He knew he was sexy. He didn’t flaunt it but it was there in every move, every nuance. His confidence was breathtaking.
‘Oh, goody, skater boy in a suit. It’ll be worth it just for that,’ she quipped, giving his grunge look a disparaging once-over.
He laughed and she felt like she’d just been dipped in a vat of warm sweet molasses.
‘A suit? Me? Hate to disappoint but these are my work clothes.’
Madeline stopped and stared at his fashionably faded long shorts with ragged edging and frayed pockets and his trendy purple striped shirt, unbuttoned and flapping in the breeze. Her eyes lingered at the tantalising glimpse of smooth chest.
She stared at him incredulously. ‘This is what you wear to work?’
‘Well –’ He grinned. ‘I usually button my shirt.’
She shook her head and started walking again. ‘Are you sure you left Melbourne under your own steam? You weren’t run out, by any chance?’
He laughed and it felt as though he was licking the molasses from her skin.
‘I was a little unconventional for Melbourne,’ he admitted. ‘Just another reason I moved north.’
Madeline stopped at the light and they waited for it while Connor pushed the button continuously. The lights changed and they stepped onto the road.
‘The other being Connor?’ she asked.
He nodded. ‘And the weather. It’s hard to skate in layers and I love to surf...but I’m getting too old for Victorian sea temperatures. Way too cold.’ He shivered, thinking about it. ‘Here I can do both all year round. In next to nothing.’
She looked at him again and at his open shirt, trying to block out the images his words were conjuring in her head. She did not want to go there.
‘Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place.’
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ he said lightly.
She felt the full force of his gaze and his lazy smile and his dimples and she forgot how to breathe for a moment. ‘So, any other reasons for the big move?’ she asked, to force herself to breathe again.
He thought about it for a moment. ‘My ex,’ he admitted.
‘It’s not amicable between you and your ex, then?’ she asked, latching onto a topic that would hopefully wipe his sexy smile off his sexy lips.
‘Depends.’
‘On what?’
He shrugged. ‘The day of the week? Whether Mercury is in retrograde...who knows.’
He was frowning now. That was good. ‘Never a dull moment, huh?’
‘It’s not too bad, really,’ he dismissed. ‘A couple of blips along the way. Let’s just say moving away was a good thing. For both of us. It was more than time to cut the umbilical cord.’
And if he’d only done it earlier, the impulsive event on the eve of his departure might never have happened.
Madeline heard the wistful note to his voice and forgot about the traffic and the other people around them. He sounded vulnerable and she walked on, hyper-aware of Marcus’s arm as it occasionally brushed hers, lost for something to say.
‘But, hey, I don’t want to put you off,’ he said after a long pause in the conversation. ‘Just because marriage wasn’t for me doesn’t mean that it won’t work out for you and what’s his-name.’
‘Simon,’ she said automatically, as she put one foot in front of the other.
‘Of course, while distance is good for exes, it kind of sucks for couples.’
‘Yes, thank you, Marcus. I do believe I’ve already heard your theory on that. Have you forgotten we live in the same city?’
‘Doesn’t matter if you live in the same apartment if you never see each other.’
‘We’re fine. Really.’
The smile she gave Marcus didn’t quite reach her eyes but she sure sounded convinced so who was he to question? He’d certainly made a screw-up of his own marriage so what qualifications did he have to judge how other people conducted their relationships? Different strokes for different folks.
But, he realised as he kept a close eye on Connor, that despite only knowing her for three days she’d got to him —more than just physically. He’d seen more of Maddy emotionally than he’d seen of most women he’d known for months, even years.
He’d seen her furious — spitting chips, her eyes glittering angrily at him. Deeply sad when she’d talked about her sister. Sassy when she’d been teasing him about his hocus-pocus. Professional when he’d help her resuscitate Mrs Sanders. And then fragile and vulnerable when he had massaged her feet and neck to ease the grip of her migraine.
He cared about what happened to her. The thought of her wasting away in a relationship with an absentee partner was awful. And although there was a line between them that decent guys just didn’t cross, he realised he wanted her for himself.
Fuck! Just what he needed — to develop an obsession with a woman who’d made a promise to another man!
Madeline looked over at him and saw the slight chink in his smile and felt guilty. She was pretending that all was well with her and Simon and, no doubt, rekindling bad memories of his failed marriage. Had she rubbed salt into his wounds?
She touched his elbow lightly. ‘I’m sure there’s someone else out there, Marcus. Just for you.’
‘Oh, God! I hope not,’ he said as he continued walking.
Madeline heard the vehemence in his voice. Boy, his ex had sure done a number on his head. ‘You shouldn’t let one bad experience put you off,’ she persisted, catching him up.
‘Oh, yes. Yes, I should.’
‘But —’
‘Maddy,’ he cut in, ‘it’s okay. I like it this way. I date. I have fun. I keep it light. No promises. I wouldn’t have it any other way.’
It sounded horrible but at least Madeline knew now what an involvement with him would mean, should she be stupid enough to ever contemplate it. Just because the man had given her a fever that no amount of paracetamol would cure, it didn’t mean they were compatible.
‘So, what? It’s just sex? Just flings?’ She shook her head in disgust. ‘I could never get involved with someone like you. What about commitment? Love?’
‘Been there,
