The Beginning of Us (The Wattle Junction #3)

Chapter 1

Nothing got Teddy James out of bed faster than a fist flying at his face. He rolled to the right, legs tangling in the sheets as the man’s fist thumped the pillow where his head had been. Teddy scrambled to his feet, blinking rapidly as he tried to get his bearings.

This wasn’t Wattle Junction.

“It’s not what you think, Mick!” Lena cried from the other side of the room. But the brunette Teddy had met last night at a Melbourne sports bar was naked, and there was a condom wrapper on the bedside table.

“How could you?” Mick screeched.

Teddy held one hand out in front of his body, the other snatching at the crumpled sheet and holding it in front of his junk.

His head pounded. The shots had been a bad idea.

Last night had been a bad idea. He should’ve known better.

Known it wouldn’t be any different from his recent nights out.

What used to be fun hadn’t been fun for a while now.

Mick cracked his knuckles. Shit, there was a wedding ring on his finger. Teddy glared at Lena. So much for ‘wanting to let loose and have some fun’. She’d neglected to mention she was married. She hadn’t been wearing a ring either. Teddy always checked.

“I didn’t know, man. I swear,” Teddy said, hand still out in surrender. Where were his clothes? He swallowed a groan, remembering they’d started on the couch, then made it to the dining table before moving to the bed. His clothes were out there. And Mick was blocking the door.

“You expect me to believe that?” Veins popped across Mick’s forehead.

Teddy glanced at Lena who was just standing there, wringing her hands, her eyes blank like she couldn’t think of anything that would make this situation better …

like, oh, maybe the fucking truth? Teddy’s grip on the sheet tightened when Mick sprang forward, bouncing on the balls of his feet like a pro-fighter.

“Baby, please,” Lena simpered, drawing Mick’s attention again. Teddy snapped his jaws together. What sort of person did this?

“Things between us have been difficult, and this is Teddy James!”

“So? What’s so special about Teddy James?” Mick roared.

“Dawn slept with him last year—”

Teddy remembered Dawn. That gave him some comfort that he wasn’t the worst guy in the whole world.

“And she was bragging about how good it was—”

There it is.

Teddy had heard all this before. He’d earnt his reputation, and that was, well, that was on him. No one had forced him to behave like that. Only thing was, he wasn’t proud of it anymore.

“You never pay me any attention, and I … I thought this would be better than it was. Teddy was a mistake,” Lena sobbed into her hands, still naked. “I’m so sorry, baby. You have to forgive me.”

It didn’t really seem like Lena was in a position to be issuing orders, but as Mick stepped towards her and pulled her into a hug, Teddy seized the opportunity and darted for the door, sheet flapping behind him.

He grabbed his pants, wallet and phone and didn’t stop until he was past the three other units on the block.

He’d left his shoes and shirt behind, but sacrifices had to be made.

Teddy ducked behind the big tree in the front yard when the door to the first unit opened.

Fuck my life. It was barely seven o’clock, and he was starting his weekend in some random’s yard wearing nothing but what his mother would call manchester. This day couldn’t get any worse.

He was still trying to hide himself when a surprised “Teddy?” disturbed the quietness of the morning.

Teddy looked up, right into the eyes of Jessica Sonoto, his old co-worker.

“Big night?” she asked, as her gaze tracked over his bare chest, the sheet he was holding in front of his dick.

“What are you doing here?” Teddy blinked against the bright sunlight.

Jessica looked beautiful, as always, and Teddy would be lying if he said he didn’t notice her in every room she was in, but she was also notoriously private.

They were nowhere near Wattle Junction, the small town west of Melbourne where they both lived.

Teddy had studied dentistry at university, but he was also a long-time student of the School of Casual Hook-ups, and if anyone deserved a night of fun, it was Jessica.

The attractive, single mother worked harder than anyone he knew.

And considering small towns were terrible places to try to keep secrets, it made sense she’d venture a little bit further out if she wanted to keep her love life private.

Hell, Teddy did the same thing. As far as he was concerned, anywhere within fifty kilometres of Wattle Junction was a no-fly zone.

Unless he wanted his mother and her friends—the aptly named Old Girls Gossip Brigade—to get all up in his business and start planning weddings and babies and picket fences.

Women had never seemed to want those things from him, and he’d stopped hoping that would change a long time ago, and leant into his playful, no-strings reputation.

Snapping back to his current predicament, Teddy noticed the cart filled with leaflets that Jessica was pulling behind her.

“I had to collect this week’s deliveries because my boss’s been sick and this is the only time I have before my shift at the pub,” she explained.

That made more sense. Teddy had never met anyone with more jobs than Jessica. He wasn’t even sure if she slept.

She coughed, her eyes rolling skyward. “That sheet isn’t doing as much as you think it is.”

“Shit. Sorry. Hang on.” But trying to keep the sheet in place and deal with his inside-out jeans was impossible. It didn’t help that he could feel the warmth from the early morning sun in places he shouldn’t. Teddy stumbled but managed to keep himself upright.

Jessica sighed, letting go of the cart’s handle. She stepped forward and held out her hands. “Honestly. What would men do without women?”

Teddy could think of several things, but now didn’t seem to be the time to mention them.

And to be fair, they weren’t as fun as the stuff he liked to do with women.

Or he’d liked to do. Because Lena had been right.

Last night hadn’t been great. It had been empty, nothing more than going through the motions.

Like the rest of his recent sexual encounters.

But what was Teddy supposed to do if he wasn’t good at this anymore? What had changed?

Jessica’s fingers brushed against his as she gripped the sheet and held it up as high as she could.

Right. Teddy coughed even though he didn’t need to. Now wasn’t the time for an existential crisis.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, fussing with his jeans and finally getting them the right side out. Teddy was buttoning his fly when Mick and Lena appeared. She’d managed to put on a robe and was begging Mick not to leave as she grappled for the handle of the half-zipped suitcase he dragged behind him.

“Shit,” Teddy muttered. “Quick.” He grabbed Jessica’s hand and pulled her towards the row of hedges behind them.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “You’re going to—”

But it was too late. Teddy’s feet tangled in the bottom of the sheet, and he fell, landing with a loud oof. The branches of the hedge scratched at his back as his legs splayed open. Jessica landed right where he’d long fantasised about having her.

Right in his lap.

This whole week had been a debacle. Now Wednesday, the only bright spot had been Jessica’s surprising interaction with Teddy James on Sunday. Coincidentally, it had also provided more than enough material to continue fuelling her secret crush.

Lordy, that man could wear a sheet.

And don’t get her started on his chest muscles and the smattering of tattoos that decorated his torso.

She’d spied a compass, something that looked like a family crest and a tree of some sort.

Then there was his hair. Jessica had never been into long hair on guys, but it worked for Teddy.

Everything worked for Teddy. But today? Right now?

There was no time for fantasies of any kind.

Jessica was being firmly dragged back to reality.

First, her four-year-old son, Sam, hadn’t wanted to go to kinder, begging Jessica to let him stay with her.

Dropping him off in tears was becoming increasingly common, and it broke her heart every time.

Then she’d served a grumpy customer at the Wattle Junction Hotel who kept insisting his drink was regular Coke instead of diet.

Add in the passive-aggressive messages her mother, Cara, had been leaving on her voicemail, as well as a mystery one from a lawyer she’d never heard of, and any chance of the week finishing on a high had long evaporated.

No doubt her mother was in trouble again and looking for Jessica to solve her problems for her.

Jessica shifted on the child-sized chair she was sitting on and did her best to put as much distance as possible between herself and her ex-husband, Rob.

She knew why Miss Molly had called this meeting.

This wasn’t their first rodeo. There had been plenty of discussions about how Sam was struggling socially.

He might’ve inherited most of his looks from Rob, but the poor kid had got a full serve of Jessica’s shyness.

“It’s time to make a decision,” Miss Molly said as Sam played on the fort behind them. The blonde teacher always looked so cute with her collection of sassy badges and slogan shirts. “We’re running out of time if we want to apply for another year of funded kindergarten.”

Technically, Sam was old enough to go to school next year if they wanted him to.

Jessica would never vocalise this thought, but it was going to be much easier for her to work once he was there.

If Jessica could pick up more hours at the pub, she could give away her dog-walking job.

Or the leaflet delivery one. Maybe her online yoga classes.

Pulling beers wasn’t her dream job, but the pay was good, and her boss Wyatt had always been very accommodating of her circumstances.