Six Naughty Nights: Love in Reverse, Book 2 (21 page)

How had he gotten himself into this ridiculous situation? He pounded the steering wheel to vent his frustration, glad the country road was quiet when the car almost veered into the ditch. He hadn’t wanted a child, and it wasn’t as if he’d been irresponsible and forgotten about contraception. “Fucking condoms!” he yelled. Knowing they could fail had put him off sex for life.

Okay, maybe not
entirely
put him off, but he’d never be able to have sex using one again without worrying it wouldn’t work. Frustration filled him. He liked sex. He didn’t want to think about children popping up all over the place every time he got his end away. Damn Esther. Why did she have to go and have a baby?

His hands tightened on the steering wheel. It wasn’t her fault. And yet it was, partly. If he’d known he’d got her pregnant, they could have talked about whether they wanted the baby or not. He might have been able to convince her not to have it.

He went cold, stopped the car in the middle of the road and put his forehead on the steering wheel. Shit
.
He didn’t mean that. Charlie was quite possibly the best thing that had ever happened to him. The way the kid looked at him, as if he was Indiana Jones, James Bond and Dan Carter all rolled into one… Every man should have a son to look at him like that. There was nothing like it. He wouldn’t want to be without the boy.

But he did wish he could have seen him as a baby. Been there at the birth and held her hand, and seen him emerge from her, squawking and red-faced. Held him in his arms and watched Esther breastfeed him late at night. Painted the nursery yellow and bought Pooh Bear stickers to put on the walls. He’d missed out on all that. It made him ache.

But it wasn’t her fault. He lifted his head and started the car moving again, relieved at the lack of traffic. She’d tried to contact him—what more could he have expected from her? He was the one who’d walked away. She’d wanted to see him again, and he’d turned her down. He deserved everything he’d got.

Putting her to the back of his mind, he drove home and watched the rugby, had a couple of beers and finished off with a few whiskies until his mind quieted and sleep overcame him.

But the knot in his stomach refused to go away.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Esther had most of Tuesday to herself. Toby was out with the building firm he worked for discussing jobs for the following week, Faith had another meeting in Whangarei and Rusty was at school. Toby was going to pick her up around four o’clock to take her and Charlie to meet his brothers for tea, but until then her time was her own.

She spent most of the morning on the telephone with her landlord and the insurance company, trying to work out if any of her belongings were salvageable and whether there would be a place for her to stay when she went back. There wouldn’t, it seemed—her block of apartments was going to be completely demolished, so she spent another hour or so ringing around trying to find another rental. Everywhere was full of re-housed people or builders and such who’d moved into the area to help out with the earthquake damage. In the end she found a small apartment that was a bit out of town and more than she’d been paying, but at least they’d have somewhere to stay.

Slightly despondent, she played with Charlie for an hour, making Lego and watching children’s programs on TV. All the while she mused on returning to Christchurch. How long would it be before the university opened again?
 

Maybe it was time to move on from the city. Although she loved it there, she had no family, no ties. It would probably mean she’d have to return to teaching in a high school, but she wasn’t overly bothered about that.

Leaving Charlie playing with the Thomas train Toby had bought him, she went over to Faith’s computer. Faith had told her to go on whenever she wanted, so she switched it on and started up the Internet browser. Pulling up the Education Gazette, she typed in her parameters and clicked search.

There were a handful of jobs around the country teaching English and literature. It wasn’t a particularly good time to be looking for a position. There were a few secondary schools advertising for English teachers—a couple in Auckland, one in Wellington, one on the west coast of the south island in a tiny school, which she didn’t fancy much.

Then her gaze fell on an advert for an English professor in Otago University in Dunedin, a city at the bottom of the south island. She scanned the details, then went onto the Otago University site and checked out the department. Their syllabus was very similar to that which she’d been teaching at Canterbury Uni, and she’d have no trouble with the other texts they were currently studying. Most importantly, Dunedin wasn’t on the fault line. No more earthquakes.

Her heart lifting for the first time in weeks, she rang the university and spoke to the secretary of the head of the department. Closing date was Friday, but the secretary said they were desperate to find a replacement for the professor who was retiring, and they’d be happy to accept a CV and letter from her rather than the traditional application form.

Buoyed up, she made lunch for her and Charlie, played a couple of games with him, then sat him back in front of the TV and wrote her CV and letter on the computer. She read them over several times and emailed them off to Otago.
 

Done.

She sat back in the chair, relieved to at last have something solid to look forward to. She’d probably have to fly down to Dunedin to interview. Maybe Toby would look after Charlie while she did that? She wondered what he was going to say about the possibility of her moving farther away. Surely it didn’t matter where she was in the country if they were going to have to fly to see each other? It only added another hour to the flight from the Northland.

Anyway, she couldn’t base her future on what Toby was or wasn’t going to do. Although she hoped he’d play a part in Charlie’s life, she’d learned long ago that she had to make her own plans without relying on anyone else.
 

She glanced at the clock to see it was three p.m., so she took Charlie into the bedroom and gave him a magazine to read while she got changed. What should she wear? It would be a family dinner, so nothing sultry or revealing. But she probably wouldn’t have time to change later before she went back to Toby’s place for their role-play game.

Even though February had now morphed into March, the afternoons were still warm and sultry. In the end, she chose a floor-length, multi-coloured skirt she’d bought in Christchurch that Toby hadn’t yet seen and a light green vest a shade lighter than her eyes.

She changed Charlie too, putting him into a pair of soft denim shorts and a T-shirt that said
Daddy’s Boy
on it. Hopefully Toby would consider it a nice touch considering they were going to see his family.

By the time Toby knocked on the door at four o’clock, Charlie was dressed, had had his hair brushed—amidst much complaining—and the rim of chocolate around his mouth had been removed.

Toby swung him up into his arms and exclaimed with delight at his T-shirt. “‘Daddy’s Boy’! You’re not a Daddy’s Boy, are you?”

“Yes!” Charlie squealed as his father blew a raspberry on his neck. “Get off, Daddy!”

The two of them scuffled and growled at each other, and Esther rolled her eyes and went to get her handbag. How odd for Charlie to have a male presence around. She didn’t do the rough-and-tumble thing very well, and although he wasn’t even three, Charlie sometimes overwhelmed her with his energy and boisterousness. But Toby dealt with his enthusiasm with a firm hand, countering any rough play with similarly aggressive physical contact, reminding her of a lion and his cubs. He was wonderful with the boy.
 

Why did that make her want him so badly? She collected her bag and walked back to the living room, shivering as she watched him manhandle Charlie easily. Toby held him squawking under one arm while he playfully smacked his butt. Was it due to some deep, prehistoric hormonal urge to have an alpha male to dominate the pack? Or was it just because he looked so damned sexy in his tight jeans and blue shirt?

Toby put him on the floor and made a show of trying to walk with Charlie clinging to his leg. “Esther, help! I’ve got a limpet stuck to me.”

“I’m Daddy’s limpey,” Charlie said, arms wrapped tight around his father’s thigh.

She tried to peel him away. “Let go or you’ll cut off his blood flow.”
 

“We wouldn’t want that,” Toby said. “Blood flow to the crown jewels area is mega-important, boyo.”

She smothered a laugh as she lifted Charlie off. “There. Nicely now.” She held him tightly until he stopped struggling and then put him down.

“You’re so patient,” Toby said. “And you look gorgeous in that top.”

“Thank you.” She straightened and looked into his warm eyes. “You too.”

He held her gaze. Then, clearly liking what he saw, he slipped a hand to the back of her neck and held her there while he kissed her.

She stiffened, taken aback, but his mouth was soft, the kiss gentle, and he tasted of mint. So she closed her eyes and enjoyed it, pressing her hands against his chest.

“Yuck,” Charlie said.

Toby pulled back, gave her a wry look and turned to his son. “It’s not yuck. I’ll show you. Come here—give me a kiss.”

“No!” Charlie belted away from him, and Toby chased him around the room.

Esther sighed and led the way to the front door. She was tempted to let them go through and then shut the door behind them. Especially because she was also nervous about meeting Toby’s brothers. But as she reached the door, Toby skidded up to her on the wooden floor and put his hand on the handle.

“Let me, ma’am.” He opened the door with a flourish and winked at her.

She remembered the role-play they’d chosen and excitement shimmered through her.

“Had you forgotten?” His eyes twinkled. “I’m your slave for the afternoon.”

“I hadn’t forgotten. I fully intend to make the most of it.”

“Ooh, promises, promises.”

“You’ll regret that by the end of the day when I’ve made you sweep the floor and do all the washing.”

“Nothing is too much trouble for my fair lady.” Still, alarm lit his eyes, and she giggled.

“I’m joking.” She picked up Charlie and walked to the door, finishing with a brief, mischievous glance at Toby over her shoulder. “I won’t make you do
all
the washing. Just my lacy underwear.” She left him standing open mouthed, and walked out to the car with a smirk. That would teach him to tease her—two could play at that game.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Esther had been nervous about meeting Toby’s brothers, although she had to admit, she was also curious. As an only child, sibling relationships had always intrigued her, and she’d wondered how alike he and his brothers were. She’d not yet been able to put her finger on why Toby fascinated her so much, but she wondered whether the other two men would hold the same attraction for her.

Matt Wilkinson was thirty-one and married to Cath with two young children. Shorter than Toby, but with the same dark curly hair and a goatee, he was a doctor, cool, shrewd and possessing a sharp manner she hadn’t seen in Toby in even the minutest amount. He was nice enough to her, welcoming and friendly, but he mocked Toby relentlessly, and she detected a vein of superiority toward his brother that put her back up from the beginning.

Felix, on the other hand, she liked immediately. As tall as Toby and a couple of years older, he was a little more slender and slightly less rugged, and she could easily imagine him in the courtroom, slick in a suit, winning over the jury. But even though he was a lawyer, and once again seemed more cool and calculating than the affable Toby, he had a naughty twinkle in his eye that reminded her of Toby’s teasing manner. He clearly made a fortune judging by his expensive watch and the sleek car he’d parked outside Matt’s house, and yet he was still single, although she knew he must have women falling over themselves to win him over.

To her surprise, however, neither of them made her heart beat faster the way Toby’s did when he caught her gaze with his lovely brown eyes. Why was that? She puzzled the issue as they had tea—pizza for the kids, barbecued chicken and potato salad for the adults with a huge Greek salad complete with olives and feta cheese.
 

What was it about Toby that rang her bell more than any other guy? There must be something, one character trait or physical characteristic he possessed that the others didn’t, which caused her pulse to race every few minutes as she thought about what they were going to get up to later that evening. If only she could isolate that one trait, she’d know what to look for in future partners.
 

But she couldn’t put her finger on it. He was gorgeous, but so were both of his brothers, especially Felix. Toby was the most muscular of them all, probably due to his manual job, but both brothers obviously worked out and there wasn’t much in it. He was funny, but both Matt and Felix were probably wittier, on the whole. He wasn’t the cleverest, nor was he the richest.

And yet when he looked across the table at her and gave her that secret smile that told her he was thinking about what he was going to do to her that night, a thrill went through her, and she had to lower her eyes, a warm flush spreading through her cheeks.

Maybe it was his gentleness that attracted her—the very fact that he wasn’t sharp or cruel. Even when he’d left her at the airport, he hadn’t been cold. With hindsight, she could see he’d just been young, impatient and irritated—he’d had feelings for her and those feelings had scared him, plus he couldn’t think of a way to make it work, so he’d refused to face up to how he felt and walked away. She knew he regretted that decision because he’d tried to contact her. No, he wasn’t cruel, or hard.