Mr. Nice Guy (Pierce Brothers Book 1)

by Belinda Williams

  Tom repeated his previous statement.

  ‘Define pretend,’ Luke said.

  ‘No sex. Nothing physical. We just spend time together for a week and do things a couple might do, like go out to dinner. That sort of thing. Last night we went to a movie.’ Tom didn’t mention which movie. ‘Night before that, I cooked dinner for her.’

  ‘So, I gotta ask. Why would you feel compelled to do something like this for her?’

  ‘Because she dates dickheads, morons and arseholes, and not in that particular order. I was sick of hearing about them.’

  ‘You can’t save everyone, Tom.’

  Tom set his beer down on the stained coffee table between them. ‘I’m not saving her,’ he said tightly.

  Luke tipped his head to one side, contemplating his youngest brother. ‘You’ve got to admit, it’s a habit of yours.’

  ‘Chelsea doesn’t need saving,’ Tom persisted. ‘She’s capable, smart and attractive.’ Tom frowned. ‘And that’s the problem. The aforementioned losers are always falling for her.’

  ‘Sounds like you might be in that boat, too, and I’m not referring to the loser part.’ Luke covered a knowing smile with his beer glass.

  ‘What? No. It’s nothing like that,’ Tom replied quickly. ‘Ben asked me to keep an eye out for his sister, that’s all.’

  ‘So Ben knows about this?’

  Shit. ‘Not exactly.’

  ‘You think he’d see it as “keeping an eye out for his sister”?’

  Crap. Tom hadn’t fully thought this through, now that he considered it. Damn Nadia and her big mouth for suggesting the arrangement.

  ‘It was her friend’s suggestion, not mine,’ Tom said. ‘I just went along with it.’

  ‘I bet she had to twist your arm.’

  Tom shot Luke a back-off look, and Luke laughed.

  ‘Don’t worry, little brother. I’ll keep my trap shut.’

  Tom inhaled a breath to calm himself. Luke would keep his mouth shut. He was always true to his word. It was a Pierce brother code.

  Tom nodded towards the entrance of the pub where Chelsea had just entered with Nadia. ‘Time to put that theory to the test. Here they are.’

  ‘Fuck me.’

  Tom blinked, then glared at his brother. ‘I know Chelsea’s pretty, but that’s hardly necessary.’

  ‘No, not her. The other one.’

  The way his brother said “the other one” suggested something distasteful you might find on the bottom of your shoe at one of his building sites.

  ‘Who? Nadia?’

  ‘Fuck,’ Luke said again.

  ‘You know her?’

  The women still hadn’t seen the men and were busy chatting near the entrance, obviously not in a hurry to locate them. Chelsea and Nadia were like that. When you got them talking, it was hard to get a word in.

  Luke finally seemed able to pull his eyes away from the women. Or more accurately, Nadia. ‘Yes, I do. Unfortunately.’

  Tom frowned. He knew Nadia had something of a reputation in Newcastle for being a vixen, but he didn’t realise that reputation extended past the city’s borders.

  ‘Oh, she’s a bit of a character, alright,’ Tom replied. ‘But she’s not as bad as you think once you get to know her. As long as you don’t sleep with her, you’ll be fine.’

  ‘Too late.’

  Tom spat out his beer.

  Chapter Ten

  Chelsea was nervous, but she had no reason to be. Tonight they were having a casual beer with Tom’s brother, Luke. It was absolutely nothing to be worried about. It’s not like Tom was introducing her to his family. She’d already met Luke once or twice before, and he just happened to be in town for work. In addition to that, Chelsea and Tom weren’t a real couple. They were housemates and friends. Plus, Tom certainly wouldn’t be announcing that Chelsea was his pretend girlfriend.

  Would he?

  ‘Fuck me,’ Nadia muttered from beside her.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s Tom’s brother?’

  Chelsea followed Nadia’s gaze to where Tom was sitting with Luke. ‘Yes, that’s him.’

  ‘Goddammit,’ Nadia ground out. ‘In that case, let’s get the introductions over with.’

  Nadia stormed off in the direction of the men. Chelsea stared after her in shock for a brief moment, then rushed to keep up with her.

  What on earth was this about? It was like Nadia knew Luke, and Chelsea didn’t see how that was possible.

  By the time Chelsea made it to where the men were, they were standing, and Nadia was pointing a particularly sharp-looking glossy red nail at Luke.

  ‘You.’

  Luke half-smiled and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. ‘Me.’

  ‘Unbelievable,’ Nadia said, shaking her head.

  Chelsea met Tom’s eyes and mouthed “What’s going on?”

  He shrugged, appearing as confused as she was.

  ‘Um,’ Chelsea began.

  ‘If I’d known you would be here, there’s no way I would have come tonight,’ Nadia told Luke.

  Chelsea’s mouth dropped open. She tried again. ‘Obviously you two already know—’

  Nadia scoffed. ‘Oh, I know Luke, alright. Don’t I, Luke?’

  He nodded, appearing unperturbed by Nadia’s seemingly unexplained vicious behaviour. ‘We do.’

  Nadia’s eyes narrowed at him. ‘Shouldn’t that be “I do”, you lying son of a bitch?’

  ‘Nadia!’ Chelsea cried. ‘That’s enough! Why are you being so mean to Tom’s brother?’

  Nadia might be one of her closest friends, but throwing nasty words around wasn’t helping the situation.

  Nadia huffed. ‘How about I let you explain?’ she said, nodding at Luke.

  For the first time, Luke appeared uncomfortable.

  ‘Nadia and I were in a relationship,’ Luke admitted.

  Chelsea immediately looked at Nadia. Her friend shrugged.

  ‘If he wants to call it a relationship, that’s his business. My memory of it is that we slept together. He wanted to keep sleeping together, but then failed to tell me he was married.’

  ‘What?’ Chelsea looked to Luke, then to Tom for confirmation of this worrying information.

  Tom stayed silent, wisely waiting for his brother to speak.

  Luke sighed. ‘Yes, I was married. We were on a break.’

  Nadia cackled, doing an eerie impersonation of the Wicked Witch of the West. Chelsea looked at Tom again, disturbed and unsure what to do next.

  Nadia closed the distance between her and Luke in red heels that were the same colour as her nails. ‘Now, Luke, darling.’

  Oh, God. It was never good when Nadia used the term “darling”. But usually it occurred when she was drunk and had found a man for the night.

  ‘We. Were. On. A. Break.’ Nadia repeated the words in a chirpy, sing-song voice, and Chelsea resisted a shudder.

  This was bad. Really bad.

  ‘Firstly,’ Nadia continued, ‘you shouldn’t rely on excuses from a sitcom. It’s pathetic. Secondly, Ross and Rachel were not on a break!’

  Chelsea flinched at Nadia’s raised voice, and Tom sprung to action.

  He stepped between Luke and Nadia, smiling. ‘Can I get you a drink, Nadia? The usual red wine?’

  Nadia exhaled unsteadily and met Tom’s eyes, forcing a smile. ‘Sure. That would be nice.’

  ‘And, ah, I’m going to the bathroom,’ Luke said before anyone else could say anything. He took off at the sort of pace that suggested he might not make it. If he genuinely needed to go, that was, which Chelsea seriously doubted.

  Chelsea grabbed Nadia’s shoulders and shoved her down on the sofa. ‘What the hell, you crazy woman? What was all of that about? You never let a man get under your skin like this.’

  Nadia sniffed. ‘I know. This is different. I’m aware I’m not usually so sensitive. Far from it. I know I can be blunt. I sleep with who I like when I like, and often get cri
ticised for it.’ Her dark eyes glowered at Chelsea. ‘But I do not, I repeat, I do not ever sleep with married men. I won’t be the other woman.’

  ‘Oh,’ Chelsea said, because really, that all sounded fair enough. ‘At the risk of you biting my head off, can I ask what happened?’

  Tom returned with Nadia’s wine and she accepted it gratefully. She took a sip and gestured for Tom to sit down. ‘You might as well hear this, too.’ She waited for Tom to take a seat, then continued. ‘Luke is—was—fantastic in the bedroom.’

  Tom coughed into his hand.

  ‘Get over it, nice boy,’ Nadia told him, then smoothed her skirt with her free hand. ‘We met at a pub one night in town. There was a spark. We explored that spark, if you get the gist. So we started making it a semi-regular thing. At no point did he make me aware that he had a partner.’

  Tom cleared his throat. ‘They did actually have a break, for what it’s worth.’

  ‘I don’t want to hear it,’ Nadia snapped. ‘It’s ancient history. I’m just giving you the history lesson. So, anyway, we slept together on and off for maybe six months. A few months in, he suggests we make it exclusive. I wasn’t sure. I don’t usually do exclusive, as you know. Not that I was sleeping around while we were together necessarily. Exclusivity makes things more complicated, that’s all. I finally relented, which is when I found a message on his phone one night from his wife.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Chelsea said, meaning it, and shot Tom a desperate look.

  Nadia waved a hand at them. ‘It doesn’t matter. He tried to explain, but it’s difficult to explain away a person’s existence, and I wasn’t buying any of it. So we ended it.’

  By “we”, Chelsea was pretty sure she meant “she”, but Chelsea didn’t say that.

  ‘Do you want me to ask him to leave?’ Tom asked Nadia.

  ‘That won’t be necessary,’ a deep voice said from behind them, and they all looked up to see Luke. ‘I’ll go. It’s not appropriate for me to be here. I’m sorry I ruined your night.’

  Chelsea jumped up. ‘I’m sorry—’

  ‘Don’t apologise to that bastard!’ Nadia cried.

  Chelsea snapped her mouth shut, and Tom rose with a sigh.

  ‘See you. Have a safe drive home. We’ll do a beer another time,’ Tom told Luke.

  ‘Sounds good,’ Luke agreed. He offered Chelsea a smile. ‘Nice to see you again.’

  Chelsea nodded, too scared to say anything else for fear Nadia might lose it more than she already had.

  Luke returned the nod, then his gaze fell on the back of Nadia’s head, who was refusing to look at him.

  ‘For what it’s worth, Nadia, I’m divorced now. I also have a nine-year-old daughter.’

  Nadia stiffened, and Chelsea stepped forward and shoved Luke towards the door without thinking. ‘Go. Go! If you know what’s good for you, leave now.’

  Luke threw Chelsea an amused smile. ‘I’m not afraid of her. But that’s probably good advice.’

  Luke left without looking back, and Chelsea rushed over to her friend. ‘How about we head home to your place and grab some takeout instead?’

  Nadia glared at her, and Chelsea tried not to take it personally.

  ‘A nine-year-old daughter?’ she hissed. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

  Chelsea tugged her friend up from the seat and pushed her towards the door.

  “Sorry,” she mouthed to Tom.

  He held up a hand and waved at them with a sad smile.

  So much for their third date, she thought as she ushered Nadia out of the building. Group activities were definitely off the list from now on.

  Oh well. At least it had been memorable.

  Chapter Eleven

  Chelsea was relieved when plans for their fourth date got downgraded the following day. Tom always played indoor soccer on a Sunday afternoon and he told her that he’d cancel this week, but she insisted he still attend.

  ‘I’ll meet you there after your shift,’ she’d said to him that morning before he left the apartment. ‘Then how about we just do something casual, like get fish and chips for dinner? We can eat it near the water.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ he’d asked.

  ‘Isn’t this the sort of thing normal, well-adjusted couples do?’

  He hadn’t been able to argue with that, so he agreed to her plan. Chelsea was relieved because the more the week progressed, the weirder the entire pretend boyfriend arrangement seemed. It was a given that Tom was a nice guy—that went without saying. But somehow it felt like she was taking advantage of him despite the fact she hadn’t been the one to suggest it. At least if they kept the dates low-key it would feel more like friends spending time together than the weird pretend boyfriend scenario Nadia had come up with.

  ‘Poor Nadia,’ Chelsea muttered to herself as she pulled the handbrake on.

  She’d just arrived at the indoor soccer place and remained in her car to gather her thoughts.

  Chelsea and Nadia had only been friends for eighteen months, and Chelsea had never seen Nadia behave like she had last night. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. Nadia could be fierce, and it was one of the things Chelsea loved about her. Fierce didn’t always equate to scary. It also translated to fiercely loyal, fiercely hard-working, and fiercely reliable.

  Chelsea had met Nadia when Chelsea had signed up with a local netball team after moving to Newcastle. Nadia’s competitive spirit on the court was impressive. However, the event that had cemented their friendship was during a game when a woman from the opposition had hurt her knee and gone down hard, hitting her head.

  Nadia had immediately sprung into action, using her nursing skills to assess the woman. She’d then insisted on driving the woman to the emergency department. Chelsea had originally been concerned about the woman having a concussion, but it turned out her knee was the more serious problem. The ACL had ruptured during the game and required further treatment.

  Chelsea and Nadia had taken the woman to the hospital and ended up grabbing some dinner afterwards. Now they were firm friends, and Chelsea had spent last night doing her best to redirect Nadia’s anger. This had involved a particularly stupid reality television show that Nadia could critique with her scathing wit.

  Chelsea suspected Nadia’s reaction towards Tom’s brother, Luke, included other feelings besides anger, but Chelsea knew better than to go there. If there were unresolved issues between Nadia and Luke, Nadia wasn’t talking about it.

  Putting her worry about her friend to one side, Chelsea locked her car and headed into the sporting centre that occupied an old warehouse. Inside, she took a moment to figure out which field Tom’s team was playing on, and when she spotted him, she went over to sit on the sidelines.

  Chelsea didn’t make a big deal of her arrival. Tom was busy playing, and the last thing he needed was her distracting him. The seats were located behind a giant net surrounding each of the fields to prevent the balls from ending up in places they shouldn’t. Despite the massive size of the warehouse, Chelsea detected a whiff of stale sweat and an odd concoction of deodorants that merged together into one powerful, sickeningly sweet fragrance. It was why Chelsea preferred to play sport outdoors when possible.

  Chelsea’s eyes settled on Tom as he jogged easily around the indoor field. He was light on his feet—hardly surprising given his history of jujitsu and his general level of fitness. Chelsea had to admit to herself that he was rather nice to watch.

  There was that word again. No, not nice. More like easy to watch, Chelsea corrected herself silently. Yes, that was it. Tom was easy to watch.

  Probably because he was sprinting around the field with a big grin on his face. Some of the other players were frowning in concentration. Occasionally, Tom’s brow would crease, but only for a microsecond, and then his expression would return to a resting happy face. He didn’t know how lucky he was.

  Nadia often complained that she had a resting bitch face—Chelsea would have said it was more stern than bitchy.
Nadia had dubbed Chelsea’s resting face as “daydreaming”, jealous of the fact that Chelsea was unlikely to develop deep frown lines. Chelsea suspected that Tom was more likely to end up with happy lines, and she kind of liked the idea.

  ‘They’re easy on the eyes, aren’t they?’

  Chelsea blinked and looked up to find a woman with light brown hair styled into a pixie cut who looked about her age smiling at her. Chelsea flushed.

  ‘Oh, I was just . . . daydreaming. I wasn’t necessarily watching the game,’ Chelsea admitted.

  The woman sat down on the opposite end of the bench seat. ‘Ah, the dutiful girlfriend. Which one is yours?’

  Chelsea blinked again and straightened her back at the woman’s question. ‘No one. I mean, Tom. Except he’s not mine. We’re just friends.’

  Chelsea closed her mouth.

  ‘You’re with Tom, huh? Lucky you.’

  ‘No, we’re just—’

  ‘Friends. I get it. I just meant you’re lucky to be friends with him. He’s a great guy.’

  ‘We actually live together.’ What was that about only being friends? She wasn’t doing a very good job of explaining herself. She added quickly, ‘I mean, we share an apartment.’

  The woman’s brown eyes that matched the colour of her hair lit with recognition. ‘Oh, so you’re Chelsea! Tom’s mentioned you more than once. Nice to meet you.’

  Chelsea tried not to frown. ‘Um, OK. Hi.’

  The woman laughed. ‘I’m Mia. And don’t look alarmed. Everything Tom has said about you is good. Exceedingly so.’

  ‘Really?’ Chelsea asked casually, although she was somewhat alarmed at Mia’s easy acknowledgement of her. ‘I generally don’t let him into my room. It’s not pretty.’

  ‘I don’t think he cares about that. I’m Reece’s girlfriend, by the way. He’s a paramedic like Tom.’

  Chelsea thought she recalled Tom mentioning a co-worker called Reece at some stage.

  ‘Are most of the team paramedics?’ Chelsea queried.