Table for Two-epub (7 page)

Four days had passed since she’d rocked his world, and in all that time he hadn’t caught a glimpse of her in the building. His messages remained unanswered, and his attempts to see her ended in futility.

He’d knocked on her door every day after work or when he got back from rugby training, only to have Ava shrug helplessly and tell him Liv wasn’t home. Today was no different.

“She’s still not home, Jimmy.” Ava shot him a sympathetic look.

He arched an eyebrow as he tucked his keys and wallet in his pocket. He’d stopped by their place rather than head straight home, on the off chance Liv would be here. “You sure ’bout that? She’s not hiding in her room, refusing to see me?”

Ava crossed her arms over chest in indignation. “Do you think I’d make up stories for her?”

He scrunched up his forehead and stared at her as though she were nuts. “I have no doubt you would.”

Ava might be going through a rough patch—her confidence had taken a huge knock this past year—but when it came to her friends, she was still as fiercely protective as a mother tiger. Heck, just last month she’d stepped in front of him after a game when a member of the opposition rugby team had hurled abuse his way. The tiny scrap of a woman had stood her ground, demanding the other player, a brute of a man, back off and apologize to James.

To James’s bewilderment, the man had toed the line, offered James an apology
and
requested Ava’s number—all in the same breath.

If Liv had asked her to tell James she was out, Ava would tell James she was out.

She grinned at him. “You’re right. I totally would.” She stepped away from the door, inviting him in. “But in this case, there’s no need. She really isn’t here.”

James took her up on the invitation and collapsed onto one of the cream couches in the lounge room.

Ava curled into the other, drawing her knees and feet up on the cushions.

The room was stunning, decorated in tones of creams and whites, with just enough wisely chosen, colorful paraphernalia and bits and pieces to turn the place into a showcase. James sank into the cushion and instantly his body resisted ever getting up again. The couches were so damn comfortable, they should be illegal.

“If it makes you feel better, I’ve hardly seen her this week either,” Ava said.

It did, but James only grunted in response.

“She’s been leaving at the crack of dawn and coming home after ten every night. I’ve never seen her work this hard. I probably won’t see her tonight either. I’m off to yoga in half an hour.” Ava narrowed her eyes, shooting him an accusing look. “Wait. Is she working, or is she hiding from you?”

A bit of both, he guessed. She probably was chasing her tail trying to fix whatever had gone wrong at the office. But James had little doubt she was also hiding from him—or just downright denying that she’d been responsible for the best damn orgasm of his life. “You live with her, Av. You tell me.”

“Oh no.” She waved a finger side to side for emphasis. “
You
tell
me
. What exactly is going on between the two of you?”

“Going on?”

“Don’t play dumb, mister. Liv stumbled into the flat on Sunday night, half dressed, with her hair messed up and lipstick smeared all around her mouth.” She frowned at him. “Liv never goes out looking anything less than perfect, and I sure as hell have never seen her coming home looking anything less than perfect. Yet, after telling everyone she needed sleep and leaving Chelsea’s with you, she got back here well after midnight, looking like she’d just gone three rounds with the entire Australian cricket team.”

Owing to the fact he’d been semi-comatose following sex so powerful it had knocked him sideways, he hadn’t caught a glimpse of Liv when she’d left. But damn, he would have liked to. In fact, he’d have liked a lot more than just catching a glimpse.

The idea of waking up in the morning with her tucked into his side appealed hugely. Which was a tad confusing, since James had never had any desire to wake up beside Liv before now.

“Are you and Liv an item? Am I going to need to buy ear plugs so I don’t hear things I don’t want to hear in the middle of the night?”

“Things?” James asked.

“Noises. Sex noises. From the two of you.”

“Sex noises?”

“You’re getting off the subject. Are you and Liv an item? Because if you are, I have to phone the others and update them on developments immediately. They’re kind of expecting you to be dead by now. They’d be…interested to find out that Liv was shagging you, not poisoning you.”

James ran a hand through his hair. Ava was always going to give him the third degree, and trying to avoid the questions wouldn’t deter her. She’d just ask a million more.

He gestured to Liv’s bedroom. The door was open, the room dark. “Does it look like Liv and I are an item?”

“You’ve knocked on our door every day looking for her. I’m going to put that under the
Yes
column.”

“And she hasn’t been here any of those times. What column does that go under?”

“Yeah, that’s a definite
No
. But then there’s Liv’s messy arrival home—on top of her failure to return when she said she would—which would be another two votes for the
Yes
column.”

“Do you have a whiteboard? You could draw up a graph to get a visual on the columns.”

“I don’t need a whiteboard, I have a clear visual in my head. And so far
Yes
is leading three to one.”

He chuckled. No wonder the opposition player had asked for her number. Ava might be small, but she packed a mighty punch. “Av,” he said, serious again. “Is she coming home anytime soon?”

“I don’t know, Jimmy. I’ve seen her as little as you have. I’m worried about her, to be honest. She’s been…super stressed lately.”

“Any idea what’s going on?”

“None. And every time I ask, she just turns the conversation back to me.”

Talking about which… “She has a point there. How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“No dodging bullets. I mean how are you really? You doing okay?”

“Why is it any time any one of the Sunday Night Dinner Club gets me on my own, you all get this look in your eyes and want to know how I’m doing?”

“Maybe because we’ve all been around you this last year, and we’re worried about you?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I think you’re all worried I’ll break if you treat me like a normal person.”

James looked her dead in the eye. “Will you?”

“Have I broken so far?”

“No one knows. You keep whatever happened bottled so deep inside, none of us is sure.” It ate up each and every one of them. All the friends knew Ava had gone through hell while married—she just refused to tell any of them exactly what that hell had been. The best they could do was reassure her they were there if she needed them. So far, she hadn’t, but the light that used to shine in her eyes had died, and James missed it.

“I’m fine, Jimmy. Whole and in one piece. If I haven’t broken yet, it’s safe to assume I won’t break in the future either.”

“Hey?”

“Yeah?”

“You know I’m here if you need me. You can break any time, and I’ll help you fit the pieces back together.”

She smiled at him. “I know you are. Thank you. But my pieces are all just fine.”

As they always were. There was nothing more James could do. He nodded and dropped the subject, standing. “Will you let Liv know I was here?”

“Of course. Any messages for her?”

What message could he leave when he wasn’t even sure what he wanted to say? Even if he spoke to her face to face, he had no idea how to put his thoughts into words—or what those thoughts were. All he knew was he wanted to see her again, soon.

His skin itched with the need to lay eyes on her. “Nah. Just let her know I was here.”

“No worries.”

“See you later.” He waved as he let himself out of her unit, then turned to head up to his.

And there was Olivia, walking through the lobby. A jolt seared through his gut as though he’d been struck by a live cable.

“Liv.”

“James.” She looked surprised to see him. “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself.” Jesus, he’d always known Liv was pretty, but he’d never considered her the most beautiful woman in Sydney—until this second. He hitched his thumb over his shoulder, in the direction of her door. “I was just looking for you.”

“You were?”

“Yeah. I figured we should talk.”

The color seemed to drain from her face, and she hesitated before answering. “Can we please not?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Avoiding me, Liv?”

“No.” She shook her head unconvincingly. “I’m exhausted. All I want to do is climb into bed and go to sleep.”

He cast a critical eye over her. She wasn’t lying. Her skin was pale, dark circles shadowed her eyes making them look bruised, and her cheeks were gaunt. To make matters worse, her skirt hung loosely from her hips. If it were possible, she looked even thinner now than she had on Sunday. “When last did you eat?”

Liv shrugged. “Dunno. Lunch. Or breakfast.”

“Today?”

“Yeah.” Liv’s hand fluttered in the air. “Or yesterday.”

He grimaced. “What did you have?”

“Salad. Or toast. Some tea too. Or maybe it was Coke Zero.” Her expression was as vague as her answers.

Fuck. She couldn’t pin down what she’d eaten, never mind when she’d eaten it. Instinct took over. Just like he had four nights ago, he tackled Liv, hauling her up and tossing her over his shoulder. The woman needed a good meal, and if she couldn’t feed herself, he’d do it for her.

“What the…?” she yelped.

Her bag
thunk
ed to the floor, and James crouched to pick it up, hanging it over his other shoulder.

“Put me down.” She smacked his ass, hard.

He headed to the entrance of the building, his entire body aware of the woman draped over him.

“Are you out of your mind? Let go!”

He jogged along the garden path and headed to his ute down the road. The exertion helped to keep his mind off the smooth curve of her bare legs beneath his arm, her kicking feet and the bouncing of her small breasts against his back.

“For God’s sake. Put me down.”

His knee twinged, as it always did when he overexerted himself, but he paid it no heed. He was used to the pain of old rugby injuries. Besides, with any luck, the ache would ease his growing erection.

Lucky Liv had a bird’s eye view of his back, not his front.

“James!” Again she smacked his ass, only this time it was with both hands, and he suspected she’d balled them into fists.

The combined pain of her attack and his knee had no effect on his burgeoning erection. James suspected nothing would soften his cock where she was concerned. He’d pretty much been hard, on and off, the whole fucking week.

“
Blech
,” she griped. “Gonna…throw…up.”

James wasn’t worried. Liv had nothing in her stomach to throw up. He tackled the last few meters of the walk.

She bit him. Dug her teeth into his waist and bit.

“Jesus. That hurt.” He reached the ute and set her back on her feet with a groan.

She wavered, and he immediately wrapped an arm around her waist so she wouldn’t fall.

Liv punched him in the stomach.

The breath left him in a whoosh. For such a slight woman, she packed a hefty punch.

“Damn it, don’t you do that again. Ever.” She shook out her fingers as though she’d hurt them. “Now I have to walk all the way back to the building.”

“Not a chance.” He steered her to the passenger door, and because he outweighed her by a good fifty kilos, Liv had no choice but to scamper alongside him. “You’re getting into my car, and we’re going to put food in your belly.”

“No, we’re not.” She twisted, trying to get out of his hold. “I’m going home to sleep. There’s plenty of food in my flat. I’ll find something there.”

He tightened his arm. “Until I see you’ve eaten a decent meal, you’re not going anywhere. Quit wriggling and walk with me. It’ll be easier for everyone.”

“You’re treating me like I’m a pesky kid.” She pinched his forearm.

His skin stung. “You’re
acting
like a pesky kid.”

“James.” She stopped walking, and so did he. Something in her tone got to him. Probably the undisguised desperation tinged with fatigue. “I really just want to go to sleep.”

“And I promise I’ll let you—I’ll even tuck you into bed—as soon as I’ve seen you eat a meal.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Yeah, I get that. But you’re going to make yourself sick if you keep up with the hunger strike.”

“Food holds no appeal.” Her stomach growled, contradicting her words.

“Apparently.” He gave her a wry frown. “I promise not to keep you out long. You’ll be home by nine and then you can sleep to your heart’s content. Just for now, humor me. Have dinner. Okay?”

Her belly rumbled again, and her shoulders sagged. “Fine. Whatever.”

“Good.” And with the argument settled, James helped her into the front seat and drove her to the Blue Monkey, a Thai restaurant in Rosebay, five minutes from the flat.

“Table for two?” the hostess asked when they arrived.

James nodded, struck by the idea that this was the first time he and Liv had dined alone in years. Probably since their uni days. And even then, he wasn’t sure grabbing a cup of coffee or a sandwich between lectures or sharing hot chips while studying counted as dining alone.

They ordered pad Thai for him and a green curry for Liv, and James got spring rolls, crab cakes and jasmine rice for good measure. He would have asked for a gin and tonic for Liv, but figured alcohol probably wasn’t a great idea if Liv hadn’t eaten for days. They settled for lemon, lime and bitters instead.

“Since when do you make it a practice to kidnap your neighbors?” Liv asked as the waitress walked off.

“It’s not kidnapping when there’s genuine concern involved. I’m worried about you.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

He flashed her a
do you think I’m stupid?
look.

Liv glared. “My sleeping with you once doesn’t give you the right to barge in and take control of my life.”