Just Good Friends (21 page)

“Sorry,” she heard again from behind her. Two adolescent
schoolgirls this time, digging exercise books and pens from their backpacks in
excitement. “Can we get your autograph?”

“Oh, for . . .” Kate began.

“It’s all right,” Koti assured her. He signed quickly, but
shook his head when one of the girls pulled out her mobile to take a photo.

“Sorry, not a good time,” he told them firmly as Kate
glared.

The girls looked from him to her in disappointment. Koti
turned his back to them and Kate saw them walking away, glancing back at the
two of them with avid curiosity. She was uncomfortably aware of how she looked,
wearing only his oversized sweater. Wrapped around him too, she remembered.

“Yeh, staying over here’ll work,” Koti told her with a grin.
“Discreet.”

“They might know you, but they don’t know me,” she pointed
out. “Except Mrs. Ferguson, of course. Oh, man. Especially when I’m dressed
like this. I might as well have a sign around my neck. “Just Had Sex with Koti
James!”

“I like that look on you. Messy. Naked under this thing, eh.
Sweet as.” He ran his hand down her back, bent to kiss her again. “If you had
more time, I’d be taking you back upstairs and showing you exactly how much I
like it. But I can see it may not be the image you’re aiming for. You may want
to avoid wearing my clothes in the office.”

“Thanks for the tip. I’ll do that. Now you really do need to
go, or I’m going to be late.” She pulled his head down and kissed him hard.
“Have some more ideas before tomorrow night, OK? Much as I hate to admit it,
that was pretty good.”

He laughed aloud as he got into the car. “I’ll work on it,”
he promised. “Hard against the wall next time, I reckon.” He laughed again at
her shocked expression and pulled away, the grin still on his face.

“Nice,” he said approvingly when she opened the door to him
the next evening in a close-fitting dress of jade green. “I always appreciate
your short skirts. I like the shoes too.”

“They make me taller. I need all the advantage I can get
with you.”

“Nah. I told you, you terrify me,” he assured her, finally
leaning down for the kiss he wanted.

“Sure you want to go to dinner?” he asked when they came up
for air. “Maybe you’d rather fix me something later.”

“Nice try. But no. I didn’t get dressed up for nothing. Show
me the town, big boy. We’ll build some anticipation here.”

He laughed. “What do you think I’ve been doing since
yesterday? Just teasing, though. You look too pretty. I can see you need to go
out.”

“So how’d things go today?” she asked him when they were
settled into a cozy Italian restaurant in Takapuna. “Must be different with the
whole team together again.  More intense.”

“Yeh. It’s better, having the All Black boys back. Not as
intense as it will be, though, because of the bye this week. Which means we’ll
have some time to spend together. We can go out on Saturday night like normal
people.”

“I was hoping I could get you to go surfing with me again,”
she said. “I’d like to keep practicing. I know I still need lots of coaching,
and it might be my last chance for a while to get that from you. Brendan was
telling me today that things would be heating up after this week. Because it
looks like you guys are going to be playing in the quarterfinals, at least.”

“Brendan?” He looked at her with a frown. “Brendan who?”

“Brendan McKenzie. The fullback. Why, is there more than one
Brendan on the team?”

“Why was he talking to you? When was this?”

She put down her fork and stared at him. “He stopped into
the office for something today and came over for a chat,” she said slowly.
“Don’t tell me you have a problem with that. He’s a funny guy. I enjoy talking
to him. I work in the Blues office, Koti. I do see the guys from time to time,
you know. Do you want an incident report every time?”

“Did he ask you out?” he persisted.

“No. If he had, I would have said no. I haven’t taken up a new
career as a rugby groupie, much as it appeals to me, if that’s what you’re
worried about.”

He ignored the sarcasm. “Time to make this public. I’m not
comfortable with all this secrecy.”

“You don’t get to decide that,” she told him firmly. “I’m
fully capable of dealing with any mild interest I might excite. For heaven’s
sake, Koti. I’m not some blonde bombshell. And as you’ve pointed out many
times, I don’t exactly have a come-hither personality. What are you worried
about?”

“I know those boys,” he countered. “I want them to know that
you belong to me. And that I hold onto what’s mine.”

He saw her stiffen, realized what he had said. “Hang on. I
didn’t mean that. Not exactly.”

“Oh yes, you did,” she told him, eyes flashing with the
danger signals he recognized by now. “And I’m not putting up with that. You can
take that attitude and go straight to hell.”

She started to say something else, thought better of it.
Threw down her napkin and got up with a jerk, grabbing her purse and jacket and
rushing from the restaurant.

Koti swore. Paid the bill as quickly as he could and went to
the doorway, looking up and down the street for her. She’d be walking home, he
decided. She couldn’t go very fast, though. Not in those heels.

Sure enough, within a block he had caught sight of the
furious little figure marching along the footpath, outrage evident in every
step. He increased his pace to catch up with her. Moved to overtake her, then
stood in front of her to block her way.

“Don’t run away from me. If you have something to say, say
it.”

She stopped, glaring up at him. “I’m too mad at you right
now. I’ll just blow up. I need to cool down first. Figure out what I want to
say.”

“Go ahead. Yell. I can take it. Give it back too, come to
that. If you cross the line, I’ll tell you.”

“Then here we go. I told you this before, but apparently you
didn’t listen. I’m telling you again now, and you’d damn well better hear me
this time, because I am deadly serious. I do not like possessiveness. What we
do in the bedroom is one thing. But you don’t own me!”

“Never said I owned you,” he protested.

“I think you just said exactly that. And that’s unacceptable.
What are you worried about, anyway? Why would I want to make my life any more
complicated than it already is? To get more sex? I can hardly handle what I’m
getting now. I’m not interested in dating anyone else. But that doesn’t give
you the right to try to control me. You don’t get to tell me what to do or who
to talk to.”

“You don’t like possessiveness, eh,” he shot back. “How
about those girls yesterday? You didn’t seem too happy about that.”

“Because I was half-naked at the time, and kissing you! They
were interrupting us. Anyone would be upset.”

“What about that Aussie girl at the caves, then? A bit hard
to miss those looks you were giving her.”

“Yeah, right,” she scoffed. “She was hanging all over you.
Wrapping herself around you like a boa constrictor. Of course I’m going to get
annoyed if some girl built like that is shoving it in your face. It’s not like
I can offer that.”

“I like what you have. Thought I’d made that clear by now.
You didn’t see me give her any encouragement, did you?”

“No,” she admitted. “And if some guy is feeling me up the
way she was doing to you, I give you permission to be upset too. But that
wasn’t the case here, and you know it. Quit trying to twist this around.”

“Be upset? Yeh, I’d be upset. Reckon he’d be upset too, after
I did him over. How am I twisting anything?”

“You can’t be this clueless,” she began. Then stopped as she
heard her name being called.

“Kate?” she heard again, and turned at the voice. With
dismay, she saw Hemi and Reka approaching along the footpath. 

“This town is too small,” she muttered. “Great. Perfect
timing for our big reveal.”

The other couple stopped in front of them, Reka looking from
one to the other in unveiled curiosity. “How ya goin’?” she asked them.
“Thought you didn’t like this fella, Kate. Looks like that’s changed.”

“Not at all,” Kate answered with a scowl. “I was just
telling him what I thought of him, in fact.”

“We’re having a fight,” Koti said with a rueful grin. “No
worries. Goes with the territory.”

“And I’m winning,” Kate pointed out. “Because he was a
jerk.”

Reka shared a look with Hemi. “Ah. The penny’s just dropped.
Didn’t realize the two of you were an item. You never tell me anything,” she
complained to her husband.

“Huh. We’re not. Not any more,” Kate said. “Not unless he
apologizes.”

Hemi looked at Koti sympathetically. “In the dogbox, eh. Trust
me, mate. Apologize. May as well accept it. You’re wrong.”

“You don’t even know what it’s all about,” Koti protested.

“Don’t have to. I’ve been married a long time now.”

Reka nudged him. “Oi. Because you
are
wrong, almost
all the time. That’s why you have to apologize so much.”

“See what I mean?” Hemi appealed. “Accept it, and you’ll be
a happier man.”

“Yeh, he will. Just like you are,” Reka told her husband. “Because
you’re still married to me. And married men are happier. Studies show that.
They’re happier, and they live longer.”

“Sure about that? Or does it just seem longer?” Hemi laughed.

He put a big arm around his protesting wife, gave her a
squeeze. “Lucky to have you. Lucky you put up with me. I know that. Let me take
you on to dinner, show you I mean it. Leave these two to work it out, eh.”

Reka reached out and gave Kate a hug. “Don’t let him off the
hook,” she counseled. “It’s good for him.”

“You’re a good boy, Koti,” she told him. “But you need
someone who isn’t dazzled by you. Keep you from getting above yourself. I’ve
always thought so.”

“No worries,” he grinned back. “Kate’s got that sewn up.”

“Well, that was embarrassing,” Kate sighed as Hemi and Reka
continued up the street.

“I’d say your secret’s out,” Koti said. “At least with the
team. Which makes this argument pointless.”

“Nice try. Still waiting for my apology.” She crossed her
arms, the toe of one high heel tapping.

“What am I apologizing for again? I’ve forgotten by now. Better
remind me. Make sure I don’t do it again.”

“Very funny. You’re apologizing for being a possessive jerk.
Which you know very well.”

He stepped towards her. Gently pried loose her hands and
held them in his own. “I’m sorry I fancy you so much that I can’t stand the
thought of other fellas hanging around. Because you’re making my life dead
uncomfortable just now.”

“That’s it? That’s your big apology?”

“Yeh. That’s it.”

“Right,” he sighed as she continued to scowl. “I’m sorry I
made you do your block again. And I promise, I don’t think of you as my
property. I know you’re your own person. And that you have the right to talk to
anyone you like. But it’s never going to make me happy to think about somebody
chatting you up. Can’t help it. That’s how it is.”

“Well,” she conceded, “I’m not exactly thrilled when I see
girls throwing themselves at you either. And I have a lot more to annoy me that
way than you do. I guess we’re going to have to agree to trust each other. And
that means no more jealous fits in restaurants. If it bothers you, keep it to
yourself.” She glared at him again.

He held up his hands in surrender. “Agreed. Do my best,
anyway. Can we go home now? Let me find a way to make it up to you. I’ll make
it special, I promise. Satisfaction guaranteed.”

She laughed reluctantly. “I’ve figured that much out. And
I’m not sure I can take anything more special. We hardly had anything to eat,
though. What about dinner? Should we try to get something else?”

“I’ll make you a sandwich. Come on.”

“You’re an expensive date,” he complained later, coming back
into his bedroom wearing only a pair of sweatpants, a pair of hastily assembled
sandwiches on a plate. “I have to provide tea, even after I took you out. You
know, some women would be offering to cook for me right now.”

“Guess you’d better date one of them, then,” she said
cheerfully, pulling herself up against the pillows.

“Not quite ready to chuck it in,” he conceded. “Even if do I
have to make the sammies.”

She smiled happily and took a bite. “You’re good for certain
things yourself, despite your many character flaws.”

“Geez, thanks. Glad to know I have something to offer you.”

“It came as kind of a surprise, tell you the truth,” she
mused. “I always comforted myself with the idea that you were probably lousy in
bed. Every time you got me worked up, I’d think, never mind, the fantasy is
bound to be a lot better than the reality. I figured I was sure to be
disappointed, so it was just as well.”

“What?” he asked, outraged. “Why would you think that?”

She shrugged. “I figured that anybody who’d had that many
women so eager to be with him would never have had to do much work or care
about what his partner needed. I thought you’d be selfish.”

“I am selfish, though,” he objected. “I do exactly what I
want. Haven’t you noticed? Doesn’t mean I’m . . . what was it? Lousy at it?
Cheers for that, by the way.”

“I already told you I was wrong,” she pointed out. “And
sorry, but someone who just gave me that much pleasure can’t be called selfish.
Not in bed, anyway.”

“That’s what feels good to me, though. Seeing you so
excited. Hearing you. Knowing I’m doing all that to you. That’s what I want.
Makes me feel powerful, if you want to know the truth.”

She turned her head to look at him. “This is why I can never
decide if you have too high an opinion of yourself, or if you don’t give
yourself enough credit. Taking pleasure in somebody else’s pleasure is the
opposite of selfish. Even if you do it for your own reasons. Which are valid,
by the way.”