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He shook his head at her tone. ‘I hope you’re not serious.’
She opened the cupboard and pulled out a tin of baked beans. ‘About which part?’
His cheeky smile reached from ear to ear. ‘About the favourite nightwear part. I’m hoping you’ve got something much more appropriate than that.’
Had he really just said that? He must have because tiny electric sparks were currently shooting down her spine and making her toes curl.
She opened the tin of beans, poured them into a bowl and started to nuke them in the microwave. ‘Why do I think you’re going to be a pain in the neck to have around?’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘You seem to have been hit with a sass attack. Exactly how much wine did you drink?’
‘Obviously not enough.’
‘Wow.’ Reuben mocked being hit in the chest and fell against the wall. ‘What’s happened to you?’
She shrugged. ‘I had an adrenaline surge when I thought someone was breaking in. You know, the old fight-or-flight thing. Then when the police arrived I started to panic.’ She turned the bacon over in the grill pan. ‘Both those things have left me now. It’s late. I planned on being asleep around an hour ago. Instead, I’m playing hostess in a kitchen that isn’t mine and plotting an elaborate lie to tell Caleb about his award.’
She stuck some bread in the toaster and walked back over to the coffee machine. ‘Now, pick your poison or learn how to work this yourself.’
He laughed and walked over next to her. ‘You know, the giant pink teddy bear is losing her appeal.’
‘That’s fine. I never wanted to be a cuddly toy.’ She pressed some buttons and coffee and milk steamed out of the coffee maker.
‘I’ll have what you’re having,’ he said quickly. He obviously didn’t want to miss out on the chance of coffee and would drink anything.
She made another latte, put the bacon on a plate on the middle of the kitchen island and lifted the steaming-hot bowl of baked beans from the microwave. The toast popped and she took the butter from the fridge and put everything down in front of him, handing him a plate and some cutlery and sitting at the other side of the island.
She could feel the intense brown eyes on her again. Part of her wondered what he was thinking. Part of her was too scared to even think that far.
He started buttering his toast. ‘I thought I asked for a sandwich.’ He kept buttering.
She could feel her anger starting to smart. This guy was a royal pain in the neck. The tranquil time she’d expected to get here had been ruined. Two weeks to get her head together and make some plans for when she came back from her holidays—hopefully enough time to secure another tenancy somewhere.
‘I made an executive decision. Bread would be too squishy.’
The edges of his mouth turned upwards. He was trying to keep a straight face. He lifted the bacon onto his toast and grabbed a spoon for the beans. ‘Squishy.’
‘Squishy,’ she said again as she put her bacon in the middle of her toast and spooned some beans onto the side of her plate.
She lifted the toast towards her mouth. ‘Now I’m going to watch you eating that without getting beans all down the front of your white T-shirt.’
‘That sounds like a challenge.’
‘You bet it is.’
* * *
Things were beyond odd. He was beginning to like the pink teddy bear more and more—particularly now she was showing some added spark.
He could tell his mere presence annoyed her. Under normal circumstances he’d probably feel the same way. When Caleb had offered him somewhere to stay while his building work was done he’d been relieved. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have enough money to check into a hotel—he could have done that easily. But then he would have been constantly around people when what he really wanted was some peace and quiet in order to negotiate a deal with a troublesome sports star.
Even though Addison didn’t really approve of him, his days of being a bad boy were more or less over. He just didn’t have enough hours in the day any more.
He watched as Lara poked at her plate with a fork, trying to spear the baked beans individually.
‘Slippery little suckers,’ he said as he tried to hold his sandwich together. She glared at him as he took a bite. After a few seconds he spoke again. ‘Okay, you got me. I’ll admit it. It tastes great.’
She gave a hint of a smile. ‘It is pretty good.’
‘Better than chocolate and wine?’
‘Never.’
This girl was fun. Or she could be fun if she’d just let her guard down a little.
‘So, how did come to be working for Caleb and Addison?’
She sat back on her stool at little and sipped her coffee. ‘I met Addison through a mutual friend. She was looking for a nanny at short notice and I had just got back from Australia.’
‘What were you doing out there?’
She gave a little shrug. ‘I went to see the world but ended up only seeing Perth. I met someone when I got there and ended up working as a nanny for a family there for nearly ten months.’
‘Why did you come back?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘My visa was going to expire and I hadn’t met an Australian I could con into marrying me.’
The more she shot at him the more he liked her. ‘I don’t believe that for a second.’
She shook her head. ‘The guy I met, Josh, was English. Let’s just say I don’t have a good record with guys. If he’s a loser, I’m attracted to him. If he’s a cheat, I can’t spot it. If he’s bad for me in any way, shape or form I seem to fall for him hook, line and sinker.’
Now he was definitely curious. ‘You staying here—is this about a guy?’
She let out a sigh. ‘Let’s just say after today’s Sliding Doors moment it looks like I’m going my dream holiday on my own.’
‘Sliding Doors?’
‘Yes, as in the movie.’
‘Never seen it. What do you mean?’
‘You’ve never seen it?’ She shook her head. ‘Where have you been? The girl gets out of work early and runs to catch the tube. In one version she makes the train, in the other she doesn’t. In the version when she gets home early, she catches her boyfriend in bed with someone else.’
He sat back, bacon and beans forgotten. ‘And that happened to you?’ Maybe he should actually start watching these chick-flick movies.
She sighed again and nodded.
‘Ouch. Blooming fool. Who is he? Do you want me to go and sort him out?’
Her head shot up. She looked surprised. ‘Of course I don’t.’
He shook his head. ‘Oh, please. Don’t tell me you still love the guy?’
She leaned her head on her hands. ‘I’m not sure I ever really did. I just feel as if I’ve got “Mug” stamped across my forehead in big letters. I just shoved everything I could into a case and left.’
‘How long did you stay together?’
‘In London? Just the last six months. I met him when I went travelling to Australia and we rented the flat together when we came back.’ She toyed with her coffee cup. ‘Not that he actually paid any rent. He was...’ she lifted her fingers in the air ‘“...writing” apparently. I guess that wasn’t all he was doing.’
Reuben frowned. ‘And who was the other woman?’
She groaned. ‘The next-door neighbour. I couldn’t even punch her. She’s built like an Amazon and could probably squash me beneath one of her size-eight feet.’
He couldn’t help it. He let out a laugh.
She picked up the dishtowel and flicked it at him. ‘It’s not funny!’ His coffee cup tipped and few dark brown splashes splattered his white shirt.
He looked down. He’d been travelling for hours and was feeling grubby anyway. Perfect
time to change.
He shook his head and started laughing as he undid the buttons. ‘Tell me there’s a washing machine around here somewhere?’ Every white kitchen door looked identical. He had no idea what lay behind any one of them.
Lara had started to laugh but it seemed to die somewhere in her throat. He looked up to see what was wrong. Her eyes were fixed firmly on his chest. It was an automatic reaction. He sucked in his abs—even though he had no need to. He hadn’t even thought twice about taking off his shirt. Maybe she was shyer than he’d thought?
‘Give me a second till I grab a T-shirt,’ he said quickly, walking back out and getting his bag from the hall. He rummaged around and grabbed a black T-shirt, pulling it over his head as he walked back in. ‘Now...’ he smiled ‘...where were we?’
Lara hadn’t moved. It was as if the words were stuck somewhere at the back of her throat. She gave a little shudder and fixed him with her eyes.
