The Lawson Boys: Alex (24 page)

“Men,” Harly
huffed. “Can’t live with ‘em, but sure can live without ‘em.”

“I think you’ve
taken liberties with that saying,” Shane observed.

Harly
grinned.

Shane stepped
back. “Well, seeing as how you’re not in trouble - that, of course,
might be different to what your parents would say - I’ll let you
get on with your date.”

“Thank you so
much.”

“By the way.”
Shane placed his hand on the windowsill of the car. “My cousin is
coming into town next month. She wanted to see you about making
some clothes for her.”

“Sure. Give her
my phone number.”

“Thanks.” Shane
saluted Alex. “Have a good night. Don’t keep her out too late.”

Harly
snorted.

Fastening the
seatbelt, Alex laughed. “You have a lot of friends.”

“Nosey
friends.” Harly pulled her seat belt on.

“Friends can be
forgiven for being a bit nosey.”

“They’ll have a
field day with this. Shane won’t be able to resist telling his wife
and she’ll tell someone else, and - well, you get the idea.”

Alex glanced
warily at her as he put the Jeep in gear. “Does that bother
you?”

“That they’ll
talk?”

“That they’ll
know we’re going out together.”

A slow smile
curved her lips. “Not really.”

Relief trickled
through him. “I’m glad.”

She looked at
him in surprise. “Did you think I would?”

“After your
reservations about us seeing each other? Yeah, I did.”

“Huh.”
Thankfully, she didn’t sound angry or upset, just thoughtful.

She was silent
for the rest of the journey, and he decided to leave her to her
thoughts. Sometimes it was good to sit and think.

Pulling the
Jeep into the parking lot of the pub, Alex turned it off, got out
and walked around to the passenger side. Opening the door, he held
out his hand to Harly.

Placing her
hand in his, she made no move to get out, instead she tightened her
hold and when he looked inquiringly at her, she asked softly, “Am I
that hard to understand?”

He knew exactly
what she meant. “No. It’s because I do understand enough about you
to know that you don’t like being the subject of gossip.”

“It’s not
gossip. It’s speculation.”

“Same
thing.”

“Sometimes.”

Relaxing
against the door, he studied her.

“But I’ve just
learned something,” she said.

“What’s
that?”

Using his hand
for balance, she slid out of the Jeep to stand close to him. “I’ve
just learned that I don’t care if people know we’re together.”
Going up on tip toe, she pressed a small kiss to his cheek. “Let
them speculate. Gossip. Whatever.” Stepping back, she smiled
brightly up at him. “So, let’s get that promised dinner.”

Alex’s heart
leaped at her admission but he maintained a light demeanour, even
though all he really wanted to do as bundle her back into the Jeep,
take her to a private place and lose himself in her scent and body.
She’d taken a huge step in their relationship and he didn’t intend
to risk losing ground because he had a hard time controlling his
libido when around her.

Sliding his arm
around her waist, Alex pulled her away from the door so he could
shut and lock it. Keeping his arm around her, he steered her up
onto the footpath. “You, Miss Bentley, are something else.”

“As in good or
bad?”

“Surprising.”

“That’s a good
thing.”

“Maybe you can
surprise me later with some bad things.”

“Keep wishing
that.”

“And it’ll come
true.”

Her grin was
full of mischief. “Keep wishing that, too.”

Alex stopped
walking. “So what’s that supposed to mean?”

“You reckon you
understand me.” She winked. “Figure it out.” Turning, she walked
through the door into the pub.

Yeah, his woman
was something else. Seriously.

Grinning, Alex
followed her inside.

Eight

Harly had just
walked into the café the next morning when Maryanne grabbed her arm
and dragged her into the small office. “Oh my God! Harly Bentley,
you are a dark horse!”

“Huh?”

“You and Alex
Lawson are seeing each other!”

“Oh.” She
couldn’t stop the little grin. “I guess so.”

“Guess so?
Guess
so? He stayed at your place one night and took you out
to dinner last night. That’s no ‘guess so’.” Maryanne leaned back
against the desk. “Tell me everything. Is he good in bed?”

“He slept in
the spare room.”

“Sure he did.”
Maryanne leered.

No way was
Harly going to be dragged into talking about sex with Alex. In
fact, last night he hadn’t even stayed and she wasn’t sure what to
think of that. After their kisses, the heated exchange in the
kitchen, and what he’d told her in the car before their dinner,
she’d expected him to sweep her into the house and straight to bed.
But no…

“Alex was a
perfect gentleman last night,” she informed Maryanne. “We had
dinner, we danced to the atrocious thing called a band that
Chantelle is part of, he took me home, we kissed at the door and he
went back to Paul’s house.”

Maryanne’s eyes
widened. “He didn’t spend the night?”

“No.” Feigning
nonchalance, Harly added, “We’re seeing each other, not ripping our
clothes off every chance we get.”

“Maybe you
should get him to start reading erotic romances.”

Just the
thought of Alex with one of those in his hands had Harly
laughing.

“Hey,” Maryanne
said. “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I made my hubby read a
couple and hoo boy! He’s a tiger in the sack now.”

“I don’t think
I need to hear this.”

“Gives him
ideas.” Maryanne winked and leered again. “If you know what I
mean.”

“I’m afraid I
do.” Harly turned to the door. “Alex and I went out, no big deal.
People here go on dates still.”

“Yeah.”
Maryanne followed her out. “But you don’t.”

“Maybe because
no one asked me.”

“A few
did.”

“Because they
thought I’d be an easy lay.”

“Bullshit.”

Startled, Harly
turned back to her.

“When you were
seventeen, one of the local boys asked you out and you turned him
down flat.”

There’d been a
good reason for that, but Harly wasn’t going to enlighten her.

“You’re not
exactly the easiest woman around.”

“I’ll take that
as a compliment.” Retrieving a clean apron, Harly tied it around
her waist and slipped the pad and pen into the pocket. “I’ve got it
on good authority that
you
were the easiest woman around. If
you know what I mean.”

“Who said
that?” Maryanne demanded, then took one look at Harly’s smirk and
lightly slapped her arm. “All right, back to work.”

Work was good.
Work kept her mind from wondering if maybe Alex was already a
little tired of her. No, she almost instantly scolded herself. He
wasn’t like that and she knew it. Deep down where it counted, past
her insecurities, she knew he wouldn’t play her.

So if she could
just figure out what he was doing. But who knew a man’s thoughts?
Certainly not a woman. It had to be another man, but no way in hell
was she going to ask Paul. No way.

Her gaze swept
the kitchen and fell on Bill. Okay, maybe she could ask him.
Maybe.

Or maybe she
could just stop fretting, get on with work and accept Alex and what
he did without letting her insecurities get to her.

Giving herself
a mental slap, she stepped out into the café and her heart
immediately skipped a beat at the sight of Alex talking to
Maryanne. He was the only customer.

Maryanne took
one look at her and beamed. “Got an order for you, sweetie.”

“Oh?” Walking
to the counter, Harly smiled at Alex. More than aware of Maryanne
watching, she maintained a calm façade.

And that was
exactly what it was, a faked façade, because deep underneath her
nerves were jitter-bugging everywhere, her blood was singing
through her veins, and she just wanted to crawl right over the
counter and throw her arms around his neck.

Boy, wouldn’t
that have surprised Maryanne.

Good thing that
she was never one to act without thought.

“Good morning.”
Alex’s eyes crinkled in amusement at the corners.

“Good morning.”
Harly unobtrusively kicked Maryanne in the ankle.

Maryanne swore
and limped back into the kitchen.

Alex looked
questioningly from her to Harly.

“Blister from
her shoes,” Harly lied blithely. “What can I do for you?” And how
polite did that sound?

“Five espressos
and two teas to go, please.”

“The usual
order, then.” Getting the cups, she positioned herself behind the
espresso machine and started pouring. “How’s the house going?”

“It’s getting
there.” Alex watched the coffee pouring into the cups. “Mind you, I
prefer old houses. They have character.” He lifted his gaze to her
face. “And their owners are usually hot.”

She nearly
dropped the cup and was unable to stop the pleased colour rising in
her cheeks. “Is that so?”

“Yep.” Laughter
was definitely in his voice.

“Good to know.
Have you met old Bert?” She picked up another cup. “He lives in one
of the oldest houses around here. I’m sure you’d get on well with
him.”

“I might bypass
that offer.”

“I somehow
thought you might.”

“So,” he said,
“last night we had dinner. Feel like a movie tonight?”

“Well, we
could, but the projector is waiting for a spare part, so it’ll be
pretty dark and cold and lonely in there.” Picking up another cup,
Harly looked at him. “Or we could do a DVD at my place.”

“Mmmm.” He
smiled widely. “I do like that idea.”

“Sounds cosy on
a cold night, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. And
afterwards we can fool around a little.”

This time she
did slip and coffee went over the side of the to-go cup.

“Need a hand
there?” Alex asked blandly.

Placing the
last cup in the box, Harly started putting the tops on them. She
couldn’t stop the smile that curved her lips. “I’m fine, thank
you.”

Leaning
forward, Alex’s voice dropped. “Oh yeah, I’d definitely agree with
that.”

Pushing the box
into his hands, she met his gaze squarely. “So what’s it to
be?”

“Forget the
DVD. We’ll just fool around.”

“Sure you want
to?” The words slipped out before she could think.

“You have no
idea.” His attention was diverted by a woman entering the café, and
straightening, he grinned and winked. “See you tonight, baby.”

The smile was
still on her face when she turned to the woman and took her
order.

Maryanne didn’t
have time to ask further questions for the café started to get
customers in for breakfast and things remained pretty steady until
mid afternoon, and as Maryanne had orders to submit for the café
stores, there wasn’t much time for her to ask more questions. But
Harly knew it was just a matter of time.

She was
sweeping the floor when Becky entered. Upon spotting Harly, she
beamed and hurried over. “I’ve had the best idea!”

“Really?”
Leaning on the broom, Harly waited.

“Yep. How about
you, Alex, Paul and me have dinner together tonight?”

“Oh. Well,
actually-”

“I’m dying for
some company, and Alex is either out or helping Paul all day, so we
haven’t had much time to sit and chat about old times. It’ll be
fun.”

Maryanne popped
her head around the door. “Sounds like fun.”

“You and Brent
can come, too,” Becky said. “It’s Friday night, so no one has to
get up early tomorrow.”

“Leticia and
Marcia have the Saturday shift tomorrow.” Maryanne nodded.
“Perfect.”

Becky turned to
Harly. “Come on. It’ll be
fun
.”

“It’s been ages
since I went out to dinner,” Maryanne announced before Harly could
say anything. “I’ll be there. What time?”

“Six thirty.
I’ll cook the roast we were supposed to have yesterday, there’ll be
plenty for us all.”

“Great. I’ll
bring something for dessert.”

“You can bring
Mark, too.”

“Nah, he’s
doing some weird computer game with his friends tonight. He asked
me to buy some snacks for it. It’ll just be Brent and me.”
Maryanne’s eyes gleamed. “And Alex and Harly, of course, and you
and Paul.”

“Great! It’s
decided, then.”

“But-” Harly
began.

“So you bring
the snacks and we’re sorted.” Beaming, Becky swung around. “See you
tonight.”

Harly looked
around for Maryanne, but she’d disappeared back into the
office.

Great. Now what
was she going to do? If she cancelled on Becky, her friend would be
so disappointed. But what about Alex?
Crap. Crap crap crap
.
How could she tell him? He’d been looking forward to their evening
together, as had she. Maybe she should ring Becky and just cancel,
but then she didn’t often go to friends’ houses for dinner. And
what would Alex prefer, anyway?

She wished she
had his mobile number to ring him. Biting her lip, she had another
thought. Paul’s mobile number would be in the phone book.

“I’m going to
the post office.” Maryanne appeared with car keys in hand. “I’ll be
back soon.”

“No worries,”
Harly answered.

As soon as her
friend’s car left the parking bay behind the café, Harly hurried
into the office and looked up Paul’s business numbers. Within no
time she was talking to Alex.

“Problem?’ he
queried.

“Kind of,”
Harly replied. “Becky thinks we’re coming to her place
tonight.”

“Really? What
gave her that idea?”

“Um…well, she
came in here with this great idea of us all getting together for
dinner and to chat about old times and spend time together, and
Maryanne got in on it, and it sort of snowballed.” She twisted the
phone cord around her finger.