Miranda Lee - Contract with Consequences

‘Ah. Back to that again.’

‘I think it’s only fair that you answer at least some of my questions if you’re going to be the father of my baby.’

That was fair, John accepted grudgingly.

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Fire away.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘You’ll tell the truth?’

‘Cross my heart and hope to die,’ he said. ‘But only if you promise to stop this nonsense about leaving.’

Scarlet thought about that for a second, deciding that she wasn’t going to let John steamroll her into anything. It had been foolish of her to come up here without thinking everything through. Uncharacteristically foolish. But of course she had been desperate at the time.

‘I reserve the right to still leave if I find out you’re not suitable father material,’ she told him firmly.

‘I thought you found that out last night,’ he returned with a wicked little smile.

She blushed. Again.

Scarlet itched to stamp her foot in fury at herself. Blushing was hardly the way to convince John she had the upper hand.

‘Must you remind me of that?’ she threw at him.

‘No need to be embarrassed. Now, how about you send those photos to your mum whilst I go put some clothes on? Then we’ll get out of here.’

‘But you were going to answer some questions.’

‘You can walk and talk at the same time, can’t you? Women are always claiming they can multi-task.’

Scarlet wanted to hit him. But not as much as she wanted to kiss him. Oh Lord, she was one mixed-up girl at the moment!

‘Must you tease me all the time?’ she snapped.

He smiled. ‘Absolutely. I find you very sexy when you’re angry.’

‘Well it’s no wonder you’ve wanted to screw me silly all your life, then,’ she retorted, blue eyes flashing. ‘Because I’ve been bloody angry at you since the first day we met!’

He tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t help it. Neither could she. Her lips just twitched at first, then her chin started to quiver. And then they were both laughing, loud and hard.

Their laughter broke some of the sexual tension which had been steadily growing in Scarlet since she’d stepped out onto the balcony and spotted John sitting there with no shirt on. But even as she laughed she knew it would be wise to get out of this apartment as soon as possible. The physical chemistry between them was dangerously strong and extremely seductive, which was perverse, since they didn’t see eye to eye about much. She was a person who valued family and community above all else. He was a loner who spurned involvement with others, even his family. She worked to live. He lived to work. Or he used to; she wasn’t sure what his work ethics were now that he was rich.

These last thoughts reminded Scarlet of all the questions she wanted to ask John. Questions which had always plagued her about him. She was relieved that he’d agreed to satisfy her curiosity, because what if he hadn’t? Scarlet doubted she would really have had the courage to leave. She was too close to achieving her goal of a baby. On top of that the prospect of more sex with John was a wickedly corrupting temptation, especially when she was alone in his half-naked presence. She needed to get him dressed, pronto, then get them both out of here.

JOHN made his way quickly back into the master bedroom where he threw on a white T-shirt, slipped on some ancient but comfy flip-flops, then reached for a white baseball cap which he’d bought last week. He’d discovered that even in winter the sun up here in Darwin could burn, especially now that he didn’t have a thick covering of scalp and facial hair to protect him.

When he returned to the living room, Scarlet was waiting for him with a roomy straw carry-all slung over her shoulder and a large-brimmed white sun-hat on her head.

John walked ahead of her to the door, opening it and waving her through before turning and locking up. Slipping the keys into his shorts pocket, he accompanied her along to the bank of lifts where they rode in companionable silence down to the lobby. Once there, he took her elbow and steered her out onto the pavement then safely across the road to the park opposite.

‘The park runs the full length of the Esplanade,’ he told her as they started walking along the main pathway which wound its way through the extensive lawns and gardens. ‘This path will lead us to the far end of the CBD, past Government House, which is a splendid old building, then over a walkway and down a lift to the newly developed waterfront. I think you’ll be impressed with what they’ve done to what used to be a pretty dingy area.’

‘You’re right-the views of the harbour from down here are incredible! And different from up on your balcony. Do you think we could go out on the harbour one day?’ she asked whilst taking photos.

‘Of course. I’ll charter a boat. We’ll go sightseeing and I’ll show you how to fish. Fishing’s a recent hobby of mine.’

She stopped taking photos and looked at him. ‘I’m surprised. I thought you were a terra firma man.’

‘I thought I was too. But after my accident I couldn’t do too much for a few months. A friend suggested fishing and I found I loved it.’

‘My dad used to like fishing. But I never went with him. I always thought it would be boring.’

‘Not if you know where to fish and you have the right equipment. Then it’s quite exciting. And very satisfying. They’ll cook us what we catch on board the boat. If you like eating seafood, that is.’

‘Love it.’

‘That’s one thing we have in common, then.’

Scarlet laughed. ‘The only thing, I’ll warrant.’

‘No. Not the only thing,’ he said, his voice low and knowing.

Scarlet deliberately ignored his sexual overtone by walking over to read a commemorative plaque which had a list of names on it connected with the Second World War. Darwin had been the only city in Australia ever to be bombed during any of the world wars, she’d discovered during the Internet search about the city. Scarlet took a photo of the plaque, then a few more of the view.

‘What a lovely place Darwin is,’ she said.

‘I like it,’ he said.

‘So why don’t you live here permanently, John? Why go back to South America? Come to think of it, why did you choose to work there in the first place? I mean, there are jobs for geologists here in Australia. You could have just come up here, or gone to one of the many mining towns in Western Australia. There’s no need to go to the other side of the world just to get away from…’ The question she really wanted to ask burst out. ‘Why do you hate your father so much, John?’

‘Wow,’ he said. ‘That’s quite a lot of questions in one hit. Look, why don’t we sit down over here?’ he said, directing her to a park bench that was under the shade of a tree. ‘It could take me a while to answer them all.’

‘Especially truthfully,’ she reminded him.

‘Scarlet, would I lie to you?’

‘In a heartbeat,’ she replied, and he smiled.

‘You know me too well.’

‘I know you don’t like talking about yourself.’

John shrugged. ‘I doubt you’ll find any of this happy listening, but what the hell? You wanted the truth.’

For a split second, he wondered if he could get away with lying to Scarlet. But only for a split second.

He wasn’t about to sugar-coat anything, either.

‘First things first,’ he said rather bluntly. ‘I’m actually not going to go back to Brazil. I recently sold my house in Rio. I plan to stay and work here in Australia.’

‘That’s a surprise! What made you decide to return home after all these years? I got the impression you loved living in South America.’