Downunder Heat (3 page)

Eager to recapture that moment of weightless power, of being swept along by forces so huge yet under control, she did it over and over again, until, exhausted, she pulled herself from the water and lay panting on the sand, letting the sinking sun dry her before it dropped swiftly out of sight, bypassing twilight altogether.

At last she pulled herself to her feet and headed home, too tired to do more than grab a bowl of cereal to eat before she showered and dropped into bed.

* * * *

After her two days off in the middle of the week, going back to her somber workplace had filled her with gloom. At four forty-five, one of her co-workers, a woman of about her age, stunned Kitty by sidling over to her desk then leaning down to whisper, “Since you’re so new I wondered if anyone mentioned the Friday afternoon drinks to you?”

“No,” Kitty replied, her surprise at the first overture of welcome she’d seen making her sound tentative.

“The work atmosphere here is pretty formal,” the woman said. “There’s not much time for chat or getting to know people.”

“I thought it was just me,” Kitty said. “That no one wanted to talk to me.”

“I was afraid you might think we’re an unfriendly bunch,” the woman said, casting a quick glance from side to side, before she smiled. Her face lit up with it and Kitty found herself smiling in return. The woman winked. “The rules are strict and not much fun. Nothing we can do about it in here, but we do try to make up for it after work. We get together at the local pub. I’m Jenny, by the way.”

“I’m Kitty,” Kitty replied. “Does everyone go?”

“Those who have young families often don’t,” Jenny said. “But lots of us do. The hotel puts on a good meal and there’s usually a live band. Some of us kick on, make a night of it. Would you like to come? You don’t have to stay long if you don’t want to, but it would be a good chance to get to know a few people, especially if you’re new to Wollongong as well as to the job.”

“I’m not really dressed for a night out,” Kitty said, looking down at her boxy business suit.

“Doesn’t matter,” Jenny replied. “Take your jacket off, freshen up the makeup, and you’ll be fine. We all go straight from work and no one’s fussy.”

Compared to the prospect of going home alone and watching TV, a night out and the chance to get to know someone was too good to resist. Kitty grinned. “I’d love to come.”

“You can come with me,” Jenny offered. “I’ve got a car. It’s not far but it will save a walk.”

* * * *

The pub was crowded with groups of people laughing and calling out to each other. Four women already sat at a table big enough for ten. Jenny made her way over and introduced Kitty to Rachel and Gretchen, whom Kitty recognized as co-workers, and to Maria and Celeste who worked on the floor above hers. Their smiles were friendly. The tension that seemed to have permanently stiffened Kitty’s shoulders dropped away. Jenny offered to buy the first round of drinks.

“Where’s the engineering crew tonight?” Rachel asked.

“They’re going to be late,” Jenny replied. “There was a glitch on the furnace line and they’re working with the IT people to try to work out what it is. What’s everyone having to drink?”

The chorus of voices that followed this request made little sense to Kitty, but she added her request anyway. Jenny strode to the bar returning with a metal tray that seemed to have the right drinks for the right people.

Kitty’s cool rum and cola slid down like nectar at the end of a long week and she listened to the jokes and laughter. It felt good to be out with a group of people who wanted to have fun.

Her glass was barely empty when Rachel stood up. “My shout. Same again?”

Before she knew it another rum and cola had appeared in front of her. Drinking it slowly wasn’t an option when Australian custom dictated they all ‘keep up’.

“I’ll get the next round,” Celeste said.

The drinking proceeded faster than Kitty was used to, but the buzz building in the back of her head carried with it a powerful surge of relaxation and feel-good factor.

Just as Celeste gave her a third drink, the chair beside her was pulled out and a large, male body slid into it. “Well, well. My would-be mermaid. Fancy meeting you here.”

Kitty turned to the right and there beside her, his brown eyes as warm and sparkling as she remembered, sat her rescuer. Her hand shook, the drink splashed into her mouth, slid down the wrong way and she choked. A hard, firm hand pounded her on the back.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She nodded, unable to speak. At least the coughing fit gave her an excuse for the fire burning in her cheeks.

His hand rested on her back, the pounding giving way to a gentle pat as she gradually regained her breath. When she finally wiped her streaming eyes and stopped spluttering, he held his hand out. “I’m Zakk Mansfield,” he said. “Maybe one day we’ll meet under less life-threatening circumstances.”

Kitty looked at his long, lean fingers, then let her gaze trace a path up his arms, across his wide, white cotton-clad shoulders to his stubbled jaw. Breathing took all of her concentration, leaving her with nothing to do, nothing to say. At last habit kicked in and she extended her hand. “Kitty. My name. It’s Kitty.”

His fingers wrapped around hers and she quivered. He seemed to take that as an acceptable substitute for shaking, because he released her hand, smiled at her and asked, “What are you doing here with this lot? You aren’t going to tell me you work at the steelworks, too.”

“No. I mean, yes…”
Oh hell
. Even if she hadn’t been trying to talk with a mouth that had decided not to work, she still couldn’t have made a reasonable answer.

Her breath froze in her chest while she floundered her way out of her fugue. “I don’t know how to answer that,” she said. “Yes, I am going to tell you? Or yes, I do work there but I’m not going to tell you? Or no, I don’t work there but I’m not saying anything?”

By the time she’d finished, Zakk was laughing. His eyes danced and he held up his hands in front of him, palms out.

“Okay. I deserved that.” His grin got wider. “Are you employed at the steelworks? There, is that straightforward enough for you?”

His straight white teeth, the wide curve of his mouth and the grooves and lines that added character to his face pulled at something in Kitty’s chest, cutting off her air supply. It took a moment of concentrated effort to be able to reply. “Yes.”

Zakk laughed. “Does that yes mean
yes it is better
or
yes you work there
?”

“Smart Alec,” she muttered, swatting him lightly on the arm.

“Ooh, named Kitty for a reason, are we?” He winked at her. “Keep your claws sheathed, Kitty Cat. I promise to behave.” He leaned back in his seat, his gaze never leaving her. “So, if Saturday was your first day in Australia, and we know that didn’t go as badly as it could have, how was the rest of your week? Have you been back to the beach?”

Before she could answer, one of the men walked over and handed Zakk a glass of beer. Zakk nodded his thanks and raised his glass. “To the end of an interesting week.” A chorus of agreement followed and Zakk took a deep draft, emptying about a third of the glass in one go.

The first of the men’s rounds disappeared even quicker than the women’s had, and, before Kitty had time to count, everyone seemed to be on their fourth drinks. Zakk stretched and rolled his shoulders and, as more people arrived, he shuffled his seat closer to Kitty’s. His thigh brushed against hers and an electric sizzle radiated out from the spot, spreading heat along her nerve endings. The contact left her mouth dry, but more embarrassing parts of her grew wet. Her chair butted against the leg of the table. There was nowhere to go, no way to escape his disturbing, delicious warmth short of getting up and moving to another seat—and nothing short of a natural disaster was going to make her do that. The soft scent of tired male, cologne and beer surrounded her, and she felt better than she had in a long, long time. The evening grew golden and hazy, the last of the sun drifted through the windows, the shuffle of feet stirred up dust motes that drifted through the air like tiny diamonds.

Zakk turned his head and fixed her with his tawny gaze. “So, Kitty, what have you been up to?”

“Me? Oh nothing much… Just settling in.” Oh, God, she was babbling…and boring.
Great way to hold a conversation
. Far better to ask Zakk about himself. “I thought you were a lifesaver,” she said. “Why are you here?” As soon as the words had left her mouth, she wished she could call them back. They sounded more like an accusation than a conversation starter. “I mean, I thought this was drinks for people from the steelworks, and you—”

“I’m an engineer, Kitty. We work at the same place. I’m a
volunteer
lifeguard. Unlike the council-employed guys, I just pull patrols on weekends and public holidays. And compete in surf carnivals.”

“You mean a carnival, with Ferris wheels and hot dogs and stuff. In the surf? How does that work?” Kitty asked, knowing even as she said it she couldn’t be right.

Zakk laughed. “You really don’t know much about the beach, do you?” He leaned toward her. “A surf carnival is when a surf club competes against another surf club. There’s a whole pile of events. I do Iron Man.”

“Oh, okay,” said Kitty, although his explanation hadn’t made anything clearer. He looked like Hugh Jackman,
not
Robert Downey Junior or Ozzy Osborne. Well, he did have amazingly hard muscles, and he was bronzed, but she suspected there would be more to being an Iron Man than that. “Is it called Iron Man because you work in the steel industry?” she asked.

“Kitty, you are a delight.” Zakk laughed and picked up her hand. “You’ll have to come with me one day and see for yourself.”

His eyes twinkled, the pupils dark and wide, and Kitty reeled from the shock. He was flirting with her!

“Be back in a minute,” Zakk said. “Bathroom break.”

He moved away, taking all the heat and sparkle with him. In the cold white light of reality that remained, Kitty woke up. This was foolish beyond permission. Alcohol had blinded her to the truth. Someone as young and gorgeous as Zakk would never flirt with a woman like her. He’d probably gone to the toilet to get away.

Pushing to her feet, and directing her comments to the air above the center of the table, she said, “I have to go. Thanks for a lovely evening, everyone. See you at work.” She flung a handful of notes onto the table. “This is for my round.” Before anyone had a chance to say anything, she turned tail and fled out of the door and into the street.

In a stroke of pure good fortune, a taxi, its light glowing, slowed as it passed the pub. The taxi stopped when she signaled it, and she got in. As the cab pulled away from the curb a shout that could have been someone calling her name came from the direction of the pub, but she ignored it. There was no point in looking back.

At home, alone in her bed, she couldn’t stop the memories of sun-browned shoulders, the smooth glide of wet skin when Zakk leaned over her on the rescue board, the warm wash of his breath in her ear.

Her legs moved restlessly and she rolled over, cupping herself, pushing her fingers against her clit. Visions of Zakk’s arms thrusting through the surf played against the screen of her closed eyelids. Her hips lifted, and she rocked herself against her hand in time with the remembered flex of hard muscles.

This time when the wave washed over her, she gave herself to it willingly. In the aftermath of orgasm, she drifted into sleep.

* * * *

On Monday, the usual silence prevailed in the office. The routine was already becoming familiar and Kitty focused on her work. At one o’clock she looked up in surprise to see Rachel standing next to the desk. “Come on, Kitty. Lunchtime.”

“Oh. Okay. Let me grab my sandwich and I’ll be right out.”

“Nuh-uh. No sandwiches today.” Rachel winked at her. “Friday drinks at the pub. Monday lunch at the coffee shop. Since we’re not allowed to chat in the office, those are our socializing hours.”

Kitty felt her face heat. “Will the engineering…? Does everyone come to the café?”

“No, this is just for our department. Just you, me, Jenny and Gretchen.”

“Oh, good,” she breathed. Facing Zakk after the fantasies that had played out in her head each night and the quaking orgasms they’d given her would result in her sudden death from an overload of embarrassment.

“Why is that good? Is there something I should know?” A frown drew her brows together. “You seemed to be enjoying yourself, then you left really quickly. Did someone do something to offend you?”

“Oh, no, no. Nothing like that.” Oh, God, she didn’t want anyone speculating about…about…anything, really.

Rachel nodded. “I would have been surprised. Because they’re a nice bunch. Even the engineers are pretty civilized.” A grin drove the lines of worry from her face. “For engineers, anyway. You were sitting next to Zakk. He’s the nicest of them all. I couldn’t imagine him doing anything to upset you.”

Kitty could. In fact, Zakk, and thinking about Zakk, had done nothing
but
upset her, but that wasn’t
his
fault, and it wasn’t what Rachel meant anyway. So she said, with as much conviction as she could muster, “No. Of course he didn’t do anything.”

“He is lovely, though, isn’t he?” Rachel sighed. “All the girls in the office have the hots for him. That body. And that smile. And he’s such a lovely guy.” Rachel pushed open the door and waved Kitty through. “Doesn’t do any of us any good, though. Even though he’s always friendly, Zakk never dates anyone from work.”

Zakk didn’t date
anyone from work
. He hadn’t been flirting with her. He was a nice man, being kind to her, and she’d put entirely the wrong, the worst, the most ridiculous interpretation on his behavior. Then she’d used him as her fantasy lover to get herself off, like some sleazy, sexual creep. And if she’d had one more drink that night, who knows what she might have done? Grabbing Zakk’s fine arse and hauling him in for a kiss might not constitute sexual assault, but it would be getting close. Especially since it would have been against his will.