The Ex Factor

Dad was a stubborn man, and Mum—he shook his head—she went along with whatever Dad decided. As much as he loved her, he didn’t think he could stand such a docile wife.

Which of course segued straight to Melanie—the antithesis of docile. She’d have given him more of an adventure than a marriage. What would his parents have made of her? he wondered, a wry grin tilting the corner of his mouth. The way she dressed, her take on upper-crust society and its conventions.

She’d lured him into having sex in the ornamental fountain on the front lawn one hot night. His grin softened at the memory. He’d never looked at the water feature in quite the same way again, and poor Mum; she’d never got to the bottom of what—or who—had messed with her water lilies.

Damn. He slammed a hand on the steering wheel and hit the accelerator, overtook a Porsche, slowed to an immediate crawl at the next intersection. Five years ago and the memory still made him hard. At least Adam’s suggestion that they go for drinks might take the heat out of his frustration.

Seeing Melanie again had brought the past back. With his degree fresh under his belt, Luke had accepted his first job in the outback at age twenty-two. Five years ago he’d been back in Sydney on the lookout for something more challenging than the eight years he’d put into a Western Australian mining operation. Then he’d met Melanie.

He’d done the unthinkable and fallen for her—so different from the women he’d always been attracted to—and when he’d won the position in Queensland he’d intended asking her to take a chance and go with him. But she’d had her own plans, on a different road—plans that didn’t include a husband and kids. Plans she hadn’t bothered to fill him in on.

He’d been burned good. He didn’t intend for it to happen again.

He pulled up in front of Adam’s apartment.

‘Hey,’ Adam said, climbing in with a neon-green feather boa around his neck. ‘Mind if we swing past the hospital on the way? Mel promised to lend this to a friend for a fancy-dress party and forgot to take it this morning. I told her we’d bring it by.’

Luke must have grimaced or something because when he glanced Adam’s way, he was watching him. ‘Problem?’

‘No worries,’ Luke said finally. He could smell Melanie’s perfume on those feathers, as if she were in the car with them.

‘What is it with you two?’ Adam asked.

‘We knew each other a few years back.’ Luke checked his mirror, then eased into the traffic. ‘It was kind of intense.’

‘So that’s why she was so moody this morning.’ Adam leaned over to check out the stereo. ‘This is one fine car.’

‘Sure is.’ Luke squinted into the afternoon sun-glare and concentrated on not thinking about how Melanie might have looked this morning. And not imagining how Melanie would look wearing nothing but that feather boa.

Five minutes later he pulled into the hospital’s car park.

They slid out at the same time, Adam heading at a brisk pace for the hospital entrance, Luke content to cool his heels near the car. He didn’t want to get involved in a conversation with Melanie. He didn’t want to get involved, period.

His engineering contract had ended so he’d decided to catch up with his parents and friends, but on the eve of his departure from Dubai he’d been offered a partnership in a unique business opportunity. He was still considering. Returning overseas wouldn’t go down well with his parents so as far as they were concerned he was settling in Sydney for good. Only Adam knew about the offer.

An impressive rounded bottom caught his eye in the next row of cars. Its owner was currently leaning into the engine of her car.

Tight black pants clung to long thighs and well-defined calf muscles. The quiet hum of lust in his veins was disturbed by a loud curse as the woman straightened, stamping a booted foot on the concrete.

Even as he said, ‘Car trouble?’ he recognised that voice, that thick rope of black hair over her shoulder. But anticipation forced the air out of his lungs, squeezing his chest and thickening his blood.

She whipped around, a flurry of colour and movement. ‘Luke!’ The multi-hued striped jumper suited her personality, suited the sparks that lit her eyes as their gazes connected. ‘I was expecting Mikey.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Any minute now.’

‘What’s the problem?’ And who the hell was Mikey?

She shook her head as she rubbed her arms against the chill wind. ‘Stupid thing won’t start again. I think it’s the battery.’ Eyes wary, she waved him away when he would have stepped closer. ‘It’s okay, Mikey knows my car. He’s my mechanic.’

So he knew her car. How well did Mikey-the-mechanic know Melanie? Judging by the sorry state of said vehicle, it would appear Mikey knew her quite well.

Luke turned his face into the wind and told himself he didn’t need the distraction of Melanie in his life. He needed a home-and-hearth woman who’d give him those grandchildren his parents were always on about. Some day.

‘You came with Adam, I assume? Did he bring my boa?’

Melanie’s question forced him to turn back. He slid her a glance and his heart stalled at the sight. In that split second his hopes of finding a home-and-hearth type that packed half the punch Melanie did bottomed out. ‘Yeah. He’s just up ahead…’ He pulled out his mobile, informed Adam, disconnected.

A moment later as he watched Adam approach, Luke fought a brief irrational stab of jealousy. Adam knew Melanie now, better than he did. He knew her idiosyncrasies, the scent she left in the bathroom after her shower. It was Adam who saw her mussed and sleepy-eyed first thing in the morning.

‘Thanks,’ she said as Adam draped the green feathers around her neck.

‘Well.’ Adam looked from Luke to Mel and back. ‘You two want to—’

‘I’m waiting for Mikey,’ Mel said, a wealth of defiance in her tone as she flicked at the boa. ‘Ah, there he is.’ She waved the feathers to a yellow van cruising the parking lot. ‘You two go ahead. I’ll be fine.’

‘You want to come for a drink too, Mel, when you get your car running?’ Adam asked.

‘Not tonight.’

Luke watched her eyes flicker with some emotion he couldn’t identify, heard the hesitation and the tightness in her voice. ‘Let me guess,’ he drawled, holding those eyes. ‘You have to wash your hair.’

‘I have an appointment.’ She didn’t flinch or look away and was it his imagination or did her grey eyes turn sultry? ‘I’m booked in for a massage and leg wax at six-thirty.’

Too much information. Too late, Luke recognised the danger and struggled to get past the image of her lying on a white couch, slippery, naked. With a strand of green feathers. Fingers of heat scored his skin. He shifted his stance to accommodate the building tension. He really, really didn’t need to go any further down that track. ‘Okay, then…’

He trailed off as he watched the sandy-haired Mikey climb out of his van and approach Melanie, a battery under one beefy arm and a swagger and a smile that didn’t fool anyone.

Then he saw her smile back and his confidence in Mel’s ability to see through men like that deflated like a lead balloon. ‘If you need any help…’ He directed his offer to no one in particular and set a beeline for his car. ‘Call us. Where shall we go?’ he asked Adam.

Adam turned to Luke, his shrewd blue eyes assessing. ‘Somewhere quiet and comfortable where you can fill me in on your acquaintance with Melanie Sawyer.’

* * *

‘Okay, girls, let’s see what we’ve got.’ Melanie tipped the contents of the shoebox onto the table and pushed up her sleeves. She and two colleagues were down to sorting prizes and matching numbers in the hospital employees’ cafeteria.

‘This silent auction was a great idea, Mel.’ Sophie spread out the cards with the donated prizes written on them.

‘You bet,’ Marie agreed with enthusiasm. ‘We’re going to raise some money for the Rainbow Road and have ourselves a good time.’

‘Hopefully,’ Sophie, ever the voice of caution, said.

‘Where’s your sense of adventure?’ Mel looked at Sophie, the youngest and newest member of the fund-raising group. ‘What’s the worst that can happen? If things don’t work out you end up home alone at ten p.m. on a Saturday night. Not too late to dial up pizza, open a bottle of wine and watch a DVD.’ Like Luke, she thought, remembering the spark between them as she’d passed him his DVDs.

Instantly she was back in the past with Luke’s mouth moving over her body, her hands in the silky strands of his hair as he took her higher, higher…

Her pulse took off God knew where and she must have taken after it, because when she finally focused on her surroundings her friends were watching her curiously.

She cleared her suddenly dry throat and said, ‘The best part about being alone is you get to choose the movie.’

Marie shook her head. ‘Sounds like a waste of a good Saturday night.’