Downsizing (6 page)

Noah covered her hand with his. “Should we
draw up a partnership agreement of some sort?” he asked.

She blinked at him. “Whatever for?”

“
Well, we can’t just do this on
trust.”

“
Why not? I trust you, but want my
name kept out of things. It’s enough for me to know that I’ve
helped you get on your way, and if Ryan were to find out that I’m
behind it all, well…let’s just say he’s got a vicious temper.
Besides, it would raise questions about my finances that I’d prefer
not to answer.” She drained her glass and stood up.

“
Now, I suggest you get back to
work, but just remember, discretion is vital. Not even Joey should
know where the money came from. Can I rely on you to keep it to
yourself?”

“
Do you need to ask?”

He kissed her cheek as they parted on the
pavement, too stunned to properly appreciate all that had just
happened. She waved over her shoulder and left Noah standing there
with his hands thrust in his pockets, struggling to come to terms
with the turn his luck had taken. The papers from the auctioneer’s
office rustled in his jacket pocket, and he smiled at the sound
they made. He was barely twenty years old, and already a property
owner! It was surreal. All of a sudden he was frightened by the
daunting project he’d set for himself and plagued by self-doubts,
terrified of letting Kitty down when she’d just demonstrated such
astonishing faith in him.

* * * *

“
How the hell did you pull that
off?” Joey asked in stunned disbelief. “I thought old Wattsie
turned you down.”

“
He did at first, but I told him
I’d been offered a job by John Diamond’s mob.” Noah was referring
to Ryan’s deadliest local rival. “He obviously decided he didn’t
want to risk losing me.”

“
Christ, you took a bit of a
chance, didn’t you?”

“
Nah, not really, you know what
Wattsie’s like. You and I have stuck with him long term and
wouldn’t be easy to replace.” Noah shuffled his feet, feeling
awkward about lying to his friend. “The thing is, Ryan doesn’t want
anyone to know he financed it. He’s worried he’ll be accused of
favoritism, or of going soft, so we have to keep mum about
it.”

“
Fair enough. I won’t say
anything, but people are bound to find out.”

“
I suppose they will but we
mustn’t be the ones to tell ’em.”

Noah and Joey conducted this conversation as
they walked home from work. They parted at the door to Rachel’s
mother’s house.

“
Rachel’s dead excited already
because she’s been short listed for the permanent contract to do
the catering at the tennis club.”

“
That’s great! Let’s hope she gets
it.”

“
Well, she reckons she stands a
good chance because Cassie’s mum’s on the committee and will put in
a good word for her.”

Noah didn’t like the idea of Joey’s girlfriend
having to rely on Mrs. Turner’s goodwill to kick start her career,
but he kept his reservations to himself.

“
I’m gonna see Maxine now,” he
said instead. “She’ll be dead chuffed to hear our news. Tell you
what, why don’t we have a night off for once? If this ain’t a cause
for celebration, then I don’t know what is. We’ll meet you in the
pub in a bit.”

“
You’re on!”

Noah, anxious to share his news with Maxine,
headed straight for her house. She opened the door to him, a book
in her hand as always.

“
Hi, Noah,” she said. “What a nice
surprise. You look like you’ve won the lottery. Who’s the lucky
lady this time?”

“
Nah, it’s nothing like that, Max.
It’s much better.”

“
Since when did you put
anything
before sex?”

He grinned. “Wattsie had a change of heart and
I, Miss Small, am now a property owner.”

Her jaw dropped open. “Noah, no! Not the house
on Broad Street?”

“
The very same.”

She threw herself at him, arms twining round
his neck as her body crashed against his. “Noah, I’m so pleased for
you! I just know you’ll make the most of this
opportunity.”

“
Hey, thanks.”

He traced the line of her face with his thumb
and dropped a kiss on her lips. He’d intended it to be fleeting,
but somehow it didn’t end up that way. Her unmitigated delight at
his success, the feel of her solid body molded against his, aroused
him. He didn’t know what it was about Maxine that compelled him,
and he’d had to take a lot of stick from his mates because of his
friendship with her.

He could relax completely when he was with
her, but it was more than that. Some ineffable something drew him
toward her, and even if he’d wanted to pull back he didn’t think
he’d last long without her. They’d bonded in a way that he no
longer tried to analyze.

It simply was.

Surprised to find that his tongue had worked
its way into her mouth, Noah didn’t attempt to rectify the matter.
Somehow, today the usual rules didn’t apply. He deepened the kiss,
enjoying her inexpert attempts to return it.

“
Go on, put your glad rags on,” he
said, finally releasing her. “We’re gonna meet Joey and Rachel in
the pub to celebrate.”

When they walked into The Three Feathers half
an hour later, Joey and Rachel were already there, matching grins
on their faces. Drinks in hand, the four found seats in the pub’s
garden where they could talk more privately.

“
What are we gonna do about our
other work?” Joey asked, when their initial euphoria faded and
reality set in. “I mean, we can’t work for Wattsie, do up our
house,
and
do our independent work as well. There just ain’t
enough hours in the day.”

“
Hmm, we’ll have to work for
Wattsie and do our house, those are given,” Noah said. “We’ll stop
taking building repairs and stuff, but I can’t see how we can stop
our gardening contracts until we find someone to take them over.
The summer’s coming on, and this is still a relatively small town.
We don’t wanna get a reputation for being unreliable.”

“
We’ve only got about half-a-dozen
to do,” Joey said. “What with the light summer evenings, it
shouldn’t be a problem to fit them in.”

“
We’ll advertise the gardening
business in the local rag as a going concern.”

“
Good idea.”

“
And I can help when I haven’t got
other work on,” Rachel said. “Not that I know a daisy from a
dandelion, mind.”

“
Thanks, sweetheart.” Joey gave
her a smacking kiss. “But it’s more important that you concentrate
on getting that contract at the tennis club.”

“
Oh, I am, I can assure you. I’ve
already tried to find out who I need to kill to eliminate the
competition.”

They all laughed.

“
I wish there was something I
could do,” Maxine said.

“
There is.” Noah squeezed her
hand. “Get that bloody law degree and come back to supervise our
empire for us.”

“
Be serious, Noah.”

“
I am.” He grinned at her and
turned back to Joey, all business again. “It should work okay.
Obviously, there’s only so much we can do with the house before
Planning Permission is granted, and that’ll take at least a couple
of months to arrange.”

Chapter Five

Noah scrutinized the lawn and nodded with
satisfaction. The swathes were in perfect alignment, something Mrs.
Turner insisted upon. He didn’t usually do her garden, but Joey had
cried off at the last minute because he had to drive Rachel to a
house where she was doing a buffet. Since the Turners had all gone
to a black-tie dinner up in town, Noah reckoned it was safe for him
to step into the breach.

He parked the mower neatly in its shed and
wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. God, but it was
unseasonably hot! He looked down at his body, bathed in sweat, and
then at the sparkling blue water of the swimming pool. He was
sorely tempted. Who’d know? Making up his mind, he stripped off his
clothes and dove naked in the deep end. He surfaced half-way down
the pool, pushed the soggy hair away from his eyes, and swam
several lengths, deciding that this was the life. When he made it
in the building game, he’d definitely have a house with a pool.
Carried away with his own thoughts it was a while before he
registered an indignant voice demanding to know what he thought he
was doing.

Startled, Noah trod water, trying to work out
where the voice had come from. He groaned when a bronzed Cassie
Turner sat up on a sun-lounger, holding her bikini top in place and
glaring at him. He was for it now. She was a woman scorned, and he
and Joey would lose this contract because of it. In spite of that,
disliking Cassie as he did, he refused to look contrite.

“
Sorry, I didn’t think anyone was
here.”

“
Evidently.” She offered him a
superior half-smile. “Do you always take advantage of your
employer’s absence to do as you like on their
properties?”

“
Only when it’s as hot as this.”
He kicked up his feet and swam half a length under water, grappling
to keep his temper in check. She roused him to anger, just by being
there and acting all superior.

The next thing he heard was a dainty splash as
Cassie dove into the pool wearing only the bottom of her bikini.
She surfaced close to him, a look in her eyes that he’d seen on
countless women’s faces before. One that had nothing to do with
trespassing. As Noah tried to think of a diplomatic way to
extricate himself from this embarrassing situation, he noticed that
the water lent extra buoyancy to Cassie’s breasts.

“
You’re right,” she told him
calmly. “It’s too hot not to indulge.”

Before it occurred to him to suspect her
motives, she swam away, appearing to lose interest in him. Noah
wondered what he was supposed to do next. What was the protocol
when swimming naked, without permission, in an employer’s pool?
Should he ask his employer’s daughter if she’d kindly turn her back
or should he nonchalantly clamber out, like it was no big deal? And
how was he supposed to put his clothes back on when he was soaking
wet and had no towel?

Cassie, a strong swimmer, surfaced close to
him and challenged him to a race to the deep end. Unless he wanted
to further antagonize her, Noah figured he didn’t have much choice
He set off at a strong crawl, eager to get the hell out of there.
Breathing hard she reached the edge of the pool just after he did,
laughing. He dropped his eyes and just couldn’t seem to tear them
away from her damned tits. She followed the direction of his
eyes.

“
Like what you see?” she
asked.

“
Sure.” Well, what else could he
say?

“
Then what’s stopping
you?”

Alarm bells rang. Noah knew he’d somehow been
set up and ought to get the hell out of there. But he didn’t,
couldn’t, seem to move. He clutched the edge of the pool as he
pondered his options. He continued his lazy scrutiny of her body,
and even in the cool water he felt himself getting hard. He was
randy enough at the best of times, but when the weather was hot, so
was he, and it was sometimes all he could think about. She’d only
be a quick fuck. Besides, if he gave her what she’d been after for
months, it would probably get her off his back once and for
all.

Bracing his arms against the edge of the pool,
one on either side of her shoulders, he kissed her. Not with
tenderness or passion, but harsh and demanding. Her response was
instantaneous and surprisingly sophisticated.

“
Let’s swim to the shallow end.”
He set off without waiting for a reply.

As soon as they got there he stood, pulled her
into his arms, and kissed her again. On autopilot he peeled the wet
bottom of her bikini away from her body, and she stepped out of it.
Noah was pulsating with need by that time, his erection pushing
hard against her stomach as she pressed close. She was lithe and
slim, and he easily lifted her, resting his hands beneath her
buttocks as he eased himself toward her entrance. It was only as he
was about to thrust into her that he realized he had no condoms
with him. Placing her abruptly back on her feet he explained his
predicament.

“
It’s all right, Noah, I’m on the
pill. It’s perfectly safe.”

“
Nah, I never do it without a
condom.”

“
Don’t you want me?” She offered
him a winsome smile, cupped his erection with one hand, and
massaged his swollen balls with the other.

“
What do you think?”

“
Then let’s risk it. You can pull
out when you come if you’re so concerned about it.”

“
Nah, I don’t take those sorts of
risks. It just ain’t worth it.”

“
Thanks very much!”

“
I didn’t mean that.”

“
It’s obvious what you
meant.”

She averted her face but Noah still caught a
glimpse of her humiliated expression as she climbed out of the
pool. When she turned back toward him, the lowering sun illuminated
her nakedness from behind.

“
Come back,” he said. “I’ve never
done it in a swimming pool before.”