I’ve lusted after women before, had irrational crushes on girls way out of my league, but nothing as relentless as this.
I want Vera with every cell in my horny body.
The wedding guests start arriving tomorrow, and thankfully, Vera’s working at the speed of light. She’s repaired three of the damaged rooms and has two to go, which is why I’m giving her space. But once she’s done… I need a date for the wedding, and who better than the gorgeous carpenter?
As if I conjure her up from my thoughts, she strolls onto the beach, wearing a modest black one-piece that shouldn’t make me drool but does. It hugs her curves, and I can’t look away as she struts into the water and dives under. When she resurfaces, she swims towards the rocky outcrop the Spade brothers used to dive off as kids. These days, it’s rare that we’re all on the island at the same time, and it makes me think I need to spend more time with my bozo siblings.
While I’m closest to Kai, he’s on the island more than any of us, so I only get to see him a few months a year. With West based in Brisbane, we catch up for beers once a month, but I always get the impression he’s in a hurry and is only hanging out with me out of obligation. I rarely see Walker, with his high-powered money-making job as an actuary. He could bail us out of our financial difficulties any time he chooses, but he’s never offered and I won’t ask. He sees our accounts—we all do—and if the resort that’s been in our family for decades isn’t enough to inspire him to help, nothing will.
As I mull the possibility of losing the place that means everything to me, Vera strolls out of the sea like a siren, picks up her towel and drapes it over her shoulders, before her gazezeroes in on me. I thought she couldn’t see me from my favourite spot under an ancient palm tree. Guess I thought wrong.
Rather than heading back to her cottage as I expect, she tucks the towel under her armpits and knots it in the front before coming towards me, scuffing sand like a recalcitrant child.
I stand and dust off my butt as she reaches me. “Nice swim?”
“It would’ve been, if I didn’t have a perv watching my every move.”
“Maybe you wanted me to perv on you?”
“Dressed like this?” She gestures at her sedate swimsuit beneath the towel. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m not perving on what you’re wearing.” I smirk as she frowns. “It’s what’s underneath that counts.”
She rolls her eyes. “That’s lame, even for you.”
“Maybe I’m doing my best to entertain you after two long, hard days of work?” I smile. “You’ve done a great job repairing the guest quarters. Thanks.”
“I’m good at what I do.”
Her self-deprecating shrug doesn’t fool me. She’s proud of her work, and so she should be. We’ve had various carpenters on the island over the years as we extended the resort, but none have been as fast as Vera, while producing a quality finish.
“Has Bob been a help?”
She nods. “For a general handyman, he’s excellent with tools.”
“He usually takes care of minor repairs for us. Was my dad’s best mate.”
“He’s one of the good ones,” she says, with a soft smile, and I know the seventy-nine-year-old, who informed me he’s retiring in six months, has charmed Vera as much as he charms everyone in his vicinity.
She’s right. Bob is one of the best people I know, and I can’t imagine not having him on call. After Dad died, he’d been asdistraught as us, but made time to ensure we ate regular meals and invited us fishing—code for talking if we wanted to. In a way, Bob had always been like a second father to me, because after raising my three older brothers, Dad had little time left over for me.
“Are you okay?” Vera touches my arm, and the spark is instantaneous.
“Yeah, just thinking about my dad.”
“I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“You didn’t. I just miss him sometimes, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. My father passed away when I was a kid. Heart attack. Mum didn’t mourn long; she remarried two years later, and had my step-siblings not long after that.”
The hurt in her voice said more than her words.
“You’re not close?”
“Apart from the obligatory visit at Christmas, no. And even those stopped after…” She trails off, pain etched on her face.
I shouldn’t pry, but I can’t help myself. I want to know everything about this enigmatic woman. “After what?”
