Maggie's Five ...the first in a LOVE story (25 page)

“
Yeah?” I mimic his twang, being cheeky. He bites the arch of
my foot for my effort, which shoots an electric charge to all my
vital organs and has me thinking of ways to get him in more
favourable
positions.

“
Yeah,” Luke twangs like a natural. Living in the States has
given him the ability to turn his American accent ‘on’ and ‘off’
like flicking a switch.

“
Paddle, babe,” Luke calls, back to being an Aussie, pushing
me with the rise of the wave. “That’s great baby,” he yells louder.
“Now hop up onto your knees… straighten up or you’re-” I catch Luke
diving under an approaching wave in my peripheral vision as I
squeal into my wipe-out.

Swimming up next
to me, he shakes the water from his face, causing his hair to stick
out perfectly surfer cool. “That was great babe.” His grins widens
with my questioning expression. Yeah, he’s lying. We both know I am
beyond bad at this. “You just need a little more practice is all,”
he says, back to being an American. And I gotta say, it sounds hot.
“You want another go at it, Maggie Mae?” he asks, thickening that
accent and quirking his brows as he moves the board for me to hop
back on.

Oh boy, with
that accent and the water dripping off of him, the sparkle in his
eyes, yeah I do - just not surfing. “It’s been over an hour, Luke,”
I whine, hoping to get him on the shore for a snog – snack. I mean
snack.

“
And
you’re doing great.”

“
And
you are such a bad liar, but thank you. How about you stay out here
and play with all the other people that can actually do this,” I
say, spitting out water after a wave crashes behind me, “and I go
sit and admire?”

“
How
about you get your arse – which looks fantastic in that wetty by
the way - and go again?”

“
Hmm,
what’s in it for me?”

Ducking under a
wave, Luke responds the second we break the surface.

“
Me.”
Yeah, that’ll work.

We spend the
rest of the day in and out of the water, stopping for much required
snog - snack breaks. Luke spends some time in by himself, showing
off with a few other people who managed to make it look far too
easy for my liking. Unfortunately, just when I thought I was off
the hook, he dragged me back in until I managed to stand and ride a
wave. I’m sure it wasn’t very pretty, but I stood up… which was a
freaking
blast
by the way.

The day ended up
being spectacular.

Luke Andrews is
spectacular.

Chapter 15

“
Hey, you’re still going in
here?”

“
Just
finishing up now,” I reply, dropping the paint brush on the lid,
looking up. “Oh. My God.” My eyes widen at the sight of Luke in his
dark coal suit. All slimline cut, perfectly tailored and so
freaking sexy I want to tear the thing off of him and lick him
senseless. Hmm, maybe something I can savour over for
later.

Okay, so there’s
no maybe about it. The poor guy’s not going to know what hit him
when he gets home tonight.

“
What?” His arms leave his sides, looking himself over. “Did I
dribble tooth paste on my jacket again?”

“
You’re really not fair you know?” I tell him. Luke’s face
creases in confusion. “You are so…”

I inhale deeply,
searching for the right word and nearly get knocked on my butt from
the smell of his cologne. Ugh. So good, so not fair. “I’m going
with beautiful, but I don’t mean it to sound emasculating. You…
You’re beautiful Luke. Just remember that you live here with me
when all those women swoon okay?” I swallow. Drooling is an
absolute possibility. Any second now. And it would mean Luke would
end up naked and all sexed up and have to re-shower and re-dress,
then be late for his meeting. Or not make it at all.

He smiles
gently, walking further into our bedroom to cup my face. I love it
when he cups my face like this. It’s soft and loving; he looks
directly into my eyes and sees all of me. He’s showing me that he’s
here, really here and all for me.

He presses a
perfectly soft kiss on my lips, brushing them lightly with his, and
exhales a warm breath. “Have you seen yourself, Maggie?” he asks
with so much love in his eyes that I just want to dive right in
there and love him right back. “Even with half a tin of paint
splashed over you, you’re gorgeous, and more than I could have ever
hoped for.” He leans into me to resume his careful exploration of
my mouth, probing my tongue with the tip of his, tasting and
savouring me before deepening the kiss.

Good
Lord
, if he keeps this up, there’s no way he is ever going
to make it to his dinner.

Luke’s in the
process of opening a branch of his company, Andrews Link, here so
he won’t have to travel so much anymore. Not that he’s been
traveling; those days have come to an end. He’s already told me
he’s pushed his luck about as far as he can and the wolves are
scratching at the doors, so to speak, and some changes need to be
made. Hence the business dinner.

When Luke’s hand
snakes around my waist and works its way to my butt, I know it’s
time for him to go… or get naked.

We need a
distraction, a mood changer. Or to get undressed.

“
I
think it’s time for you to go take your ugly self out of here.”
What I really want to say is,
‘I want to get on my knees and
take you in my mouth’,
but that will only lead to the getting
naked thing. And we’ll get all sweaty and dirty, then we’d need to
shower, that would lead to soap and massage- ahhh. Not
good.

“
Funny. Don’t care what you say, babe. You’re fucking gorgeous
and I’m glad that you’re mine,” he replies seriously, moving closer
to hug me.

“
No,
don’t,” I yell louder than I mean to; stopping him with an
outstretched hand hovering centimetres away from his chest. “You’ll
get paint on your suit.”

“
Then
kiss me so I can taste you while I’m gone.” Aww, he’s such a
smoocher, and so, so sweet.

I start fake
gagging.

“
Oh,
real nice Maggie. That’s it.”

Luke lunges at
me, whips my shirt over my head and lifts me off the ground in a
strong hold. “Kiss me, woman.”

I start to
squirm, turning my face from side to side, laughing through tightly
locked lips. “You’re asking for it Maggie Mae, if you don’t hit me
with one-”

I hit
him.

Big.

Huge.

It’s
wonderful.

I like kissing.
I like kissing a lot. I like kissing Luke a whole lot more than a
lot. I love the way his soft lips press against mine and the way
his scratchy stubble prickles, the way he brushes his tongue along
mine.

“
You
better get going, or-” I love the way he makes my heart race, I
love how my chest brushes against his, how my nipples
harden…

“
Or?”
He’s brushing that tongue of his up my neck. God, I’m
melting.

“
Something, I was thinking, something.” Ugh, he’s biting at my
earlobe, how am I even standing at this point?

“
Something?”

Maybe I don’t
need to stand? Maybe I can glide down his body like this… and open
his pants like-

“
Whoa. Babe,” Luke chuckles dryly, grabbing my shoulders and
lifting me back up. “You go there and I go nowhere else but in you.
Not that I don’t want in, but I… shit you taste good,” he growls,
leaning over me to devour my mouth again.

I’m being
unfair, but it’s hard – pun intended - because he is. Like a silk
covered rock deliciously pressing into my abdomen.

Still, with all
of that, he really does have to go. Placing my palms on his chest -
okay they may have landed over his nipples - I press gently and
move back slightly. “Sorry, that wasn’t very nice.” I frown, rising
onto my toes to bite his chin.

“
If
you think offering to go down on me isn’t being nice, then you can…
not… be nice anytime you want, babe,” Luke laughs. “But I do have
to go. Won’t be late home, kay?” he mumbles through a kiss to the
side of my lips.

“
You
be as late as you want Luke. Go have fun baby, you deserve it.” My
eyes roam over his face while my hands trail over his broad
shoulders, smoothing out his jacket.

You
sure are pretty, Luke Andrews.

“
Love
you Maggie Mae.” Luke’s lips feather over mine as he speaks, his
breath filling my lungs. I’d hold him in forever if I
could.

He lifts me,
folding my legs around his waist, and carries me to the laundry
door that opens into the garage. Pressing the button on the wall to
activate the retracting door, he kisses my neck and carefully
lowers me to my feet.

“
Won’t be too late,” he promises again, smirking as he gets
comfortable behind the wheel of my car.
‘Not a white car kind of
car guy’
indeed. Lifting a hand in a wave, he drives off
smiling.

“
I’m
in love with you too, Luke Andrews,” I whisper, even though he
can’t hear me. I press the button to close the automatic door and
head back inside. I’m such a coward. I haven’t found the courage to
tell him to his face, but I will.

Loving Luke is
different to loving Brendan. It’s still good. No, it’s better, it’s
great…
we’re
great -
fantastic
, just
different.

I like
different.

I’M STANDING AT
the doorway of our bedroom – mine and Luke’s - squeezing my hair
with a towel after my shower, while giving my handy work the
once-over. Crisp white ceiling and trims, and a sort of tan/latte
for the walls, a darker coffee colour for the curtains. The new
queen bed should be delivered on Monday and hopefully put together
and ready to go by Monday night.

I hang the damp
towel on the door handle and slip into my underwear and black
leggings. From inside the walk-in wardrobe, I shake a cosy green
knitted dress that Luke likes me in off the hanger and slide it
over my head. I’m tugging at the waist line to straighten it out
when I hear the doorbell ring. Huh.

Combing my
fingers through my hair, I stick my head into the spare room to
check the time and see that it’s well after eleven. I step into my
ugg boots and head to the door, cinch the chain into place before
slowly opening it a crack.

“
Hey
sweetheart.”

What
the hell?

He’s so thin and
pasty I can’t believe it’s the same man. “Red?”

He chuckles,
resting a bent arm to the brickwork by the door. “You still my
friend sweetheart?”

Shocked, I nod.
“Of course.”

It’s still him,
still Red. My Red. He just looks so different. Thinner, like his
life force has been drained out of him.

Is this what I
did to him?

“
That’s good to hear. Been a while, thought you might have
forgotten me by now,” he sniffs, offering me a closed mouth smirk
that shows off his dimple, which in turn makes my heart sag. What
did I do to him?

“
You’re a hard man to forget, Red,” I reply sadly.

That entire
phase of my life is going to be hard to forget and forgive myself
for, even though it’s what I asked for. Red gave me everything I
was looking far.
Everything I was looking for
. And I dropped
him cold.

I’m such a bed
person.

I take my bottom
lip between my teeth and take my time to gaze over him. He looks
gaunt, ill. And it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have left like I did. I
should have taken his calls, made sure he was okay, made sure he
had money, food. I should have done something. I should have done
more.

“
Can
I come in, sweetheart?” he asks, holding up his hands in surrender.
“I won’t do nothin’, really. Just want to come in and say hello is
all. No strings sweetheart,” Red promises, taking a step backwards
to stand directly under the porch light.

His clothes are
hanging off him - at a guess I’d have to say that he’s at least ten
kilos lighter than when I saw him last. His dark eyes are dull,
empty. He seems so lost and I know that’s partially my doing. He
took care of me when I needed it. How can I not let him in when
it’s my turn to help him now?

“
Hang
on.” I close the door, release the chain and re-open it, stepping
to the side to give him room to enter and close it again. “Come on,
kitchen’s this way.” I indicate with a tilt of my head and lead the
way.

I can feel Red
following closely. It sends nervous chills down my spine. In all
our time together, albeit an intoxicated time, I never once felt
threatened. So why does now feel different? Because I’ve found my
place and he hasn’t?

I’ll talk to
Luke; we’ll get him some help. We’ll get him back on his feet. It’s
the least we can do.

I point to one
of the stools by the breakfast bench for him to sit and stand on
the other side he needs to food. “Coffee?”

“
Sure,” Red replies resting his elbows on the counter
top.

I slide a mug
over to him. “So, how are you?”