Outback Sisters (23 page)

‘It was my pleasure,' he said. ‘I didn't want to be anywhere else. Now, let's get you to bed. Don't think about the cake again. I'll get Angus to help me carry it over to the function room and I promise you we'll get it there safely.'

Despite her eyes struggling to stay open and her limbs heavy with fatigue, Frankie couldn't help wishing she was taking Logan to bed with her. Something fluttered low in her belly at the thought. How the hell she'd get any sleep after what had just almost happened between them, she didn't know. She only hoped that tomorrow she'd make it through the day on adrenalin.

After one final look of admiration at their creation, Frankie and Logan left the cottage, closing the door quietly behind them. It was four o'clock in the morning and still pitch dark outside. Logan got out his phone and used his flashlight app to light the way for them out of the manager's courtyard, which was adjacent to the rest of the resort.

Once they were in the main complex, a row of low garden lights that edged the paths between the villas lit the way.

‘Do you want me to walk you to your room?' Logan asked.

‘No, I'll be fine.'
Safer not to
, Frankie thought. Somewhere in the distance she heard the eager crow of a rooster. ‘I'll see you in a few hours.'

‘You will.' He looked down at her and for a moment she wondered if he might kiss her again, but instead he sighed, shoved his hands in his pockets, turned and stalked in the direction of the villa he was sharing with Angus.

It wasn't cold but she shivered as she watched him go.

* * *

The sound of the key turning in the apartment door startled Angus and Simone from their bubble of bliss. Reality struck like a hard blow to the side of his head as he looked down at the beautiful woman in his arms. She froze and her eyes widened as if she too had just realised exactly what they'd done. While they'd been in the throes of passion, alternating between dozing and having sex for what felt like hours on end, they'd entirely forgotten the world around them, the people they loved. But now the truth of the situation came crashing in.

He was a bastard of the highest order, sleeping with his brother's girl, and he had to get out of there quick fast.

‘Frankie,' she whispered, her tone urgent.

But he was already on the edge of the bed, scrambling around in the dark for his clothes. Simone switched on the bedside lamp and he found his jeans, his jocks and shirt. He shoved them on in record time, fumbling with the buttons, making the mistake of turning around while he did so. Simone was sitting up in bed, her face pale and the sheet tugged up around her neck, but it was thin and the curve of her breasts was visible through the sheet, her nipples still peaked, reminding him of moments earlier, when he'd had them in his mouth.

God, she was hot. Recalling how she'd tasted had his dick hardening again, but that didn't make what they'd done right.

‘I'm sorry,' he whispered, needing to say something, but not wanting to risk Frankie hearing that Simone had a guest.

She shook her head. ‘It's okay. It takes two to tango.'

He half-smiled. They'd barely gotten through the first waltz before he'd kissed her—or had she kissed him? He couldn't recall, but they certainly hadn't made it to the tango. ‘It shouldn't have happened.'

‘I know.'

She sounded close to tears and all he wanted to do was climb back into bed, take her into his arms and comfort her, but that was a stupid idea for so many reasons.

Number one: his brother.

Number two: he didn't get close to women anymore. Sex, yes; when he needed to scratch the itch, he knew where to find someone, no strings attached. But this thing with Simone felt terrifyingly like more than just sex. Simply being around her had him losing control of all his senses.

‘Look,' he said, perching on the edge of the bed as he began to tug on his socks and boots. ‘Don't beat yourself up too much. No-one need ever know about this. I don't want to ruin things between you and Logan—'

‘Logan!' Simone's eyes widened. ‘I can't continue things with Logan after this.'

He lifted a finger to his lips to remind her to keep her voice down. The last thing they needed was Frankie walking in. ‘Okay. Whatever. That's your prerogative.' Guilt swamped him at the thought that he'd ruined his little brother's chance at love. He wasn't sure how he was ever going to look Logan in the eye again. Hell, he was no better than Loretta. ‘But nothing more can happen between us, you understand that right?'

‘Of course.' A cocktail of anger and hurt flashed in her eyes. ‘No more Knight brothers for me.'

Her breasts heaved in annoyance and he sucked in a breath, muscles all over his body tightening at the sight. Simone saw and yanked the sheet higher up around her neck, folding her arms over her chest as she glared at him.

‘Sorry.' He looked away, silently cursing as he finished pulling on his boots. Then he stood, shoved his hands in his pockets and lingered awkwardly.

‘Waiting for something?'

He nodded towards the door. ‘What if Frankie's still out there?'

‘Oh. Shit.' She pursed her lips a moment, then, ‘Turn around while I get dressed.'

It seemed pointless when he'd already seen every last inch of her naked, but he did as he was told while Simone found something to wear.

‘Wait here,' she said after a moment and then he heard the door open and close again.

He let out a long breath, his heart hammering. He'd climb out the window if they didn't have those damn locks that prohibited them opening the whole way.

After what felt like an eternity, Simone returned, looking frustratingly sexy in a pair of stripy pink flannel pyjamas and holding the black top he'd yanked off her. ‘Good find,' he whispered, nodding towards the top, offering her a conciliatory smile.

She didn't return it. ‘Frankie must have gone straight to bed. She's probably knackered. The coast's clear.'

He nodded as Simone opened the bedroom door and gestured for him to go through it. Although part of him couldn't wait to escape, it felt wrong just … leaving. He paused in the doorway and looked down at her but she refused to meet his gaze. The word ‘sorry' lingered again on his tongue, but he couldn't completely regret what had happened between them, so he swallowed it and kept walking.

He'd only taken a few steps when she rushed up behind him.

‘What if Logan sees or hears you come in?' she whispered.

Fuck.
He hadn't thought of that. This deception game was hard; he didn't know how anyone managed it on a long-term basis. He glanced down at his outfit, wondering if he could get away with saying he couldn't sleep and had gone for an early run. Logan wasn't stupid.

‘I'll work something out,' he promised, turning to meet Simone's gaze yet again. ‘You try to get some rest.' Lord knew they'd all need their energy to get through tomorrow.

‘Okay. Good luck.' Her voice was softer this time and it only made leaving even harder.

‘Thanks,' he whispered, resisting the urge to reach out and squeeze her hand. If he touched her again, who knew what kind of trouble they would land in. Without another word, he let himself out into the early morning.

Angus felt like a burglar sneaking into the villa he and Logan had rented. His heart raced and his fingers shook as he turned the key in the door, trying to be as quiet as possible. But his efforts were for nothing.

‘Where the hell have you been?' Logan asked from where he was perched on the edge of the tiny couch, drinking a coffee. He looked as tired as Angus felt.

‘Couldn't sleep in the strange bed, thought I'd go for a run. You guys finished then?'

Ignoring the question, Logan raised an eyebrow. ‘In yesterday's clothes?'

‘I didn't pack suitable exercise gear,' he said, thinking quickly, ‘so I just threw these on again.'

‘You could've brushed your hair before you went out,' Logan said with a slight chuckle.

Angus's hand automatically went up to touch his hair, which he guessed looked ruffled because of what he'd just been up to with Simone. Thank God it was his brother not his sister he had to answer to. Olivia would have taken one look and known he was hiding something. Even when she was little she'd always had an uncanny ability to read her brothers like they were picture books. ‘Didn't think I'd see anyone.' He forced lightness into his voice. ‘How'd you and Frankie go with the cake?'

Logan smiled. ‘All right. It looks pretty damn good actually.'

‘That's great.' It felt so wrong talking about cake after the way he'd just betrayed his brother. He'd never felt more like scum in his life. Angus faked a yawn. ‘I think the exercise worked, I'm ready to hit the sack now. See you in a few hours, hey?'

Logan nodded. ‘See you, bro. Thanks for coming up here with me. I owe you one. Sweet dreams.'

‘You too,' Angus managed before retreating into his room and letting out a deep breath as he closed the door behind him. Maybe he should have come clean. Confessed his sins and let Logan punch him in the face or whatever he felt like doing. There was no doubt he deserved whatever his brother would dish out, but he couldn't bear to hurt him.

Logan and Olivia were all he had in the world, and he never wanted to do anything again to jeopardise that. They were all he needed and all he wanted—anyone else would come with a risk he wasn't prepared to take.

‘Rise and shine, sleepy head.'

Simone groaned at the sound of Frankie banging on her bedroom door. She sounded way too chirpy for someone who'd been up most of the night making cake.

‘I need coffee,' Simone called back.

‘On it. Now get your butt into the shower.'

With another groan, she rolled over in bed, resisting the urge to pull the covers up over her head and bury herself there for the day. She should be excited about watching Stella and Adam tie the knot, but the thought of facing Angus and Logan had her stomach twisting in knots.

The only way she was going to get through the day was to pretend last night hadn't happened. Which would be simple, if muscles she'd forgotten existed weren't currently crying out from overuse.

‘Oh
Lord
.' She shook her head at her stupidity as she dragged herself out of bed and escaped into the adjoining bathroom. Moments later she was standing under the hot water, wishing it would ease her aching body, wake her up and somehow miraculously wash away the memories of Angus's touch.

But no matter how much her brain wanted to forget, her body had other ideas. As she swept the soap over her skin, she shivered, recalling how wonderful Angus's tongue and hands had felt exploring every nook and cranny. He'd well and truly broken her sexual drought and she was turning herself on just thinking about it. Annoyed, she wrenched off the hot water and shrieked as ice-cold shards rained down on her.

‘You okay?' Frankie called through the door.

‘Yep—just dropped the soap on my foot,' she replied as she turned off the water.

‘Did you have a visitor here last night?'

Simone froze, stark naked, as she reached for the fluffy white towel on the rack. How the hell had Frankie known?

‘There's a wine glass and a beer bottle on the coffee table.'

She let out a sigh of relief, but kicked herself at the same time for not thinking about this evidence when she'd retrieved her jumper. ‘Angus came back to watch a little bit of TV,' she said, trying to sound nonchalant. ‘Everyone else left and they wanted to close the restaurant so we brought our last drinks here.'

Praying that Frankie would accept this excuse, Simone started vigorously drying herself. Although she desperately wanted to confide in someone, she could never tell her sister what had happened as Frankie had a black-and-white view of cheating. Understandable, considering how she'd unwittingly been the other woman in an illicit affair, but this felt so different to that situation. It wasn't like she and Logan were married—hell, they'd barely even kissed.

‘Right. Hurry up then. We're supposed to be at Stella's already for hair and make-up.'

‘Coming!' Simone turned to check herself in the mirror for any evidence of Angus. They'd completely lost their heads last night and given no thought to anything except their raw need for each other. Explaining the beer bottle had been one thing, but a love bite on her neck would be an entirely different matter.

A couple of minutes later, she stepped out into the living area to see a steaming mug of coffee on the table in place of the empty bottle and glass. Frankie was sitting on the couch, looking like she could fall asleep at any moment, despite her insistence that they needed to hurry.

‘How'd the cake turn out?' Simone asked as she picked up the mug and took a long, much-needed sip. With only a few hours' sleep, she'd need gallons of caffeine to make it through the day.

‘Good,' Frankie replied, not even turning her head to look at Simone. ‘Amazing, even.'

‘You must be so exhausted,' Simone said, feeling guilty that while her supposed boyfriend and sister had been slaving away in the kitchen all night, she'd barely given them a thought.

‘I'll be fine.' She all but leaped off the couch, almost making Simone spill her coffee. ‘Come on, let's go.'

Frankie had crossed the room and flung open the door before Simone could finish her next mouthful. Figuring she could make another cuppa once they got to Stella's room, Simone put the mug down on the table and hurried after her.

At not quite eight o'clock, the air outside still had a bite to it but Simone barely noticed, still hot from her nocturnal activities. She had to walk fast to keep up with Frankie, who seemed to be a little jumpy. Simone put this down to lack of sleep and the stress of the whole cake fiasco. They arrived at Stella's villa and Simone waited behind Frankie as she rapped loudly on the front door.