The Ex Factor

by Anne Oliver

  ‘You’re happy, then? Life’s good?’

  ‘Never been better.’ She meant it. She was doing what she loved: helping sick kids. It was enough.

  It had to be enough.

  At the sound of a door opening they both turned as a bleary-eyed Adam appeared. ‘I thought I heard voices,’ he said. At least he had the discretion not to mention the tone of those voices. ‘I hear you two have…ah…introduced yourselves.’

  ‘Morning, Adam.’ Melanie stared at her flatmate. He’d mentioned Luke, but she hadn’t realised he’d meant Luke Delaney.

  ‘I was just leaving.’ Luke set his still-half-full mug on the table, nodded to Adam. ‘It was good to catch up.’

  ‘Stay for breakfast,’ Adam said. ‘Mel makes the best pancakes and maple syrup this side of the Pacific.’

  Drizzled with maple syrup… Her toes curled inside her boots at a particularly erotic memory. Head down, she busied herself tidying the coffee-table.

  ‘I’m sure she does,’ Melanie heard Luke say before she could refuse, jangling keys as he fished them from his pocket. ‘I’ve got to run.’

  ‘I think these are yours,’ she said, glancing at the DVDs as she picked them up and held them out for him at arm’s length. ‘I guess it gets lonely…wherever you are.’

  His fingers slid against hers as he took them from her with that almost-smile on his lips. Oh, that familiar heat, that slow burn snaked its way through skin and bone to wrap cunningly around her heart’s memory.

  ‘You never did ask where that was,’ he murmured.

  No, but it was already too much that she knew where he’d been last night.

  He leaned close so only she could hear, his breath hot against her cheek, eyes smouldering with a lambent heat that burned her from the inside out. ‘The sex was great though, wasn’t it?’

  She gasped inwardly at his words, not mocking but sincere, brutally honest in fact. And gulped as the old familiar ache clenched deep in her belly.

  His gaze lingered on her lips a moment and she swore she felt his touch. Then he straightened, waved a casual farewell to Adam. ‘See you later.’

  Rubbing her arms against the rawness of newly awakened emotions, Mel watched the door close behind him. Until Adam’s whistle between his teeth startled the wits out of her.

  ‘Is there an electrical storm in here or what? I could literally see the sparks. Sorry if I overstepped the line with the bed. I didn’t think you’d be back so early.’ His eyes narrowed and she fought the urge to look away. ‘Nor did I expect you to be so…uptight—if that’s the right word. You okay?’

  Mel poured herself another fortifying coffee. ‘I’m fine, and anyway it’s too late now, the damage is done.’

  ‘What damage?’

  She rolled her eyes heavenward. ‘The sheets, Adam.’

  ‘The sheets?’ He ran a hand through bed-spiked hair. ‘I was going to make sure the bed was tidy so you didn’t notice.’

  ‘You didn’t think I’d notice a man had slept in my bed?’

  ‘To be honest, no.’ A grin tilted the corner of his mouth. ‘Luke’s okay, Mel.’ Adam sprawled out on the sofa and dipped a spoon into last night’s Chinese. ‘And he’s made a fortune overseas.’ He pointed his spoon at her. ‘Most women would find that a plus.’

  Overseas? What about the job in Queensland? she wanted to ask—but, of course, she couldn’t. Not without going into the sordid details of their history and she really couldn’t face that right now. Easier to pretend she’d never met him. ‘Doing…what?’ she prompted, keeping her tone casual.

  ‘He’s an engineering geologist,’ he said between spoonfuls. ‘Working alongside civil engineers, designing bridges et cetera et cetera. He’s been involved in a huge development in Dubai.’ A mischievous glint winked in his blue eyes. ‘Ah…that auction you girls are planning…’

  Huh? The silent auction where everyone was paired off with a member of the opposite sex for the evening? ‘No!’ With her luck she’d draw his number. Oh, no. No way.

  ‘I can vouch for him, Mel. He’s single, no risk and good company. The guy could use some female companionship while he’s here. It’s for charity and he’s got money to burn.’

  While he’s here? Temporarily, then. Thank God. She shrugged, picked up a DVD cover and pretended to check out the blurb. ‘He may look—’ like every woman’s fantasy ‘—okay, but, from a female perspective, he needs more than just a honed body and a sexy smile.’

  But they could have used the money. Unlike the others, her prize didn’t include her—it was strictly a BYO partner deal. So why was she so against Adam’s idea? Because she didn’t want to think of Luke paired off with any of her colleagues. She’d hear about it and even after all this time she didn’t know if she could deal with that.

  ‘It’s too late,’ she said, rubbing her arms with the chill that had suddenly wrapped around her. ‘The bids closed yesterday.’

  But Adam merely grinned as he stacked the empty containers. She frowned as apprehension shivered over her skin. When Adam grinned that way and didn’t offer up some comeback line, it usually meant he knew something she didn’t. Anyway you looked at it, it spelled trouble.

  CHAPTER TWO

  THAT night Melanie couldn’t sleep. Probably because she hadn’t been able to bring herself to change the sheets. Stupid. Even worse, she’d left off her night-shirt and slipped naked into bed.

  She breathed in the lingering scent of Luke’s hair on her pillow. Luke had slept here; his hot skin had rubbed over this very spot. Had he been restless too? Had he tossed and turned, maybe subconsciously remembering her scent?

  The sheet’s texture abraded the sensitive parts of her body. The suddenly overly sensitive parts of her body. She felt like a ripe peach—one fingertip on the right spot and she’d explode right out of her over-tight skin.

  Sighing, she moved to a cooler patch of the bed in an effort to ease the aching fullness and tried to concentrate on the soothing patter of light rain against the window. Luke had always been able to turn her on with just a look.

  It took a very good man to make that happen, in her opinion, even if she’d only ever had two other men before him to make a comparison. And Luke had been very good at his work. Dear Lord, she huffed, plumping her pillow for the umpteenth time. He’d woken the dormant nymphomaniac in her.

  She hadn’t been with a man since Luke. She’d come close on more than one occasion—after all, she’d told herself she needed to move on with her life, but in those three short months Luke had changed her. In so many ways.

  But then she’d never been involved with anyone like Luke, who was older and more worldly…and rich. What did she know about wealth? Even now she couldn’t balance her own cheque book.

  He’d wanted her for sex. Hadn’t he all but told her that this morning? And she wasn’t ashamed to admit she’d been only too willing to oblige. But when it came to anything more serious, he’d made no secret about wanting a family. On the other hand, Melanie felt too young to settle down and wanted so much more than to settle in the suburbs with a couple of kids and play at being a rich man’s wife.

  Not that he’d have ever asked her. She knew the kind of women Luke preferred for that role. As a functions waitress, she’d seen him with elegant females in formal classic attire before he’d ever noticed her. Well-bred women who’d give him equally well-bred children.

  She’d told herself it didn’t hurt, it didn’t matter, that their lives were never going to mesh, why not just enjoy the ride for as long as it lasted? But it did hurt, she’d discovered on that final night.

  It had been hot, she remembered, with the window open and the air alive with summer sounds and scents. Luke had rolled off her, leaving her sweat-damp skin cooling in the night air.

  He’d blown out a satisfied breath. ‘That was—’

  ‘Yes. It was.’ She closed her eyes a moment to savour the last time she’d feel his body against hers. ‘But now I guess it’s over, huh?’ Words she�
��d thought would be easy caught in her throat, which suddenly seemed unbearably tight.

  She felt him tense beside her. ‘Over? Why?’

  ‘No promises on either side, Luke. Wasn’t that what you wanted? Just hot, uncomplicated sex.’

  ‘Uncomplicated?’ His voice rasped against her ear. ‘You’re the most complicated woman I know.’ He frowned as he rose from the bed, a bronzed god. An angry god. Angry because she’d found out what he’d conveniently kept from her the whole time they’d been together? ‘What’s wrong?’

  She sat up, dragging the sheet with her. ‘I worked a ladies’ luncheon today. Apparently your wedding’s going to be the social event of the season—’

  His eyes glinted with something like menace. ‘Care to fill me in on who the bride is?’ His voice was controlled but the muscle tick in his rigid jaw told another story.

  ‘That girl, Eleanor with the fancy surname—they had a photo of the two of you together.’

  ‘McDonald-Smythe. Hearsay, Mel.’ The bed dipped as he sat down beside her and cupped her elbows. ‘Don’t you know how the upper class loves to spread gossip and lies?’

  ‘You want to talk about lies?’ She tried to shake him off but his grip was relentless. ‘Why did they have a picture of the two of you at the Melbourne Cup?’

  He closed his eyes briefly. To remember or think up an excuse?

  ‘That was November,’ he said. ‘You and I’d gotten together—what—a week earlier? You knew I flew to Melbourne for the day. I met up with a lot of people, I didn’t think you needed a detailed inventory.’

  No. But there had been other times in those three short months when he’d gone interstate for job interviews, or off somewhere on business. He’d never asked her to accompany him.

  It simply highlighted what had been clear from the outset. ‘A waitress isn’t in your family’s grand plan for you.’ She jerked free of his hands and this time he let her go.

  He looked away, obviously aware of the truth in her statement but refusing to acknowledge what was expected of him. ‘What about my plans?’ His face darkened, the veins in his neck stood out like ropes. ‘As it happens I’ve been offered a geological position in central Queensland. And I’m taking it.’

  In the beat of angry silence that followed she held her breath. He inhaled, as if to add something, then paused. Why didn’t he just say it? she screamed silently. It’s been fun but now it’s over.

  She gritted her teeth. That was how it was supposed to have been for both of them. So why did it feel so bad?

  ‘Well, then, that’s good timing.’ She heard the unnaturally high tone in her voice as she reached for her clothes. She might think the bottom had fallen out of her inexperienced little world, but it hadn’t—she wouldn’t let it. ‘I heard there are jobs going up north at a new resort.’ She didn’t look at him but hardened and cemented her resolve. Better to leave than be left. Deep down she knew she’d never fit into his life. She couldn’t compete with the rich women who surrounded him.

  ‘Is that what you want, Mel?’ she heard him say behind her.

  ‘It’s time to move on,’ she said, turning towards him but not looking at him, hiding behind an over-bright smile and careless shrug. ‘The thing is, I’ve realised we’re too different to make anything more of what we have. We had some great times but it was never going to be permanent between us, Luke.’

  ‘You really believe that, then?’ He shook his head. ‘Either I’ve misjudged you or you’re one hell of a liar…’

  In her own bed, Melanie shook off the images she’d never been able to erase and stared at her ceiling in the dimness. Five years on, she realised perhaps she’d been the liar after all. She’d left Sydney the next day with a vow never to let a man get to her on that level again.

  But now that man was back.

  * * *

  Late the following afternoon, Luke negotiated the Lincoln-green Ferrari he’d hired through Sydney’s traffic as if he’d never left. A dream run after some of the overcrowded cities he’d lived in.

  Which gave him time to think about his father’s phone call that morning.

  He flipped his indicator and changed lanes. Scowled. When Dad had mentioned ‘getting down to business’ he hadn’t meant the string of restaurants he’d turned into a series of successful franchises over the years. He’d meant the business of Luke getting married and giving him a grandson.

  Still, Dad had finally accepted the fact that Luke had made his own wealth and didn’t want to inherit his fortune. Now he wanted to force it onto some poor kid who wasn’t even born yet.

  Dad was a stubborn man, and Mum—he shook his head—she went along with whatever Dad decided. As much as he loved her, he didn’t think he could stand such a docile wife.

  Which of course segued straight to Melanie—the antithesis of docile. She’d have given him more of an adventure than a marriage. What would his parents have made of her? he wondered, a wry grin tilting the corner of his mouth. The way she dressed, her take on upper-crust society and its conventions.

  She’d lured him into having sex in the ornamental fountain on the front lawn one hot night. His grin softened at the memory. He’d never looked at the water feature in quite the same way again, and poor Mum; she’d never got to the bottom of what—or who—had messed with her water lilies.

  Damn. He slammed a hand on the steering wheel and hit the accelerator, overtook a Porsche, slowed to an immediate crawl at the next intersection. Five years ago and the memory still made him hard. At least Adam’s suggestion that they go for drinks might take the heat out of his frustration.

  Seeing Melanie again had brought the past back. With his degree fresh under his belt, Luke had accepted his first job in the outback at age twenty-two. Five years ago he’d been back in Sydney on the lookout for something more challenging than the eight years he’d put into a Western Australian mining operation. Then he’d met Melanie.

  He’d done the unthinkable and fallen for her—so different from the women he’d always been attracted to—and when he’d won the position in Queensland he’d intended asking her to take a chance and go with him. But she’d had her own plans, on a different road—plans that didn’t include a husband and kids. Plans she hadn’t bothered to fill him in on.

  He’d been burned good. He didn’t intend for it to happen again.

  He pulled up in front of Adam’s apartment.

  ‘Hey,’ Adam said, climbing in with a neon-green feather boa around his neck. ‘Mind if we swing past the hospital on the way? Mel promised to lend this to a friend for a fancy-dress party and forgot to take it this morning. I told her we’d bring it by.’

  Luke must have grimaced or something because when he glanced Adam’s way, he was watching him. ‘Problem?’

  ‘No worries,’ Luke said finally. He could smell Melanie’s perfume on those feathers, as if she were in the car with them.

  ‘What is it with you two?’ Adam asked.

  ‘We knew each other a few years back.’ Luke checked his mirror, then eased into the traffic. ‘It was kind of intense.’

  ‘So that’s why she was so moody this morning.’ Adam leaned over to check out the stereo. ‘This is one fine car.’

  ‘Sure is.’ Luke squinted into the afternoon sun-glare and concentrated on not thinking about how Melanie might have looked this morning. And not imagining how Melanie would look wearing nothing but that feather boa.

  Five minutes later he pulled into the hospital’s car park.

  They slid out at the same time, Adam heading at a brisk pace for the hospital entrance, Luke content to cool his heels near the car. He didn’t want to get involved in a conversation with Melanie. He didn’t want to get involved, period.

  His engineering contract had ended so he’d decided to catch up with his parents and friends, but on the eve of his departure from Dubai he’d been offered a partnership in a unique business opportunity. He was still considering. Returning overseas wouldn’t go down well with his paren
ts so as far as they were concerned he was settling in Sydney for good. Only Adam knew about the offer.

  An impressive rounded bottom caught his eye in the next row of cars. Its owner was currently leaning into the engine of her car.

  Tight black pants clung to long thighs and well-defined calf muscles. The quiet hum of lust in his veins was disturbed by a loud curse as the woman straightened, stamping a booted foot on the concrete.

  Even as he said, ‘Car trouble?’ he recognised that voice, that thick rope of black hair over her shoulder. But anticipation forced the air out of his lungs, squeezing his chest and thickening his blood.

  She whipped around, a flurry of colour and movement. ‘Luke!’ The multi-hued striped jumper suited her personality, suited the sparks that lit her eyes as their gazes connected. ‘I was expecting Mikey.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Any minute now.’

  ‘What’s the problem?’ And who the hell was Mikey?

  She shook her head as she rubbed her arms against the chill wind. ‘Stupid thing won’t start again. I think it’s the battery.’ Eyes wary, she waved him away when he would have stepped closer. ‘It’s okay, Mikey knows my car. He’s my mechanic.’

  So he knew her car. How well did Mikey-the-mechanic know Melanie? Judging by the sorry state of said vehicle, it would appear Mikey knew her quite well.

  Luke turned his face into the wind and told himself he didn’t need the distraction of Melanie in his life. He needed a home-and-hearth woman who’d give him those grandchildren his parents were always on about. Some day.

  ‘You came with Adam, I assume? Did he bring my boa?’

  Melanie’s question forced him to turn back. He slid her a glance and his heart stalled at the sight. In that split second his hopes of finding a home-and-hearth type that packed half the punch Melanie did bottomed out. ‘Yeah. He’s just up ahead…’ He pulled out his mobile, informed Adam, disconnected.

  A moment later as he watched Adam approach, Luke fought a brief irrational stab of jealousy. Adam knew Melanie now, better than he did. He knew her idiosyncrasies, the scent she left in the bathroom after her shower. It was Adam who saw her mussed and sleepy-eyed first thing in the morning.