Paradise Nights: Taken by the Bad Boy

Serena shook her head emphatically. ‘I like his suggestion better too. I was just giving you options.’

‘The man doesn’t need options, Serena. He needs hope,’ said Pete. He thought of seduction and of courtship and wondered where a compliment might fit in the grand scheme of things. ‘And may I say you’re looking divine this evening, as usual. Care to join me and my melancholy friend here for a drink?’

‘You can have ten minutes,’ she told him with a toss of her head. ‘Then I’m off to check on Chloe. She’s a little sensitive right now to the influence Nico has over Sam.’

‘And you couldn’t have mentioned this earlier?’ demanded Nico, shooting her a dark glare.

Serena shot him a halfway apologetic glance. ‘I thought you knew.’

‘I’m curious,’ said Pete, steering them both towards a table. ‘Does Nico supporting Chloe’s authority over Sam count as courtship or seduction?’

‘Pardon?’ said Serena.

‘I’m saved,’ he told Nico. ‘She doesn’t know either.’

‘Huh?’ said Nico.

‘Never mind. Coffee?’ he asked Serena. ‘Have you eaten?’

‘No, and no. But I’d rather have wine with my meal than coffee.’

‘Good luck with that,’ he murmured, and turned to browse the blackboard menu. ‘What’s good here?’

‘The fish,’ said Nico dryly. ‘I caught it this morning. And I’ll order the wine.’

They got their wine but held off on ordering meals in favour of waiting to see if Chloe returned.

‘Bring any passengers in?’ asked Nico.

‘They’re still in Athens. I’ll go back for them in the morning. They’re booked to go to Kos.’ Pete relaxed back into his chair, more content than he’d been at any point during the last two days. ‘Was my coming here tonight on the off chance of meeting up with Serena an act of courtship or seduction, do you think?’

Nico shook his head. ‘Hell, I’ve got it pegged as an act of desperation.’

‘I think it was sweet,’ said Serena, favouring him with a smile. ‘What’s in the folder?’

‘Mail and scheduling paperwork in case I ended up sitting here by myself. Chloe warned me about the bridge party. I figured I might need a prop.’

‘Good move.’ Serena flicked open the folder and began to browse. ‘Aerial cattle mustering in the Northern Territory? Really?’

He’d forgotten about the job ads he’d shoved in there. ‘It could be fun,’ he said.

‘Yeah, for about five minutes.’

‘It’s seasonal, Serena. Read on. Five minutes is as long as it takes.’

‘I was thinking of it as a more permanent position.’

‘No.’

‘Oh.’ She flicked over to the next page. Pete sighed. This one involved transporting men and supplies to and from oilrigs off the Western Australian coastline and this one was permanent. Doubtless he’d hear her opinion on it too.

‘It’s not exactly family-oriented, is it?’ she said after a read through.

‘It doesn’t need to be,’ he countered. ‘Does it?’

‘I’m just saying that it’s something you might want to think about if you’re looking at a long term position, that’s all.’

‘Interesting advice,’ he said mildly. ‘Coming from you.’

Nico snorted, Serena ignored them both, turning that paper over to stare down at the next one. A fax this time, marked urgent, and not strictly a job advertisement. ‘What’s this?’

‘Private.’

She looked up, her startled gaze clashing with his.

‘Sorry.’ She shut the folder and pushed it back towards him. Yours, her actions said, but there was a question in her eyes and on her lips. Knowing Serena, it wouldn’t be long before she voiced it.

‘They want you back, don’t they? They’ve asked you to go back and fly rescue helicopters for them again.’

He didn’t reply. Didn’t think he needed to. It was Nico who broke the silence. ‘Your ten minutes is up, Serena. It’s time to go find Chloe. Please,’ he added.

‘For you,’ she told her cousin as she scraped back her chair and stood to leave. ‘Because I love you and I know she’ll come round. You’ll see. And as for you.’ Pete found himself on the receiving end of an apologetic smile. ‘I’m sorry I pried. Even sorrier about the lack of room service. But I am glad you’re here.’

Serena found Sam and Chloe in Chloe’s tiny two-bedroom apartment nestled at the back of the hotel grounds. Sam looked up from his seat at the kitchen table but there was no smile for her as she greeted him. Instead he nodded curtly and turned his attention back to the schoolbooks surrounding him. Chloe stood at the kitchen bench chopping salad ingredients into a bowl. A steaming dish of moussaka sat cooling on the stove. Sam still looked mutinous. Chloe still looked upset. The silence pervading the room could have been heard over a full scale military tattoo it was that loud. ‘So. you’re eating over here?’ she said lightly.

‘Yes.’

‘How about joining us for coffee a little later, then?’

‘I can’t, Serena.’

‘You’re angry with Nico.’

‘I’m angry with everyone, including myself,’ said Chloe tightly.

Wholesale anger. Not good. ‘You need company. Anger loves company.’

‘You mean misery.’

‘Exactly. So we’ll all come and eat over here with you and Sam, then, shall we?’

Chloe picked up a knife and began dicing carrots, dumping them into an already overflowing salad bowl. Clearly Chloe hadn’t been paying a whole lot of attention to the amount of salad she actually needed when she’d been cutting it up. Serena looked from the salad to the oversized casserole dish full of fragrant moussaka. ‘How many people were you planning on feeding tonight?’

Sam looked up briefly and caught her eye, a smile tugging at his lips before he ducked his head and went back to his homework.

‘C’mon, Chloe,’ she said quietly. ‘Nico’s beside himself. He thinks he’s hurt you. Both of you.’

Chloe remained silent, so did Sam.