A Secret Between Friends: A New Zealand Sexy Beach Romance (Treats to Tempt You Book 6) (15 page)

As soon as he walked into the room, Niall spotted Genie standing by the bar talking to Beck. She looked stunning, slender but shapely in another long summer dress, this one a lovely pale blue with darker blue swirls, clinging in all the right places. To his surprise she wore her hair down, and it hung past her shoulders in a shiny blonde curtain. Even in her uniform with her hair up, she never looked mannish, but this womanly vision of her gave him goose bumps.

He didn’t go over to her straight away, though. He wandered slowly around the room, saying hello to Finn and Danny and the other people he knew.

Alarm shot through him when he saw Tamsin in the corner, sipping a cocktail as she chatted to a friend. She looked good; she wore jeans and a tight black T-shirt that complemented her red hair, the curls tumbling down her back. She was a good-looking girl, but he couldn’t help but compare her thin frame with Genie’s curves.

Tamsin saw him, but she’d obviously already seen his name on the list because she didn’t look surprised. She just nodded, and he nodded back, then turned and walked in the opposite direction.

He found himself at the bar. Beck gestured to the Mac’s Gold pump and Niall nodded.

As he poured, Beck glanced across at Tamsin, then back at Niall, lips curving. “Sorry about that.”

“Josie too, eh? I didn’t realize this was a torture session.”

Beck grinned and slid his beer across to him. “Have fun.”

Niall rolled his eyes and sipped the beer, then felt a presence at his arm and looked down to see a pair of bright blue eyes smiling up at him.

“Evening,” he said.

“Evening, sunshine.” Genie winked. “This should be fun.”

“Not. I can’t believe you talked me into this.”

She chuckled. “Aw, come on. It could be fun.”

“I haven’t dated for ten years, Gin. I’m a bit out of practice with chat-up lines.”

“Just be yourself.”

“And send all the girls to sleep?”

She grinned. “You never know, you might meet someone nice.”

“Yeah. You never know.”

Her eyes met his for a brief moment. Soon, she’d have eleven other men vying for her attention. Would any of them appeal to her? Envy stabbed him in the gut.

“You’d better take your place,” he said, knowing he sounded irritable.

She nodded, walked to an empty table, and sat, resting the cane against the wall.

By now the place was bustling, with regulars and tourists who’d come in for an evening drink watching the proceedings with interest. Beck rang a bell he’d bought for the occasion and called for everyone’s attention, then proceeded to explain the rules.

Niall tore his gaze away from Genie and focused on the piece of paper in his hand. The first names of the twelve women were printed there. He had to remember that although everyone was here to have fun, some of the women on the list would be genuinely interested in finding possible partners, and it wouldn’t be fair to them if he didn’t give them a hundred percent of his attention. It took courage to come to these events, after all.

What would Ciara have made of it? He wondered why she’d put this on her list. She’d been a pretty girl, kind and fun-loving, but had often been overshadowed by Genie, whose beauty and bubbly personality had radiated light, making others seem dull in comparison. Maybe this kind of event was somewhere that Ciara had thought she’d be able to hold a guy’s attention without him constantly turning to Genie.

Beck had finished his spiel and the guys were taking their seats. Niall chose one in the middle of the room, walked over to it, and sat. Opposite him was a shortish, dark-haired girl who wore a sticker with the name “Fran”. She gave him a mischievous smile. He smiled back, but couldn’t resist a glance along the tables at where Genie sat. She was exchanging an embarrassed smile with the guy sitting opposite her, and as Niall watched, she leaned forward and whispered something that made the guy laugh. He felt as if someone had stabbed him. What the hell was he doing there?

“And…go!” Beck rang the bell.

“Hey,” Fran said immediately. “I’m Fran.”

“I gathered that,” Niall said, then cursed himself as she reddened. “Sorry, what I meant was, I saw your nametag and I was wondering what it was short for. Frances?”

She giggled. “No, Francesca.”

“That’s a pretty name. Italian, isn’t it?”

“I’m from Auckland,” she said.

He stifled a sigh. “Tell me about yourself, Fran. What do you do?”

He listened to her chatter on and tried to concentrate on what she was telling him. She worked as a florist in Kerikeri. He never knew there was so much involved in arranging a bunch of roses in a vase.

“And there’s this special stuff that you put the stems into to hold it all up,” she said after a long monologue about which flowers to choose.

“An oasis.” Niall glanced at Genie, who was captivated by whatever the guy sitting opposite her was saying.

Fran laughed. “No, silly, it’s nothing to do with the desert. It’s made of foam.”

To his relief, the bell rang at that moment, stopping him from banging his head on the table. Her eyes widened. “Oh no. You didn’t tell me anything about yourself!”

“The time passes quickly, doesn’t it?” he said with relief. “Anyway, nice to meet you.” He stood and shook hands with her, then moved to the next table before she could express her disappointment.

Luckily, he knew the next girl. “Hey, Billie.” He leaned across the table and kissed her cheek before taking a seat.

“Niall!” She grinned. “What the hell are you doing here? You don’t need something like this to get a date, surely?”

“I could say the same of you.” Billie was a good friend of Josie’s, and she was a pretty girl with light brown hair, high cheekbones, and an Asian tilt to her eyes—her grandmother was from Korea, if memory served him right.

She shrugged. “It’s difficult to meet people sometimes. You know how it is.”

“Yeah.”

She’d had a bad breakup the year before. He didn’t know all the details, but he knew she’d walked in on her fiancé in bed with someone else.

Glancing across the room, she leaned forward conspiratorially. “I see Tamsin’s here.”

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Yeah. I didn’t know she was coming. It’s a tad awkward.”

“It must be, seeing her talking to other guys.”

He hadn’t meant that, and when he looked over at Tamsin and saw her fluttering her eyes at the guy she was talking to, he found it interesting that it didn’t give him the same twist in his gut that he got at the sight of Genie with another guy. He glanced over at her. She was laughing again, clearly enjoying herself.

“Are you and Genie having a thing?”

He turned his attention back to Billie, startled. “What made you say that?”

She shrugged and grinned. “Women’s intuition.”

Genie had said the same thing when quizzing him about Tamsin. How did they seem to know this stuff?

He decided to ignore the question. “How have you been?”

Her lips twisted wryly, but she took the hint and started telling him about her job. She worked at a health resort over in Russell, doing things like reflexology and aromatherapy. He wasn’t particularly into all that, but he liked her and was happy to chat.

They talked for five minutes, relaxed and without any sense of attraction, and when the bell rang again, she wished him luck as he rose and moved onto the next table.

He didn’t know the next three women, and he tried to concentrate on them and give them his attention as the clock ticked on. None of them attracted him particularly. One was incredibly tall—not that he had anything against tall women, but he wasn’t sure he’d be comfortable dating someone who had to bend down to kiss him. Another was dull as dishwater. He tried his best to ask her questions and get her out of her shell, but either she was incredibly shy and couldn’t bring herself to speak, or she really didn’t have anything interesting to say. Either way, he was glad when the bell rang again.

As he talked to the third girl, he was conscious of Tamsin on the next table, and his mouth went dry at the thought that he was going to have to talk to her shortly. He sipped his beer, conscious of Tamsin’s high laugh repeatedly ringing out, as if she was trying to show she was having a fabulous time and didn’t need him anymore. Fair enough, he thought.

All too soon the bell rang, and it was time to move. He stood and shook hands with his current date, then moved along to the next table.

He stood there and hesitated. “Hey.”

Tamsin leaned back in her chair and sipped her cocktail. “Hey.”

He gestured to the chair in front of him. “Shall I sit?”

“I think that’s how it works.”

“I meant do you want me to sit this one out?”

She lowered her gaze to a mark on the table and scratched at it. “No, you might as well sit.”

He pulled out the chair and sat. “How are you? You look well.”

“Not that you care.” Her bitter tone made him wince.

“Hey, come on. That’s not fair.”

She set her jaw. “Oh, sorry, did you expect me to be all forgiving and lovey dovey?” Her voice was too loud, and the couples either side of them stopped and stared.

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Genie a few tables down glance across at him, but he didn’t look around, and glared at Tamsin, irritated at being shown up. “If you can’t be civil, I’ll go and get another drink,” he snapped. “I’m not going to sit here and argue with you.”

Tamsin bit her lip. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I didn’t expect to see you here.”

He gritted his teeth and made himself relax in the chair. “I know. Me neither. I’m sorry it’s awkward. At least the money’s going to charity.”

That made her lips curve. “Yeah.” She met his gaze for a moment. She had pretty hazel eyes, and he felt a flicker of regret that things had ended the way they had. He’d been with her a long time, and she deserved to be with someone who adored her. She was better off without him.

Fighting a sudden sweep of depression, he gestured around the room. “Met anyone good yet?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. Difficult to tell in five minutes. You?”

He had to fight with himself not to look at Genie. “Ah, you know. Probably not.”

It was she who looked across at the blonde-haired girl. “I see Genie’s here.”

“Yeah.”

“Will she be one of the names you put down?”

Irritation flared inside him again. She’d nagged him about Genie on and off all through their relationship. Well, he didn’t have to answer to her now.

Nevertheless, guilt gave him a flare of acid indigestion. He cursed beneath his breath that the women in his life had the power to do this to him. He liked Genie, and his relationship with her was nobody else’s business.

He raised an eyebrow at Tamsin, refusing to say anything, and a flush spread slowly across her pale cheeks.

“Why don’t we talk about the weather?” he said flatly. “Lovely sunshine we’ve been having.”

“Yes.” She studied the table, her face like stone. “It’s been very warm.”

They managed to keep things courteous, but the next few minutes passed by like hours. When Beck finally rang the bell, Niall could have kissed him. He stood and held out a hand. If only she could accept that they weren’t right for each other and move on, he’d feel a lot happier.

Tamsin ignored his outstretched hand and concentrated on stirring her cocktail.

Embarrassed, he dropped his hand, shoved his chair under the table with more force than was necessary, and moved on.

The next girl tried to get him to talk, but he felt flat and upset by the encounter with Tamsin, and he was relieved when the girl obviously recognized this and just chatted away. He’d tried to break up with Tamsin as gently as possible, but in the end there was no nice way to reject another person. He knew he’d hurt her, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

He tried to concentrate, but all he could think about was getting through this until he could go home and down half a bottle of whisky.

To his relief, the next girl was Josie, and he sat and met her wry smile by blowing out a breath.

“Ouch,” she said, obviously having watched the encounter with Tamsin.

“Yeah.” He finished off his beer and let out a long sigh. Next to her, Genie glanced at him, but he tried to ignore her.

He was conscious that across the room, Beck was glaring moodily at them both as if jealous that he was spending time with Josie. Niall tried not to groan. This was hopeless. He wished he hadn’t come. He could hear Danny teasing Genie about something and she gave that husky laugh he recalled her giving at some point in bed. He wanted to turn and smash Danny in the face for making her laugh like that.

This sucked big time. He was so screwed.

Genie was actually rather enjoying herself. Once she’d decided this was just for fun and that she wasn’t expecting to come out of it with a future husband, it proved to be a nice change to sit and chat to lots of different guys. Five minutes wasn’t too long to talk if they didn’t have anything in common, but it was long enough to find out a bit about each other and to have a fun flirt if they hit it off.

She suspected that Niall wasn’t enjoying himself quite so much, though. She’d watched him out of the corner of her eye as he went from girl to girl, and she knew him well enough to tell from his body language that he was pissed off about something. Part of it was obviously Tamsin being there. She heard Tamsin’s sharp words, “Not that you care,” and saw Niall’s answering glare, and her heart went out to him, but there was nothing she could do about it. He was a big boy, she thought—he’d have to deal with it himself.

In other circumstances, a couple of the guys she’d spoken to might have been possibilities for future dates, but she doubted she’d be writing any names down. And she could relax now as she talked to Danny because he was a good mate, and there’d never been any attraction between the two of them.

“No Tess tonight?” she asked, referring to his sister.

He laughed. “Not her sort of thing.”

“No, I suppose not.”  She knew the prickly school teacher would have hated anything like this. “Enjoying yourself?” she asked him, trying not to let her gaze slip sideways to where Niall was talking to Josie.

“Yeah, I guess. Beck talked me into coming. I was dreading it to be honest, but it’s not so bad when you get going.”

“Any possibilities?” She knew Danny was single at the moment.

He shrugged and glanced around. “Maybe. No one that’s rung all the bells. Except you of course.” He grinned, and she laughed.

Next to her, she was aware that Niall was glaring at Danny. What was with him tonight? Was he jealous? As if she and Danny would ever have a thing!

A surge of mischievousness made her lean forward and look into Danny’s eyes. “So what have you been up to lately?”

His eyebrows rose, and his gaze slid along to Niall before returning to hers. His lips curved a little. She suspected that Beck had told him about her and Niall’s trip to the nudist beach as the two of them were good mates, and if so, he probably guessed what she was up to.

Danny rested his forearms on the table. “Busy working,” he said. Leaning forward, he put his mouth close to her ear as if he was whispering something intimate to her. “You’re going to piss him off doing this.”

“He’s already pissed off.”

“So if turn around am I going to have his fist in my face?”

She giggled, prompting another glare from Niall and an amused look from Danny. “I’d like to see that.”

Danny snorted. “Cheers.”

“Aw. I’m sure you’d put up a decent fight.” Danny was one of the good guys, but she knew he’d been in a couple of fights when he was younger. He was a rough and ready sort of guy who’d worked hard to develop his own landscaping business. He continued to do a good portion of the work himself, and he was a big man, taller than Niall, with huge shoulders and large hands. “Actually,” she teased, “I think a lot of women would pay money to see the two of you fight. If I threw some custard on you we’d probably make a fortune for charity.”

He grinned. Obviously perfectly aware that Niall had one eye on them, he winked at her, then reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

There was a loud scraping of a chair across the tiles as Niall shot to his feet, but luckily at that moment Beck rang the bell.

Danny stood and shook hands with Genie, gave Niall an amused look, and moved to the next table.

Niall took his place and sat back in his chair. Genie opened her mouth to tease him, but then she saw the look on his face, and her mouth slowly closed. To say he was not amused would have been a vast understatement. His eyes blazed with anger, and for a brief moment she couldn’t breathe in or out, captivated by the possessiveness in their depths.

Resentment rose inside her. She’d thought he’d find her flirting with Danny funny. Niall had no claim on her, and when they’d parted after their trip to the beach he’d not asked to see her again—he had no right to be jealous. “What’s got your knickers in a twist?” she snapped.

He narrowed his eyes. “So is Danny going to be one of the names on your list?”

She arched her brows. “Seriously? Come on, Niall.”

He finished off his beer and put the glass on the table with a bang before looking away, out of the door to the sea. “I can’t believe you talked me into this. The whole evening has been a fucking nightmare.”

“Why are you cross because your ex got upset? What did you expect? Don’t be such a drama queen. You broke her heart and now you’re here trying to chat up other women. Of course she’s going to be upset with you.”

He glared at her.

She glared back.

“I’m not going to waste my five minutes with you talking about Tamsin,” he said flatly.

Genie poked her tongue out at him. “Lovely weather we’re having.”

He gave a reluctant laugh, and her lips curved. They both relaxed in their seats, and the tension disappeared from his shoulders.

They studied each other for a bit. They were probably the only couple in the room not talking, she thought, and yet it felt as if there was an ocean of unsaid words floating between them. He looked so gorgeous sitting there—she wished she could just lean across the table and kiss him, but Tamsin’s head would probably explode if she did that.

 “You look nice.” His eyes had lost their coolness, and their growing warmth heated her all the way through.

“Thank you. You too.”

“Can I take you home after this?” he asked.

A frisson passed through her, and she shivered. “Sure.”

He didn’t say anything else, but his gaze fixed on hers, burning her right through to the core. Before that moment, she’d never really understood what the word ‘yearning’ meant, but suddenly its meaning became clear—she
yearned
to take him in her arms, to feel his lips on hers. She wanted to kiss down his body, rip open his jeans, take his erection in her hand, and slide her lips over the end. She wanted to lick him and suck him until he lost the plot and filled her mouth.

Niall tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling for a moment. Then he looked back at her with a mixture of desire and exasperation. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you want to eat me alive.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking about.”

He closed his eyes. “You’re not helping.”

“Sorry.”

“You don’t sound it.”

“That’s because I’m not.”

He opened his eyes again. “Gin…”

The bell rang.

He banged on the table. “Fuck.”

She stifled a laugh. “Go on. There are only two more to go and then it’ll all be over.”

“I’m sure Ciara’s splitting her sides, wherever she is,” he said gruffly, pushing himself to his feet.

“Stop moaning. You know you’re enjoying yourself.” She gave into the laugh as he shot her a wry glance, and then she turned her attention to the guy taking his place. Not long now, and Niall would be taking her home. Her heart rate refused to slow as she wondered whether anything would happen.

The guy sitting before her was nice enough, but nobody was going to live up to Niall Brennan. When the bell rang for the last date, she was more than relieved to see it was Finn, Niall’s brother.

“Hey you,” she said as he sat before her. “How are you doing, having fun?”

“Ah, you know. It’s nice to get out.”

“All work and no play?” She smiled. Finn worked at the Waitangi National Trust up the road, organizing educational visits around the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. As long as she could remember, he’d loved history, and whenever they’d all gone to the beach, she, Ciara, Niall, and their friends had spent all day in the water while Finn invariably lay on the sand with his head in a book.

“Something like that.” He smiled back, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

Some of Genie’s high spirits evaporated. “Everything all right?” she asked.

“Of course. How are you doing?” He glanced at the cane leaning against the wall.

Genie had forgotten about it. None of her dates had mentioned it, and for a while she’d been able to put her injury to the back of her mind. Now, though, she shifted uneasily. “I’m okay.” She lifted her chin. “How’s Sinead?”

He tipped his head from side to side. “As well as can be expected.”

“Is she still mad at me?” She meant to put a wry twist to the words, but they came out kind of pathetic.

Finn met her gaze, a hint of pity in his eyes. He didn’t say anything, which was answer enough.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “About Ciara.”

He shook his head and picked up the beer mat, turning it in his fingers. “Don’t let’s talk about that now.”

“I understand why you might be angry with me, Finn, I really do. But I can’t bear it. It’s bad enough that Sinead won’t talk to me, but…” Her throat tightened, and she swallowed. She was almost as close to Finn as she was to Beck and Jonah. The thought that any of them might bear her ill will was killing her.

He smiled, his expression softening. “I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”

She sniffed. “You know what I mean.”

“I’m not angry with you, Genie. Mum’s just hurting, that’s all, and she’s lashing out. You know she never wanted Ciara to go into the Army, and this has justified the reservations she had.”

“I didn’t force her to join up,” Genie whispered.

“I know. Look, don’t worry about it now. You’re supposed to be chatting me up.”

She chuckled. The thought of hooking up with Finn was about as funny as the notion of getting involved with Jonah. It was odd that she felt so different with Niall. There’d never been a hint of anything other than filial affection between her and Finn, or her and Danny. She glanced across at Niall. He was talking to his final partner, a girl Genie didn’t know but who seemed very interested in him, giving him all the signs, leaning forward, playing with her hair. To be fair, although he was laughing, he was leaning back in his chair, and at that point he looked at Genie, and smiled.

Finn had gone quiet, and when she turned her attention back to him, the coolness had come back into his eyes. Had he seen Niall smile at her?

“When do you go back to the base?” Finn asked.

She finished off her cocktail. “A few weeks.”

“Right. Well, until then… Be careful.”

“It’s all right, I always use a condom.”

He didn’t smile. “I mean it. It’s not a good idea, not now.”

So he had seen Niall’s smile. Genie pushed her glass away and sat back with a sigh. The disadvantage of having lived with the Brennans was that she had double the amount of men who thought they could boss her around. “Yeah. I get it. You don’t have to worry.”

“Good.”

To her relief, the bell rang for the final time. Listlessly, she stared at her piece of paper, scrawled on it, then gave it to the waitress who came around to collect them.

Pushing herself up, she took her cane and limped over to the bar, conscious of Finn following her. She shouldn’t really drink any more, but she felt in dire need of some alcohol.

“What are you drinking?” Finn asked.

She blew out a breath as Beck appeared to take orders. Jonah, Danny, and Niall were in earshot, and she felt a ripple of irritation at them all. “I’d ask for a Screaming Orgasm but I’m fed up with being glared at.”

They laughed. Beck grinned and made it for her, mixing the Amaretto, Kahlua, and Baileys Irish Cream and pouring it over ice before sliding it across to her.

“Did you have a good time?” Beck asked.

She hesitated, distracted by the sight of the girl who’d looked so interested in Niall asking him a question, following which he turned to her and smiled before bending his head as she whispered in his ear.

Looking away, Genie sipped the drink and sighed. “Yeah, it was good fun, thanks. I’m sure Ciara would have loved it.”

“Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.” Beck winked at her. “It’ll be interesting to see who’s put your name down.”

“I’ll be lucky to get any,” she grumbled. She took a big mouthful of her drink, feeling depressed. The whole dating game was so complicated, like spending all day in a clothes shop, trying on different clothes to see if they fit. Except the clothes didn’t complain if you put them back on the rack after a while.

Speaking of which… Tamsin was walking up to Niall, who was still listening to the brunette talk. Tamsin had a face like thunder. She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned, eyebrows rising in query as he saw who it was.

Without further ado, his ex threw the entire contents of her glass in his face.