Real Men Don't Break Hearts (14 page)

He stripped off his clothes and stepped into the hot shower. The scent of Ally and the sex they’d shared last night soon washed away, but the memory lingered on for the rest of the day, indelible and unforgettable.

…

A bumblebee droned in the flowerbeds around the patio. When Ally had arrived at Mr. Cummings’s house, he’d insisted on serving her tea in the garden. “I’ll be renting out this house when I move to Queensland,” he said. “I know I should sell, but I can’t bring myself to part with it. I’ll miss this garden, especially my roses. I planted them for Roseanne, you see.”

Ally didn’t see. Roseanne was the scheming bitch who’d run off with another man and bled Mr. Cummings dry at the divorce. Why did he still miss her?

“But I’m all set,” he continued on a brighter note, folding his hands across his comfortable paunch. “Nate Hardy and I settle tomorrow, and then you’ll have a new landlord.”

Ally wriggled in the wicker chair. “That’s what I’ve come to see you about today.”

“You’re not still worried about getting Nate as your landlord, are you? He’s assured me he has no intentions of making any changes.”

She didn’t want to think about Nate as her landlord. Not when she was currently sleeping with him.

“Actually, it’s my current landlord I’m worried about.” She set her teacup on the table and smoothed down her skirt. “About the rent I still owe you—”

“Oh, pshaw.” He gave her a languid wave. “I’d be happy to forget about that.”

“No, no, I don’t want you to forget about it. It’s very important to me. I have most of the money, but I’m about five hundred dollars short—”

“You mustn’t worry about a small sum like that. Especially a nice young woman like yourself.”

Ally pressed her lips together. She’d just ignore that patronizing comment for now. “I want you to know I’m good for it. I’m going to have a massive sale in the next few days, and I’m positive I’ll be able to pay you everything by the end of next week.”

“Capital, capital.” He beamed at her cherubically.

She said her good-byes and drove back to Burronga where Tyler had been minding the store for her.

“Mr. Cummings is a sweet man, but he drives me batty sometimes,” she said to her friend after she’d told her what had happened. “He honestly believes I won’t have the money ready by next week.”

“You do realize that paying Mr. Cummings back just means you’ll be behind your rent with Nate.”

“I know that.” Ally flipped the door sign to
Closed
and moved to the register to count the day’s takings. Even as she busied herself she was aware of Tyler watching her closely.

“So that’s all you’re saying?” Tyler said when the pause had stretched to half a minute.

“About what?”

Tyler waggled her eyebrows. “About a certain hunk of a man?”

Ally blushed, lost track of her counting, and laid down the bundle of notes. “Okay, you got me. Yes, I have been seeing Nate.”

Her friend let out a triumphant whoop. “I knew it!”

“How exactly did you find out?” Ally was pretty sure Jess wouldn’t have spread the gossip.

Tyler rested her elbow on the counter and leaned in. “Have you forgotten what a small town we live in? If I spent every night of the week with a certain man, the news would get around, no matter how careful I was.” Her grin widened. “And you, my little daredevil, have not been very careful.”

Ally’s cheeks grew hotter. “It’s not a big deal, honestly. Nate and I are just… It’s just a casual thing. Nothing heavy.”

“And you’re fine with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Most people have flings.”

“You’re not most people.”

She frowned at that. “Maybe I want to be.”

“I bet your family doesn’t approve.”

Her stomach clenched. Jess had been muttering her disapproval ever since Ally had confessed about Nate. The way she carried on made Ally’s connection with Nate sound so sleazy, but in all honesty Ally couldn’t say she felt ashamed. When she was with Nate he made her feel wonderful, free, uninhibited. He made her laugh and blush; he made her oh, so hot. They weren’t hurting anyone, so why was Jess convinced that Ally was on a path of certain self-destruction?

She tossed back her head. “Jess was the one who advised me to ‘have some fun’ in the first place, but now she’s changed her mind because it’s Nate. She thinks I’ll get hurt, but she doesn’t understand that I’m perfectly happy with the way things are.”

“Oh, I understand. You know what I think about relationships. Nooo thank you.” Tyler’s earrings jingled as she shook her auburn hair vehemently. “Yup, you and I are on the same wavelength now. No-strings-attached sex is the best. We don’t need all the muss and fuss. We’re the ones calling the shots. When we need a man for a bit of fun, we can just call him up, no problem.”

This time Ally had to lower her gaze. Who was calling the shots between her and Nate? For the past week they had spent every night together, either at his place or hers, but they never made any plans to see each other in advance. It was usually just a quick phone call at the end of the day, and she’d become accustomed to her stomach knotting up with anticipation as the clock ticked past five and she waited for her phone to buzz. But it was Nate who’d called every time, she realized, while she’d just waited. Nate was the one calling the shots, and she hadn’t even noticed until now.

“Sure, I call him up whenever I want,” she blustered. Oh, yeah? The clock stood at five-fifteen now, and he hadn’t called yet. Did she have the nerve to ring him? Yes, she could do that. Maybe. On the other hand, maybe she should play it cool and do something else tonight. She didn’t want to make herself too available or he’d take her for granted.

“But you don’t want to ring the man too often,” Tyler said, “or he’ll think you’re desperate, and there’s nothing more pathetic than a desperate woman.”

Great. Why did Tyler have to echo the exact thing she’d been thinking? Ally rubbed her forehead. She wasn’t used to these games, this scheming and second-guessing.

“Quite right. Don’t want to let things get out of control.” After all, who’s to say Nate was going to stick around Burronga? What if he got tired of the whole change-his-life thing and ran back to Sydney? She didn’t want to be left behind nursing a broken heart.

“A girl has to look out for herself, because the man’s not going to do it for her.” Tyler picked up her handbag from behind the counter. “Gotta go, see you later.”

Alone, Ally concentrated on counting the register, all the while trying not to glance at the clock every five seconds. The minute hand ticked on, and still there was no call from Nate. Her stomach felt hollow, and a dull ache squeezed her shoulder blades together. Damn, this was just a foretaste of what would happen to her if she let things with Nate carry on at the current delirious pace. She had to draw back. She had to mark the boundaries and protect herself. Protect her heart.

She almost jumped when her phone started buzzing. Her hands went clammy when the caller ID told her it was Nate.

“I couldn’t ring earlier because I was talking to a prospective client,” he said after she’d cautiously greeted him. “I’ll be home in twenty minutes. Do you want to get pizza tonight?”

“Actually, I have other plans. I hope you don’t mind.” She marveled at the steadiness in her voice, grateful he couldn’t see how shaky her hands were.

There was a short, fraught pause. “Other plans?” His tone was deadpan.

“Yeah, I, uh, I’m going to a—a Tupperware party.”

“Ri-ight.”

His drawl spiked along her spine and her face felt ready to burst into flame. Why didn’t he just call her an outright liar?

“So I’ll see you around,” she managed to get out.

“Yeah, sure. Have fun at your…Tupperware party.” He hung up before she could sputter anything more.

She pressed her cold fingers to her throbbing cheeks. Well, she’d shown Nate and herself she wasn’t just hanging around pining for his attention. She’d asserted herself, stated her independence, regained control. Only problem was, she couldn’t stop thinking about spending the night with Nate. Sharing pizza and wine with him, talking about their days, then making love, and afterward drifting to sleep with his naked body curled around hers. Instead, all she had was aching frustration and no prospect of relief. Why was a casual fling with Nate becoming so complicated?

Chapter Twelve

The bronze tail was buried in the bowels of the shed. Nate had to squeeze past piles of dusty old junk to get to the back—if he hadn’t known the tail was there, he’d never have found it. He tossed aside a broken guitar and spied what he’d been searching for lying in the far corner. Cobwebbed and dull beneath a thick layer of dirt, the piece looked like just another bit of rubbish, but when he heaved it up, he experienced a slight thrill, a vestige of the charge he’d gotten from stealing it, followed by a swift bite of guilt.

He hauled the bronze tail out onto the grass; it was heavier than he remembered. He must have been a determined little twerp to have hacked it off Colonel Clifton’s horse and carted it all the way home before stuffing it in the back of Robbie’s shed. He’d known it would be safe there—Robbie never bothered clearing out that shed—and he could have left it rotting there forever. But he knew now he couldn’t.

He started hosing the dirt off when Porkchop next door began his usual yapping. Through a small gap in the fence he saw the pooch’s rabid eye as the dog went crazy. He thought about directing his hose at the gap, and the idea made him chuckle before Mrs. Bennett’s sourpuss face appeared over the fence, instantly muting his amusement.

“You shouldn’t tease Porkchop,” she grumbled. “You’re a grown man, not a child.” She cradled the animal in her billowing arms, both of them glowering at him.

“Hey, if you want I can give Porkchop a bath now I’ve got my hose out. Water’s nice and cold.”

Mrs. Bennett gasped and clutched her dog tighter. “You wouldn’t dare!” She craned her neck over the fence. “What are you doing, anyway? What is that thing, some kind of statue?”

He shrugged and returned his attention to his hosing. “Something like that.”

“That looks like… It’s a tail. Oh, it’s a horse’s tail.” Her jowls quivered accusingly. “It was you! You defaced the colonel’s horse all those years ago. You wicked boy.”

Jeez, she made him sound like a character out of
Oliver Twist.
“Yes, Mrs. Bennett,” he said with a patient sigh. “I stole it, and now I’m cleaning it up and returning it.”

“I should have known it was you. You were always up to no good. Your brother let you run wild. He was no good at disciplining you.”

Nate scowled, as he always did when the old lady criticized his dead brother. “I suppose you think he should have taken the strap to me,” he couldn’t help snarling. “Like my stepdad did.”

She gaped at him. “The strap? No, no, I don’t believe in hitting children. Never did.”

She didn’t? That was something he’d never expected from the old dragon. Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.

“My husband, he liked using the strap,” she blurted out.

He stared at her. He’d never seen Mrs. Bennett’s husband or heard him mentioned. When he’d moved in with Robbie, Mrs. Bennett had already been on her own.

Her brow compressed into furrows. “He used to hit me.”

“Oh.” Christ, what was he supposed to say now? “Did you…?”

“He left a long time ago. Good riddance to bad rubbish.”

Nate switched off the hose. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He’d always assumed she was a widow. Now he realized she had good reason to be a curmudgeon.

He took a step toward her, but she waved him off. “You’d better finish that cleaning and get that tail down to the council quick smart or I’ll tell them about you. We got enough trouble with vandals around here as it is.” She lumbered off before he could say anything else.

…

“How was your Tupperware party last Friday?”

“My… Oh!” Just in time, Ally came to her wits. “It was great, fantastic.”

Nate rested his shoulder against the doorframe of the stock room. She’d been rearranging some boxes when he’d suddenly appeared a moment ago, and her heart was still knocking against her ribs. She’d thought the door jingle had merely heralded a last-minute shopper, not the man she’d been trying not to think about all day.

“Funny,” Nate said. “You don’t look like a Tupperware girl to me.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“Mmm, I probably would.”

So much for asserting her independence. She’d had a dull night without Nate, and she’d spent almost an entire weekend fretting over him. He hadn’t rung at all on Saturday, and now it was Sunday afternoon, and she was about to close up shop and go over to Jess’s place like she usually did. But his unexpected visit had her blood fizzing and her nerves tingling, and all she could think about was how much she’d missed him.

She tilted up her chin. “So why are you here? To check out my Tupperware?”

“Ally, it’s not your Tupperware I want to check out.”

The glint in his eyes made her breathing falter. Why did he have to look so gorgeous? Her fingers itched to glide over his tanned forearms, to grip him by his broad shoulders, to toy with the buttons of his shirt before sliding round the back of his neck and lowering his head to hers. She spun away to shuffle some stuff around on the shelves, barely aware of what she was doing. As his footsteps drew nearer, her heart rate ratcheted up.

“I’ve never been in here before.” His warm breath feathered her nape.

She shivered in anticipation. “It’s just a boring old stockroom.”

He rested a hand on either side of her on the shelf and blew a gentle kiss on the back of her neck. A tremor snaked down her legs. He had her trapped, but she didn’t want to be anywhere else.

“Boring?” He nibbled softly on her flesh and she gasped in delight. “Well, we’ll have to do something about that.”

His lips and tongue went to work on her nape and earlobes, turning her into a boneless, quivering heap of helpless desire, so when he finally turned her to face him, she was more than ready for his scorching kiss. He devoured her mouth, his body hard and urgent against hers. The torrent was more than she could withstand, and soon her knees were buckling. Only when he hitched her up onto a shelf did she resurface for a moment.

“What—what are you doing?” she mumbled, still dazed from his blistering kisses.

His hand was under her skirt, hot and sure, kneading her thigh. “What do you think I’m doing?”

“Are you m-mad?” she panted. “Someone could come in at any minute.”

His fingers inched higher. “Well, we’d better be quick then,” he said, amused, between placing ardent kisses down the column of her throat.

He was breathing hard, and the length of his body was pressed up against her so she could feel every inch of him. He was ready to take her, and after two days of abstinence she was wild for him. But here? In the stockroom? Where anyone could stumble across them in the act? She should have been put off, but instead the notion sent a fresh charge of lust through her.

She reached for his waistband. “Not too quick, okay? I want to enjoy this.”

He paused, eyes widening as if he hadn’t expected her to go for it, and then he grinned. “Sweetheart, I’ll make sure you enjoy every second.”

He was as good as his word. Their fast and furious coupling was more than enjoyable, it was a complete thrill ride. She didn’t care who saw or heard them. All that mattered was Nate and the indescribable sensations surging through her body.

Afterward, he cupped her face and planted an extra kiss on her lips before he stood back, tucked in his shirt, and stretched his arms out wide, a satisfied grin plastered on his face.

“Not such a boring stockroom after all.” Picking up her underwear, he handed them to her with a flourish. “You might be needing these, m’lady.”

She scrambled into them, her sense of propriety thundering back. “I can’t believe we did that. Anyone could have come in while we were at it. Anyone! Mr. Cummings, or my nana…”

“Don’t worry. I locked the front door and flipped the sign when I came in.”

She stared at him. “You did? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I would have, but you seemed to find the idea of being caught quite arousing. I didn’t realize you were a closet exhibitionist. Next time we’ll have to do it in Clifton Gardens.”

Scowling, she aimed a punch at his upper arm. “It’s not funny.”

“Yes it is, and sexy, too. Very sexy.” He slipped his arms around her waist. “What are you doing for the rest of the day? Going to another Tupperware party?”

“I usually spend Sunday afternoons with Jess and Brian and my nana.”

“I see.” His expression grew reserved as he cocked his head to one side. “Do they know about me?”

Her cheeks smarted. “Jess guessed, so I had to tell her…”

“And she doesn’t approve, and neither would your grandmother.”

His tone troubled her. She pushed his arms away and put some distance between them. “Look, I’m not bothered by anyone’s disapproval. It’s nobody’s business if I want to…to—”

“Ruin yourself with me?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“But that’s what your family thinks.” He stood glowering, arms akimbo. “They all think I’m just using you for sex, that I’m taking advantage of you.”

His words pierced her, and without thinking, she snapped back, “Well, it’s not my fault if that’s your reputation.”

The line of his wide shoulders stiffened. “You know me better than to judge me by my past reputation, Ally.”

Shame twisted her gut. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I know you’re not the same guy you used to be, but when we started this we agreed it was just sex, and I don’t want to complicate things by dragging my family into it. They don’t approve, but that has nothing to do with…us. That’s something separate, private.”

He turned and nudged his toe against a stack of boxes. “I guess you’re right.”

Something was still vexing him. Was he really bothered by what her family thought of him? That wasn’t the Nate she was used to. His self-confidence bordered on arrogance, but perhaps that was how it had been in the past, not how he was now…

“I’m not doing anything tonight,” she said. “I could come by after Jess’s. That is, if you’d like me to.”

He gazed at her for a long time, and for a heart-stopping moment she thought he was going to turn her down, but eventually he replied, “Yeah, sure, tonight would be great.”

He looked and sounded normal, but something wasn’t right. Had she missed an important signal, interpreted something incorrectly?

…

Nate had to admit this was his favorite part, when Ally was all loose and sated from their love-making, and he could spoon her from behind and rest his chin on her shoulder. Then he could breathe in her scent, tickle his lips across her skin, and listen to the rhythmic ticking of her breathing as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Ten days now, and the combustion between them hadn’t even begun to die off. He supposed it was only natural that sooner or later the fire would simmer down, but the prospect didn’t bother him. With Ally it was more than just the sex that kept him coming back. It was her. With every passing day she became a more important part of his life. When he analyzed his feelings, he detected a certain panic in himself, only natural for someone like him who’d always avoided attachment, but the panic wasn’t making him itch to flee. Rather, it was mixed up with a curious eagerness to see where all this would lead to.

He didn’t know if Ally shared his feelings. He suspected not. Judging by the way she’d reacted after their storeroom sex earlier that day, she still saw him as the old, good-time Nate. Great in the sack, but not someone you introduced to your family over a Sunday barbecue. He shouldn’t be too surprised, given he was at least partly to blame for fostering that impression, but it still stung.

Ally mumbled something before burying her head into the pillow. Surprisingly he wasn’t that tired himself. Maybe he was still bothered by the thought of Ally’s family barbecue and everything it symbolized. He eased her out of his arms, then slipped from the sheets and padded to the kitchen to pour himself some orange juice.

He found himself thinking about Seth. His cousin had called earlier that day from London and had seemed more excited about his new job than the brief honeymoon he’d shared with Paige. Seth’s jubilation at mixing with so many high-flying, daredevil traders worried Nate a little. His cousin wasn’t the most strong-minded person, and Nate could only hope he wouldn’t stray too far.

As he drained his glass, he heard Porkchop barking from next door. Mrs. Bennett kept early hours, and at ten at night the house next door was usually as silent as a grave, but not tonight. He frowned as the dog continued to yelp. Something wasn’t right. There was a frantic quality to the dog’s yipping.

Nate pulled on some clothes and shoes, found a flashlight, and left the house. He climbed over the fence and beat his way to Mrs. Bennett’s back door. Flecks of peeling paint came off on his fingers as he pushed it open.

The kitchen was dark, but a dim light glowed in the hallway. Porkchop was still barking.

“Mrs. Bennett?”

A faint moan sounded from the depths of the house. He pushed on, the beam of the flashlight cutting through the cloying darkness. In a stuffy, overcrowded bedroom he found Mrs. Bennett stretched out on her bed, gasping for breath, a felled giantess in a thin nylon nightdress. Sweat bathed her pasty face and pooled in the folds of her pendulous neck. The small ball of fur beside her snarled and bared its fangs at Nate.

“Scoot.” Bundling the dog aside, he crouched down next to the old lady. “Mrs. Bennett, it’s me, Nate. I’m going to call an ambulance.”

She couldn’t seem to speak or move, but her eyes rolled around in their sockets, a grateful, terrified expression in them. He patted her shoulder and went off to find the telephone. A few minutes later he returned to the bedroom to reassure her that help was on its way. The stale room was oppressive, the dog was getting on his nerves, and he had no experience dealing with sick old people. He wished Ally were there to help him, but Mrs. Bennett had latched onto his hand, so he felt obliged to sit with her until the ambulance arrived.

“Yikes!” one of the paramedics yelped as Porkchop sank his teeth into his trouser hem. “Could you do something about him, mate?” he appealed to Nate.

Nate grabbed the dog and locked him in the bathroom. He waited outside on the front porch until the paramedics wheeled Mrs. Bennett out on a gurney.