumping way ahead of yourself, Gracie. Our one night of commitment-free, X-rated adult fun does not mean we’re now in a relationship where trust may or may not be an issue.”
“Uh-huh.” Gracie loaded on the sarcasm.
“I smell a cop-out,” said Vee.
“Who’s having X-rated adult fun?” Owen materialized beside Gracie. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head then grinned at Vee and Nat. “And who needs a free pamphlet on STDs?”
“No one,” the women said in unison.
Owen slid into the seat beside Gracie and she leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder.
“Missed you, O,” Gracie said.
The ice in Nat’s stomach melted to a raw, acidic pool and she swallowed hard because she missed that kind of intimacy with a longing that burned to the bone.
Someone to lean on, someone who wanted to be with you when you’d only been apart for an hour. Someone to belong to, someone who’d call you tahu while he showed you that he belonged to you, too.
Isaac was hungry, and it wasn’t for one of Natalie’s damn cupcakes, though he chose a cream-cheese frosted red-velvet one and passed a five-dollar note to Rangi-Marie, who currently manned one of the bake sale tables.
“Can we keep the change?” she asked with a toothy grin. “We’re almost out of two-dollar coins.”
“You’ve already kept the change the last four times I’ve bought something.” He slanted a glance over to the second table where Nat stood counting bank notes in a plastic container. “I’ll go inside and get you some more coins.”
The fund-raising bake sale/auction had smashed expectations this morning, with the Far North putting on a brilliant blu
e-sky winter’s day. Parents and girls had been run off their feet for the past five hours since they’d started at nine, and only in the last thirty minutes had the Kauri Whare parking lot cleared enough for them all to relax.
Olivia, Morgan, Owen and a couple of other parents had left after completing their hour-long shift earlier, and gooey teddy bear he apparently was on the inside, he’d struggled not to get the warm fuzzies from seeing Olivia so happy. The sullen girl who’d knocked on his door had been replaced by a confident, enthusiastic doppelgänger who turned out to be one hell of a baked goods saleswoman.
Nat, unsurprisingly, insisted on helping for the entire five hours. Five hours running around making sure all the girls had enough change, bringing out more baked goods from the staff room, and convincing customers to bid high on the many donations she’d managed to score. Five hours on the go and she still looked sweeter and tastier than the cupcake he held. After all that lusty eyeballing they’d shared yesterday at his marae, he wasn’t just hungry for her, he was starving.
He polished off the cupcake in four big bites and strode over to Nat. His stomach still gave a roller-coaster swoop when she looked up at him with her big green eyes. They hadn’t spoken again about Jackson or Lucy or the accident, but the ripples that conversation caused between them were still apparent in the slight wariness within her gaze. Then the corners of her eyes crinkled into a smile.
“Another cupcake? What is that, an even half dozen?”
“More like a dozen,” he admitted. “I need to do something physical to burn off all that sugar.”
She made a soft humming sound in the back of her throat that caused his dick to sit up and take notice. “Me, too. I confess my weakness is vanilla fudge.”
Vanilla fudge had nothing on his weakness for her. He directed his gaze away from the swell of her breasts beneath the lightweight sweater dress she wore, and to the huge gnarled kauri log at the edge of the parking lot, the top section carved by Sam into the shape of a dolphin.
Mend Your Heart (Bounty Bay Book 4) Page 16
