by Leah Ashton
Lanie snorted with laughter. ‘Wow. I can’t see at all why this poor woman is feeling insecure around you.’
Gray looked so surprised at her comment Lanie laughed some more. ‘Oh, come on. I can just imagine how you’d be around her. Probably like you were with me at first.’
And how he still was, at times. Not down here at the beach but at work, where he got so caught up in what he was doing that her presence seemed to cease to register altogether.
He opened his mouth as if he was going to protest, but then stopped. ‘Possibly,’ he finally conceded.
Ahead of them Luther had found a friend—a small black poodle—and together they took turns chasing each other into the water.
‘But what if this one—wife number seven—is, in fact, the one?’ Lanie asked. ‘Isn’t it worth getting to know her just in case?’
Now Gray laughed. ‘She’s barely ten years older than me. It’s not going to last. My dad’s one flaw is his inability to be sensible around women. For such a successful, accomplished, intelligent guy, his stubborn faith in love is bizarre. In that way I’m nothing like him.’
Lanie smiled. ‘I never would’ve guessed.’
The Manning office gossip had confirmed what Lanie had already guessed: Gray’s previous relationships had been both short-lived and superficial. Since his father had retired the consensus was that he’d been seeing no one at all, so complete was his focus on work.
‘I’m not sure I agree that being a success and believing in love are mutually exclusive things,’ Lanie pointed out.
‘Maybe they aren’t for some people,’ he said. ‘But my dad has lost millions with each of his marriages. And yet he keeps going back for more.’
Lanie had never heard Gray criticise his father, but his scorn for his dad’s romantic history was obvious.
‘And has that caused him financial difficulty?’
‘With his early marriages, yes—although he argues now that it was what spurred him on to diversify the business, to take risks. Because he needed the money.’
‘So he’s a risk-taker in life and in love?’ Lanie said.
‘Yeah.’ Gray didn’t sound so happy about it.
‘I think that’s nice.’
They’d almost reached Luther, who was busily digging a hole now his poodle friend had left with his owner.
‘Really?’ Gray said. ‘You don’t strike me as such a romantic.’
Lanie wasn’t sure if she should be offended by that. ‘I like the idea of love. Of marriage and a happy-ever-after.’ She paused, trying to think how to phrase this. ‘But I guess more in an abstract way. Something for other people to do, not me.’
‘And why not you?’
Lanie laughed. ‘My longest ever relationship was two months,’ she said. ‘I’m not much good at them.’
She said it lightly, although Gray’s gaze still sharpened as he looked at her.
‘I don’t know, Lanie, I—’
Gray’s words were cut off by a loud yelp.
Luther.
The dog was holding his paw in the air.
Instantly, they both broke into a run.
Gray dropped to his knees in the sand, reaching out gently to inspect Luther’s paw. Immediately blood splashed onto Gray’s arm—blood that hadn’t been obvious against Luther’s dark coat.
Lanie spotted the culprit—the dog had managed to dig up a small pile of broken bottles that some thoughtless person had long ago buried.
‘He’s got shards stuck all over him,’ Gray said, worry heavy in his voice.
‘Take him to a vet,’ Lanie said. ‘I’ll clean this up so other dogs don’t do the same thing. And I’ll cancel your meetings for today.’
Gray just nodded as he hoisted Luther up into his arms, his attention entirely on his dog.
Lanie watched as he ran up to the street, faster than she’d ever seen him run before despite the heavy weight he was carrying.
Then she laid out her towel and started piling it up with glass, piece by piece.
* * *
By the time Lanie drove up to Gray’s front door she knew she’d made a mistake.
She’d questioned her decision to drop by on her way home from work more than once. Firstly when she’d gone shopping in her lunch break for a large rawhide bone for Luther.
At the time she’d figured it could wait—she would simply give the treat to Gray at work tomorrow. But then she wouldn’t know how Luther was.
In which case calling him should have seemed the obvious option. Except she could just imagine how that phone call would go. Odds were she’d call at a particularly inconvenient time, Gray would be all distracted, and she’d be lucky to get a handful of words out of him.
So she’d told herself dropping by on the way home from work—especially as it was kind of on her way—seemed reasonable.
Until she’d actually been in her car on the way here.
Was she breaking the rules? Did they even have rules around their daily beach meetings?
She had no idea.
She glanced at the bone on her passenger seat, complete with a big red bow, and pulled herself together.
She was worried about Luther and had brought him a present. That was it. No more, no less. If Gray thought that was horribly inappropriate and it meant the end of whatever it was they were doing at the beach then so be it.
Maybe the beach thing was over now, anyway.
It was never going to last, their semi-friendship. Kind of like that one-off kiss. She should have known it was temporary right from the start.
Right. So. Yes. She was going to go to Gray’s house and give Luther his bone.
She’d laughed at the analysis that had required her to get to that point at the time.
Now—at Gray’s front door—her hesitation didn’t seem so ridiculous after all.
This was a mistake. She shouldn’t be here. Gray wouldn’t want her here.
She knelt down in her slim-fitting trousers to leave the bone at the front door.
Maybe she’d send Gray a text to let him know she’d left it. Or ring the doorbell and then run away like some eleven-year-old playing a prank.
That idea—and the image of her running down Marine Parade in her heels—made her giggle. She was still giggling when the door swung open.
‘Lanie?’
She looked up from where she was crouching on his doorstep—up long legs clad in faded jeans to his soft, ancient-looking T-shirt—to his bemused expression.
She shot to her feet. ‘Oh!’ she said. Then thrust out the bone she still held in his direction. ‘I bought Luther a bone.’
‘Thanks,’ Gray said, and his lips kept quirking upwards, as if he was trying not to smile. ‘Nice bow.’
‘I thought so,’ she said. ‘Anyway, I didn’t want to disturb you, so I’ll just get going...’
‘Do you want to see Luther?’
Lanie knew it was far from wise to stay any longer, and yet she found herself nodding enthusiastically. ‘Yes, please. How is he?’
Gray held the door open for her, then followed her inside. ‘He’s okay. He needed some stitches, so he’s a bit dopey from the anaesthetic, but he’ll be as good as new in a few weeks’ time.’
‘That’s excellent.’
Luther was curled up on a big cushion on the floor in Gray’s lounge room. The huge windows showcased the rapidly setting sun and also provided an unobstructed view of the front porch. With the window’s dark tinting on the outside she’d had no idea she was being watched. No wonder he’d been hiding a laugh—how long had she been dithering out there?
‘Why didn’t you knock?’ he asked.
‘I didn’t want to bother you.’
‘What if I don’t mind being bothered
?’
Lanie laughed. ‘You hate being bothered.’
He shrugged. ‘For you I’ll make an exception.’
Suddenly uncomfortable, Lanie knelt down in front of Luther and scratched behind his long, floppy ears. He wore a large plastic cone to stop him licking his wounds, and looked most unhappy about the situation. ‘Hey, buddy,’ she said, low and soothing. ‘You doing okay?’
Luther looked up at her with his gorgeous chocolate eyes and out of nowhere, Lanie felt her throat tighten.
What was she upset about? Luther, thank goodness, was going to be okay.
She stood up, walking briskly over to the kitchen to put some space between herself and Gray. ‘Do you mind if I grab some water?’ she asked.
Gray followed her—which wasn’t part of the plan. So she moved to the opposite side of the bench as he found her a glass, needing that large slab of granite between them.
‘I should’ve called you,’ Gray said as he pushed her water across the counter top. ‘Told you how he was.’ He nodded in Luther’s direction.
‘No,’ Lanie said, ‘of course you shouldn’t. You had Luther to worry about.’
He shook his head. ‘I should’ve called you,’ he repeated. ‘I’m sorry.’
Lanie wrapped her fingers around the frosty glass. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’m glad you didn’t come into work, though. I’m sure Luther appreciated it.’
Gray tilted his head back a little, as if he was suddenly intensely fascinated by his ceiling. He gave a short bark of laughter.
‘That wasn’t entirely why I didn’t come in.’ His gaze dropped to meet hers and he leant forward, gripping the edge of the granite with both hands. ‘I didn’t come in because I received two phone calls this morning while I was at the vet. Two more of the Hoi An potentials.’ A pause. ‘They’re out.’ He managed a humourless grin. ‘Great timing, too.’
‘Oh, Gray,’ Lanie said, resisting the urge to go to him and...and what, exactly? She stayed put. ‘I’m really surprised.’
‘Me too,’ he said. ‘After Raquel signed up I thought I had it in the bag. That all that stuff we talked about in Vietnam really didn’t matter—that nothing actually had changed since my dad retired.’ He laughed again. ‘That it was all in my head. Guess not.’
‘It probably has nothing to do with you,’ Lanie said. ‘The investment just wasn’t right for them.’
‘What I do, Lanie, is target the right investors with the right projects at the right time. Those investors all had money to spend, and I’d hand-selected them. If the product was wrong for them that’s my fault. If the weekend sales pitch was wrong for them, that’s my fault too.’ He walked to the fridge and grabbed a long-necked bottle of beer. Lanie watched as he twisted off the top and then just left the beer on the counter, as if he’d already changed his mind. ‘So I stayed home this afternoon to mope with Luther.’ He did that ugly grin again. ‘Real professional of me.’
‘I think you’re being too tough on yourself,’ Lanie said. ‘I’m sure no one has a one hundred percent strike rate with this type of thing—not even your dad. You did your best. That’s all you can do.’
His gaze jerked up to tangle with hers. Instantly she knew where this was going and took a step backwards before she’d even realised what she was doing.
‘Really, Lanie? You think that doing your best is all that matters? I find that hard to believe.’
There was no point pretending she didn’t understand what he meant.
Very deliberately, Lanie stepped forward again. ‘I did do the best I could. I trained the hardest I could. I swam the best I could—my best time ever in the selection trials. I’m proud of what I achieved. That is all that matters.’
‘You’re right,’ Gray said. ‘Of course you’re right. You should be incredibly proud of what you achieved—you are a champion. But I don’t think you really believe that, do you?’
Lanie stared at her untouched water glass. ‘I don’t really think this is any of your business.’
‘Why not?’
Her head jerked up. ‘Because you’re my boss and I’m your employee. This is all a bit personal, don’t you think?’
All Lanie’s sensible plans to remain on her side of the counter were ruined as Gray strode over to her. She crossed her arms, not about to back down.
‘Is that all we are, Lanie?’
She nodded, very stiffly. ‘Haven’t we already covered this?’
‘What are we doing at the beach each morning?’
Lanie shrugged. ‘I swim. You run. We happen to do it at the same time.’
‘Come on. That’s crap and you know it. Why are you being so stubborn about this?’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘I should get going.’ She went to step around Gray. ‘Bye, Luther,’ she said.
But Gray grabbed her hand as she brushed past. ‘Wait.’
She was right next to him and she twisted around to meet his gaze. ‘Please don’t touch me.’
He didn’t loosen his grip one iota. But then she knew if she really wanted to pull away, she could. But she didn’t.
She couldn’t.
‘Why can’t I touch you?’ Gray said, a dangerous glint to his slate-grey eyes. ‘Because you can’t concentrate? Why is that?’
Lanie glared at him. ‘You know perfectly well what it is. You probably have women collapsing at your feet all the time. Don’t act like you don’t know the effect you have on women. You know exactly what you’re doing.’
He took a step closer to her. Too close. But she felt frozen in place, incapable of doing anything but looking at him.
‘Yes, I know what I’m doing,’ Gray said, all soft and low. ‘I can’t speak for other women, but I have a pretty good idea what I do to you.’
Her body already felt hot, confused. Now an all-over mortified blush was added to the mix. Why did she have to be so transparent?
Finally her ability to use her limbs returned and she tugged her hand from his grip, taking a handful of steps away before turning to face him. ‘What are you trying to prove? Just exactly how smug and arrogant you are?’
He walked towards her. Slow, deliberate steps.
‘Has it ever occurred to you, Lanie Smith, that you have the same effect on me?’
All she could do was stare at him.
He took another step. Close enough to touch.
‘I—’ she began—but she really had no idea what to say. Her instinct was to deny—to shake her head and tell him that he was wrong, that this was unfair, that he didn’t really mean that.
But would she actually believe what she was saying?
Did she really believe that incredible kiss at the Night Market had really been so one-sided? That their daily meetings at the beach were solely between work colleagues—or at a stretch, friends?
Or was it more that she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge what was going on? That she didn’t want to allow herself to consider—or hope—it was something more?
Because she knew she couldn’t deal with another no right now. Another rejection. Another failure.
‘What are we doing?’ she managed eventually. ‘What is this?’
Gray’s lips quirked upwards. ‘I have absolutely no idea. But right now I’d really like to kiss you.’
Well, when he put it like that...
What to do seemed obvious—the only thing possible. She reached for him blindly, her hand landing on his chest. Instantly his arms wrapped around her, pulling her close while he turned her, lifted her, and the next thing she knew she was sitting on the counter-top, Gray standing between her legs, her face cradled between his hands.
She’d never felt so delicate, so light—so sexy.
Then his mouth touched hers.
And just like at the Night Market suddenly it was as if t
his kiss was her whole world.
But this time there was no prelude, no preliminaries—it was immediately and completely desperate. He tasted delicious, fresh and clean, and he kissed her as if he’d been thinking about doing nothing else for weeks.
It was overwhelming—but also unbelievably good. With each and every kiss she felt her doubts flutter away.
That Gray was kissing her, that he wanted her, was obvious in every touch, every breath. His hands slid from her face to her waist, doing electric, shivery things to her insides as his hands moved upwards.
She had to get closer to him, had to feel his skin, and she tugged him closer, pushing his T-shirt up in messy handfuls of cotton.
His skin was hot beneath her palms—hot and firm and lean. He was kissing his way up her jaw to her throat and she heard his sharp intake of breath when she ran her fingernails along his spine. She gave a little laugh of surprise and felt his lips form a smile against her skin.
‘Told you,’ he said.
And she laughed again, before his hands, his mouth, just him swiftly converted it to a sigh. Then he was kissing her mouth again. And from then on that kiss—this night—was all that mattered.
TWELVE
‘Tell me about your swimming.’
Lanie turned on her side to face Gray in bed. He’d propped his head on his hand and his gaze traced over her shape beneath the bedsheet. Said sheet had dipped quite low on his side of the bed, and Lanie found herself distracted by how lovely all that naked skin looked in the soft light of Gray’s bedside lamp.
She cleared her throat. ‘Um...that’s what you want to talk about right now?’
He grinned. ‘It’s not every night I have a swimming champion in my bed.’
‘Former swimmer.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ he said, looking thoughtful. ‘Good point. Come to think of it, I’ve had many former world-class athletes. It’s easy to lose track with all those women collapsing at my feet.’
She shoved him in the chest, but ruined the effect by giggling.
‘Hey—your words,’ he said, then reached out to tug her on top of him as he rolled onto his back, so Lanie lay half on top of him.
