WILL TIME WAIT: Boxed set of 3 bestselling 'ticking clock' thrillers (67 page)

“Unlike me,” I said.  “I’m happy for you.”

“But money doesn’t bring happiness in all areas of
life.  And when I came back, you were seeing someone.”

“What?”  No.  This was wrong.  “You had
relationships, too.  Many of them as I recall.  And they weren’t all
casual.”

“I wouldn’t really call them
relationships
.  But
yes, I did meet a few nice girls over the years.”

Nice?
 Some were so stunning, with perfect
figures and not a hair out of place, that I felt like a frump in their
presence.

 “Anyway, and then you launched into a romance with
John and married him.”

Yeah, and that worked out really well.

“And every year that passed I regretted not being with you
more and more.  You and Sarah were the reason I always gravitated back to
this place.”

I sat in thought.  I’d never viewed it that way
before.  No matter where Brian went in the world, what trendy circles he
moved in through his consultancy work, he always returned regularly to spend
time with his niece, help me out and slip some cash my way.  “Why did you
never mention this before?  Before I married John?” 

“I thought you were happy.  I didn’t want to interfere
with your life.”  He cupped my elbow, encouraging me to look him full in
the face. 

I saw a nervous twitch in his jaw, a rising blush. 

“Let’s not waste anymore time, Christa.  I think you
feel it too.  Do you?”

I did.  A shiver, of sorts. 

“I miss being close to you.”  He smiled.  ”I used
to always love the sound of your laugh.  Remember that time when you
rolled in hysterics because—.”

I half-smiled and interrupted him.  “Yeah, well. 
I wish I could laugh like that now.”  I needed to figure out what was
going on inside my troubled head.  My struggle to survive as a single
parent had encased my heart in a shell.  Frozen for years- even with John,
I supposed.  Wishing life had turned out differently never helped anyone,
could make a person bitter.  Should and could two people from the past,
come together in the future?  How much different would life be now if we’d
never been apart?  “We’re different people now.  Is this about the
teenager I was, or the woman I am now?”

“It’s you, now, then... everything.  My feelings
haven’t changed, they’ve grown stronger.” 

Strong enough to gamble a friendship on?  Oh, why
was I even considering this?  Our moment came and went fourteen years ago.

He pushed a hand through his hair.  His soft blue eyes,
framed by dark lashes, looked sad, hurt, and pierced right through to my
soul.  “Tell me this is one-sided, and we’ll not speak about it again.”

I opened my mouth, but
those
words wouldn’t come
out.  “I don’t know what to think or what to say.  But no, we can’t rewind,
or pick up as though...  Life isn’t that simple.”

“Maybe it should be.”  He fingered a few strands of my
hair.  “Thinking is what kept us apart all those years ago.  I just
want to be there for you.  I just want to...” 

My heart raced, and I froze as he leaned into me.  His
lips touched mine.  No kiss.  Just a soft sweep.  But a definite
current buzzed between us.  And then it ended.  He pulled away
leaving me confused with my defences momentarily breached by an aftermath of
tingles. 

“W-what would Sarah think?” I mumbled. 

“She’d want her mum to be happy.  Like I do.”  He
took my hand between his.  “If you had been married to my brother, in
biblical times, it would have been my duty to marry you, his widow, to keep his
offspring in the family.  The Kinsman redeemer.”

I stifled a laugh.  What on earth was he babbling on
about?  “We’re not in bible times and I wasn’t married to your
brother.  This is modern day and you’re Sarah’s uncle.  She’d think
it’s weird.”  I frowned.  “When did you start reading the bible?”

His lips twitched in a brief smile.  “I don’t. 
It’s just something someone told me.  Look, I think Sarah would be pleased
if we got together.”

“I think she’d be shocked!” I threw back, then glanced away
to form some thoughts.  Should I let the past bleed into current life and
risk puncturing our set up?  My heart had ached for him for many years,
but I’d had to get over it. 

But now... well... Brian deserved my full thought and
attention.  What courage it must have taken to reveal his feelings to
me.  I locked my eyes onto his.  An intense connection flowed along
an invisible line between us and heated my blood.  Being this close to him
felt so incredibly good.  I realised it always had.  There’d been so
many times I’d lifted my arms to pull him into an embrace, but stopped
myself.  Perhaps Nicola had been right all along; put us in a room
together, alone, and... bam! 

“I’ll make everything right,” he said soothingly.  “We
could be so good together.  It’s never too late, is it?”

My heart sped up.  Chaotic emotions I’d stored in a
vault all these years began seeping out, flattening some of my worries to the
ground. “I don’t want anything to ruin what we have.” 

He winked.  “Nothing could ruin that.  We’re
solid.”

“But your family, they’re one reason that we...”

“Let me handle them.  It’ll be tricky.  My loopy
sister and...  But we only get one life, right?  We owe it to
ourselves to give
us
a shot.”

“Oh, Brian.”  I glanced over my shoulder toward the
hall.  We had to put this conversation on ice.  “Sarah might wake up
and hear us talking.”

He gave a light laugh.  “That would be a first. 
As soon as her head hits the pillow she’s in zombie land.”  He leaned in
and kissed me on the lips.  Just for a second.  Sensual.  No
tongue.  But as he pulled away he gave my lip a tantalising bite. 
“Oh, Christa,” he said.  “The things I’d like to do with you.”

All at once, a blissful rush crashed through my body.

Heck! 
I stiffened, stunned.

He swept my hair over my shoulder.  “Christa?  You
okay?”  Brian’s breath was a gentle tease across my skin, stirring up far
more than old teenage desires.

I was the mother of his brother’s child, going through one
mess of a divorce, his family despised me and yet... he was still here. 
Lusting.  Wanting to bite my lip and, according to Nicola, rope me up
and... Oh, heck.  I swallowed hard.

If lust was a physical thing, it was sitting before me,
hypnotizing me, and I’d be a fool to let it sail by.  God knew what he saw
in me, but there are some things worth taking a risk on.  My body told me
this had to be one of them.  “One life,” I managed to whisper, letting my
eyes travel up his body to his face, drinking in the sight of him with sweet
anticipation. 

He nodded.  “That’s all we get.”

“And what if we did mess up, fall out and ruin our
friendship?”

His eyebrows hopped up.  “And what if we don’t?”

Trapped by his seductive gaze, I said, “Kiss me again.”

A wide grin transformed his nervous face into an absolutely
delighted one.  His eyes danced with joy.  He curled his hand around
my neck, pulling us into a kiss.  Before I know it, my body tingled with
fierce attraction as he slammed against me, pressed me down horizontal and
pinned my arms above my head.  Our hearts pounded as one in my chest. 
His warm, supple lips crushed mine.  His tongue ravaged and explored my
mouth in a fast sensual dance.

Holy shit!  This was worlds apart from our fumblings
fourteen years ago.  Desire spiked, I sighed into his mouth.  There
was no way this could destroy us.

He propped up on his elbows, put a little distance between
our faces and engaged my eyes. 

That electric current shot sparks through me again.  I
parted my legs, locked them around his thighs and dragged my fingers up his
back.  He ground his hips against me in a dry hump and twisted his hands
into my hair.  I let out a soft moan before our mouths pressed together
harder, deeper, kissing our way into a new, exciting future.  His hand
slid up the inside of my thigh.  Heat shimmied between us.  It was
better than I remembered; raw, pent-up desire. 

His lips swept along my jaw, down my throat and back to my
mouth. 

I felt refreshingly stripped of my usual badges; strung-out
mother, stressed business owner, guarded woman and... I felt naughty, kissing
and sighing beneath him.

He raised his hips off me and grappled to undo my
belt.  For a second, I thought I heard something click.  But then my
zipper rasped as Brian pulled it down, distracting me. 

Brian smiled, kissed the tip of my nose and fumbled with my
jeans.  “I’ve wanted this... you... for so, so long.”

My long-since explored lower body clenched
deliciously. 

He pushed his hand deep into the front of my pants and
slipped a confident finger inside me.

Untamed warmth flooded my delicate parts.  I threw my
head back and squeezed his hips, wanting more, my whole body melting beneath
him.  Oh, so much more...

He kissed the skin below my earlobe.  “I love you so
much, Christa.”  His voice thrummed with passion.  “I always ha–”

“Good heavens!” a female’s voice bounced around us. 
“What the hell...?”

I jerked beneath Brian and my gaze flew to the front
door. 
Oh, shit.

His sister, Steph, five years my senior and four years older
than Brian, stood in the doorway, mouth gaping, thunder-faced.

Pure disgust swirled in her eyes as her gaze collided with
mine.  Keys fell out of her hand and clattered on the floor, splitting the
deathly silence.  We hadn’t seen each other in years.  She obviously
still hated me.

I froze, pinned by her stare.

Brian untangled his limbs from mine and leapt to his
feet.  “Steph.”  He outstretched his hand.  “Please, just let me
explain.”

“Explain?  I think I’ve seen all I need to know. 
It’s scandalous!” she said in an abrasive voice, staring down her nose at
us.  “I drove here to keep an eye on Sarah.  To do you a
favour.  And this is what I walk into?  How long has your sordid
little affair been going on?”

“It’s not sordid!” Brian snapped.  “Keep your voice
down.  You’ll wake Sarah.”

Her gaze shot to the bedrooms.  “Not sordid, huh?”

“You’re blowing this way out of proportion,” he whispered.

She bent to grab her keys, then spun to leave, her movements
jerky.  “I always knew you had a dark streak.  I can’t bear to look
at you.”

“Wait!” Brian said.  “I’ve been denying my feelings for
Christa for years.”

“Years?” she replied.  “Jeez, it gets worse.”

 Brian hotfooted after her and placed his hand on the
front door.  “What are you going to do?”

She ran skewering eyes up and down him.  “It’s just...
wrong.  Mum and dad will never accept this.  You’re screwing the
mother of our dead brother’s child, the person who told you to up and
leave.  She is the reason Michael is dead.”

“Steph!” he shouted.  “That’s a terrible thing to say.”

“Claire’s my best friend, and... and...”  Her sharp
gaze swung to mine.  “
She’s
married!”

Oh, crap.  I ran a hand down my face.  What the
hell was I thinking?  The situation whizzed and flipped in my mind. 
Now viewing it through Steph’s eyes, I wished I could dissolve.  Besides
blaming me for her brother’s death, I realised now, that my being the only
person who told Brian it was okay if he needed to up and leave in order to
heal, was also the foundation of her profound hatred for me.  “Look,
Steph, it was just a kiss.  Nothing actually happened.”  My voice
cracked into tiny splinters.  “Please don’t take this out on Brian. 
Besides, we’re adults and–”

“
Just
a kiss!”  She eyed my open jeans before I
realised to cover them, then shot me down with a scathing glare, looked ready
to stone me.  “I guess this is typical of you.  One man’s never been
enough.”  Huffing, she turned her attention to Brian again. 
“Claire’s under the
stupid
illusion that you might finally ask her to
move in with you, not cheat on her.”

Brian cupped his chin.  “W-what?  Why on earth
does she think that?”  He exhaled noisily and shook his finger at
her.  “Now I wonder who gave her that impression?  Huh?  What
the hell did you tell her that for?”

“Tsk!  Shame on you.”  Steph’s hate-filled eyes
raked over us.  “It’s like you’re shagging on our brother’s grave.”  She
wrenched around and left, slamming the door in Brian’s face.

“Jesus! You’re crazy,” Brian shouted.

I wished the ground would open up and swallow me. 
Regret cramped my stomach.  “Fuck me.” 

Brian dragged both hands down his face.  “Well, that’s
what I was hoping to...”

“Don’t finish that sentence!” I warned, glowering.

A low growl escaped him and he rushed over. 
“Sorry.  I didn’t mean to... I’m just stunned.  How could I have
forgotten that I’d asked her to come round?”

I grabbed a cushion and hurled it across the room.  It
was nice while it lasted.  All five minutes of skin-tingling passion, but
fireworks would surely shoot up now.   “Terrific.  Make
everything right, huh?  Isn’t that what you said to me earlier?  Damn.”

“Steph will spread this through town faster than wildfire.”

Oh, Jesus.  Once again I’d be the centre of a
scandal.  “We’ll have to tell Sarah and your mum before your sister
does.  And you need to end your relationship with Claire
properly
before word gets out... unless.”  I met his eyes.  “Persuade your
sister to keep it zipped.  Buy us some time.”

Steph’s car revved and roared into the distance. 

He nodded.  “I’ll chase after her.”

CHRISTA

I
stretched my arms overhead, threw the covers back off the bed in Brian’s spare
room, and slipped into his bathroom to shower.  Brian must have carried me
to bed last night because beyond dozing on the couch, I could only vaguely
remember being lifted, Brian stroking my hair and telling me everything was
sorted.  I’d have to quiz him about Steph in detail and speak to Sarah...
but... hold on.  The spare room?  Oh, what a gentleman!  He
hadn’t even attempted to get me into his bed.  I felt kind of
disappointed.

In yesterday’s crumpled clothes, I strolled down the hall
while trying to phone Nicola – I didn’t want her to worry about me.  Yet
again, I sighed, unable to get through to her on either the landline or her
mobile. 

I entered the kitchen to find Sarah sitting at the table -
looking all innocent and ‘butter-wouldn’t-melt’ in her dressing gown decorated
with cute little animals - while Brian attended to a sizzling pan at the
stove.  I kissed the top of her head and pulled a chair out. 
“Morning, sweetheart.  Sleep well?”  I’d be nice first, then have
words.

“Happy birthday, mum.”  She sunk her spoon into a bowl
of cereal and kept her gaze low.

“Happy birthday, Christa.  Coffee?” Brian asked,
grinning.  “Eggs?”

“Both, thanks.”  I took a seat next to Sarah at the
kitchen table.  "You should have woken me.  What time is
it?"

“Half past nine,” Brian replied, fiddling with something on
the worktop.  “Oh, I explained to Sarah about last night.”

I gulped.  “Y-you did?”

“Yes.  How you helped me rescue Claire, and
that’s
why you stayed the night.”

“In the spare room,” I added, keeping emotion out of my
voice, relieved he hadn’t yet told her about our being together.  Although
I'd have rather waited a bit, I had to tell her before someone else got in
there first.

“I’ve had a word with Sarah about her sneaking out last
night.  She won’t do it again anytime soon.”

I gave her the eye.  “I’m not impressed.  You’re
grounded for a week and have to do twice the chores.”

“Mum!  What about my friends?”

“Tough.  You should have thought about that before
sneaking out.  Don’t you know that I worry about you?”

She shovelled cereal into her mouth, her gaze on her
breakfast bowl.

“Just cereal?” I asked.

“I’ve already had some bacon.  I’m hungry.”

“Oh, and I phoned the school,” Brian said.  “Still
closed.  Snowed off again.  Some of the teachers can’t make it in.”

I faced Sarah.  “Another day off.  Lucky you.”

She looked at me and beamed.  “What shall we do? 
I mean, I know I’m grounded, but it’s your birthday so we should still do
something special.  Together.”

“Hmmm...”  I smoothed Sarah’s brown hair behind her
ears, and smiled to hide my worry.  I wanted to whisk her far beyond the
reach of John and find some time to think through my options, but if I did take
her out somewhere, her grounding would have turned into a treat.  “How
about we watch a movie at home?  Get all cosy in the snug.”

Excitement faded from her eyes.  “Okay.  Boring.”

“Well, would you prefer to make a start on tidying your
room?”

She said nothing.

“Didn’t think so.  And I need to talk to you about
something this afternoon.” 
About giving up our house.
  Oh,
God.  I dreaded it.  The deadline was here and I had no choice but to
sign on the painful dotted line.  My mobile beeped several times - a
welcome distraction.  I scrolled through a succession of text messages
wishing me a happy birthday.  “Ahr.  That’s a nice one from
Brad.” 

“Your cousin?” Brian asked.

“Yep.  He’s been really lovely recently, over the
divorce and then worrying about the break-in.”  I scrolled through the
messages to the last one from my parents.  They wished me a happy day, and
also asked what time I’d visit them today.  I sent a quick reply telling
them I’d let them know my plans later.  Then I looked up.  “Whoa!”

Brian set my plate on the table.  In the centre of
scrambled eggs and bacon, was a sausage with a lit candle sticking out of
it.  “I’ll give you your
gift
later on.”  He winked and
returned to the worktop with his eyes still alight. 

A wicked thought? 

This proved he didn’t regret our kissing last night. 
Thank goodness.  “Well,” I began, aware of heat flooding my cheeks. 
“This is a lovely breakfast.”

“Make a wish, mum.”  Sarah frowned.  “You
okay?  Why is your face red?”

I winced.  “Is it?”

Brian flashed me an ‘oops’ look and I swore his cheeks had
also pinked-up a touch. 

Glad it isn’t just me.

Deep, cooling breath.  “So, anyway... a wish. 
Great idea.”  I closed my eyes and wished that I could reach my rainbow;
the nightmare of my divorce would end today, and I could keep my house so that
Sarah and I could move on in life.  Be happy.  With Brian, and
whatever wickedness was in that mind of his.

I blew the candle out.

Brian sat opposite me and dug into his fried
breakfast.  “I phoned the insurance people first thing.  They’re
giving me a courtesy car to use until mine’s repaired.”

“That’s quick.”

He winked.  “It pays to have a friend on the
inside.  I did some work for them last year.”

“This is nice,” Sarah said, smiling and glancing between us.

I covered my mouth with my hand and spoke around a mouthful
of eggs.  “Yes.  Delicious.”

“No,” Sarah said.  “I meant us, here.  The three
of us around the table.”

“Yes.  Very nice.”  I swallowed and kissed her
cheek.  “Actually... I’m glad you said that.”  I looked across to
Brian and mouthed, ‘should we tell her now?’  I wasn’t sure what was
happening with Steph, but I couldn’t let Sarah hear the news second hand.

Chewing on his food, he nodded.

“The thing is Sarah...  You know what great friends
Brian and I are..."  I paused.  "You know that John and I
are not getting back together, right?”

She nodded while wiping a dribble of milk off her
chin.  “I know it’s over, and I knew you would split up.”

I frowned.  “What do you mean?  How did you know?”

She shrugged.  “Dunno.  I just did.”

“And Claire and I are no longer together,” Brian slipped in.

“Since when?” Sarah asked.

“Things haven’t been good between us for quite some time.”

“Well,” I continued.  “I’m ready to start dating again,
and... how would you feel if Brian and I were to...” I paused to gulp. 
Christ,
how will she react?  Brian is her uncle.

Brian set his folk down on his plate.  “What your mum
is trying to say is that... we...”  He reached across the table for my
hand and kissed my fingertips.

Sarah stared at our clasped hands, and then at our faces.

“We’re together,” he finished.

“Well, seeing each other... dating,” I clarified.  I
chewed my lip and brushed her glossy curtain of hair behind her shoulder. 
“How do you feel about that, sweetheart?”

Sarah set her spoon down.  Her lips twitched on the
crossroad between a smile and a frown.  We waited through her silence
until she said, “Cool.” 

“Really?” I asked, taken aback.  I didn’t need her
permission, I just wanted her to be okay with it.

She glanced at both of us again.  “It’s a bit weird
but... Will Brian still be my uncle or my–“

“Yes.  Uncle.”

“Can I still come here on weekends to see my friends?”

I gave a little laugh.  “Of course.  Brian will
still live here.  We’re only dating, not moving in together.” 

"Well... if you two want to go out on dates,” Sarah said,
scooping the last of her cereal onto a spoon, acting more animated.  “Then
it's fine.  Don't worry about me.  I can stay in on my own."

I laughed.  "Yeah, bet you would.  Nice try
though."  I spread my arms and pulled her into a hug.  “You’re
the most important person in the world to me, to both of us, okay?  That
will never change, no matter who we date.”

"I'll get dressed."  Sarah raced around the
table to hug Brian who playfully returned her mock fighting moves.  She
giggled when he started tickling her, then bounded out of the room.

"Have you been teaching her to fight?" I asked.

"It's self-defence.  She's got one hell of a stomp
on that right foot of hers.  Grinds my toes right down to
Australia."  Brian leaned into the table.  “See, you were worrying
about nothing.  She's happy for us.”

“Hmmm... I’m not sure happy is the word but at least she
didn’t
hate
the idea.  The thought of my mum being with my uncle
makes me feel all... weird.  It kinda blurs the lines of people’s
relationships.  But I guess I'm alone in my thinking.  I’ll talk to
her again about it later.”  I glanced over my shoulder to check she wasn’t
about to return.  “What happened with your sister last night?  Did
she phone Claire?”

“It was tricky, but I managed to persuade her to keep
quiet.”  He paused, stroked my leg under the table and lowered his
voice.  “It took all of my will power to tuck you into that spare bed last
night instead of into mine.”

A tingle fired straight to my heart.  Smiling, I gazed
down at my plate.  “Back to Steph.  How did you persuade her to keep
quiet?”

“I simply told her that if she really cared about her
friend, she’d let me break up with her as nicely as I could and not upset her
further by telling her about our... umm... kiss.”

Yep, and some kiss it was.
  I frowned. 
“And that’s it?”

He shrugged and chewed some bacon.  “Pretty much. 
If you want my honest opinion, even though Steph’s angry with us, I don’t think
she wants Claire to get hurt.  After the way my sister reacted when I
caught up with her last night, I’m starting to think she has a
thing
for
Claire.”

“A thing?  As in...”

He nodded.

“But I thought Steph was dating someone a while back? 
A man.”

He wrinkled his nose. 
How cute;
I almost
melted.  “It’s just a hunch,” he said.

This struck me as strange because then surely Steph would be
pleased about Brian breaking up with Claire.  “And what about Claire?”

He shook his head.  “Men only... well, as far as I
know.”

“But I thought you accused Steph of making Claire believe
you were going to ask her to move in with you.  If she likes Claire in
that
way, surely she’d try to split you apart not force you closer.”

“Claire only came into Steph’s life through me. 
Perhaps Steph’s worried that our break-up will mean they’ll drift apart.” 
He shrugged.  “It happens.  But, who knows?  I never quite have
understood my sister.  She always seems to be guarded.”

I squashed some eggs onto my fork.  “If you're right,
however much I don't see eye to eye with your sister, I hope she doesn’t get
her heart broken.”

"I could be wrong."

"And here's me worrying about mums getting it on with
uncles when your sister might want to hop into bed with your ex."

Brian let out a demented chuckle then grimaced at the
ceiling.  "Er... yeah.  It would feel weird.  I guess I now
see your point."

I ate my breakfast and washed it down with coffee.  “I
haven’t seen Steph in years.  She was so great during my pregnancy. 
And then one day... boom.  It was like as soon as Sarah took her first
baby steps she turned cold on me.  If she blamed me for her brother, she’d
have cut me off straight away, not a year or so down the line.”

“Whenever I asked her about it, she stormed off, but then
we’ve never really gotten on.”

“Yes.  She always favoured your brother.”

Brian sipped his coffee.  "I'll drive you home as
soon as the car arrives."  He paused to wince at me.  "Then
I need to have a chat with Claire, and drop in on my parents before I get ready
for the meeting at my office.  I want us to be together properly, not
sneak around."

"Like Sarah does?"

"Exactly."

I gave him a sympathetic smile.  "I hope Claire
doesn’t go nuts at you."

"She'd have to be blind to not know what's
coming.  But I do need to end things properly.  She might have been a
pain in the backside lately, but we have had some good times so I owe her that
much."

"Your entire family loathes me.  They're only
polite for Sarah's sake."

He reached for my hand across the table and slotted his
fingers between mine.  "They'll just have to suck it up."

Hopefully they wouldn’t make life miserable for us. 
“We’ll see.  Finished eating?”  I moved over to the sink to wash our
dishes.  "I'm going to phone John again when I get home.  But I
think I've made up my mind."  I stared at him over my shoulder. 
"I'm going to sign the divorce papers.  Give him the house and get it
over with.  It'll sting, but it's a small price to pay for him to keep his
mouth shut and protect Sarah’s sanity.  I'll just have to find a smaller place
to live and somehow cram my office into it."

"No, wait... I," Brian's voice throbbed with
concern.  He scraped his chair back across the tiles and came up behind
me. He dumped his mug in the sink, gently slid his arms around my waist and
locked his fingers above the waistband of my jeans, sending tingles through
me.  "What if you could
keep
the house?"

"I'm ready."  Sarah skipped into the kitchen
in black leggings and a long glittery jumper, then jerked to a stop. 
"Oh... er... Let's go home to open your presents, mum."

I smiled at Sarah, frowned at Brian.  "I don't see
how that's possible."

"Later."  He planted a quick kiss on my neck
while Sarah grabbed a juice from the fridge before heading into the hall. 
"Just don't sign anything yet.  I need a little time.  There's
always a way around, if not through a problem."