Читать книгу First Time Lucky? - Natalie Anderson - Страница 8

DR GABE Hollingsworth glowered at the bumper sticker on the car in front; the streamlined silver silhouettes reminded him that tomorrow was recruitment day. Half his team would be there to check out the possible additions to the posse of alluring females. But while the players saw the dancers as fresh game, Gabe reckoned the women were the hunters, not the hunted, with their sparkling eyes, suggestive poses and PhDs in serious flirting. They might officially ‘support’ the country’s greatest rugby club, but they’d high-kicked more than one man’s life right into touch. Including his. So he’d be light years away from the stadium at audition hour tomorrow.

He took the next left, while the silver-stickered car went straight on out of sight. Relieved, Gabe automatically glanced at the property on the edge of the park. He’d been curious so long it had become a habit. So he saw it immediately—the rough bit of board with ‘To Let’ and a mobile number scrawled on it that hadn’t been there this morning. Gabe pulled over and put a hand to his pocket, let it drop again without retrieving his phone. He was right outside—there’d be no harm in walking to the front door and making enquiries in person, would there?

Assuming he could find the front door.

A decrepit garage stood on the edge of the footpath while the rest of the front boundary was marked by ferocious planting. He walked the length of the two-metre-high prickly ‘hedge’ of trees so intertwined you couldn’t see through their thick evergreen foliage, then he peered behind the sign precariously tacked in front of the rusted letterbox. He saw hidden there what could be a narrow goat track between the branches—make that a single-file ant track. He winced as gnarled twigs scratched his bare arms. Pushing through, he figured it was an abandoned wreck of a house, probably in the midst of some development argument with greenies on one side wanting it to be absorbed into the park, while property tycoons fought on the other for consent to demolish it and put some apartment or office block in its prime central-city location. But the spiky green fortification intrigued him and the idea of having a central-city hideaway appealed given the fatal attraction nightmare his last fling had become. No chance of some unhinged ex-lover carrying out a home invasion here—a high-maintenance type like Diana would never risk her skin and nails to get through. Hell, he could barely get through. But he ignored the scratches and catches at his clothing and hair; the resistance made him all the more determined to see what was beyond. He snapped branches and stomped over the rough ground and suddenly was out in open space, blinking in the brightness of the summer evening.

He straightened, forgetting the zillion stinging scrapes on his skin as he stared. It wasn’t an abandoned wreck at all.

Roxie only had the downstairs bathroom to do and the place was clean, empty and ready for occupation. She picked up the spray bottle of foul-smelling chemical disinfectant and straightened her sore shoulders. She was determined to get it finished tonight because the optimist in her hoped people might call about renting the house tomorrow. Flicking on the hot tap, she stepped right into the shower cubicle. Getting wet didn’t matter because as soon as she was done she’d head to her studio, have a real shower and flop into bed. She hunched down to get into the corners, pointing the jet of water ahead, and furiously wiped the walls. She’d spent most of the day cleaning, had practised her routines as rest breaks to stop herself dwelling on how different the place looked without furniture. It would never be the same now, but would always be home—her heart. This place was all she had left.

She snorted at herself and went overboard with the spray to stave off the OTT melancholic thoughts. The shower was hardly dirty—hadn’t been used in months—but she wanted it immaculate, for prospective tenants to see the perfect condition so they’d feel obligated to maintain it just so. Because, much as she didn’t want them, she needed tenants. Money of course, so she could finally get on with the rest of her life.

Her eyes burned as she scrubbed. Not from tears—they’d long since dried up. No, it was the pungent fumes of the industrial-strength cleaner setting fire to her senses and not in a good way. She held her breath as she swiped with the sponge but still the acidity swept over her. She shook her head to stop the fuzzy hum, grabbed the shower jet to sluice the suds away more quickly. But the fumes grew overwhelmingly strong. Now, between the suds and the steam and the stench, she could hardly see. She couldn’t hear properly either, because over the sound of the running water she thought she could hear someone calling out. But there wasn’t anyone here to call for her any more.

Still holding her breath, she stumbled out of the shower, not bothering to turn off the taps, desperate to get to a window because she felt horribly faint.

‘Are you okay?’

Roxie jumped, inhaled a last deep breath of chemical vapour and then screamed blue murder. For a method of stopping a faint, there was nothing better. Adrenalin flooded her system in a mad torrent, sharpening her mind and her muscles. Sadly not her vision. She kicked herself for leaving the bottle of cleaner in the shower. She could have used it like pepper spray or something. Instead she was the one temporarily blind. All she knew was some man she could hardly see was in the room with her.

‘Hey!’ he shouted over the top of her screeches. ‘Calm down. I’m not here to hurt you.’

She went silent; the sound of streaming water ceased too. She tried to look but it hurt and she had to squeeze her eyes tight. ‘Who are you?’ she rasped, her throat raw from her ripped shrieking.

‘You’ve got this stuff in your eyes?’

Roxanna’s panicked senses were slightly pacified by the calm question delivered in such a cool, authoritative voice. ‘I think the spray mixed with the steam or something,’ she wheezed. Not that it was the more pressing point right now.

‘It’s a wonder you didn’t pass out. Here.’ He took her upper arm in a firm grip and walked her two paces. ‘Sit.’ He pushed her down so she was perched on the edge of the bath.

She blinked rapidly, desperate to regain her wits. She heard the tap running in the sink, felt the breeze as the window was opened. But no matter how much she blinked, the stabbing sensation in her eyes didn’t ease. All she could see through the fuzzy agony was a tall figure, too close. ‘Who are you?’

‘Gabe Hollingsworth. I saw the sign and walked right in,’ he answered in that same calm voice, but now he sounded as if he was smiling. ‘Sorry if I gave you a fright.’

No one ‘walked right in’. The hedge saw to that. Most people thought this place was an extension of the park, the gardener’s disused cottage or something. She came in through the garage but that was securely locked. So she wasn’t sure she believed him. Had he climbed the fence to steal something—or worse? But if he was a serial killer or sex offender, would he really be helping her now?

‘Your eyes are really sore.’ He truly seemed concerned. And, yes, amused.

‘No kidding.’ She couldn’t keep them open they stung so bad. She gripped the edge of the bath with cold fingers and told the rest of herself to chill too. This Gabe guy didn’t sound like a serial killer. Not that she knew what a serial killer was supposed to sound like, but she hoped that hint of humour was a good sign.

‘We need to wash them out.’

We didn’t need to do anything. ‘I’m fine. It’ll be right in a minute.’

‘No, we need to bathe them. Don’t worry, I’m a doctor.’

She half snorted. He might not be a serial killer, but she so doubted his ophthalmology qualifications.

‘No, really, I am.’ He read her sceptical mind. ‘Put this over your eyes for a second.’

He pushed a wet and cold folded flannel to her face and she raised her hand to hold it in place—had to admit it soothed. The taps ran again.

‘Lift up.’ As if he didn’t think she was capable of following instructions, a firm, warm hand cupped her cheek. He took the flannel away and then tilted her face from one side and then to the other as he carefully poured cool, clean water across each eye.

‘Try to keep them open,’ he murmured. ‘It’ll help.’

His voice was right by her ear, meaning his face was right by hers. Roxanna’s heart thudded. She hadn’t been this close to another person in the best part of a year and last time she’d been the one doing the doctoring. This was beyond different. This was—

‘Better?’ he asked, another too-close murmur.

Goosebumps rippled across her skin as she suppressed a shiver, not that she was at all cold. In fact, she was all of a sudden burning. And all of a sudden she remembered she was only wearing a pair of ancient Lycra shorts and an almost supportive singlet. No bra. While water was trickling down her face and onto her chest. ‘I’m getting wet.’ She pulled back, wanting to cover up.

‘No worse than you already are,’ he said, a brisker tone this time.

‘I can manage now, really.’ She tilted her chin free of his grip. ‘Thanks.’

The sting in her eyes truly had eased and she opened them widely to look at the man bent down before her. She blinked more rapidly than she had when they’d been chemical filled. Was she hallucinating her way through this? But no, she’d felt his touch, had heard his words and now, as her vision cleared, she saw him rise to full height.

The effect was something else. Bronzed, broad-shouldered, unbelievable. At least six feet with dark hair and even darker eyes that were gazing right at hers in an uncomfortably intense way. Peripherally she noted the blue jeans, red tee, skate shoes. The cool clothes merely served to emphasise the fit body, the tan, the muscles, the obvious strength that made her glad she was sitting because her knees had weakened from some pathetically female hormone-driven response. And given he had some foliage as decoration, it seemed he really had come through the hedge. But his eyes held her attention hostage—jet-black, bottomless, unwavering eyes.

‘Thanks,’ she croaked, to break the suddenly dense silence. She swallowed. ‘How can I help you anyway?’

He put the glass he’d used beside the sink, then took a few paces backwards, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. ‘I saw the “to let” notice.’

‘It only went up this afternoon.’ She stood, trying to get some kind of equality in the situation. Fat chance when he was tall and she wasn’t. When he was dressed and she all but wasn’t. When he was devastatingly good-looking and she definitely wasn’t.

‘I know.’

‘You want to rent this place?’ He didn’t look like a prospective tenant. He looked like the kind of guy who owned things. Lots of things. Working in retail, even her little-old-ladies-giftstore kind of retail, meant she knew fashionable, what cost lots and what didn’t. She knew the watch on his wrist cost lots, so did the shoes, while the tee shirt was one of those priced ten-times too high just because of the label. He was definitely someone who held the cards in his hands.

‘I want to buy it,’ he said bluntly.

Yeah, definitely the owning kind.

‘It’s not for sale,’ she answered equally bluntly.

He held her gaze for a moment, then dropped to look at the puddle on the floor between them. ‘Where’s the owner?’

Roxie’s spirit hardened. ‘You’re looking at her.’

His unfairly long lashes swept up and the deep, dark eyes studied her again—surprise had widened them.

‘You don’t believe me?’ she asked.

‘Well, you don’t look …’ He shook his head. ‘Never mind.’

She knew what he’d almost said. He thought she looked too young to own a house? How old did he think she was? Clearly not much older than a schoolgirl. Did he think she was the teen cleaner? Great. But she was no kid, she was twenty-two and she’d cared for this house almost single-handedly for the last five years. Not that she was going to get all indignant and ram that down his throat, no matter how much his assumption annoyed her. And, yeah, underneath that, she smarted because this one-thousand-per-cent man-in-prime didn’t see her as a capable adult, or a woman.

The unfairness of the situation riled her. This was her house, but he was standing in her bathroom with the upper hand, having rescued her from a mortifying moment. But she hadn’t needed rescuing; she’d have been fine. She was always fine. And wasn’t it just so typical that the one time in her life she met a spectacularly good-looking man, she had to be looking like a scruffy kid?

If only she had shoes on to give her the slightest chance of looking him straight in the eye—statement shoes, like six-inch stilettos. Instead she had to crane her neck to meet that focused, but depressingly impassive, gaze. She opted not to, instead walked as coolly as she could into the lounge. Not that easy when her heart was hammering faster than when he’d frightened the screams out of her minutes before—he really was something else.

‘The house will never be for sale,’ she said, aiming for polite but firm. ‘I’m sorry you’ve fought your way through for nothing.’

‘Not for nothing.’ He followed her. ‘I’ve always been curious about this place. If you don’t mind, I’d love to take a look around it.’

She couldn’t really say no when he’d just helped her out, albeit in dispassionate passing-medic style. So she nodded and spread her hands wide. ‘It’s known as the Treehouse. The reason is obvious.’

He walked into the middle of the large room, his gaze raking it with a wide sweep. ‘It certainly is,’ he said softly.

His obvious appreciation of it helped her forgive him—just a little—for not seeing her as an equal.

‘Why are you renting it out?’ he asked as he walked closer to inspect some of the detail carved into the picture rail.

‘I need the money,’ she answered honestly.

‘You’d get a swag of money if you sold it.’

‘I’m never selling it. I’m not worried about securing a tenant,’ she lied.

Those dark eyes studied her again briefly, then his attention shifted to the room’s features again. ‘It’s unique.’

Yeah. It wasn’t a modern, floor-to-ceiling windows kind of place. And it wasn’t big. Instead it really was a Treehouse—in one corner, an ancient, solid oak grew through the floor—both a support structure and design feature. Light poured in from the cleverly placed skylights, the windows were like frames for the beautiful living landscape of the park. The house itself was all hand-carved, polished wood. Built with the love, sweat and blood of her grandparents and, just as they’d put everything they had into the house, they’d put that same level of time, love and energy into her. Until illness had turned the tables and she’d become the carer for both them and the house. She was never letting it go, but she had to have some adventures now or she’d end up staying for ever and never moving forward. It was time to fly free—but she’d keep the nest to come back to.

‘Most people love it,’ she answered him. The few people who’d seen it in recent years had. ‘My grandfather always said there was nothing like natural beauty.’

The dark gaze rested on her again for another moment. ‘He was right.’

Roxie stared back. A frisson of something spiked her goosebumps all the more—he was talking the house, right? He’d turned away from her so she could no longer see his eyes—and they were unreadable anyway.

‘How long do you want a tenant for?’

‘Six-month lease initially, ideally a year,’ she spelt out her fantasy. In truth, she’d take what she could get.

He walked to the far corner, where that beautiful gnarled tree literally grew through the floor. But Roxie’s attention was totally swallowed by him. His back view was almost as good as the front—the masculine vee of broad shoulders and slim hips reinforced that impression of strength again. She swallowed as heat flushed through her. It was definitely time to move out and explore some of the world—some men of the world. She’d clearly been waiting too long when she was this affected by the first she’d come across in ages. He put a palm on the trunk, his fingers smoothing over the bark. She remembered the feel of that palm on the side of her face. Her face now burned.

He turned suddenly. ‘I’ll sign up for a year.’

Her eyes bugged and she momentarily forgot his hot factor. ‘You don’t even know what the weekly rent is.’

‘Doesn’t matter. And I want first right of refusal if you do ever decide to sell it.’

He hadn’t even seen the rest of the house, only the living area, but sometimes the house had an almost magical effect on people. For her it was a tranquil sanctuary—though not with him in it, he’d brought in an electrical charge that put her on edge. But she needed a tenant and if he was serious about a year’s lease, then she had to get over that edge.

‘There are a couple of things you don’t know.’ She felt it only fair to warn him, even though her heart was pumping even more crazily now with the prospect he was going to solve her financial problems.

‘Conditions?’

She nodded. ‘You won’t have access to the garage or the little flat above the garage.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Someone’s in the flat?’

She nodded.

His expression hardened.

‘While I’m in town, I’ll be living there,’ she rushed to explain. It wasn’t some random person he’d not met and she’d stay well away from him. Only her explanation didn’t make him relax; if anything he tensed all the more.

‘You’re not usually in town?’ he asked sharply.

‘I’m going overseas.’

‘When?’

‘Soon.’ As soon as she had the money, but she decided not to mention that getting all the money together was going to take a few months. ‘I have some things to do before I go,’ she fudged.

He nodded. Eventually. ‘Okay.’

Sudden panic slammed into Roxie. It was going to be hard seeing a stranger live here, but it wasn’t for ever and it would still be hers—this was the only way of ensuring it would remain hers. She breathed deep and pushed herself on. ‘The garden will be maintained by the estate.’ That was a plus, right? But she saw his smile of disbelief. ‘You haven’t seen the garden,’ she pointed out defensively.

His hands spread and he looked down. ‘I’m wearing half that hedge.’

She frowned at the number of leaves in his hair. ‘I hope you didn’t damage it.’

‘Are you seriously telling me the hedge has a gardener?’

Yeah, he was teasing. And she so wasn’t noticing how that smile shot him from hot to sizzling.

‘Totally seriously,’ she said. ‘It needs a lot of care to maintain it.’

‘It needs a chainsaw.’

‘The hedge stays. As is. That’s one non-negotiable condition.’

He walked back towards her, his smile curving his too sensual lips wider and in grave danger of distracting her. ‘How am I supposed to get access to the house if I can’t come through the hedge or the garage?’

‘There’s a hidden gate on the park side.’

‘A hidden gate?’ He chuckled then, an infectious, warm sound.

The surprise of it, the sexiness of it, almost rendered her speechless. She had to clamp her jaw to stop it from dropping, to stop herself drooling on the floor. She pivoted on the spot so she could no longer see him, so she could think. ‘So much of what makes this house is its privacy. Isn’t that what you like about it?’

There was a short silence. ‘How astute of you.’ No amusement sounded now. ‘All right, those conditions are no problem for me. I still want to rent it for the year.’

Roxie felt more dizzy than when she’d been in the shower accidentally inhaling industrial cleaner. ‘I’m going to need references.’

‘Sure. How about I give you a cash deposit now to secure it, and we can let our lawyers draw up a lease agreement tomorrow? You have a lawyer, right?’

‘Of course. That’s her number on the sign out there. I’ll get her to put those conditions in writing.’

Gabe nodded and turned to walk back to the tree again, trying to keep his eyes up and away. Because Little Miss Landlady’s white vest-top had not retained opacity in the shower-cleaning session. She might as well be topless. But she didn’t know that and he didn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want to think about it a second longer than he already had. No, he didn’t want to dwell on how completely gorgeous she was. Instead he lectured himself that she looked about seventeen. As if she’d just walked home from school. And he did not, not, not have raging lust for someone barely legal. She was a kid.

Except she wasn’t. She had the most delicately feminine body he’d ever seen. He’d noticed it at first glance in the bathroom—her long legs, fine-boned shoulders, slender waist, sweetheart-shaped face, smooth, glowing skin, sensually full lips. And then her eyes had opened and stabbed him in the gut. The most vividly blue eyes. He deluded himself that they looked unnaturally vibrant because of that cleaner. That the chemical had some belladonna-poison effect that magnified the intensity of their colour or something. As if. They were just knockout powerful. And now her red-rimmed, stunning eyes were round.

Yeah, he’d have to be blind not to see how she looked at him. It was a look he was used to and it didn’t usually affect him. Only he was working hard not to give her that same look back. That surprised, almost dazed look that had its roots in sensual appreciation and unexpected desire.

Maybe he’d inhaled some poisonous fumes too because he couldn’t be thinking this way. Her shorts were old and worn and not any season’s style. Her mouse-brown hair was in a bedraggled ponytail that emphasised that schoolgirl impression. And that damn thin white vest-top had gone transparent. He was trying very hard not to think about the pointed peaks jutting towards him. Because he wasn’t so out of control as to be turned on by almost visible nipples, by imagining cupping those mounds in his hands and bending before her to kiss the pointed tips, to press his face to the softly curved surrounds.

Okay, he was that out of control and his unruly imagination was making it worse. It’d been too, too long since he’d got laid. Too long he’d been stuck on the straight and narrow and boring. His heart hammered at an insane pace, ringing in his ears. The last thing he’d expected to find beyond that horrendous hedge was an architecturally amazing home complete with some Snow White or Sleeping Beauty or Rapunzel type impossibly pretty Disney princess inside. He couldn’t help wondering where the dwarves, beasts or wicked witches were …

Oh, he had to snap out of it. It was just frustration addling his reason. Going for a woman like this—one the same age if not younger than Diana—would be insane. She’d undoubtedly want more than he ever would. She’d be emotionally immature, a dreamer with that happy-ever-after fantasy that he was never buying into. It was when he’d been forced to reiterate that to Diana that her inner witch had appeared … intense, needy, a knife-edge to certifiable. Just the thought of that mess was enough to cool him off.

Almost.

Thank heavens this woebegone waif was heading overseas. It was only knowing she was leaving that he could take the place. No doubt she’d return from her trip all grown up and sophisticated and if serendipity saw their paths cross again, he’d dally with her then. Uh-huh, like in five years’ time. For now he’d get himself this hideaway and then hide, right away. In a couple of weeks the team had that game in Sydney and he was so hitting the club scene and having a couple of nights all-adult action. Having fought so long to gain independence from family expectation, he was letting no woman hamper his freedom. So he definitely wasn’t hot for Miss Skinny.

He turned back to face her and named a weekly rental price he figured should be almost on the money for the location.

‘Actually I’d been thinking a little more than that. My lawyer will send you the details to set up an automatic payment.’

So Sleeping Beauty wasn’t that sleepy. Good for her for knowing the high value of her property—and that he could afford it. Biting back all the flirt talk tingling on the tip of his tongue, he got his wallet and pulled out enough cash to cover the first two months. She took it from him with a steady hand and those wide, wide eyes.

‘Don’t you think you’d better tell me your name?’ he asked drily, trying to hide how he was dying of desire inside.

‘Roxanna Jones,’ she answered, head high and unblushing.

‘Good doing business with you, Roxanna.’ So not thinking about the pleasure of it—of her—at all.

‘When did you want to move in?’ Roxanna gripped the wad of notes tightly to stop herself from touching him and easing her insanely curious fingertips. Since when had her fingertips itched like this?

‘Tomorrow.’

She gaped. ‘You’re currently homeless?’

‘No, but you were right, I like the privacy of this place.’

‘I know.’ She smiled, suddenly filled with excitement about her future.

He jerked a nod, turning abruptly away. ‘Right, I’d better let you get on and finish.’

‘You don’t want to see the rest of the house?’

‘I’ll check it out tomorrow.’

‘Okay, once the lawyer thing is done, I’ll arrange access for you through the garage so you can get all your stuff in.’

‘I’d appreciate that,’ he said in a voice loaded with irony.

She tried to slow her out-of-control heartbeat with some sensible thought. The guy was now her tenant meaning she’d better put all her sizzle response in an ice-bucket. Not going to screw up this deal. Soon she’d be free to go overseas and discover all the way hotter guys out there … except she doubted there’d be a hotter male on the whole planet.

‘Do you want to go through the gate or back through the hedge?’ He hadn’t seen the back of the house or the garden, and she wanted to witness his surprise.

‘I’ll go through the hedge, try to push some of those branches back into place for you.’

‘You’re sure?’ She was disappointed; she’d been looking forward to a smug moment. It was likely to be her one and only with him.

‘The hedge is your security system, right?’

Okay, so he was astute as well as gorgeous. ‘I guess.’ She shrugged as if it didn’t matter so much.

‘Then I’ll cover up the stomping great path I just smashed through it. Wouldn’t want anyone else creeping up on you in there and giving you a fright.’

‘Good thing I didn’t strip off to do the shower, otherwise it might have been you who got the fright.’ She giggled, a high embarrassed sound that was embarrassing in itself.

To her surprise, his brief smile seemed as embarrassed and he moved quickly away from her and headed back into the prickly hedge.

Yeah, real clanger. Mortification cooled her right down as she was rudely reminded that Man of the Millennium didn’t see her as a woman at all. Shaking her head at her gaucheness, she went back to the bathroom to rinse away the last of the cleaner. She glanced in the mirror and O-M-freaking-G. While her red-rimmed and bloodshot eyes were bad enough, her transparent-when-wet vest-top meant all-out wince city. Somehow the effect seemed more revealing than straight nudity, yet Gabe-the-gorgeous hadn’t even blinked. Instead he’d been very particular to look at her face. She figured it had been born from courtesy or something. Or more like utter disinterest given her lack of spectacular in the boobs department. Yeah, that was it. Great. The first mindblowingly handsome man to cross her path and she hadn’t even been able to tempt him into a second look at her near-naked torso. She wondered what she needed to make someone like him do a double take.

She pulled her hair out of its dreary pony-tail and sighed at the straggly mess. No wonder he hadn’t blinked. She tousled it with her fingers, imagining a new cut and colour. Then she looked at her chest and mentally fastened a cleavage-creating booster bra. Yeah, it was beyond time to glam up. No doubt the sensible thing would be to put that wad of cash in the bank tomorrow but she’d been without for so long and, damn it, now she had the certainty of a monthly rental income she could splurge, right? Just for once? She’d save all she needed in no time and this way she’d look great for her audition. She’d buy some other things to celebrate with too.

Re-energised, she put her music on and rehearsed one last time—danced hard out until she could dance no more. She slithered to the floor, resting her back against the old tree, and almost immediately thought of him. She heard the amused, low voice in her ear, felt the firmness of his touch. Then she remembered his impassive expression and determination seized her anew. No more would she be that invisible.

Her work at the Treehouse was finally done; now she deserved some fun. It wasn’t just for the audition that she was going to look fabulous—the next time they met, she was so getting a second glance from her hot, built tenant.

Hell, make that a third.