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“No one could imagine this,” Joe muttered.
Together they heaved the heavy wooden bed upright and wedged it against the door.
As Joe got the bed into place, he felt a gentle tug at the sleeve of his shirt and looked down to find Julia beside him.
“What is it?” he said with a smile, worried he’d scare her off.
“You might want to do something about the dumb waiter.” She pointed to what Joe had thought was a built-in closet. “It’s big enough to fit a man and should probably be sealed.”
Her face turned red as she scurried away.
“You know something, Julia?” Joe said as he went to check out the dumb waiter. “You are the only woman in here I’d pick for my team.”
Two more balloons hit him on the back. When he spun around
, lots of suspiciously innocent faces were looking elsewhere.
“Are those condoms?” Caroline came off the sofa. “Our condoms? Those are private. You shouldn’t be touching private things. We shouldn’t even be talking about them!” Her face went beetroot red.
“Take a nice, calming breath,” Kirsty said. “Don’t panic. Everyone in here knows you have sex. It isn’t a secret. After all, you are pregnant. And let’s face it, honey. You don’t really need them right now, do you? Might as well use them for something else.”
“This is so embarrassing,” Caroline said.
“No, it’s not,” Kirsty said. “In fact, everyone will have forgotten all about this by morning. Won’t you?” She glared at the women in the room.
“Forget what?” Shona looked down at the water-filled condom in her hand and faked a gasp. “You mean these aren’t balloons?”
Kirsty rolled her eyes. “Not helping.” She continued to soothe the mortified Caroline.
Sopping wet, Joe yanked open the door to the dumb waiter and stopped dead. Caroline was about to become a whole lot more embarrassed. He really hoped she didn’t flake out on him. He had enough crazy to deal with already.
“Uh, Caroline,” he said. “You want to come explain this?”
There was a moment of silence, then every woman in the room rushed to his side.
19
* Rainne and Alastair *
They were dressed. Their clothes were still damp, but warm from the heat of the fire, something Alastair knew wouldn’t last a second outside in the cold.
“You know, I actually think the snow’s getting heavier.” Rainne turned back from where she was peeking out from behind the blinds.
Alastair grunted as he rifled through the first-aid kit.
“Do you need more painkillers?” Rainne said. “I’m sorry I prodded you. But if you’d listened to reason, I wouldn’t have had to.”
“I’m looking for a lighter, or matches.”
“And you think you’ll find them in the first-aid kit?”
Rainne’s eyes went straight to the shelf with manuals and folders to the right of the fire. She walked over and pulled a box of matches out from beside the books.
He found his eyes glued to the sway of her hips as she walked across the room. Those dark blue denims she wore cupped her curves like a second skin. Even teamed with a fluffy pink jumper and purple moon boots, she was still sexy as hell.
He was a fool for letting these thoughts seep into his brain. An even bigger fool for letting himself notice her. But he couldn’t seem to help it. He put it down to close proximity—there was nowhere else to look. He had no choice but to notice the way her soft brown hair feathered around her oval face. Or the way her long lashes brushed her cheeks when she looked down. And those long, slender legs that ended in a round backside that would make any man salivate.
What the hell was he doing? There were guys out there with guns and he was waxing lyrical about the backside of the woman who’d rejected him. He was an idiot. An idiot who shouldn’t have kissed her. One taste and his mind was filled with the memory of all that was Rainne. The taste of her skin on his tongue. The little gasps of pleasure she made when he touched her. It was all there now, front and centre in his brain. Along with the fragile hope in her voice when she’d asked for a second chance with him.
