Thirteen (Love by Numbers Book 4) (30 page)

He smirks, “Better than that. Ask her to house sit for me.”

I gape at him before finding my voice, “Why do you need a house sitter? I thought Em’s Dad watched your place while you guys are away.”

He smiles deviously, “He does, but what Nic doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Sell it to her, H. It’s closer to the hospital, has an indoor pool and would be doing us a
huge
favour while we are away for the next six weeks.”

“Damn, J. Would it be too much if I told you I fucking love you?”

He laughs, throws his arms open wide and says, “Nah, c’mere and give me some good loving. Just don’t go selling your story to the papers.”

The whole room breaks into laughter again and with another salute, he’s gone, shouting out, “Call me if you manage to convince her. I’ll leave keys at Mum’s house, just in case.”

Everyone else leaves soon after, Josh helping me carry the salvaged boxes to the banana mobile.

“So now you’ve got a new job are you going to get a new car?” He looks at my borrowed wheels not concealing his mirth.

“Yeah. I might get one of these in pink. They’re good on fuel, nippy in the city and make quite a statement, don’t you think?” I deadpan.

He looks from the car to me and back again, squinting his eyes as if he’s trying to picture it in pink. “I think…” He doesn’t know if I’m serious or not. Josh is always so careful of other people’s feelings.

“Don’t panic, I’m pulling your plonker. I do need a new car, though, but for now, Lils can chauffeur me around in her beast.”

“Clarabelle. Now that’s what you call a car. If we didn’t have another kiddo on the way, I’d have a go at convincing Lau to let me get one but a Mustang and baby car seats do not make a good combination.”

Huh. You learn something new every day. I didn’t have Josh pegged as a petrol-head.

“I never knew you were into muscle cars. I thought you only got stiffies over books and shit.”

He doesn’t take offence at my ignorance or my comment. “Yeah. I know what you guys all think about me. Bookish Josh, Laura has him right under her thumb.”

“We don’t think that at all, well, okay, the bookish thing, but not the rest.”

He places the last box in the boot and slams the lid. “It’s okay if you do, I love my family, and I love my life. Some people might think that makes me boring, but they haven’t got what I have. My girls are my entire world, I don’t need, nor do I want, anything more.” He looks at me, and I see the contentment on his face. “I’m a husband and father, I’m a truly rich man, and I don’t ever take it for granted.”

His words hit me deep. Not just because of what he says, or because he’s mentioned kids when I’ll likely never be a father, but because I see it in his eyes. He’s a man who cherishes everything he has. A man who lives for those he loves but doesn’t take them for granted. He’s grateful.

Rich in love but not in money.

“Y
ou must have mind-control powers. I don’t know how else I can explain you managing to get Nic to house sit for Jake and Emma.”

Two days after Harry and his friends cleared our old apartment, Nic moved into Jake’s mansion eagerly. She’s already sent me dozens of
Snapchat
pictures of her lounging by the pool, working out in the gym and relaxing in their home cinema. The last one I received, early this morning, was of her Mini parked next to Jake’s Aston Martin. As long as she doesn’t try and drive his car, or knowing Nic, mate it with her Mini, I think we’re safe.

“No mind-control necessary. Once I showed her pics of the place and said she’d get to meet Jake when he returns, she all but ran out of here.” He laughs and continues to style his hair. When I say ‘style’ I mean towel-dry. It’s unfair how good his hair looks with so little effort, unlike my wild tresses, which need teasing and primping into submission. Short hair does not equal less time spent fussing over it.

“Do I get to meet everyone tonight?”

He slathers shaving foam across his jaw, the sight incredibly erotic for some reason, or maybe I’m especially horny, and answers, “Everyone except Jake, Em, Nate and Liv, but you’ve already met Jake and Em. Why? Are you nervous about meeting my friends?”

He slowly drags the razor across his skin, exposing smooth, kissable flesh. I step forward slowly and his eyes meet mine in the mirror.

“Not nervous, eager. I can’t wait to find out all the juicy gossip about you.” I drop my eyes to watch the foam swirl around the sink before disappearing down the plughole. “I can only imagine what they all think of me, though. I mean, we’ve barely had a proper date and here I am currently living with you. I bet I look like a real bunny boiler.” I laugh lightly but it’s fake. My heart knows Harry’s friends are good people, I mean, look what they’ve already done for my family, but my brain is in overdrive and I’ve never wanted a group of individuals to like me more than I do these.

He sets his razor down on the counter and gently turns me, his hands finding my face and raising it to look at him.

“Lils, they will love you. Hell, they already love you because you put up with me. You have nothing to worry about.”

Half his face is shaved smooth; the other side is still covered in shaving cream. He still looks handsome, though, and if that were whipped cream, I’d lick it straight off with my tongue.

“I can see what you’re thinking.” He speaks softly, worry evident from the crease in his brow.

Uh, I bet you can’t.

I hook my fingers into his belt loops and pull him closer to me until his bare chest is pressed up against my fully clothed form, and his thighs are flush with mine. “I’m thinking, we could stay home and make the most of some alone time.”

He drops his head back and groans, I can tell he likes the idea from the way his erection presses against my belly. “You’re killing me, Lils.”

He kisses me swiftly, somehow managing not to coat my face in foam and then abruptly pulls away. “I’ve got your number, Delilah. You can’t coax me into staying home. I want you to meet the guys and they really want to meet you, so stop molesting me and go and do whatever girls do before they go out.”

I pout and he shakes his head and laughs, turning back to the sink to finish his shave. I walk towards the bathroom door, stop on the threshold and in the sexiest voice I can muster, because I’m so not a sexy voice kind of girl, say, “FYI, I had plans that involved whipped cream.”

He looks like an owl when his head swivels towards me and stares at me in disbelief. “Do you want me to walk around all night with a permanent stiffy? Because you are going the right way about it.”

I chuckle because I can, and flounce from the doorway with a spring in my step. Teasing Harry is my second favourite thing. First, will always be adoring him.

“W
hat about the time he thought that dude wasn’t a dude? You know, at the drag queen bar. I still laugh when he asked the guy to show him how he ‘tucked and taped’.” Liam chokes the words out through his laughter and everyone around the table joins in.

“Or the time when he was fifteen and he brought a pack of
Shandy Bass
to a party because he thought it was alcoholic,” Josh adds helpfully.

“I can remember going to his house with Jake to see if he wanted to come to the park for a game of footy, and when we got there, he said he couldn’t come out until he’d cleaned his muddy bike. His Dad had told him to use some elbow grease and H had spent over an hour going through the cleaning cupboard looking for it.” Iz joins in.

Everyone giggles and Harry lets them have their fun. He even joins in with some tales of his own and I now have plenty of fascinating information on everyone around this table. For instance, Liam and Cari met and started an affair when she was his
teacher.
Yes, you heard that right! They are completely perfect for each other and obviously in love by the amount of stolen glances and soft touches they share. Then there’s Josh and Laura, who I sort of know already, as they both work in a school where I have some physio patients and lastly, there’s Isaac, who is a bit of an enigma.

He’s hot as hell, with perfectly scruffy hair down to his shoulders, deep, soulful eyes that seem to look right into you and a laid back vibe that just screams, ‘I’m too cool to be here’. Yet, he’s the funniest and most insightful bloke you could ever meet. He doesn’t have a partner and from what I can tell, he likes to play on both sides of the fence. When I finally put two and two together regarding his sexual preferences, I blushed like a schoolgirl. Not because I’ve never met a bisexual person before, but because it elevated an extremely smokin’ guy into the volcanically hot department. What can I say? I find the idea of two sizzlingly delicious guys together a massive turn on and immediately have naughty thoughts about being a fly on
that
wall.

“Earth to Lilah,” Harry nudges me out of my smutty thoughts. “You want to share a dessert?”

I clear my dirty mind and turn to face the man I should be focussing on. When my eyes meet his beautiful grey ones, all thoughts of Isaac in a sausage fest disappear. This man, he’s more. More handsome, more thoughtful, more special, more…
extra-
ordinary and he’s mine.

“I can think of many things I’d share with you, Harry Brown, but dessert is not one of them.”

Cari, who is sat directly opposite me, laughs and tells Liam, “Lilah has that right. Don’t even think about offering to share pudding with me. I want the triple chocolate deluxe with extras.”

“Where on earth do you put it all?” a very pregnant Laura asks while rubbing her swollen belly.

“She’s got hollow legs,” Liam answers, earning him a smack across the chest from Cari.

Laura turns to Josh and with an entirely straight face says, “Baby really wants what Cari is having.”

Josh, evidentially a sucker and utterly besotted with his wife, answers, “Baby
and
Laura can have whatever they want and I’m not crazy enough to suggest sharing.” Their exchange draws chuckles from everyone around the table and I sit and bask in the amazing relationships these people share with each other and as a group. It’s while I’m busy people watching that I spot Isaac’s sudden change in mood. I follow his eyes to the restaurant entrance and watch as a man, who must be a model because he is just that bloody beautiful, is about to be seated at a booth across the room.

The two men share a clash of stares and Mr Model averts his gaze to graciously pull out a chair for his female companion.
Interesting.

From that point forward, Isaac might be sitting with us, but he isn’t
here
. His eyes stray across the room often. His stare flicking from harsh, to lustful and watching it play out is fascinating. There’s obviously a story there, one that I’m likely never to know.

“You gonna finish that or can I finally have a bite?” Harry asks bending his head towards my spoon which is hovering in mid-air due to my enthrallment with the scenes playing out all around me.

“Huh?” I watch as he closes his mouth over the dollop of cream cake and wickedly licks his lips after swallowing his ill-gotten gains.

“Hey, I was going to eat that!”

He smirks at me, “Yeah, right. You were too busy sticky beaking. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

“I..” I’m about to protest when he leans in and kisses me. It’s not a peck either, it’s a full blown snog, tongue and all, and he tastes like chocolate and cream.
Heaven.