The Goodbye Girl (24 page)

Mack shook his head in
disgust.  “Romantic shit’s right.  That’s exactly what it is.  You shag a sheila, it’s not romantic.”

Definitely not in agreement, Nick glanced at Alex.  Yep, his friend’s face revealed nothing
of his thoughts, but Nick could read him.  Alex didn’t agree, either.  No way would Alex just shag Harly, he’d be all sweetness and gentle or attentive or something.  All he knew was that what Alex and Harly had between them was special, he’d glimpsed the dreamy eyes on Harly when she’d drifted into the kitchen one morning, the hot look that crossed Alex’s face when she’d smiled at him  Yeah, no simple shagging going on there and - shit, was he really doing this?

Nick shook his head, dragged his thoughts from his friends having sex.  Jesus,
Paul was warping his mind.  One did
not
think about one’s friends having sex.

“When two people really love each
other, it’s not shagging,” Alex said quietly, surprising even Nick by opening up.  “It’s special.”

Mack’s jaw dropped while
Smithy rolled his eyes.

“Just saying.”  Alex
calmly took a bite of Tim Tam, chewed and swallowed.

Paul nodded slowly, an unaccustomed seriousness appearing on his face.  “Yeah.  Special.”

Mack looked at Nick.  “You hearing this shit?”

Yeah, he was
, but it wasn’t shit.  Far from it.

“Tell me I’m not the only man apart from the woman-hater here, who has a brain in his head,”
Mack pleaded.

“When you find someone special, you’ll know what we mean,”
Nick said, meaning it.

“Jesus, you too?”

Nick shrugged.  “Just my opinion.”

Mack turned to
Smithy.  “Looks like its just you and me, mate.  Just you and me.”

Smithy
just looked at him and drained the coffee from his mug.

“Or maybe I’m flying solo on this.”

Silence descended on the group of men as each got lost in his own thoughts.

Nick looked unseeingly at the coffee in the go-to cup around which he had his hands cupped.  No saint, he’d enjoyed sex with women,
mostly faceless now, a couple he probably didn’t even remember.  He hadn’t been chaste during his life that was for sure.  But the truth was, he’d never looked forward to sex with any woman as much as he did with Bree.  With her, he just knew it would be special, not just sex.  It didn’t matter what position, it would be special.  Because it was Bree.

And he wanted it to be special for her first time, and hell, every time there after.  Every time with Bree would be special, he’d see to that.

Mack broke the silence.  “If anyone here breaks out in a sloppy bloody love song, I’m taking the rest of the day off.”

“You couldn’t sing to save your life,” Paul retorted.  “And
if anyone has the rest of the day off, it’s me.  I’m the boss.”

“Are we building this bloody room or swapping love stories?”  Smithy tossed his to-go cup back in the box.

Paul checked his watch.  “Jesus, am I paying you bastards to sit around and gossip?  Get to work!”

“You’re not technically paying
me and Nick,” Alex reminded him.

“What’s your point?”

~*~

Driving towards Bree’s house, Nick glanced at the morning sky.  Sun shining, forecast of a clear day.  Chilly but no need to rug up in heavy clothes.  Everything green and fresh.  A weekend with his honey.  What more could he wish for?

He’d agreed to help Bree do some repair work o
n the house and shed, though he wondered why she didn’t just ask her landlord.  That was surely his responsibility, but still it was her call, not his.  He was just happy to spend time with her with the added bonus of repair work.   He was definitely rediscovering his talent for that.

Turning into the driveway, he drove down the track and pulled up under the tree not far from the house.  At the sight that met his eyes, he scowled, opening the door quickly while snapping his seat belt off.

“Damn, it, Bree!”  He strode over the grass.

She didn’t hear him. What a
surprise.  Leona Lewis was belting out ‘Unlove Me’ from the CD player on the veranda, while Sheba was shrieking a running commentary to Bree from where the little cat sat on the step.

Combined, it was enough to send any man deaf.

It didn’t cool his annoyance one iota, however.  Coming to a stop below where a long plank was propped between two ladders, he looked up at the generous bottom swaying to the music.

Bree was standing on a freakin’ plank suspended above the ground between two stepladders while she
painted the top of the window frame.  Even as he watched, she rocked one heel and waved her arm around to the music as she belted out a couple of words.

The drops of paint just missed him.

Damn it, the woman could fall off and break a leg.  Definitely had no business being on a plank like that, jigging around to bloody music did not make for safety. 

Then she almost gave him a heart attack as she shimmied a little on the plank.

That was the last straw.

Crossing
to the CD player, Nick switched it off.  Sheba stopped caterwauling almost immediately.  Maybe she was singing to the music in her own way.  Who knew?

“
Hey!”  Bree turned her head, a welcoming smile crossing her face.  “Nick.  You’re here.”

“Are you insane?”  Striding back
to the ladder, he tapped it with one finger.  “Get down now.”

“In a minute, I’m painting this windowsill.”

“Now.”

Surprise
crossed her face.  “You all right?”

“No, I’m not all right.  Neither will you be in a minute if you don’t get down off there right now.”

Surprise was replaced by annoyance.  “What got up your bum?”

“Come down and you won’t get smacked on yours.”

She pointed the paintbrush at him.  “You might want to take that remark back, Nick.”  Deliberately, she bounced a little on the plank.  “What’s your problem?”

His heart nearly leapt out of his throat.  “
Shit!”  He hurried to brace one hand on the back of her thigh.

“Cripes, what is wrong with you?”  She scowled down at him.

“You balancing on that plank is not safe, Bree.  Now get down.”

“I’m perfectly safe.”  She did another little bounce.   “See?”

“It is not safe.  Now for the last time, get down.”

“Nick-”

“Or I’m taking you down.”

She laughed in his face.  Actually had the gall to
laugh
.  “You and what crane?”

Oh boy, she hadn’t just said that, had she?  “Seriously, Bree?  You want to go
there
?”

For several seconds her face was puzzled, then awareness dawned.  And damned if she didn’t toss her head, that jaunty pony tail bouncing cheekily.  “Don’t presume to tell me what to-”

“Five.”

“I’m not going to-”

“Four.”

“Shit, Nick.”

“Three.”

“I am not a child!”

“Two.”  He readjusted his hand, sliding it further up that rounded thigh, thumb and fingers curving to hold securely.  Angry or not, if she fell off and got hurt he’d never forgive himself.

“You can’t just-”

“One.”

“I’m coming down!”  Bree stepped sideways quickly, almost giving him another heart attack as the plank wobbled a little.

All he could do was brace himself for when she fell off, but she didn’t, instead sliding sideways like a pro tightrope walker until she got to the ladder, then, still clutching the paintbrush in one hand, she swung herself around and climbed down.

Nick kept his hands on her the whole way, his ho
ld going from her thigh to clasping her hips with both hands, sliding up to her waist and then under her arms as she stepped to the ground.

Swinging
around, she held up the paintbrush warningly.  “Lay one hand on me and I’ll whack you.”

“One whack and you won’t sit for a week.”

“You’ve already threatened me.”

“We had an agreement.”

“It was your dumb idea.  I didn’t agree.”

Grasping her shoulders, he yanked her closer.  Looking down at her,
deliberately towering over her, Nick spoke between clenched teeth.  “You did two things wrong.  One, you degraded yourself again-”

“It was a joke!”

“Two, you put yourself in danger.”

“Danger?”  She glared at him.  “I kn
ow what I’m doing.”

“That plank is not sturdy
.”

“Are you saying I’m too heavy for it?”

“I’m saying it’s a narrow plank and unstable between the ladders.”

“I’ve
done this heaps of times, Nick.  I’m not an idiot.  The ground is firm beneath the ladders, the plank is strong enough.  You’re overreacting.”

“I am not-”

“You are.”  Seemingly oblivious to the paintbrush which dripped white paint down her pants leg, she shoved her fists onto her hips.  “How do you think I survived before you came along?  By learning how to do things myself, that’s how.”

“I’m here now
, there’s no need to take these risks.”  Nick shoved a hand through his hair.  “Look, I’ve seen men fall off.  You weren’t even concentrating on staying on the plank.”

“I was so.”

“You were dancing around to the music!”

“Nick.”  She prodd
ed him in the chest with one white-spattered finger.  “I am perfectly capable of looking after myself.”

Bullshit
.  “By falling off a plank?’

“I didn’t fall off.”

“And if you had?”

“I’d get some bruises.”

“You might have broken something, then what?”

Exasperated, she replied, “I’m not indestructible, Nick,
but you can’t wrap me in cotton wool.”

“Bloody oath I can.”

“You jerk.”

“I don’t care what you call me, I’ll protect you as much as I can and if that means stopping you doing something that could hurt you, I will.”

“Are you listening to yourself?”

Yeah, he was, and it made perfect sense.  Why she couldn’t see it was beyond him.

“Nick, what happens when you go back to Iraq or Afghanistan, or even Perth or Melbourne or somewhere?  How are you going to protect me from way over there?”

“You will get a tradesman in to do these kinds of jobs.”

She shook her head.  “Not going to happen.”

The stubborn woman could make a saint swear.  “Don’t you understand how I’m trying to stop you
from getting hurt?”

“That’s sweet and I appreciate it.”

She could have fooled him.  Nick exhaled loudly.

“Don’t get all h
uffy, soldier boy.  You can’t be around me twenty four seven, even if you lived here in Whicha.  And I couldn’t stand being hovered over like a baby chick new to the world.”

Damn it.  She had a point, he could see that but…“Bree-”

“Five.”

He blinked.

“Four.”

What the hell?

“Three.”

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked.

“Making a point.”

“That’s not a point.”

“Yeah, it is.  When I do something you don’t like, you get all huffy and start that stupid countdown.  So you know what?  I don’t like what you’re doing, so I’m doing the countdown.  Two.”

Bree could tie him in knots like no other woman. 
One minute he was fully ready to tan her hide, the next she had his sense of the ridiculous coming to the fore.

Nick
shook his head.  “Oh, honey.”

“What?” 
Suspiciously, she looked up at him.

“A couple
of things.  One - that countdown is not in the agreement.”

“Hey, if you can add things to that stupid punishment list, so can I!”

“That’s my prerogative.”  At her outraged gasp, he couldn’t stop the twitch of his lips.

She
obviously struggled with that little claim for several seconds, her mouth opening and shutting.  First time he’d ever seen her lost for words.  It still didn’t alter the fact that he was angry.  Maybe not as angry, but still angry.

“
That’s not fair,” she finally protested.

“What’s not fair is putting yourself in danger.”

“No, Nick.  What’s not fair is you wanting me to change.”

That took him aback.  “What?”

“You heard.”

“I don’t want you to change.”