Just This Once (6 page)

He’d need to go slowly, though. She wasn’t some rugby
groupie. Or even like the models and media types he dated these days. He was getting
pretty tired of predatory women, now that he thought about it. It had been a
long time since he’d really pursued anyone. A long time since he’d had to. It
looked like he’d be doing the asking this time, though. Suited him fine.

She seemed surprisingly unconcerned with her looks, too, even
though they were having a fair effect on him. She’d fixed her hair just now without
so much as looking at a mirror. She hadn’t checked out her appearance the day
before, either, not stealing those little glances into shop windows or the
café’s mirrors as most women would have.

On a hunch, he asked, “You have a sister, eh. Is she as
pretty as you?”

“Oh no. She’s gorgeous,” Hannah answered immediately.
“That’s the first thing anyone would say. She’s the beauty of the family. But
she’s a sweetheart, too. She’s insecure, though you might not know it.”

“Why’s that?”  

“Being so beautiful is hard. You feel like people,
especially men, only value you for your looks. You can start to think that you
have nothing else to offer. It’s hard to find someone who wants to get beyond
that. I suppose it’s like being a rich man. You want someone who wants you for
more than what they can get out of you. But how do you know why they want to be
with you?”

More true than you realize, he thought. “So you’re the ugly
one in the family, are you?” he asked with a grin.

She laughed. “No, I know I’m not ugly. But I’m not in my
sister’s league. You’d know that if you saw her. I’m not jealous of her, though.
My mother wasn’t too good about it. Because she was beautiful too, she thought
that was the most important thing there was for a woman. She commented on it all
the time. It isn’t good for children to be praised for something they had no
hand in creating. I was luckier. I got attention for doing well in school and
being responsible. Which at least was something I did myself.”

It was the most personal speech he’d heard her make.
Clearly, this was something she’d spent a lot of time thinking about. “Where do
your parents live?” he asked.

“Oh, they’ve both passed away now,” she answered
matter-of-factly. “It’s just my sister, my younger brother, and me. That’s my
family. What about you? I know you have your mother, unless you made her up,”
she told him sternly.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “About your parents. Mine are both
very much alive. They live in Te Kuiti, a few hours south of Auckland. Farming
country. That’s where I grew up. I have a younger brother too, but he’s in
Wellington, the capital. He’s a doctor, works in the emergency room. Pillar of
the community.”

“Hmmm,” she teased. “He’s a pillar of the community, and
you’re a lightweight playboy, right? Somehow I don’t think so. Even if you
are
a rugby player. You strike me as a pretty responsible guy.”

“I do my bit,” he admitted. “But I’m not saving any lives.”

“May I remind you,” she pointed out, “that you saved mine
yesterday. So I don’t think you can say that anymore. You’re going to have to
accept being a hero yourself.”

He winced a bit at that, and was grateful when she saw it
and hastened to change the subject. “I hope you brought something to eat in
that bag,” she told him. “Seeing the size of the breakfast you had yesterday,
I’m guessing the answer is yes. I’m thinking all that in
The Lord of the
Rings
about breakfast and second breakfast, not to mention afternoon tea,
was a New Zealand addition.”

“Luckily, you happen to be correct,” he answered, pulling a
small cooler from one of the boat’s compartments. “On both counts, I reckon.” He
poured more coffee for them both, and offered her a small pie. At her
questioning look, he laughed. “Yet another Kiwi invention, I’m afraid, designed
to put the kilos on. Bacon and egg pie.”

“Bacon and egg
pie?”
she responded faintly. “So bacon
and eggs aren’t enough, are they? You have to cook them in dough, too? I’ve
heard of bacon doughnuts. I thought
that
was bad.”

“Try it,” he urged. “And you’ll be converted. It’s a
religious experience, bacon and egg pie.”

“It is,” she exclaimed in surprise after her first bite of
eggs, onions, and slices of meaty New Zealand bacon baked in flaky pastry. “Though
this is definitely another pound added to the cruise ship total.”

They ate apples and tiny, seedless tangerines with their pies,
chatting easily now about his family and her brother and sister. He laughed at
her stories about her brother Matt’s peripatetic lifestyle, working just enough
to save the money to travel, and then jumping off to yet another destination,
where he lived on his wits, as often as not.

“I think his ambition is to visit every single country,” she
told him. “And he doesn’t exactly do it in style. I found out later that he ran
out of money in Spain, and spent the evenings playing poker in order to eat the
next day. He won, too,” she said a little proudly. “Good to know his education
wasn’t wasted. His college degree is in math. I’ll admit, I’m looking forward
to seeing him use it for something besides poker, instead of working as a
bellman and valet parker in hotels. But he says the tips are good and he’s doing
what he wants. And it’s his life, I know.”

Drew looked at her quizzically. “You sound almost like a
mother when you talk about your brother and sister. Why is that?”

“Wow. You’re good. You got that pretty fast, didn’t you? I’m
sorry, am I oversharing? You don’t really want to hear all this, I’m sure.”

“Yeh, I do,” he insisted. “I’m intrigued. You’re young,
you’re pretty, but you don’t seem like the other pretty young women I meet. And
I’m wondering why.”

“Well, thanks for that. I think. I guess it’s because my
father died when I was twelve. And my mother . . . didn’t handle it well. Oh,
she didn’t drink, or abuse us, or anything like that. She just . . . gave up. She
wasn’t really equipped to handle life on her own. So she kind of checked out,
and we had to do it ourselves, I suppose. Raise ourselves. Which makes you grow
up faster.”

“But we managed,” she finished brightly, “so this story has
a happy ending.”

“I’m guessing,” he said slowly, “that what you mean is,
you
managed. Raised your brother and sister. And took care of your mother too,
I reckon.”

“As much as I could,” she admitted. “But I’m not
complaining. I was lucky. I was able to do it, most of it, anyway, and everyone
turned out more or less OK. Except my mother. She wasn’t . . . I couldn’t
really do too much about that. But I found out at a young age that I could do a
lot, even if things seemed hard. I hire a fair number of young people, and I
can tell you, a lot of them don’t seem to know that. They don’t get that they
can put their minds to a problem and solve it. That they can shape their
futures. They get carried along by the tide, like somebody else is in charge of
their life. I know I’m in charge of my life. So I’m lucky,” she said again.

Privately, Drew thought that she had been anything but
lucky. But he admired her determinedly positive attitude and her obvious work
ethic. He turned the conversation himself then, and they chatted more lightly
as they packed up the remains of their lunch and prepared to depart. She disappeared
into the cabin to put on her coverup for the ride home, and though he was disappointed
at the loss of the picture she made in that orange costume—tangerine, he
reminded himself with a grin—he liked the look of her in anything. Or in
nothing, he thought again. Especially in nothing.  

“I have a commitment in Auckland tomorrow,” he told her when
he had docked at the marina and they were back in the ute again. “But I’ll be
here the next day. Can I take you to dinner?”

“Sure. I’ll be here four more days, and I’d like that.”

He frowned. “Where are you off to next?”

“Rotorua. Not sure I’m pronouncing it right. That seems to
be someplace I need to visit. Where they have the geothermal area. But I wanted
a week here first. My beach vacation.”

“Yeh,” he smiled. “I know Rotorua, a bit. I’ll pick you up
at seven-thirty, then, day after tomorrow.”

“What should I wear?”  

“Noplace too posh on the Coromandel. What you had on
yesterday was good.”

“Good to know. I’ll look forward to it. And thank you for
today. I loved it. That was one of the best adventures I’ve ever had.”

“Led an exciting life, have you?” he asked dryly.  

“Not so much,” she admitted. “Making up for it a bit now, I
guess. Almost drowning yesterday, and going for my first snorkel today.”

“Glad to help with your adventures,” he assured her as he
pulled up to her motel.

By the time he came around to help her out of the tall
vehicle, she had already opened the door and hopped down.

“You’re disappointing my mum again,” he sighed. “Here I was,
ready to show you my manners, and you didn’t give me the chance.”

“Tell your mother I’m very impressed, so far. And thanks
again,” she said as she turned at her motel door.

And that’s as far as you’re getting today, boy, he told
himself. Never mind, he had a fair bit of determination. And every intention of
using it.

“I’ll see you day after tomorrow, then.” He took her by the
shoulders and kissed her gently, his mouth moving over hers, keeping it soft. And
felt the zing of the contact straight down to his groin. Oh, yes. There was
chemistry there, no worries.

He stepped back and saw her smiling up at him, pulled her
closer, and kissed her again with a bit more heat, giving into temptation and
letting his tongue briefly touch the deep bow of her upper lip. He’d been
staring at that bow all day, and he was only human, after all. He let her go at
last, and watched as she unlocked her door and stepped inside.

Four more days. Good as gold.

Despite two perfectly enjoyable days on her own, Hannah found
to her annoyance that she was looking forward with eager anticipation to her
date, and taking far more care than usual in getting ready. Choosing the dress
was simple enough—the only other one she had brought with her. She thought
ruefully that after tonight, Drew would have seen pretty much her entire
wardrobe.

Well, this would be their second date. No, third, if you
counted the charity breakfast after he had rescued her. And given her recent
track record, the third time was likely to be not the charm, but the end. Because
no matter how tempted she was, she wasn’t going to bed with someone she had met
three days ago. If he were like most men she’d known, buying her two meals (and
a bacon-and-egg pie, she reminded herself) would be about as far as he’d be
willing to go without a return on his investment.

This was why she didn’t date more. Oh, well. At least she’d
get to look at him for another evening. She’d have bought
him
dinner for
that.

Right on time, she heard the knock on the door, and opened
it to find him looking just as good as she remembered, in gray slacks and a
black polo shirt that did nothing to hide his biceps. She sighed with pleasure.
Works for me, she thought happily.

When he leaned in for a kiss hello, she couldn’t resist
putting her hands on his forearms to feel those muscles for herself. They felt
even better than they looked, warm and solid, with all kinds of interesting
dips and bulges. Before she could stop them, her hands were sliding up his arms
for the pleasure of touching the swell of his biceps.

Good arms, she thought hazily. Very good arms.

She gave herself a mental shake and pulled back. Well,
that
was classy. Jumping him as soon as he opened the door. No holiday flings.
But the sensible voice was getting fainter all the time.     

The drive to the restaurant was quick—which was probably a
good thing, Drew admitted to himself. Her legs looked too good in that short dress,
and the view as she’d hopped up into the tall vehicle hadn’t been bad either.
After that kiss, the last thing he needed, if he were going to spend a
civilized evening wooing her over dinner, was to spend a long drive looking at
her legs.

She had worn her hair down, he saw with pleasure, pulled
away from her face in some sort of complicated braid and then curling down her
back, and it looked even better tonight. He’d had to juggle his appointments to
fit them into a single day, but he hadn’t wanted to wait to see her again. And
now that he had seen her, and touched her, he was glad he’d made the effort.

She’d been bang on time, too. No waiting about. For such an
attractive woman, she was surprisingly open and easy to be with. He began to
think he would enjoy the evening even if it didn’t end the way he hoped. No
question, he wanted to see her naked tonight. But looking at her wasn’t bad
anyway, even with her clothes on.  

“I hope you fancy fish tonight,” he said as they pulled up
outside a charming restaurant set in a garden of ferns and flowering plants. “I
forgot to ask.”

“I love it,” she assured him. “I don’t go out to dinner that
much anyway, except the occasional hotel restaurant at some trade show, so this
is a real treat.”

He was laughing as he came around the truck to help her
down, holding her hand as she swung out. “You are the most surprising girl. You
aren’t supposed to tell me that. Didn’t your mother teach you anything?”

He sobered, remembering that her mother probably
hadn’t
taught
her anything about dating. “Sorry,” he amended. “But I’ve never had a woman tell
me she doesn’t get out much. Reckon they’d like you to think they’re in high
demand.”

“Oh.” She offered a rueful smile and a shrug. “I work too
much. At least that’s what my friends tell me.”

As they entered the restaurant, Drew nodded to the smiling
young woman who hurried to greet them, welcoming him by name. Several other
staff members and a number of customers turned to watch them as their hostess
led the way to a corner table, and a waiter pulled out a mobile phone to snap a
quick picture.