Remember Me (4 page)

He went to say something else, but the other men walked up. He let one pull him to his feet, rolling his eyes at their sarcastic comments.

“You should get some ice on that,” Rose said as a small bump began to swell on his temple.

“Okay.” He followed her across the sand, but as they neared the deck, he caught her hand and led her to the left of the house and along the grassy bank toward the road.

“What are you doing?”

He winked. “The ice was a ruse to smuggle you away before you realized how shallow I am and how deep and meaningful all the other guys are.”

She tried to ignore his flirtatious manner. “You really should put some ice on the bump.”

He waved his hand. “I’ve had far more serious knocks than this.” Holding her gaze, he gave her a mischievous smile. “Hello.”

Now her cheeks were growing hot. “Hi.”

“I’m Hamish.” He held out his hand.

She shook it. “I’m Rose.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“How do you know?”

“I know everything about you, Rose Nicholls. Well, that’s a lie. I know the important stuff. You’re a schoolteacher at a local high school, you’re twenty-six, and you’re single.” He grinned.

Her back stiffened. “And how do you know that?”

“Bev told me.”

Rose’s face burned. “Oh, for goodness’ sake...”

“It’s not her fault. I badgered her for details about you. I saw a photo of the two of you in her house, and, well, I was lost.”

This was unreal. Things like this didn’t happen in real life. Not to Rose, anyway. “Don’t tease me,” she said nervously. “I don’t like it.”

His mischievous look turned to curiosity. “I’m not teasing. And I’m not coming on to you.” He thought for a moment. “Well, I am. What I mean is, I don’t stalk girls as a general rule. I just want to get to know you.”

He offered her his arm, a strangely formal gesture. “Come for a walk with me.”

He’s a military man. You know what that means. Best not to start something you don’t want to stop.

But then he smiled at her, his warm brown eyes crinkling at the edges, and she gave a small sigh. “Okay.” She rested her hand in the crook of his arm, and they strolled along the road.

“Tell me about yourself,” he said. “I know you’re a teacher. What do you teach?”

She told him about the high school and her love of literature, surprised when he expressed a similar interest in many authors she liked.

“There’s nothing like losing yourself in a good book,” he said. “I’m a voracious reader, of anything from Dickens to Ted Hughes to John Grisham.”

“And you told me you were shallow.”

“Ah, that doesn’t mean I understand it all. The way English teachers talk of metaphors and stanzas goes right over my head.”

She laughed, beginning to relax. They’d slipped into a casual banter she found enjoyable. “I think you’re very good at being self-deprecating. I don’t think you’re as superficial as you make out.”

“Then clearly you don’t know me at all,” he said. “Everyone knows there’s only ever one thing on my mind.” She blinked, and his eyebrows lifted in something approaching horror. “Actually, would you believe I was referring to food? I can’t believe I just said that.” They both started laughing. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, to redirect the conversation away from that little faux pas... Tell me, Rose, why are you not happily married with two kids and a mortgage? Why are you still single?”

She gave him an indignant look. “That’s a bit personal considering we’ve just met.”

“Ah, but we’re going to be very good friends.”

“We are?” She was flirting now.

“Oh yes. And besides, I’m interested. I thought someone would have snapped you up.”

And I thought Bev would have told you.
She turned her gaze out to sea where the wind whipped the edges of the waves and turned them white. “I was. Snapped up, I mean. I moved in with Lee at twenty-one, and we lived together for a couple of years.”

“What happened?”

“He died.”

Hamish stopped walking. “Oh Christ. I’m sorry.”

She faced him, smiling. “It’s okay—it was nearly three years ago now.”

“That doesn’t make it any less shitty.”

“No. No, it doesn’t.”

“What happened?”

She sighed. “He was an architect who liked to get his hands dirty. He’d climbed a ladder to investigate the roof of a building he’d designed, and he fell. He was dead by the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital.” It may have been three years since the phone call, but the memory still hit her like a punch to the stomach.

It must have shown in her face, because Hamish put his arms around her and pulled her against him. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Her voice came out as a squeak. Not so much because of her emotion, but because his arms were warm, and the muscles on his chest were impressively molded, firm beneath her cheek.

“It’s not, and I was being flippant when I asked why you were single. I didn’t know.”

“Really, it’s okay.”
I don’t mind. You smell really nice.

He held her for a while, stroking her back, and eventually she relaxed against him, enjoying the contact she’d had so little of since Lee died. She waited for a sweep of guilt for betraying him, but nothing materialized except a kind of tired acceptance that three years was a long time, she was still young, and she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life alone.

Not that she could consider a relationship with this man.
Forces, remember?
Breathless and flustered, she pushed back. “Hamish...”

“Mm?”

His likeness to his brother made her wonder why, when she’d been introduced to Eamon, she’d felt none of the tingles that threaded through her as she looked up into Hamish’s brown eyes. How strange. What made him so different? Why did she like him so much?

She bit her lip. She mustn’t think like this, as if destiny was unfolding here. Hormones and pheromones, not Fate, had a grip on her. She had to put things straight before she got carried away. “I should tell you, my father was in the Army.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I had a very unsettled childhood, always moving around. My mother hated it, and they argued about it constantly. I’ve always promised myself I’d never get involved with anyone in the Forces.” She swallowed. “I just think you should know.”

Would he show impatience, disappointment, or annoyance that she’d wasted his time?

He met her gaze and held it. Then his lips curved in a smile, which she couldn’t help but echo. “Fair enough,” he said before turning to continue along the road.

She paused, confused. “You...you still want to walk?”

His mischievous eyes taunted her. “You’re talking as if I’m only after one thing.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have any food on me.”

He laughed. “I’d much rather spend time with you, even though you’ve given me the brush off, than go back to the party.”

She fell into step beside him. “You don’t like parties?”

“I’m not keen on large groups of people. I’m a solitary kind of guy.”

“Bit odd being in the Army, isn’t it? Don’t you all shower together and stuff?”

He gave her an amused look.

“Okay, maybe that’s a dream I had once,” she said.

He chuckled. “I’m not in it for the social aspect. It’s a career. They paid for all my university fees, it’s a good wage, and when I eventually come out I’ll have no trouble getting a job. It’s a fantastic career for any guy.”

“I suppose.” In spite of her reservations, curiosity made her itch to question him. “How many ways can you kill a man?”

“I dunno. How many do I need?”

She nudged him with her elbow. “Come on, tell me stuff. Can you get stones out of horses’ hooves?”

“I believe you’re thinking of the boy scouts.”

“So you’re an expert on jet engines and meteorology?”

“That’s the Air Force.”

“Okay, how many knots do you know?”

He sighed. “That’s the Navy. I thought you said your dad was in the Army?”

“He was. I’m teasing you.” She winked at him. “I guess you wear camouflage and do all those strange hand signals you see in the movies—you know, so the enemy doesn’t hear you talking?”

“Sometimes. I can think of a few that might be appropriate now.”

She laughed. “I can tell you don’t have a sister. You’re not used to being teased.”

“I’m glad I don’t have one—if she was anything like you, I’d probably have strangled her.”

“Oh come on. You must be used to women being fascinated by the soldier thing.”

He shrugged.

“It must be a bit like a girl saying she’s an underwear model,” she said.

He laughed. “I suppose.”

“Don’t you like talking about it?”

“Not much. It’s a major part of my life, but it’s not everything, you know? When I’m not there, I like to talk about other things.”

“Fair enough.” She could understand that—she wasn’t keen on talking about teaching when she wasn’t at school.

They walked quietly for a while, and she took the opportunity to study him surreptitiously. The sleeves of his black T-shirt stretched tight across his huge biceps, and he exuded masculinity. Suddenly she understood the term “alpha male”. This guy would definitely be the leader of any pack.

Briefly, she let herself wonder what it would be like to go to bed with someone like him. Lee had been the polar opposite to Hamish—slender, not much taller than her, fair-haired, quiet, and gentle. Sex had been pleasant and fulfilling, but they’d never set the sheets alight. There’d only been one other guy before him, and that hadn’t been brilliant either. Hamish McIntyre would be a devil in bed. Sexuality oozed from him, evident in his confidence, his sense of humor, and his sexy smile. What would it be like to be loved by a man like that?

Wait a minute.
He’s in the Army, Rose...

“How long are you here in New Zealand?” she asked.

“Three weeks.”

“Oh.” She looked out to sea. They should really return to the party. Spending even a second more in this man’s company was going to lead to trouble.

At that moment, however, they rounded the bend, a short distance from the fish and chip shop. Hamish glanced at her. “Fancy something to eat?”

“Er...”
Rose! You have to go back! Make an excuse!
“Your brother will wonder where you’ve gone.”

“No, he won’t. He’ll be three sheets to the wind by now. He’ll have forgotten all about me.”

“Bev will worry.”

He gave her his sexy smile. “No, she won’t. She knows you’re with me.”

“She doesn’t—I didn’t tell her before we left.”

“Honey, I told her that when you turned up, I’d be whisking you off somewhere. She’ll know where you’ve gone.”

Rose stopped and frowned at him. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that. I’m nothing special—I’m just a schoolteacher.”

“A very
sexy
schoolteacher.”

“I...” Something in that smile took all her words away. “I’m not sexy,” she protested weakly.

He took her hand. “Clearly you’ve not looked in a mirror lately. Sweetheart, you were the prettiest girl at that party. By a long shot. Hence me smuggling you out before the other guys got a good look at you. Now come on, I’m hungry. We’ll eat hoki and chips on the beach and I’ll even treat you to a beer—how romantic’s that?”

She laughed. His enthusiasm lifted her spirits, and besides, she
didn’t
want to go back to the party. Foolish it may be, but she liked being with him. She wanted to get to know him better.

Chapter Five

So she let him buy her the battered hoki, and they went to the shop next door and bought a couple of beers. They took it all onto the beach and sat on a couple of rocks to eat it, burning their fingers on the hot flakes of white fish, and scattered the remains for the seagulls to pick up. Afterward, they walked slowly back along the beach and talked about everything under the sun—literature, films, music, anything that took their fancy.

When they drew level with Bev’s house, Hamish led her up onto the road again. They skirted the house, rejoined the beach a few hundred yards later, and continued south along the sand as the sun set and turned the sea orange and pink. They walked slowly, still talking, while the music from the party echoed along the sand.

It turned cool, so he helped her on with her jacket, and when he took her hand afterward she didn’t complain. His gentle, firm grip warmed hers, and she didn’t miss the brush of his thumb across her knuckles.

When they reached her parents’ house, he stopped. “My folks’ house is just along there. Eamon’s on shift tomorrow, so my mum and dad are taking him back tonight. Want to come down for a glass of wine?”

She hesitated, knowing what that meant. “I...shouldn’t.”

He turned her to face him. “Just for a drink, honey. I won’t push anything. I didn’t ask you for a walk with the intention of talking you into bed the first night we met. It’s just...” He paused and glanced at the moon that had started to rise above the horizon. “I don’t want the day to end.”

“I know,” she agreed shyly. “Me neither.”

“Then come for a drink.”

It was her turn to look at the moon. She didn’t want the lovely evening to finish. But it would be a mistake to go with him.

And yet...she was tired of being sensible. Of taking the safe route, of being alone. He wasn’t offering love and marriage and forever, just companionship and conversation and today. And maybe, if things went the way she thought they might, a warm body to hold as the moon circled the sky. Was that really so terrible?

It wasn’t terrible, but it
was
alien to her. She’d never had a one-night stand, never slept with anyone she hadn’t dated for at least a few months. Hamish had probably had lots of girlfriends and plenty of one-night stands. She supposed it should turn her off, make her wary of going anywhere near him. But something within her hungered for him, for a night where she could forget who she was, forget about Lee, and play the unfamiliar role of lover with abandonment. The thought excited her, made her heart pound and the blood race around her body.