Holiday Affair (14 page)

“Well,” he said, “now that I know you’re okay, I’ll head home.”

She looked at him, frustration in her eyes.

“You can’t, Nick…the mountain is closed. Didn’t you see the signs at the top? It’s closing at night for road work over the weekend from six p.m. and you won’t make it there in time.”

He had noticed that on the way down, and hadn’t given it any thought. All he had been concerned about was making sure Lissy was all right.

“Oh damn…I forgot.”

“You can sleep here and go back up in the morning, if you like.”

“That would be great.” He stood up slowly and walked over to her, holding out his hand.

“Everything okay now?”

“Yes, I think we understand each other now.” Lissy reached out and took his hand and the electricity sparked immediately between them. “Pretty potent combination we make, Lissy. Let’s hope it carries over to our work.” She looked up at him and he pulled her into a close embrace. He put his head down as her lips rose to meet his. Her mouth opened to welcome him, and she put her hands into his short hair and pulled him closer.

The wind blew the shutter on the kitchen window closed with a loud bang and Nick was only vaguely aware of the noise. His hand slid under her shirt and Lissy groaned into his mouth as his fingers caressed the warm silken skin of her back. He backed her into the bench and gently pushed his hips against her without lifting his mouth from her lips.

Her legs wound around his hips as he lifted her onto the bench and kept kissing her until he thought he would expire from lack of breath. He felt her heart racing against his chest, and she pulled away from him to lift her T-shirt over her head, and her bikini top came away with it.

He looked down at her and his shirt quickly followed hers to the kitchen floor. The feel of her bare breasts against his chest almost sent his control spiralling out the window.

“Not here,” she gasped.

“Where’s your bedroom?”

He lifted her from the bench and followed the direction she pointed in. Kicking open the door with his foot, he pushed into her bedroom and placed her on the bed.

“Stop me now, if you’re going to. Because once these pants come off, there’ll be no going back,” he said.

Nick paused long enough to drop his leather motorcycle pants, reach for her shorts, and pull them off in one swift movement as she lifted her hips to help him.

“I don’t want to stop.” She lay there looking up at him and reached out, pulling him down on top of her.

He sucked in his breath. “You are so beautiful, Lissy.” She grabbed his head, wrapped her legs around him, and he shuddered as her tongue pushed between his lips. Her need was as great as his and their lovemaking was rough and quick, Lissy’s climactic cry preceding Nick’s harsh groan only by a second. Lissy pulled the blanket up over them as the chilly late afternoon breeze blew in through the open window. She turned her back to him as he gently cradled her to him.

“Lissy—” he whispered, as he nuzzled his lips into her warm throat.

“No words, Nick,” she replied sleepily. “That’s what causes all the trouble between us. Just sleep for a while and then we’ll go out and eat.”

As she nodded off to sleep, he stayed beside her and held her soft, warm body close. He had some serious thinking to do.

…

The fragile peace between them didn’t last long, and Lissy wasn’t surprised. She woke first and had a quick shower before calling Harvey to explain she had an unexpected visitor and she would catch up with him in the morning.

As they ate dinner at the small Chinese restaurant in the small coastal town near Black Rock Beach, they skirted around the topic of their relationship and had avoided contact of any kind. It was awkward, the way they carefully avoided even brushing fingers as they shared the menu.

Lissy couldn’t stand it. The longer they sat there, the more she could see Nick withdraw into himself and her chest tightened and her appetite fled as the anger built within her again. The waitress brought their coffee; she looked across at Nick.

“Well, Nick, this is fun.”

He looked up at her.

“It’s going to happen again, isn’t it, Nick?” She tried for a matter of fact tone in her voice. “A quick roll in the hay, scratch your itch for the week and off you go again.

Why should I trust you any more, Nick? You have your aloof face back on again. I’m over it.” He bent and put his head in his hands. “I’m really sorry, Lissy. I’ve been let down badly too many times before. What exists between us frightens me.”

“Nick, I don’t care about that. The only thing between us is sex. S…E…X…” She felt her face grow warm as she noticed the couple sitting at the table next to them paying more attention to her words than to their meal. She lowered her voice. “What pisses me off is the the fact that you promise me each time that it won’t happen again. You are not only aloof, but you are bloody predictable and I’m so over it…and you.”

There was little conversation as they finished their meals, and as she climbed on the back of the bike and put the spare helmet on, she reluctantly held on to his waist as they took the short trip back to the cottage. Once back, they walked from the driveway to the cottage.

“There’s a bed made up on the pull-out couch. I’m going for a walk.”

She turned and walked down the track to the dunes.

The full moon hung fat and golden above the horizon, reflecting silver moonlight off the big swells out towards the horizon.

She sat and watched it rise high in the sky, her knees pulled up under her chin. It was almost midnight before she made her way back to the cottage, but she was not surprised to see Nick sitting in the chair on the front porch. Desire had fled as she sat watching the water. The hurt went too deep and she wasn’t prepared to trust him yet. She slowly walked up the steps and stood by him. Nick reached up and pulled her hair from its ponytail, so that her curls fanned down her back. He buried his head in her curls and put his arms around her.

“Lissy, I can’t promise you anything. I hate hurting you. I can’t stay away from you. You’re like a fever in my blood. You’re all I think about. I can’t sleep and my research has come to a standstill.”

This was a very different Nick from the confident, sometimes arrogant professor she had worked with for the past few weeks. She leaned her forehead against his.

“I understand. That’s exactly how I feel. Nick, I don’t want love. I don’t believe in it. I hope when I settle down with someone, it will be based on mutual liking and respect.

I don’t trust this fire between us. It’ll burn itself out.”

“Exactly. That’s what happened with both Olivia and Rebecca.” He laughed gruffly. “Yeah, and what about you and Tom. I couldn’t let that happen. I was like the dog in the manger, Lissy, but I couldn’t stand the thought of Tom being with you.”

She felt him smile against her cheek.

“He hasn’t spoken to me all week, you know.” He sighed.

“Serves you right,” she said as she pulled back and looked up at him, her hair brushing his face.

He reached for it and twirled his finger around a curl, holding her face close to his. “Your hair is magnificent, Lissy. I love touching it.” He put his arms around her and tried to pull her closer. She pushed him away gently, determined not to let him hurt her a second time in one day.

“You’re on the pull-out. I’m going to bed. Good night, Nick.”

He looked at her, reached over, and ran his finger down her face. “Good night, Lissy. Sleep well.” She tossed and turned all night.

Nick looked at her quizzically the next morning as he straddled his motorcycle ready to make the trip up the mountain. “You are different down here, Lissy. You’re in your element…you’re like you were in the Whitsundays.” She smiled. “I have the best of both worlds. A great career and it’s close enough that I can come home regularly.” Nick was peering at her with a strange look on his face.

“You really are happy here, aren’t you?”

“Yes, if it makes sense. It’s my place, where my soul is content. I love being near the water. It gives me peace.

I always bolted back here, when I was unhappy at the university. Even though it was an eight-hour train trip, Gramps and the ocean were always waiting for me. It was one of the only certainties in my life.” He reached out and ran his finger down the side of her face. The simple touch set her legs trembling and left her with a need for something she knew he couldn’t give to her. The tenderness of his touch and the caring look on his face almost undid her. She turned away from him so he wouldn’t see the longing, which she knew was plainly written across her face.

“Be careful,” she said, her voice shaking. “That mountain road is treacherous.”

Oh my God. I sound like a wife.

As he roared down the driveway, she gave him a short wave and turned back to the empty cottage. Stripping his bed, she stood for a long time with his pillow against her face, breathing in his distinctive aftershave that lingered on the pillow.

…

An hour later, Lissy walked along the beach to Harvey’s shack. The wind had come up and her curls blew into disarray around her face. The temperature dropped as the morning sun disappeared behind the clouds and she rubbed her arms to keep warm. She felt cold both inside and out. She knew Harvey would be in from fishing since the southerly wind had come through, so she was not surprised to see his car and boat parked in the yard at the back of his old shack. She helped him unload the fishing gear from his boat and wash it down. After the fish was packed in ice ready for the markets, they sat down for a chat over a pot of tea.

“Okay, young lady, now tell me what you’ve been up to, and tell me about your biker friend.” Harvey frowned at her across the old chipped red laminate table, his bushy eyebrows almost joining. Lissy briefly told him of the events of the past few weeks since she had last seen him at Gramp’s service. She sighed, her hands wrapped around the mug.

“There’s a bit of an attraction there,” she said, “but we’re both fighting it for various reasons, Harvey.” He lifted her chin, with his old tanned hand and looked into her eyes. “Is he right for you, Lissy?”

“I honestly don’t know,” she said. “You know how I used to say to Gramps that I would never settle for attraction, but instead choose someone based on sense and security?” She looked at him over the rim of her cup. “I don’t know if I think that any more. Even a short relationship, with the feelings I have for him, would be better than nothing.” She spoke more to herself than the old fisherman who was looking at her with concern on his face.

“You know what to do then,” he said. “I’ll only say one thing to you, Lissy.” He gripped her hands tightly.

“It’s the same advice that your Gramps always gave you.

Follow your heart.”

Lissy had one more thing to do before she packed up and returned to Armidale. She picked up the phone and dialed her friend from school, the local hairdresser.

“Hi, Kerry. It’s Lissy.”

“Hey, Lissy. Are you home? We haven’t seen you for ages.”

“Yes, just home for the weekend, but I’m heading up the mountain this afternoon. I have a big favor to ask. Can you fit me in for a haircut this afternoon, before I go back to Armidale?”

…

Lissy drove into the garden of the cottage and quietly unpacked the car. She was relieved to see that Nick’s lights were off and the bike wasn’t in the carport. She shivered as the cold wind brushed her bare neck. She felt liberated, but strange, without the weight of her curls.

“Not the best hairstyle for Armidale in the winter, Lis.” Kerry had tried to persuade her to change her mind, but when Lissy had convinced her that it was what she really wanted, she had done a great job. Kerry stood back with the mirror, and admired her work. She had cut it short all over.

“Lissy, it makes those green eyes of yours look huge and all the sun gold bits are gone.” Lissy looked down at the curls on the floor surrounding her feet and then up to the mirror.

“I love it, Kerry!”
I am a new woman with a firmed
resolve
.

She gave her friend a hug and promised to catch up for coffee the next time she was home. She didn’t leave the coast until mid afternoon and it was late when she unlocked the cottage, turned the lights on and lit the fire.

She hurried over to Mrs. Mac’s to pick up Luney and Sylvester.

Mrs. Mac opened the door. “Great timing, Melissa.

I’ve just cooked some soup for you to take home.” She put her hand up over her mouth as Lissy walked in and she saw the short red curls, barely covering her neck.

“Oh, my goodness, young lady, what have you done?

Your beautiful hair…”

“A very sudden and knee-jerk decision, Mrs. Mac.” She reached her hands up and fluffed the short curls.

“Long story—” and she gave the old lady a huge grin, “—

but I love it. It feels wonderful.”

She was eating her soup and laughing at Luney’s attempts to get her attention when the telephone rang. Picking it up, she automatically went to hold her hair back behind her ears and laughed when it was not there.

“Melissa McIntyre,” she said. There was a slight pause before she heard Tom’s voice.

“Hello, Melissa. It’s Tom.”

She frowned, surprised to hear from him again and her voice was anxious.

“Hello, Tom, is everything all right?” Her first thought was that Nick had not got home safely on that motorcycle.

“Yes, yes. Everything’s fine. I have an invitation for you.” Tom sounded a little embarrassed.

“Yes?” she replied, her voice guarded.

“Melissa, this is difficult. I know you’re angry with Nick and me.”

“No, Tom,” she said. ”I’m not angry.”

“Well, Mama is having a barbeque next weekend because Nick is going to the islands and she knows you’re going too, and she asked me to call and invite you over.” She paused.
Why not? I’m sick of living my life
worrying what Nick will think.
“That sounds great, Tom.

I’d love to come.”

“Great.”

“And,” she said, “it’ll give us a chance to talk.” She went to bed feeling more settled and in control of her life than she had for weeks.