Chapter Two
December
“I can’t believe we’re breaking ground today.”
Max’s excited voice cut into Simon’s thoughts. He sent him a quick smile and grabbed the large tray of coffees that Cat handed him, Max taking the cupcakes, and nodded his thanks.
“It’s about time, right?” he said as they pushed out the door and hurried up the mall toward where Max’s pub, the Spotted Cow, was being rebuilt. The morning sun still had that early summer bite to it. The warmth would come soon when it climbed a little higher in the sky.
He glanced at the coffees in his hands and raised a brow. “I can’t believe you made me order a double-shot vanilla latte, the vanilla being the double. That’s not coffee, man. That’s lolly water.”
Max’s smile grew. “The architect likes them, so that’s what I’m giving her. Gotta keep her happy. Otherwise, she might accidentally on purpose put the taps for the kegs in the men’s room.”
Simon’s laugh rang out, echoing off the buildings to their right. “That could be a problem.” He nodded as they rounded the corner. “You’re right. Best to keep the architect happy.”
Huge amounts of timber and metal lay in organised stacks at the back and side of the large lot where the Cow once stood, before it was razed by fire. He’d finally meet the architect today. Max had done all the work with the firm so far, one recommended by Millie and Trey, who had their office in Bialga. He’d met Isaac, the owner, once or twice in the past when he’d come into the Cow for dinner, but not the young up-and-coming partner overseeing the job.
Apparently, she’d just won a swanky national award, raising the profile of the firm immensely nationwide, and job offers had poured in, promising to keep them busy for several years to come. So much so that Isaac was considering hiring more people.
Luckily, they’d already had their job locked in the previous year, the council approvals and permissions having taken this long, causing the delay in starting the rebuild.
Simon couldn’t help the excitement curling through his blood. This place had been his home away from home. He’d spent more time there, working behind the bar, than at his actual residence.
It was home. Or, at least, it had been.
He couldn’t wait to see it come together and take shape in front of him.
“Could be a good thing this chick won that award. A lot of eyes will be on her for this rebuild. It might make them even more careful about how they do it,” Simon said as they rounded the two dual-cab work utes with the name Southern Cross Architecture splashed across the sides.
Max chuckled. “Don’t worry. I think they’re pretty psyched wanting it to go perfectly as it is, without added pressure from the media.” He motioned with the tray of cupcakes to the utes. “Isaac is here today too. He was excited to see us break ground.”
Simon nodded. “Understandable.” He glanced around. “No Millie and Juliet?”
Max’s smile turned softer. “They’ll be here soon. Mil was just finishing off a feed.”
“Cool,” Simon said.
He’d tried so hard to move forward, to not distance himself from the kid—after all, it wasn’t her fault his life had fallen apart so spectacularly—but something held him back from getting too attached. He knew it hurt Max that he couldn’t fully engage with Juliet. Heck, Max was not only his brother, he was also his best friend and the proverbial proud dad. He adored and doted on his wife and child.
And Simon was truly happy for him, for them. He just…
He sighed to himself. Perhaps he was just an ass. This not being able to get past the whole baby thing. It had been almost twelve months. He knew it was stupid, knew he was fixating. He’d even talked to a psychologist a few times, something only Darby knew about.
But knowing it and dealing with it were two very different things.
Darby’s little Finn was getting easier. Sometimes. The little fella was walking now, and Simon had had all that time with him before…
Before things went bad.
He looked down at the tray of coffees as they rounded the high back of the closest ute.
Thinking about the psychologist brought him back around to that night he’d foolishly gone to Bialga with the prime intention of getting rat-shit drunk.
Thank God he’d improved from that low point. And thank God he’d still had enough brain power to stop things going any further with Eva. He hadn’t been drunk, exactly, but he certainly hadn’t been sober.
He knew he’d upset her by backing off like that. But if he had allowed it to go any further it would only have become a huge mistake. Hooking up was the last thing on his mind that night. It wasn’t why he’d been there. And spending the night with a complete stranger—however sexy—wasn’t the way to deal with his own grief.
He’d told her the truth. She’d been gorgeous. Something completely out of his normal sphere, out of his league. Well-dressed in expensive clothes. She’d even smelled expensive.
Man, she’d smelled so damned good.
He glanced at Max. He hadn’t told him—hadn’t told anyone—about that night. About what he’d almost done.
He’d been too ashamed of his own behaviour to even mention it.
He knew none of his family would judge him for it, even if he’d gone through with it. But he certainly would have judged himself. And he wouldn’t have liked what looked back at him in the mirror the next morning.
Eva hadn’t deserved that. Hadn’t deserved to be used as a crutch for his own pain.
The morning breeze had picked up a little as they reached the site and a breath of that delicious, expensive perfume teased him, floating by on a tantalising zephyr.
He stopped dead, shaking his head.
“You okay?” Max asked, stopping in front of him.
Simon glanced at his brother and tried to put the smile he knew Max would want to see back on his face. “Yeah. All good.”
Heck. What was that? His head was playing tricks on him.
“Morning, all!” Max called as he walked ahead of Simon.
He looked up as a short, curvy woman in a dark grey pantsuit started turning toward them. He noted her sensible—if fancy—shoes and held back a grin. He should’ve known better than to expect some over-the-top heels. His gaze lifted to the rich red hair pulled up in a tightly wound bun on the top of her head and his gut clenched, reminding him of Eva and her red hair.
Not a single hair seemed to be out of place, unlike Eva’s messy twist that had topped her head.
His gaze came to rest on her face as she looked at him, and his smile evaporated.
“Eva?” he blurted without thinking.
She startled, her eyes going wide, her already pale face paling further.
“Simon?”
Max glanced between them. “You guys know each other?”
A stilted heartbeat of silence flooded them, and Simon found his own mouth opening. “Yeah. I ran into her in Bialga.”
Max’s inquisitive look dissipated, seemingly happy with this explanation, as he walked over to the large table she and Isaac had set up with blueprints spread with weights on the edges to hold them down in the breeze.
A relieved half-smile flickered over Eva’s mouth as she jerkily stepped forward, hand extended. “Lovely to see you, Max.”
Max grinned as he shook first her hand, then Isaac’s as he came up behind her. “You have no idea how excited we are to finally get to this point. It feels like it’s taken forever.”
A light laugh left Eva. “I understand, believe me. This has been a long time coming.”
Eva’s gaze slipped to him, and Simon couldn’t help the heat that rose in his face.
Couldn’t help his mind barrelling back to the last time he’d seen her; what they’d been doing. What he’d done to her .
No. Don’t go there.
His gut twisted and somersaulted and sweat broke out all over him.
Definitely not going there.
He pasted what he hoped passed for a smile on his face and held out his hand as his brother had. Thankfully, she took it.
Her enticing scent surrounded him and goosebumps peppered his arms when her palm met his.
“Nice to see you again, Eva.” His words were soft, measured.
Her smile looked just as forced as his own, but thankfully no one seemed to take any notice, Max instead moving over to chat with Isaac.
She dropped his hand as if burned and shrugged noncommittally. “You too.” She straightened the hem of her suit jacket. He could see it for the nervous action it was. Heck, he wanted to squirm in place, too.
Of all the people in the damned district…
Simon straightened and gulped a deep breath. He glanced at the others to make sure they couldn’t hear what he was about to say.
“We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other with this build. Max is my brother. I work for him. So, I’d like to apologise again for what happened. I…” He sighed and rubbed at his nape. “I wasn’t in a good place. I drank far too much. I should never have taken you back to that room.”
He could tell she was trying to hide it, but embarrassment and horror washed over her face, quickly hidden behind a mask of cool professionalism.
“Of course. There’s nothing to apologise for. If anything, it’s me who should be apologising. I’m the one who jumped you like that. It’s not something I usually make a habit of.”
The heat had increased in her face to the point her cheeks almost glowed. He understood her embarrassment, felt it himself. But not because of what he’d done with her— to her.
His embarrassment stemmed from the fact that he shouldn’t have taken advantage by accepting her offer. He’d wanted to forget. Needed to get out of his own head, and she’d been the unlucky one there. He refused to acknowledge that thoughts of how her hand had felt wrapped around him had invaded his head on more than one occasion since—many more, if he was completely honest—usually when he was tired and not deliberately trying to keep his mind active.
He shoved his hands into his jean’s pockets. “How about we start over, then? Hi, I’m Simon Jameson. Max’s younger brother. I work for him full time; behind the bar and any other lackey jobs he needs doing.”
The last was said with humour, but also with a healthy dose of self-deprecation.
A flicker of amusement rose in her eyes, relieving the pinched look from moments ago. “Evangeline Adams. Architect partner at Southern Cross Architecture and general gofer for Isaac.”
The tension in his shoulders relaxed fully, his grin widening, full and genuine. He raised his voice a little. “Don’t let him push you around. He’s just jealous he didn’t win that award.”
An unpretentious smile tilted her mouth and her eyes sparkled.
Isaac turned; one eyebrow raised. “Watch it, Jameson. Or I’ll tweak the plans to make your life harder.”
*
The laugh that exploded from Simon’s mouth sent shivers ricocheting all over Eva’s body.
She resisted the urge to place the back of her hand to her cheeks. How could a laugh, of all things, sound so damned sexy? How could it do such wicked things to her insides?
She breathed slowly to calm herself. She’d been right. The man had the most beautiful smile she’d ever seen, wide and friendly. And cheeky. His lovely eyes were more blue than grey today, seeming to reflect the colour of his T-shirt.
The air of sadness that had been around him at the nightclub seemed… less . Yes, it was still there, but it wasn’t the cloying, all-encompassing desolation that had seemed to cling to him like mist.
“That’s just mean , Isaac.” Simon glanced at her. “See? Told you he was jealous, Eva.” And he winked.
Those shivers turned to goosebumps and exploded over her entire body.
Oh, dear God. Kill me now. Just do it. Get it over with. It’ll be easier this way.
She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since the night they’d met.
Every, single, day, he popped into her head. Usually at the most inopportune times, too.
The feel of his body pressed against hers, the taste of his delicious kiss, the sensation of his mouth on her breasts, how hard he’d been in her hand.
The feel of his hand between her legs.
She hadn’t experienced an orgasm that good in years. She shivered in the warm morning sun and rubbed her arms. Luckily, no one was looking her way. She glanced around the small group and caught Max’s inscrutable gaze.
Make that one person who’d noticed.
Dammit!
She sent him what was hopefully an open smile. He held her gaze for a moment, then turned his attention to the rest of the men.
The sound of more vehicles turning up caught her attention and she spoke. “I know you want to open as soon as possible, Max. Since we’re not doing a concrete slab, and you wanted us to oversee the project planning, I took the liberty of hiring two extra crews. We should be able to shorten the original completion date by at least three months with them. Possibly even more. If my projections are correct, and we don’t get too much inclement weather, we could have you opening in six to eight months, instead of the projected twelve.”
Max’s astonishment was difficult to miss. “Really?”
Relaxing into herself, she nodded. This was her job. Her passion. This was what she did .
“Yes. I have everything ordered already and have moved up the required-by dates to even before my projections, so that if there are any issues sourcing things—which there shouldn’t be, according to my suppliers—that we’re ready for each step no matter how early we complete them. I have backup suppliers for any possible delays. Costs will increase slightly with the extra crews, but it’s still well within budget since the time frame will be shorter. You should even have a slight amount left over after completion.”
The happiness on Max’s face warmed her. She loved seeing her clients satisfied with her work. It was what she lived for. His happiness was reflected on Simon’s face, also.
And if she wasn’t wrong, admiration.
She shoved that thought from her head. It didn’t matter if Simon admired her, or liked her, or whatever.
He’d made it clear he wasn’t interested. She needed to put their random encounter from her head and move on.
She shot him a glance as he chatted animatedly with Isaac and Max about the build.
That was going to be harder than she thought. The man pressed all her buttons. All the good ones.
He seemed to be the perfect package. Friendly. Open. Very good-looking. Some people looked worse for wear in the light of day, the lighting in bars and nightclubs a little deceiving.
But not him.
He was gorgeous. Not in that pretty, model-beautiful way that Max was, but more rugged, more real. More touchable .
Don’t touch, Eva. Don’t touch the brother of the man paying your salary for the next six-plus months.
Such a lovely, wide, lush mouth. She’d nearly combusted when he’d smiled properly. And that laugh. It was enough to ignite her knickers.
Stop it!
She looked at him again. Lean, but strong. He wasn’t some pasty weakling pretending to be a man. He was the real deal. A healthy tan made his skin a lovely golden-brown. He didn’t only work indoors.
And his hands.
Strong. Competent. Calloused.
Remembered sensation of how good his hands actually felt assailed her senses. She looked away, fighting the sudden heat rising in her body all over again.
This was going to be a problem. She needed to get a hold of herself and be the professional everyone expected her to be. The professional she expected herself to be.
Lusting after Simon would cause too many issues. Issues she didn’t need.
Her gaze lit on his left hand.
No ring.
He was single. Or, at least, not married.
She breathed deeply and shook herself mentally. The sound of feet behind her had her turning.
A group of men, women, and two small children came toward them. A smile tilted her mouth immediately at the friendly faces attached to the group and became bigger at the happy giggle of the toddler who stumbled toward Max, a giant, sloppy grin widening that cute little face at having spotted him.
Max swooped down and swept the boy up. He squealed and wiggled then planted both hands on Max’s cheeks.
“Hello to you too, Master Finn.”
The giggles were contagious, and Eva couldn’t keep the chuckle from leaving her own mouth. Max leaned over the wiggling toddler’s head and kissed the pretty blonde carrying a baby girl dressed to the nines in bright frilly pink, her bare legs kicking and dancing excitedly at seeing him.
Max pressed his lips to the forehead of the baby, his face softening so much that Eva’s breath caught.
This must be his daughter. Max had talked about her and her mother a lot.
“How are my two gorgeous girls?” he asked.
The blonde laughed. “No different from half an hour ago when we saw you last.”
Eva’s own mouth tilted in response to the snarky but warm response. Her gaze roved over them all, and she gasped audibly.
Max glanced at her, one eyebrow raised.
“My goodness. How are all you guys so genetically blessed?”
A loud, delighted laugh left the pretty brunette woman to her left who took the wiggling toddler from Max’s arms. “It’s been the bane of my life to have brothers that look like they do.”
She held out her hand to Eva. “I’m Darby. Max’s favourite sister.”
“His only sister,” a man behind her said, a beautiful woman with long, softly curling dark brown hair at his side.
“Shut up, Gabe. Or I’ll disown you as my twin.”
Eva couldn’t help the laugh that left her. She liked these people. Loved the easy relationship they seemed to share. Eva took the offered hand.
“Eva Adams.”
Darby’s eyes lit. “Ahh! Our fabulously talented architect. It’s lovely to finally meet you.” She nodded to the little boy in her arms who struggled to get down. “This little terror is Finn. He’s twenty months, now.”
“Thanks. You, too.” Eva grinned at the happy little boy. “Oh, how could she call you a terror? I bet you’re just perfect.”
Happy chatter had started up all around them, Max’s family’s excitement for the ground-breaking colouring the very air around them.
“You have kids?” Darby asked, her smile at Eva’s interaction with her son easy to spot.
“This is my other brother Gabe. Emma, his wife. Ryan, Darby’s other half, and my parents, Mary and Ed,” Max interrupted.
Eva looked at all the people whose attention was now firmly on her. She raised a hand. “Hi! I apologise in advance if I get your names wrong at first. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of each other over the coming months.”
Murmurs of agreement and nods filled her vision and ears.
The pretty blonde with the baby walked up to her and held out a hand. “Millie. Since he didn’t bother introducing me.” Eva took her hand. “And this is Juliet,” Millie said, motioning to the baby.
Max slid his arm around Millie’s waist and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, not looking at all chastised. “I was saving the most important until last.”
Millie’s quickly hidden grin showed Eva all she needed to see. Millie had Max wrapped around her little finger, and then some.
Conversation peppered the air all around her. She couldn’t help the warm swirl of emotion meandering through her blood.
She missed this. Family. Friends.
She missed her own brother something terrible, but he’d moved to Adelaide for work, and she hadn’t seen him in months, other than via video calls. Her own parents lived near her, but her job took up so much of her time that often she only saw her dad on weekends. Thankfully, her mother had taken on family day care as a new, later-in-life career, and looked after Matty each day. She had two other children under her care one other weekday, so that he could have playmates.
He had the advantage of being in a home he knew, and with his grandmother.
Darby put her squirming boy down and he bolted as fast as his stumbly little legs could carry him past Max. Eva looked around. Little Finn was headed straight for Simon.
A surge of inexplicable excitement went through her. The little boy must love his uncles terribly.
Small hands grabbed Simon’s jeans in their fists and the man in question patted Finn’s head. Gently, but almost… reserved.
Eva’s smile faltered.
It was obvious Finn wanted to be picked up.
Juliet squealed, her little face lighting up when she caught sight of Simon. Millie looked to Simon, a hesitant smile on her own mouth as she turned to him. “Would you like a cuddle?”
Her words were soft, as if she already knew the answer, but wanted to ask anyway.
Sudden dread pooled deep in Eva’s belly.
Simon looked up from the boy holding his pants leg so tightly. His expression shut down and he jerkily stepped backward.
“Maybe next time.”
His words, although low, held a rough edge that couldn’t be missed. She couldn’t help noticing the sadness in Millie’s eyes that also splashed over his mother’s face, standing as she was behind Millie.
“Okay,” Millie agreed quietly.
Ice drenched Eva’s skin, peppering her in goosebumps again, this time for all the wrong reasons.
Mr Perfect wasn’t so perfect, after all. Nowhere near it.
Simon Jameson didn’t like children, and she had a three-year-old son.