Six Naughty Nights: Love in Reverse, Book 2 (26 page)

She dressed quickly in the jeans and T-shirt she’d arrived in, fighting back tears, then grabbed his comb from the table and tugged it through her hair. This was stupid. They were supposed to be having fun—there was no point in going on with the Naughty Nights game if she was going to get all deep and meaningful every time they had sex.

She slipped on her sandals and turned, catching her breath automatically at the sight of him leaning against the doorjamb. She pressed a hand to her chest. “You made me jump.”

He said nothing. He’d dressed and looked hot and sexy with his ruffled, fucked-you-five-minutes-ago hair. His intense gaze made her heart continue to pound at the thought of how commanding he’d been, and how easily he’d controlled her desire, arousing her at his own pace. Against her will, muscles deep inside her clenched.

She walked toward him crossly, intending to slip past him.

He put an arm up onto the other side of the doorway as she reached him, forcing her to stop. His other hand slid to her hip, and he pushed her against the wall, towering over her, intimidating with his superior height and the breadth of his shoulders.

“It’s time to go,” she said, and swallowed.

“Don’t over-think it,” he murmured as if he hadn’t heard her. “It’s just sex.”

Something in his slightly distant gaze made her think he wasn’t talking to her. Was he trying to convince himself?

He lowered his head and kissed her, a sweet, lingering, gentle kiss that nevertheless made her heart pound and her knees weak as she wondered if he was going to start all over again. But he lifted his head and gave her a slight, sad smile before turning and taking her hand to lead her to the front door. “Come on,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Let’s go and get our son.”

Chapter Thirty

“No,” Faith said for the eleventh time. “Still not right.”

Esther gritted her teeth and stared at her reflection in the shop mirror. “What’s wrong with this one? I like the colour.”

“Yeah, the green’s nice, but it’s just not…I don’t know. What do you think?” Faith quirked a brow at Eve.

The two girls were sitting on a bench in the women’s changing rooms, assessing Esther’s choice of dress every time she came out of the cubicle.

“No,” Eve agreed. “It’s not The One.”

“I want to wear it, not marry it,” Esther grumbled as she returned to the changing room. It had been a tiring, frustrating afternoon. The two friends had taken her to Whangarei, a small city an hour from Kerikeri with a couple of department stores and lots of boutique dress shops, to look for an outfit for Esther to wear to the wedding on Saturday. So far, however, they’d disagreed with everything she’d tried on, and her patience was wearing thin. Shopping was not her favourite activity.

“What’s next?” Faith called.

“I’m through this lot. I might have one more look on the racks,” Esther called back. She slipped on her jeans and vest, glad she hadn’t worn anything thicker. It was even more humid than usual, in spite of the fact that March would have its autumnal claws on the country farther south.

She came out carrying the half a dozen items she’d already tried, and the two girls took them from her. “We’ll hang these back up,” Eve said. “You go see if there’s anything else out there that takes your fancy.”

“I feel guilty doing this,” Esther protested, not for the first time. “I should be helping you shop, not the other way around.”

“I told you—I have everything I need for the big day,” Eve said. “Besides, I want to see Toby’s eyes light up when you walk through the door in the right outfit.”

Faith gave Eve a sharp nudge in the ribs and she winced. Esther looked away. As much as she kept trying to tell herself she wasn’t dressing up for Toby, she couldn’t deny that every time she put on a dress, her first thought was “Will he like it?” It made her both excited and sad at the same time.

She wandered into the shop, disconsolate, not wanting to think about the future. The purpose of this expedition was to buy an outfit for a wedding, and she wouldn’t think any further than that.

Browsing slowly, she tried to think about nothing except the clothes and what might look good on her figure. The trouble was that she hated dressing up and felt uncomfortable in anything too fancy. Faith and Eve had got her to try on all manner of flouncy gowns, but nothing had fitted right. But what else could she wear to a wedding? She wanted something special—something she felt at ease in.

She picked up a cream two-piece that had a nice shimmer to it, and a short black dress that was a little staid but had some pretty shaping around the collar, as well as a burgundy-coloured longer dress that had a rather boring top but a pretty flowing skirt. She couldn’t imagine either of the two girls would approve of any of them, but she was getting tired and didn’t have the stamina for many more shops.

And then her gaze fell on a dress at the back of a rack. There was only one, but she pulled it out and saw it happened to be in her size. What luck! She held it up and caught her breath. It had a halter neck, a mermaid-style flare at mid-thigh and reached to a few inches below her knees. The label declared the colour as “hunter”, a deep turquoise, slightly more green than blue. The label also told her it was made of “elastic woven satin”, and she could see it would cling to her curves, leaving little to the imagination. She wouldn’t be able to wear a stitch under it.

Toby would love it.

She bit her lip and her hand hovered over the rack, ready to put it back. It wasn’t her at all. She shouldn’t choose something just because Toby would like it.

But Eve’s words rang in her ears:
I want to see Toby’s eyes light up when you walk through the door in the right outfit.
She wanted to see that too, she thought, hating herself for thinking it, but honest enough with herself to admit it. And anyway, what was wrong with it really? Perhaps he’d realise what he’d turned his back on all those years ago. Stubbornness surged through her, and she folded the dress over her arm. Maybe he’d have to accept he’d done the wrong thing in deciding not to see her again. That would serve him right.

Faith and Eve were sitting on the bench when she returned to the changing rooms. She locked the cubicle and tried the cream two-piece on first, bursting into giggles as she realised she couldn’t get the buttons done up over her boobs. She came out to show the others and they all giggled when Eve said, “Yeah, that’ll get him going!”

She went back into the cubicle, removed the cream suit and took the turquoise dress off the hanger. She hesitated for a moment, then removed her bra before slipping the dress over her head. It fell past her knees in a rustle of satin, cool on her skin as she zipped up the back. She smoothed her hands down it, liking the sensual feel of the material. She could imagine the way Toby’s eyes would widen when he realised she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. How his eyes would darken when he pulled her to him and ran his hands over her butt…

“Come on,” Faith said impatiently. “Don’t be a chicken—show us.”

Esther opened the door hesitantly, hoping the two girls wouldn’t pull a face and declare she’d made a mistake again. To her delight, approval lit their faces immediately.

“Wow!” Eve jumped up and came over to her. “Oh my God, Esther, that looks fabulous.”

“You think?” Esther twirled in front of the mirror, and the mermaid skirt fanned out.

“Absolutely,” Faith grinned. “The best yet. Jeez, you have a fantastic figure—that fabric really shows it off.”

“And the colour’s perfect,” Eve added.

Esther smiled shyly. She opened her mouth to ask whether they thought Toby would like it, but stopped herself at the last minute. She didn’t want them to know how much she longed for his approval and admiration.

As Eve carried the unused items back to the rails, however, Faith leaned forward and whispered, “He’ll love it, no question, Esther. Great choice.”

Esther’s cheeks grew warm, and she dropped her gaze as she slipped back into the cubicle to change. But she couldn’t deny the glow of pleasure that spread through her at Faith’s words.

Their purchases complete, the girls made their way to a nearby coffee shop and treated themselves to a latte and a muffin to keep their strength up.

“I’m going to get big as an elephant,” Faith muttered as she tucked in to hers. “Rusty says we must be having sextuplets because I’m eating enough for seven.”

Esther pulled a face. “Make the most of it—it’s the only time you can have a really good excuse for eating.”

Faith sighed and put down the muffin. “And now I need to pee. The delights of being pregnant. ’Scuse.” She shuffled out of her seat and nipped down to the Ladies’.

Esther exchanged a polite, somewhat awkward smile with Eve as they sipped their coffee. Eve lowered her lashes, examining the chocolate muffin on her plate, and Esther decided to put her out of her misery. “Toby told me about you two,” she said.

Eve blushed to the roots of her blonde hair. “Oh crap. I’m sorry.”

Immediately Esther regretted mentioning it. “Oh God, don’t worry about it. I probably shouldn’t have said anything—I just thought it was bothering you.”

“Not in the way you might think.” Eve drew in the foam of her latte with a spoon. “It was so long ago, Esther, I was only eighteen. And I was pretty drunk. I don’t remember much. He was…convenient, and that’s a terrible thing to say and not fair on him at all. I just needed comfort, and he happened to be there.”

Jealousy surged through her Esther, and she bit her lip. “I understand.”

Eve’s frowned. “I’m not sure you do. It didn’t mean anything, and I know he feels the same. At the time we all joked about it, but we’ve never mentioned it since to each other. I thought you may have heard and, well, I’d hate you to think I was jealous or something, because really, I’m not. I’m marrying Dan, and I’m crazy about him. Toby and I are just friends.” She spoke earnestly.

Esther softened. “I do understand. You and Dan are obviously perfect for each other. I could see at one glance that he loves you very much.”

Eve smiled. “Thank you. The thing is…I’ve known Toby a long time. Charlie’s captivated him—I’ve never seen him so proud of anything.”

Now it was Esther’s turn to blush. “Oh, that’s a nice thing to say.”

“But that’s not all. He’s clearly mad about you too.”

Esther’s smile faded. She glanced over as Faith walked toward them, and lowered her gaze at the other girl’s searching look.

“What’s going on?” Faith demanded, sitting and stirring her latte before taking a sip.

Eve scowled. She’d clearly been warned not to talk about Toby to Esther. “Nothing.”

Faith glared at her. “What have you said?”

“Only that Toby’s bonkers about her.”

Faith rolled her eyes. “Eve, what did I say?”

Esther cleared her throat. “It’s okay. It’s very nice of you to say such a thing, but the point is, whether you’re right or not, it doesn’t really matter. We’re having great fun at the moment, but on Sunday I’m probably heading back down to Christchurch, and that’s going to be that.”

“There’s no hope at all you two could make a go of it?” Faith’s voice held more than a hint of hope.

Esther shook her head firmly. “He’s going to university. It’s a single man’s life—you both know that.”

“Would you want a relationship, if he was interested?” Faith’s brown eyes were curious, and a little bit demanding.

Esther thought how devastated she’d been when he’d walked away from her. She couldn’t go through that again, if at any point he decided he’d had enough. And besides, he still didn’t know about the messages she’d torn up. As soon as he knew the truth, it would be over between them. And she couldn’t live with a lie—she’d have to tell him. She thought of the disappointment that would appear on his face. She couldn’t do that to him. No, things were good the way they were—a bit of lighthearted sex before they moved on with their own lives.

She shook her head and smiled brightly, maybe a little too brightly, judging by Faith’s frown and the pitying look in Eve’s eyes. “No, it’s done. But that’s fine—I’m okay with that. Now come on, I want you to tell me all about the hen night on Friday. Where are we going, and how drunk is Dan going to be the following morning?”

Chapter Thirty-One

“Okay,” Toby said, “tell me about the dress.”

“No.” She grinned impishly. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

“Tease.” But he couldn’t complain overmuch. She was clearly excited at the prospect of wearing her new outfit, and he liked to see her eyes light up and her face glow.

The clock on the dash read five past eight, and he was in the process of driving them to his house. They’d settled Charlie and had a quick drink with Faith and Rusty, and then sneaked out once Charlie’s eyes had closed.

Toby glanced across at the woman sitting next to him. She had one elbow on the windowsill, and her fingers played across her lips while she stared unseeing at the lights of the town as they passed by. In spite of her obvious excitement about her dress, she’d been very quiet, and he wondered what had transpired over the time she’d been with Faith and Eve.

“You’re very secretive today,” he said. “You still haven’t told me what
your
Naughty Night instructions are.”