There was no caller ID on her phone, only the same unknown number as previously. It wouldn’t be anything untoward, would it? ‘Hello?’ Molly said, hearing the caution in her voice and forcing a smile on her face. ‘Molly O’Keefe speaking.’ Easier to be brave when Nathan was sitting opposite her.
‘Hi, Molly. It’s Jean from the charity shop. The shop phone’s playing up so I’m using my personal one.’
Relief threaded through the tension that had begun tightening her body. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘You said to call if we got stuck for staff. One of the ladies who works Mondays has been called away to look after her sick mother. Is it possible you could help out?’
‘I’d love to. I have to be at the ED by three. Does that work for you?’
‘Perfect. Thank you so much. See you then.’ A dial tone replaced Jean’s voice. Just like that?
She dropped the phone on the table. ‘That takes care of Monday morning.’
Nathan was looking at her as though expecting more from her.
‘I put in a few hours at a charity shop that supports the women’s refuge. Fill shelves, run up sales. That sort of thing.’ The shop raised quite a lot of money for abused women and their kids, and it gave Molly a sense of satisfaction to contribute to people she understood all too well without having to explain herself. Though sometimes she suspected Jean had figured out why she turned up.
‘Go, you,’ Nathan said. Then a frown appeared. ‘You must get to hear some horror stories. I don’t think I could cope with those.’
She hesitated, torn between dodging the bullet and being honest. ‘Most of the people I meet come in to spend money and support the charity. Rarely are they the women who’ve survived abuse. Those who have don’t usually talk about it.’ Stop. This man wasn’t stupid. He’d see behind her words if she wasn’t careful.
‘You’re probably right. The rare exceptions being those brave women who go public about their ordeals in order to raise awareness.’ Awe shaded his voice, his face and that steady gaze. ‘I don’t know how they do it.’
‘Neither do I,’ she muttered truthfully.
Draining his mug, Nathan stood up. ‘I’d better get cracking, get things done before heading to the airport. Sleep being one of them. You look like you’re in need of some too.’
She might look tired and messy, but for once she felt more alive and awake than a toddler after a nap. Ready for fun, not sleep. Was Nathan responsible for that? Away from work she didn’t get so wound up around him, took his comments on the chin. ‘I might go for a run first. That always helps clear my mind.’ Anything to shake you out of my head.
‘Running doesn’t wake you up?’
‘Not often. I’m usually exhausted and a hot shower finishes me off.’
His eyes widened briefly. ‘Right,’ was all he said, but he managed one of those devastating smiles.
When she could breathe properly, she growled, ‘I thought you were leaving?’
‘Can’t a guy change his mind?’
The smile was still going on and now her legs were starting to protest about keeping her upright. Legs that were supposed to take her for a run. The couch was looking mighty good right about now. With or without Nathan? She wanted Nathan? Hell, when she finally woke up she didn’t do it in half-measures. There hadn’t been any sex in her life for a long time and now every last cell in her body was sitting up, fighting to be noticed.
‘No,’ she muttered around the need clogging her throat. Not sure if the ‘no’ had been directed at Nathan or herself. This was not going anywhere. They worked together. He was confident, she wasn’t. That was a work in progress. He’d have a woman in his life. What gorgeous-looking man didn’t? She’d get over this lust as soon as he left. Or in the next hour while she was out jogging. Or while she was in bed sleeping. Or on the train going into work tonight. She would. It was only an aberration in her carefully controlled world. A damned distracting aberration, but it would pass. No choice.
‘Can I have your phone number?’ Nathan pulled his phone from his pocket.
So much for passing. He’d raised the ante. ‘Why?’
His dark eyebrows rose. ‘So I can call when I’m going to take the car for that spin. Is that all right?’
If she was supposed to be getting over her reaction to him, then why was the thought of going for a ride with Nathan winding her belly tighter than ever? Rattling off the number, she hoped she’d got it right. She could’ve given him the number for the zoo for all she knew. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’ She headed for the door and hauled it open, needing to get him out of her small space where he took up all the air and made her feel tiny and fragile, and so, so alive.
Guess this was what getting a life meant. She had to pause, evaluate what was happening, figure out why she felt like this with Nathan when no one else brought on these feelings. No, no more pausing, hanging around waiting to see what the universe threw at her next. Try taking control instead. Slowly.
Nathan stepped past her, leaving a faint trail of outdoorsy aftershave scent behind him.
She gulped. Were need, desire, hope rising because she truly was attracted to him? Or was this all about getting a new life and he was merely a stepping stone? It was something else to figure out.
‘See you tonight.’ Quickly closing the door, she leaned against it and tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling as though the answers to her questions were written there. The excitement tripping through her veins, warming her long-frozen heart, was real. There’d been nothing slow about this debilitating sensation rocking her. Oh, no. Wham, bam, Nathan Lupton had stormed in and turned up the thermostat, taking her by surprise, and she didn’t want to back off. Even if she should.
* * *
‘Hell and damnation.’ Nathan shook his head as he pulled into the drive and parked at the back of his large, sprawling house. Towards the end of last night’s shift, quiet Molly had shown another side to herself, had become interesting. Except, having spent time with her dressed in a figure defining, classy blouse and trousers, sexy kept coming to mind, raising more questions than answers about what made her tick than anything had during the previous two months they’d worked together. From now on her stereotype uniform was not going to negate those images.
And the short time he’d spent in her apartment had him wanting to know more about where she came from, the life she’d led before moving to Sydney.
Hah. Know more? Or feel more? Touch more? Enjoy more? Learning all about her had become important. He had no idea why, except his hormones got wound up whenever she was near. Hot, alluring, tempting came to mind.
Temptation? The groan that spilled out of his mouth tasted of shock and disbelief. Sure, Molly was beautiful, had his hormones in a dither, but tempting? Yes, damn it all to hell and back. Because this was starting to feel like he was seriously back in the real world, where dating might happen. He’d thought for a while he might be ready, but reality was scary.
Slamming the car door harder than necessary, he strode around the house and out to the fence lining the front lawn to stare across the public green space on the other side of a wide walking path to the Tasman Sea beyond. The light breeze meant no windsurfers doing their number on the waves. Which was a shame because right now he couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do than get up on a board—and no doubt fall off just as quickly, since it had been a while since he’d last surfed. At least that would occupy his mind and put these damned fool ideas to bed.
Bed? Nathan groaned. He was exhausted, and needed sleep more than anything before signing on again that night. More than thinking about Molly.
But the idea of sprawling over his couch in front of the television and trying to doze off turned his blood to thick soup. There’d be no sleep while she rampaged through his mind. The hell of it was he didn’t know why she was doing this to him when up until today he?
??d been more likely to get annoyed with her and wish she’d pester someone else. Sure, he was annoyed with her right now, but for all the wrong reasons. So much for getting her to put that cold shoulder to rest. Instead she’d been winding him up tighter than ever. At least she didn’t have a clue how badly she was rattling his cage.
You sure about that?
Good question. He’d been determined not to let her see his reactions to her, to the scent of limes from her fruit basket, to relaxing and laughing in her company.
Yeah, and what was that doubt in her face when she’d picked up her phone and seen no ID displayed? Because something had darkened her eyes and tightened her face. Certainly more reaction than called for by someone wanting to ask why she hadn’t paid the power bill or had she forgotten she was meant to be at the dentist. One thing he knew for certain—she’d never tell him.
The apartment had been a shock. ‘Poky’ had the place sounding larger than it was. It was tastefully decorated, though. Was that Molly’s taste? Or had she rented the place fully furnished? The late morning sun had shone through the large, sparkling windows to brighten the atmosphere. The place was spotless, her few possessions gleamed. The two mugs on the shelf, the two glasses and dinner plates, said lonely.
Turning back towards his house, Nathan hesitated. Molly had mentioned maybe looking for somewhere else to live with more space, a place that was connected to the outside world. There was a twist to her story. Maybe she came from a tight community and was missing that easy friendship with all the neighbours, except she didn’t like the way the old woman had told him which apartment was hers. He looked left, right and back to his house. He knew his neighbours. While they didn’t live in each other’s pockets, they were there for each other if the need arose.
Don’t even think it.
This place was further from work than her apartment, which meant a bus or car to the train station.
He strode towards the back, stopped and studied his house. Slowly that familiar sense of belonging, of having found his new place in the world right here, rose, pushing other annoying emotions aside. With each front room opening out onto the veranda that ran the full width of the house with an overhanging roof, it was a haven in summer and winter.
He’d said, ‘I’m buying it,’ the moment the real estate salesman had pulled up outside. An impulsive purchase, made two years after Rosie’s death, yet nothing had caused him to regret his decision. At the time he’d been stuck in the past, so he’d gone looking for a new home that didn’t echo with Rosie’s laughter.
Coogee might be a little way out of the city for travelling to work, but the vista at the end of his lawn cancelled out any annoyance about that. He’d weathered storms that had wrecked the cliffs, baked in unrelenting sun, and surfed the waves, and had finally known a quiet within himself that had been missing for far too long. The large house and sprawling, uncontained grounds were his sanctuary.