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‘I’m sorry about that, Ames. It happened so suddenly. And anyway, there’s no need to be embarrassed. You had a crush on him years ago. He probably doesn’t even remember anything about it…or…anything else. And he wouldn’t even care. You know Luke—keep the peace, stay cool, never let anyone know what you think.’
‘Yeah…’
That had been Luke eight years ago. She’d fallen over herself back then to get him to notice her. That night with that horrible guest had been all about trying to make Luke jealous. She’d been trying for months to get him to notice her but he hadn’t. All Luke had wanted to do was work and haul her into his office to tell her off every time she bent a staple.
The old Luke would never have apologised. The old Luke would have said nothing. He’d have let her walk away. She knew his theory—not my monkeys, not my circus.
But tonight he hadn’t let her walk away. He was different. He looked different. Older. Harder. Stronger. Sexier. Amy bit her bottom lip as she sneaked another glance at him. That same strong jaw—only now wider. That same thick dark hair—shorter, but still with a hint of wave. His skin wasn’t as tanned, and he’d put on weight, but she could tell that underneath that suit he was all muscle.
He had taken off his jacket now and was laughing at something Brodie said as he rolled up his sleeves. His large forearms strained against the fabric and heat settled in Amy’s core. Her skin tingled. Even after eight years she still found him attractive. She still wanted him more than any other man she’d ever wanted. Even Laurie.
A flush of heat passed across Amy’s forehead and am ache rushed to the back of her neck. She’d never forgotten Laurie’s tears at the airport when she’d left Melbourne. But she’d had to go. She hadn’t been in love with him any more. She’d known she was breaking his heart by leaving, but she hadn’t been able to keep on lying and saying everything was fine. She hadn’t wanted to be with him any more. She’d been healed. She’d needed to move on.
But now, as she looked at Luke, she wondered if she really had.
The night wore on, as many of their nights together did. Full of laughter and stories that started with, ‘Do you remember that one time…?’
Normally Amy would be at the centre. Her stories the loudest and most animated, with just a hint of exaggeration to make everyone laugh. But tonight Luke’s presence made her retreat a little. She worried about what he thought. She couldn’t help it. Even after all this time and eight birthdays she still wanted him to like her.
‘So what else have you been up to, Amy? Besides work? Cause that’s all you seem to do, according to these guys.’
Luke was looking much more relaxed after an hour of so of drinking and swapping insults with Scott and Brodie. He’d edged closer to her, so now his knee was just inches from hers.
Amy was feeling the effects of the tequila and the vodka. She’d relaxed and was enjoying taking a back seat for once. Instead of being the one who was always up and down getting drinks, or moving between conversations, she was sitting back and enjoying watching her friends have fun.
‘Having fun. Keeping this lot entertained. You know what it’s like—there’s always a party to go to or someone wanting a piece of you.’
Amy smiled. She loved her life. She loved being busy, and having a big circle of friends was important to her. At first coming to Sydney had been hard. She’d been used to being part of a big group of family and friends in Melbourne and she’d found herself all alone. That was until she’d moved in with Jess and started to go out—and then, when she’d run into Willa by chance one night in a restaurant restroom, her social life had become manic.
Catching up with the guys from Weeping Reef was almost a full-time job—they’d all aged, and their relationships had definitely changed, but one thing hadn’t. This group loved to party.
‘I know what that’s like. It isn’t easy, being pulled in a dozen different directions. Do you miss home? How are your parents? And your brother—Antony? Does he still have all his animals?’
Amy’s brow furrowed and she leaned back a little. ‘You remember my brother?’
Luke had never met Antony. She hadn’t remembered ever telling Luke about him, and even if she had it was impressive that he could remember after all that time.
‘Sure. You told me about his obsession with saving animals. I remember you saying that every time he came home from school he had another injured animal in his backpack.’
Amy laughed. That was her little brother. When they were young their family home had always housed at least a dozen animals Antony had rescued and nursed back to health.
‘He’s a vet now—which was no surprise to anyone. At least that means the animals stay at the clinic and don’t come home. Although I was talking to Mum the other night and she said Antony had lobbed up with a wallaby for her to feed while he went away for the weekend.’
Luke smiled and his eyes crinkled. Amy watched it. She watched the way his mouth broke out into that smile.
‘So you still talk to your parents a lot?’
‘Not as much as I’d like.’ Amy stared into her half-full drink. ‘I miss them. They’re crazy and loud, and Mum is always trying to force me to try some new recipe that contains the latest “superfood”, or get me to drink things like chlorophyll and whatever else she’s read on the internet. But they’re…you know…home.’
‘Home.’
Amy met Luke’s eyes and they were locked on her. She’d felt him watching her for most of the night. As if he wanted to keep her in his sights. He was probably afraid she was going to do something stupid again, as she’d had a habit of doing when she was eighteen.
‘Where’s home for you these days, Luke? Willa tells me you’re some millionaire, swanning around on yachts with a different gorgeous woman on your arm every night. A hotel magnate, or something.’
Luke let out a whisper of a laugh. ‘Willa makes it sound much more fun than it is. Home for me is wherever work is. It’s been Singapore for the last two years. I started a new development there and I’ve been trying to get it off the ground. The Singaporean government are usually easy to deal with when it comes to western investment, but for some reason they dragged their tails with this one…’ Luke smiled and looked away. ‘But you don’t want hear about that.’
He straightened his spine and rested his hand on his knee. Amy watched as his fingers spread. Long, thick fingers. The alcohol was clearly taking hold, because all she wanted to do was reach out and lace her fingers through his. Feel the warmth of his skin.
Really bad idea, Amy scolded herself. Not Luke.
Amy had met a few hot men in Sydney to relieve the pressure, but she’d found it difficult to meet someone she was interested in dating. She’d found it difficult ever since Laurie, really. The men she met seemed interested in her looks and where she lived, but she hadn’t actually met anyone interested in her.
‘Sure I do. My new account is with a hotel chain, so I’d love to hear about your work, actually. I have absolutely no idea about the industry, so I’ll be hanging off your every word hoping you let some juicy PR secret out.’
Truth was, she liked to listen to him talk. He was one of those rare men who actually had something to say.
‘Feel free to drop in to my office here in Sydney any time and talk to my PR. Tonight I don’t want to talk shop, though. I just want to get drunk and relax.’
The booze had relaxed him, but for the first time Amy noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He ran a hand absently thought his hair. He looked tired and worn. Something he’d never looked eight years ago. Weeping Reef had been his first proper management job and back then he’d taken it very seriously. You didn’t step out of line when Luke was in charge or you were out.
‘Hard day at the office, dear?’ Amy teased, and Luke glanced her way with a smile.
‘Hard few years, more like it.’
‘So does that mean your home is here now…for a while?’
Amy didn’t want to sound anxious, but she was. Although she knew she could never be with Luke the way she wanted, the idea of him being close was strangely comforting.
‘For a while.’
He smiled directly at her. That killer smile he’d used on the island when things had been going well.
‘Good.’
‘Why’s that good?’ His green eyes darkened.
Amy couldn’t help it. She shifted forward till their knees touched. She just wanted him to know. She wasn’t sure if it was the tequila or loneliness or nostalgia, but she wanted Luke to know that she was glad he was staying and that her foolish girlish heart still found him hotter than a car bonnet on a summer’s day.
‘It’s good because it might be nice having you around. I’ve kind of missed having you tell me what to do, and criticising my work, and the way you used to say, “Not again, Lollipop.”’
He laughed out loud when she lowered her voice to mimic the way he spoke.
‘I did used to say that a lot, didn’t I?’
‘At least once a day. You were a horrible boss.’
‘I was a very tolerant boss, if I remember, and you were a terrible receptionist.’
‘I was the resort’s greatest asset.’
‘You certainly knew how to keep the guests entertained.’
Amy stilled.
‘Don’t go getting all offended again, Lolli. You know I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was that our rebooking rate was one hundred per cent because of you and the way you kept in touch with every guest—emailing them about special deals and sending them postcards saying we all missed them on the island. Those ideas were marketing genius. If you’d put that much effort into filing your paperwork maybe you wouldn’t have had to spend so much time in my office.’
Amy laughed. ‘Maybe I stuffed up the filing because I wanted to spend more time in your office.’
She winked and Luke’s brow furrowed.
‘What…?’
‘You know…’
‘Know what?’
‘About my mad crush on you.’
‘Yeah, right. I think you may have had a mad crush on just about everyone back then.’
‘Maybe. But you were my maddest. And don’t say you didn’t know. I practically threw myself at you. How about the way I used to wear my shirts unbuttoned almost to my belly button?’
‘Yeah, you did. I was forever telling you to dress yourself properly.’
‘And all those after-hours bar dances. They never happened when you weren’t there.’
‘Sure they did.’
‘No. They didn’t. I could tell you about a hundred times when I embarrassed myself, trying to get you to notice me—but you never did, did you?’
‘Sure I did. I noticed. I noticed an extremely pretty girl who had a lot of growing up to do.’
‘Well, I’m all grown-up now.’
‘Yes, you are.’
They sat like that for minutes—too many minutes.
Then Chantal and Brodie called from the other end of the table. They were leaving. Amy pulled her eyes from Luke’s and checked her phone. Midnight. She had to go into work tomorrow—she really should think about going home too. But something about Luke made her want to stay. She wanted to be close to him, to be near him. He made her feel…something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Something comfortable and warm and exciting all at the same time.
‘We’re moving on, Ames—you coming?’
Willa stood to leave. She and Rob and the others would probably end up at Milly’s—the nightclub around the corner where they often partied until daylight.
‘Not tonight, Wills. I have to get up and work tomorrow. I think I might have to call it a night.’
‘What?’ Jess was very drunk. Her hair had come loose and she’d spent the last ten minutes hugging everyone in the bar goodbye. ‘No! Come on, McCarthy—we’re going out!’
‘No—no, I’m not.’
Those words were hard to say, and they tasted strange coming out of her mouth. But she had to say them. Despite wanting to kick the party on with Jess, and despite the irresistible pull towards Luke. She was a grown-up now. Her bosses really were expecting her to nail this account, and she really couldn’t let them down. She had to leave.
‘You can’t go home alone, Ames…’
‘I’m a big girl, Willa.’
‘I know, but you really shouldn’t travel by yourself.’
Amy rolled her eyes. She’d managed to get herself around Sydney every day and night for the last nine months, but Willa still worried about her. It was sweet, but unnecessary.
‘She won’t be travelling by herself. I’ll take her home.’
Amy’s head whipped round at the sound of Luke’s deep voice.
‘No, Luke. You don’t have to do that…’
‘Yes. I do. If you think I’m letting you find your own way home at midnight in the city then you’re drunker than I thought.’
Amy wasn’t drunk at all. Not by her usual standards, anyway. She was sober enough to realise that having Luke take her home was safer than going alone. But she was also sober enough to realise that she was drunk enough to maybe throw herself at him, given half the chance. And she didn’t want to do that.
And then he stood and rose up before her like a Viking, all tall and strong and broad…
Where had that association come from? Maybe she was drunker than she’d thought. She let her eyes drop and they rested right on him. On the part of his body she was most curious about. Slowly she licked her lips. She’d fantasised so many times about sex with Luke. Would he be gentle and accommodating? Or would he throw her against the wall, make her shut up and have his dirty way with her? She couldn’t decide which one she wanted first, but she suspected that she wanted to try them all.
Slowly Amy’s gaze rose to meet his eyes. ‘I don’t need a chaperon any more, Luke, I’ve managed to take care of myself quite well over the past eight years.’
‘Well, maybe I do.’
Amy stilled. What did that mean? Luke hadn’t left her side all night, and she’d noticed him looking at her. She wasn’t an idiot. She knew there was something there. An attraction. The old Luke would have ignored it, but the new Luke seemed a little different. A little more aware of his feelings and more prepared to deal with them. She wondered what he’d do with his feelings for her…
Ten seconds later she had her answer. ‘Get your coat, Amy—we’re going home. Together.’
It didn’t take long to find a taxi. The night was hot, and people were careening noisily down the laneways of the inner city suburb, but the taxis were out in full force, picking up the Friday night revellers as they moved from bar to club.
Amy slipped into the seat and Luke followed, sitting a little too close, pressing his big leg up against hers.
The ride to Amy’s flat in Bondi was silent, but the air was filled with tension. Every movement, every sigh, every look put Amy on alert. The buildings sped past on the main roads, but as they got closer to the beachside suburb the taxi slowed down to navigate the twisty turns of the narrow streets and the plethora of speed bumps that littered the way.
Luke wasn’t looking at her, but his leg was still pressed up against hers. She felt it, hard and definite. The rocking of the taxi was lulling her and letting the alcohol settle in her blood. She felt content. Safe. Safer than she had in months. Ever since she’d left Melbourne and Laurie.
But sitting in the taxi with Luke was nothing like sitting with Laurie. Not even in the beginning. She and Laurie had met through their parents, and he had been just what she’d needed at the time. He’d adored her. He’d thought she was the most beautiful, wonderful person ever to grace the earth and had expressed to her constantly how lucky he was.
He’d soothed her soul. He’d brought back her happiness. And she was grateful to him. But one day she’d realised she just wasn’t in love with him any more. And she’d wanted out.
Laurie had bent over backwards, trying to get her to change her mind. And she’d tried to stay with him—she really had. She’d tried to convince herself that it was just a rough patch.
But one night she’d gone out with some workmates and kissed someone else and it had been then that she’d realised staying wasn’t fair on either of them.
