Lipstick Kiss (The Turners of Copper Island #3)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Freya

“ I ’m not speaking to you,” Freya said, turning her back on her best friend.

Laughing heartily, Heidi came around the other side of the sofa in Freya’s front room and sat next to her.

“What is it today that irks you, babe?” Heidi asked, tugging on Freya’s pussy bow on her blouse.

Freya shifted up the sofa and sniffed the air like she’d smelled something foul. This made Heidi laugh harder.

“You don’t live next door anymore. You buggered off and got married and left me all alone to fend for myself. You took the chef with you, too.”

“He is my husband,” Heidi said, holding her hand out to admire her engagement ring and wedding band. They shone under the overhead light. Freya felt a pang of jealousy that Heidi had married a Turner. Once upon a time, Freya wanted to marry a Turner, not any Turner, but Luke Turner, her best friend. However, after his last two visits home, it was clear he wasn’t interested in her other than friendship.

Folding her arms, she drummed her fingers on her elbow. “Still mean.”

“Are you missing his cooking or me?”

“Both,” Freya whined.

Heidi tapped the toes of her clogs together, then swivelled to the side to face Freya. “Well, you need to get over it, as I have an awesome thing to show you,” Heidi said, holding up her hands like she was a mine artist.

That got Freya’s attention. “More awesome than the rock I have stashed in my sock drawer?”

Heidi frowned, excellent news forgotten momentarily. “I forgot I gave that to you. Jason can’t stand seeing it and won’t return it to Cynthia. Unfortunately, none of the siblings are talking to their aunt, so I can’t get Archer to do it. Maybe Luke will take it to his aunt. Can you keep it a while longer until we know what to do with it?”

“Of course,” Freya readily agreed. That meant she could try it on again before she had to part ways with the biggest diamond she’d ever seen. “What awesomeness do you have to show me?”

Heidi stood and downed the last of the coffee in her mug and walked to the kitchen attached to the living room. “Can you be at Edward Hall for six tomorrow morning?” she called out after Freya heard the water go on and off.

“O’clock?” Freya said, aghast.

Heidi chuckled on her way back into the living room.

Freya loved her tiny house. She could walk from the kitchen through the opening with no door into her living room and then past the open staircase to her front door in fifteen steps. It was perfect for lazy Saturday mornings. If she positioned her body just right on the sofa, she could watch TV and be nosey looking out of the window to see who was wandering past. Her front door opened straight onto the street.

“Yeah, what else? It will only take ten minutes. Plenty of time to go to the kitchens for my husband to make you breakfast before you have to teach teenagers.”

Heidi shuddered at her words, and Freya laughed.

“Teenagers are cool. I’d rather teach them than look at women’s vaginas all day,” Freya quipped and scrunched up her face.

“Meh, seen one, seen them all. Anyway, is that a yes?”

“Only if Jason makes me a bacon bap with his homemade tomato sauce. I want a white floury bap, large, with proper butter. I’ll bring my travel mug for the expensive coffee. I know he has stashed in the lockable store room.”

Heidi laughed hard and dragged her friend into a hug. “I’ll be sure to let him know. You won’t regret it, I promise.”

Heidi kissed her cheek, and Freya watched her with squinty eyes as she picked up her OBGYN bag, straightened her nurse’s top, and left. Freya waited until she passed the window before she finished her coffee and looked around to see where her school bag was.

Freya loved that her best friend was doing her dream job. They were rocking it like they’d always planned.

Freya wasn’t exaggerating when she felt lonely. They’d always lived near each other. Copper Island was small, but it was still a buggy ride up to the cottages where Jason and Heidi lived. Plus, her best friend was only three months married, and she didn’t want to be a third wheel.

Freya sipped her second coffee while pouring her third into a travel mug. She loved teaching, but she needed caffeine to fuel her enthusiasm.

Thankfully, it was Friday. One more day to get through, and Luke would be home for good. She’d missed him so much over the last nine years. She sent him letters, and he sent her postcards, letters, and parcels, but it wasn’t the same as having him back on the island.

Over the past year, he’d come back for odd days here and there, and they spent as much as he could mess about or drinking in the pub. But, from tomorrow onwards, he would be back permanently, and Freya wouldn’t be lonely anymore.

Hefting her school bag over her shoulder, she grabbed her keys from the hook and left her home, making sure the door was secured. Climbing the wide shallow steps to the school, she sighed and straightened her back. Through the two sets of glass doors with leaded windows was Mr Morris, the head teacher at Copper Island High School. Dudley Morris was elderly in years, but not in body. He was quick as a whippet, smart as a tack and mean as a snake. Vicious barbed attacks that were non-specific enough that Freya couldn’t go to the school board. Not that she would. Cynthia Turner headed it up. She didn’t see the point of complaining. Why Mr Morris targeted her was lost on her.

Teachers weren’t begging to work at the school. They were a small island, so they didn’t need many teachers, but required enough to cover classes. Freya was the most recent hire into the school, so Mr Morris had decided she took the slack. It didn’t matter that she got the job years ago. Good for her experience, he said. This meant any teacher who needed a class covering when Freya wasn’t teaching was down to her if she didn’t have a class of her own. Since Christmas, it wasn’t so bad she wasn’t at home, as her best friend Heidi was either helping mums bring their little ones into the world, or she was enjoying being a newlywed and hid away in her cottage up at the Turner estate .

After school, drinks on a Friday had been dropped, and Saturday mornings watching TV slouched on the sofa while they recovered from their hangovers was a thing of the past. When Mr Morris insisted that she covered the evening classes, it forced her to mark books late at night or on weekends.

Fortunately, she didn’t have a relationship to nurture because the man wouldn’t have stuck around with the few hours she had spare a week she wasn’t sleeping.

But then, that was another reason Mr Morris gave her. She was single, and the other teachers were married with children. The more Freya questioned his logic, the more he piled on her, so Freya kept quiet and accepted what he had dished out. She’d gone through the entire school timetable and the after-school classes to brace her for the maximum amount of lessons she could cover on top of her own tasks.

It felt like Mr Morris had done the same.

“Ms Riley,” Mr Morris said as she moved towards where he stood.

There was no option to avoid him as every student and teacher needed to pass that spot to turn left or right to get to the classrooms.

“Good morning, Mr Morris. How are you today?”

“Well, thank you,” he replied, not looking at her.

She’d stopped when he greeted her, but he said no more. Then, shoving the heavy bag further along her shoulder as it started slipping down, she strode away.

“Uh, Ms Riley,” Mr Morris called out.

Freya stopped, dropped her chin to her chest and wished she’d copied the other teachers who wore trainers to work and changed into heels when they arrived. Then, lifting her chin, she pivoted on the spot, narrowly missing a student as her book bag swung out. The kid deftly swerved out of the way and continued down the corridor.

Walking back to where Mr Morris stood, Freya plastered on a genial smile and waited. When he didn’t speak for a few moments, preferring to squint at the students who were entering the school looking at their phones.

“Did you need me?” Freya asked.

“Not in the slightest,” he said.

She tutted, thinking she’d walked right into that comment.

“I have put the evening class roster up in the staffroom. I thought I’d let you know, as you rarely go in there.”

“I have a lot of classes, so I spend my lunch marking books or preparing lessons. I can’t do that if I’m in the staff room.”

“I don’t care what your reasons are, Ms Riley. Check the roster and be sure to make a note of next week’s extra duties.”

Freya was about to protest after doing the evening classes for three months. The clocks had changed, which meant lighter evenings. Luke was coming home the next day, and she wanted to spend time with him. Plus, she was exhausted and needed to go to bed at a reasonable time for a month.

“Understood, Mr Morris. Is there anything else you need—want me to do?”

“I’ll be sure to let you know if you are required to do anything further.”

Mr Morris had perfected his condescending tone while she was a pupil at the school, but when it was aimed at her, there seemed to be extra venom. Taking his words as a dismissal, she turned back around, juggling her book bag, handbag, and lunch bag as she hurried out of his vocal range and into her classroom.

The bell wouldn’t ring for registration for another thirty minutes. There was enough time to get herself sorted and put her game face on. Any chink in her armour, and the kids would seek it out and prod it until she blew. Seven years of teaching at the school proved she could survive anything the kids could throw at her, but she was battle weary. One more term to go, and then she had six glorious weeks of doing nothing.

The following morning at the crack of dawn, she sleepily drove the buggy up to Edward Hall. Freya parked at the end of the row of cottages and hoofed it to the kitchens in the depths of the mansion. Putting a shoulder to the door to the back entrance, she entered the spotless kitchens and spied Jason and her best friend kissing up against the wall. They were oblivious to her entry.

“Don’t you two ever stop?” Freya called out, unwinding her scarf.

Heidi pulled away from Jason with a grin, pecked his lips, and shuffled out of his embrace. Jason had a stupid look on his face as he straightened his chef whites and then plucked his hat out of his pocket and put it on his head.

“Don’t take your scarf off, lady. We’re going,” Heidi barked out.

Winding the long blue wool scarf around her neck, she fixed her gaze on Heidi, who was shoving on her coat.

“But what about my bacon bap? You promised,” Freya whined.

“It will be ready by the time you get back,” Jason said from the other side of the vast expanse of kitchens. “Just getting the supplies now. Brown sauce, wasn’t it?”

“You know it’s ketchup, matey,” Freya replied, attempting to give him an evil stare, but he kept his back to her as he yanked open the industrial walk-in fridge.

Heidi came to her side, fastening her grey hip-length coat. She was fresh as a daisy at five to six in the morning. Freya grumbled internally at how fantastic she looked.

Giving Freya a broad smile, she hooked her arm through hers. “Come on, grouchy. I have something that will cheer you up. More than a bacon bap and Luke’s return.”

“What the hell have you got planned? A private viewing of Magic Mike’s west end show?”

Heidi laughed, tightening her arm through Freya’s and said, “Better. Much better.”

Freya let her coat flap open as she hurried along the path outside Edward Hall, following Heidi. They skirted the back and dashed up the shallow wide steps to a large stone verandah overlooking the lawns. Archer had planned for brides to stand on the balcony and throw their bouquets over the balustrade to the waiting singles underneath to catch. The verandah was large enough to fit fifty people with a five-piece orchestra. The doors to the ballroom were closed with the curtains drawn. It wasn’t until she was halfway across the stone slabs that she saw a dozen men in long shorts and vest tops doing pushups in the grass. A lone man was pacing and shouting. By the time Freya reached the balustrade to look over, she had needed to prop herself up. Twelve fit, sweaty men worked out on the lawn.

“Good Lord, who the hell are they?” Freya whispered.

“We have them as guests for a while. They’re here to train in the water but warm up on the grass first,” Heidi said, nudging Freya’s side with her elbow .

Freya looked to her best friend open-mouthed and then back at the men. They were finishing up and standing with their hands on their hips. All of them.

“Holy hotness, Heidi. They do this every morning?”

“Yep.”

“At six?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll be popping by. Tomorrow I’ll bring a blanket and a chair,” Freya said.

Heidi laughed, which caught the attention of one of the men. He looked up at Freya, gave her a wink, and pulled off his vest. Freya clutched Heidi’s arm like she was about to have the vapours and stared at the man’s naked torso.

“I’ve never in my life seen abs like his,” she whispered.

“Luke has gotta look like that, surely?” Heidi responded.

“I’ve never seen Luke naked or even topless in the last ten years. Anyway, why would I want to see Luke when there are all these men to gawp at?” Freya said, spreading her arms wide.

One by one, the men stripped off their shorts and peeled off their vests, throwing them in a pile. Each man wore a version of swim shorts that were very short and very tight fitting. They moved their arms, jumped up, and stretched while the instructor was bellowing at them. Freya was too far away to hear what he said, but she knew he was barking orders. Then, as a unit, they ran off across the lawn towards the top of the path that led down to the beach and was gone.

“Where’d they go?” she said, whimpering. “The beautiful men have gone.”

Freya reached out her hand to touch them in her mind.

“They’ll be back tomorrow, babe. Let’s eat, and then you can go back to bed for a nap.”

“All right. But I am serious about coming back tomorrow. Do you have their names and marital status?” she asked.

Heidi laughed and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“No, sadly not. Archer has a company name, and the rest is need to know. They’re some elite group of men who want private land to do whatever they’re preparing for that requires them to have expert sea training,” Heidi said.

“They have to be private hire mercenaries. It can’t be ex-marines, as they’d have the training. Navy, probably too. Maybe they’re a secret branch of the army. MI6 or is it MI5?” Freya babbled, ticking each one off on her fingers.

“Honestly, Freya, you can’t interrogate them. We are strictly looking only, no contact.”

“Seriously, no touching?”

“Especially no touching.”

“Well, that’s a bummer,” Freya said.

“For me, no, as I have Jason, but for you, yes. It’s the biggest tease, but at least you can watch.”

“Feels a bit pervy,” Freya said, wrinkling her nose. “Maybe I can take one of the rooms upstairs and watch from the window?”

“Nope, not allowed in. Kitchens are the only place we’re allowed to go.”

“Definitely, Army,” Freya said, nodding. “Okay, food. Then maybe I might come back and see if they want me to spot them.”

Heidi laughed and dragged her away from the verandah.