Page 17

“Joel!” I called out. He turned, water still trickling down his washboard stomach. “Come back – we haven’t finished training.”

He sighed, but half smiled as he dove elegantly back in, swimming underwater until he surfaced right in front of me. I moved back – my boobs were touching his chest, which was just way too personal.

I turned to the others. “Sorry, guys, we’ll only be another twenty minutes or so.”

Amanda shrugged and hopped back out of the pool, Thomas in hot pursuit, but Brad looked from Joel to me, his brows furrowing ever so slightly.

Ben stepped in to save the day. “Hey mate, come on, let’s leave the professionals to do their thing. I’ll get you all a beer.”

Brad gave me a tiny nod and swam to the steps. I threw Ben a grateful smile. He winked at me.

I turned back to Joel, who set the pace for another twenty minutes of solid swimming that left me shaking at the end. Joel, hardly even puffing, grinned wickedly at me. Damn he had some stamina.

Sandra invited my friends to stay for dinner.

She’d put together a buffet of foods – salads, cold meats, sweet potato bake.

Brad looked like he was in seventh heaven; his parents rarely ate at home, so I think most of the time he existed on pizza and two-minute noodles.

He grinned at me around a mouthful of food .

I watched with a warm heart as Thomas took Amanda’s hand and smiled at her. He seemed smitten; it was adorable.

We watched the sun set on the harbour, letting our food settle. When it was dark, Joel jumped up, rubbing his hands together.

“Okay, Ben, let’s see how you fare against a pro.” Joel sounded way too keen for this match. I wondered what he had up his sleeve. I went inside to change. Amanda followed me.

“So … this Thomas guy seems nice,” I commented, climbing the stairs to my bedroom. A smile split Amanda’s face.

“He’s amazing!” she gushed. “He works in IT, he has a really cute apartment, he’s –”

“You’ve seen his apartment?” I exclaimed. “Amanda, are you two …”

She flushed prettily, flicking a strand of blonde hair out of her face. “Of course not! You know I’m saving the V card for my husband.”

I opened the bedroom door.

“Oh, Connor’s here!” Amanda commented. The cat circled her ankles – he had a soft spot for Amanda, being his designated feeder whenever I was out of the country.

She picked him up and held him to her as I stripped out of my now dry swimmers and pulled out a sports bra, singlet and some training shorts.

“You look like you’ve moved in here, Mel – your stuff’s everywhere,” she commented lightly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. I avoided her gaze.

“Yeah, I’ve been staying here lately. It’s just easier, with training and all, to be close to Joel. And you have no idea how hard it was to be alone in my apartment after …”

“Smell, you don’t have to justify it to me – I can’t even imagine … But tell me, is there something going on between you and Joel?”

I glared at her. “Joel’s my trainer, and I guess sometimes I would call him a friend. But no, just, no ! I couldn’t go there!”

“Couldn’t, or wouldn’t?” she asked quietly, not looking away from Connor.

I grabbed my socks, ankle brace and shoes. “Wouldn’t. End of conversation. ”

She shrugged and put Connor back down on the bed. He yowled once and pranced up to my pillow, settling down for the night.

Back out on the deck I tugged the brace onto my ankle. Joel knelt, his big hands sweeping over my ankle to check the brace position.

“Don’t overdo it, Stink,” he muttered.

“I won’t,” I promised him as I tied my shoes.

“And go easy on Ben, okay? He’s your warm-up tonight. You’ll need it.” He smirked. Yep, he had some agenda he wasn’t telling me about. I scowled at him.

“You’re so cute when you’re annoyed, Stinky,” he teased, tweaking my nose, which only frustrated me more.

“Hey, we might go,” Brad said, as Amanda and Thomas gathered their things.

“No, it’s okay, it’s just a friendly match, you’re welcome to stay and watch,” I replied, standing up and stretching. Brad shook his head.

“That’s okay – you’ll want to get a good night’s sleep before you leave tomorrow.” Brad kissed me on the cheek. I flung my arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

“Good luck in Dubai, Smellie. Knock ’em dead!” he whispered into my ear, his arms circling my waist.

“Thanks Brad. I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Promise?” he asked, leaning back and holding his pinkie finger up to me. I clasped it with my own.

“Promise.”

I hugged Amanda goodbye too and Thomas stepped forward, offering a timid hand for me to shake.

I grinned. “Hopefully I’ll get to see you again when I’m back in the country,” I said, gripping his hand.

“I … I’m around as long as Amanda will have me,” he stammered. Aw, he really was adorable!

Ben, Joel and I made our way down to the court.

Joel flicked a switch, flooding the court with bright white light.

I picked up my practice racquet from where I had left it that morning, and Ben picked up the other one.

Joel tossed a ball in my direction. I caught it on my racquet, and taking Joel’s advice, I served the ball slowly to Ben.

He missed. Not only did he miss, he tripped over in the process of missing. Joel snorted quietly. I gave him a sharp glance, and he passed me another ball.

Ben missed every serve, so I offered him the ball to serve.

He served it into the net. Seven times in a row. The eighth time he actually got it over the net and into the service box. I returned it and he hit the ground with the racquet. It ricocheted up into his face, slicing him above the eye.

As he slumped off the court, pressing the heel of his hand to the cut on his forehead, I couldn’t even really call it a game. I wasn’t sure what to call it.

“Sorry, Mel. That wasn’t a good practise for you. I told you I missed the sport gene.” Ben shrugged, still managing a grin even with a bleeding head. He dropped the racquet and walked back into the house to seek out a first-aid kit.

Joel looked so self-satisfied I wanted to slap him.

“You knew he couldn’t play, you let him make a fool of himself!” I accused. Joel laughed, reaching out and picking up the racquet that Ben had relinquished.

“He’s making enough of a fool of himself all on his own. Maybe he would have played better if he wasn’t so busy making goo-goo eyes at you.”

My head snapped towards Joel, who was moving around to the other side of the net, picking up a couple of balls.

“Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?” I asked him sharply.

He pouted at me. “You’d like it to be, wouldn’t you, Stink?”

I grumbled under my breath, but I took my position on the base line. Joel served hard, and all the frustrated thoughts left my mind – I had to concentrate to make sure I didn’t miss the ball.

Joel didn’t hold back on me. I realised that he always had in the past – he’d never played me this hard before. He’d never played me to beat me.

And that’s exactly what he did .

I was puffing by the time he let up.

“How’s your ankle?” he asked as he collected the balls and took my racquet from me.

“Tender,” I admitted. “Apart from that I feel okay, except for my wounded pride.”

He huffed out a laugh. “You did really well, Stink. I thought I’d own you, with your ankle and all. But you held your own.”

I snorted in disbelief – if he called that holding my own, I would hate to see what he would call me having a bad game. I walked back into the house and sat down on the weights bench, pulling my shoes and socks off. Joel put away our stuff and came to inspect my ankle.

“Hmm, it’s a little swollen. Maybe we’ll ice it for ten minutes or so.” He went to the freezer in the bar at the other end of the enormous rumpus room, and pulled out an ice pack, returning and strapping it to my ankle. He looked up at me from his position crouched on the floor.

“I wasn’t going too hard, was I?” he asked worriedly.

I smiled. “No, Joel. It was actually good – I needed to test myself out before Dubai.”

He grinned crookedly at me. “I know. That’s why I had to give you a go; Ben wasn’t any help at all.”

I shook my head at him. “Why did you let him do it? Were you trying to make a fool out of him?”

Joel chuckled. “No. Well, maybe. He just really wanted to play you, who am I to discourage him?”

He stood up and hauled me off the seat. He gripped my elbow as we mounted the stairs, but I shrugged him off – I didn’t need any help.

“I’m going to shower,” Joel said, “When I’m done, we’ll take that off and look at it again. Are you all packed?”

I nodded as he headed up towards his bedroom.

I went out to sit on the deck, propping my leg up on a chair, and staring out at the night lights of Sydney. I wouldn’t see them now for a fortnight, and then I’d be back for only a week before I headed to Indian Wells .

Ben came and sat down beside me. As if he could read my thoughts, he murmured, “It’s a beautiful city, isn’t it?”

I nodded, feeling like no words could really describe just how beautiful it was to me.

“I’ve travelled a lot in the last ten years, Mel, and I’ve seen some pretty amazing places in that time. But nothing compares to Sydney. No matter how long I stay away, it’s always home to me.”

“I’m hearing you,” I replied, taking a sip from the bottle of water that Joel had left on the table at dinner.

“I love Dubai – I love that every day I wake up and there’s something new being built. It’s a place of great opportunity for someone like me. But when I find the right woman, and I settle down and start a family, I can’t think of anywhere but here that I would raise them.”

“So, you’re flying tomorrow?” I asked, changing the subject. Ben’s conversation topic was becoming a little too strange for me.

He nodded. “Early flight. What time does yours leave?”

“Ten thirty.”

“It’s a pity we’re not on the same flight. It would have been good to spend some more time together. But I’ll see you both once you arrive anyway.”

“You will?” I asked, confused. Ben nodded.

“You and Joel are staying with me in my home. I had organised it with Steve before … but Joel knows all about it now, anyway. It’s far too big for one bachelor, it’ll be nice to see your lovely face over the breakfast table for a bit.”

I found myself blushing. This man I’d barely met was going a long way towards sweeping me off my feet – in the romance novel sense.

“Yeah, that sounds really nice, thanks, Ben,” I said. He beamed at me.

“What sounds really nice?” Joel asked, sauntering out in his pyjamas.

When I say pyjamas, I really mean a teeny pair of boxer shorts. And nothing else. I kept my eyes fixed firmly on the city lights twinkling across the harbour .

“Ben just told me we’ll be staying at his place while we’re in Dubai.”

Joel took a seat opposite me, effectively ensuring that I had to look at him.

“Oh, it will be lovely, Uncle Ben!” Joel remarked, putting one of his feet up on the table. I could see up the leg of his boxers. I was only able to establish that I couldn’t see everything because I was staring so intently. I dragged my eyes away with an effort, turning back to Ben.

“I’m looking forward to it,” I said.

Ben grinned back at me. “Me too,” he replied, standing up and touching me once on the shoulder. “I’m turning in – damned early flight. I’ll see you over there.” I looked up at him, and he leaned forwards, eyes intent on my lips.

Joel cleared his throat and Ben straightened. He patted my shoulder again and walked into the house.

I glared at Joel. “What was that all about?” I demanded.

He shrugged, a silly grin on his face. “Come on, Mel, let a man have some fun.”

I rolled my eyes. “You never seem to do anything but have fun. At other people’s expense.”

Joel laughed and unfolded himself from the chair, crouching down to take the ice pack off my ankle.

His long fingers were gentle and warm on my skin as he inspected the swelling.

I shouldn’t enjoy it so much when he fussed over me like this.

But without my permission, my skin heated, a flush creeping up from where he touched me until I felt it all over. I sucked in a little breath.

“It looks great, Stink. Now go have a shower. The car’s picking us up at seven thirty.”

I stood, stretching. Joel, still crouched on the floor, looked up at me with an odd expression on his face.

“What?” I asked. He straightened, his body suddenly very close to mine.

Close enough that I could feel the heat emanating from his bare chest. Close enough that my nipples puckered and an ache throbbed between my legs.

I pressed my thighs together, biting my lip to try and distract myself from my inexplicable arousal .

Oh God, why did you have to wrap Joel Herbert in such pretty paper?

“Goodnight, Stinky,” Joel whispered against the skin of my cheekbone. He stepped back from me and walked inside. I let out a shaky breath.

As I hopped into the shower, it seemed that every nerve ending in my body was tingling. That tingling became a jangling as I ran the soap over my skin.

It’s Ben who’s making me feel this way, I told myself firmly. He’s as hot as Joel, he’s successful, and seems really nice. He obviously likes me.

And the jangling kicked up a notch when I thought about staying in his house with him for the ten days we would be in Dubai.

Yep. It was Ben. It definitely wasn’t Joel.