Miranda Lee - In the Australian's Bed

‘Nothing much. I was thinking how handsome you were. And how much I like you with short hair.’

‘And I like you with long.’

She flushed as she thought of what he had done with her hair on one occasion last night. He really was a wicked man.

No, not truly wicked, Angelina conceded. But seriously naughty. A very good lover, though. Very knowledgeable about women’s bodies, and totally uninhibited when it came to using that knowledge. How on earth was she going to find the strength to tell Jake about Alex, when it meant she would have to give up his lovemaking?

Because it was all going to end once the truth came out. If there was one thing the last twenty-four hours had proved to Angelina, it was that Jake only had one need for a woman, and that was as his sexual partner. His plaything. Even his calling her his lover just now was telling. Why not girlfriend? Lover had that for-sex-only connotation about it.

No, Jake hadn’t changed in that regard. His aim had been to sleep with her. And now that he had, any complications would have him running a mile.

And Alex, let’s face it, she thought, was one big complication.

‘What a shame today has to end,’ she said with a sigh.

‘Does it have to?’

‘Time marches on. Nothing can change that.’

‘You could always stay the night with me, go home tomorrow.’

She was seriously tempted. If she’d been in bed with him at this moment, with his hands on her naked body, she probably would have said yes.

‘Sorry,’ she said crisply. ‘No can do. I have to get back home tonight. Work tomorrow.’

‘Yeah. Same here. I’m due in court first thing in the morning.’

‘On that case you told me about?’ Angelina asked, grateful for the opportunity to get her mind off sex. ‘The lady who’s dying of lung cancer?’

‘That’s the one. I have to deliver my closing address.’

‘Are you ready?’

‘I should hope so. I’ve been living and breathing that case for months.’

‘Do you memorise your speeches?’

‘Not really. I do write my ideas down. But I never try to remember them word for word. That’s the sure way to go blank and stuff it up. No, I prepare well and then I talk from the heart. You do make the occasional stumble over words that way, but the jury never minds that, if they know you’re being sincere.’

‘I hope you win,’ she said with feeling.

‘Don’t worry,’ Jake returned with a little squeeze of her shoulders. ‘We will.’

Angelina abruptly jumped to her feet. ‘Come on, let’s walk some more. I want to go see St Mary’s Cathedral.’ And she yanked a groaning Jake to his feet.

‘More walking? Can’t we just sit here and cuddle?’

‘You’ve had more than enough cuddling for one weekend. Up! ’

‘Wow. I like it when you’re bossy. Would you like to be on top when we get back to my place?’

‘Get that bag and come on!’ She was already off, walking in the direction of the cathedral, not giving him the opportunity to take her hand again.

‘Oh, look!’ she exclaimed when they emerged from the park directly across from the main cathedral steps. ‘There’s a wedding car just arriving. Let’s go over and watch, Jake. I love watching weddings.’ Anything but going back to his place yet.

‘Why?’

‘Because!’

‘That’s no reason from a girl who says she doesn’t want to get married.’

‘I don’t want to be an astronaut, either,’ she argued, ‘but I like watching their exploits.’

‘I suppose you could compare marriage to flying into space.’

‘It’s certainly a risky venture.’

‘But risk can be exciting.’

Angelina arched her eyebrows. ‘This, from a man who said he never wanted to get married?’

‘Maybe I’ve changed my mind.’

Jake saw the shock reverberate in her eyes. ‘You…you don’t mean that,’ she said stiffly.

Jake immediately regretted his possibly ill-judged words. If he rushed her, he might lose what he wanted most. After all, this was just their first weekend together. Best stick to sex for now.

‘Never say never about anything,’ he remarked nonchalantly. ‘That’s my motto.’

‘For the record, I never actually said I would never get married. I just said it wasn’t a priority of mine.’

Jake felt heartened by the carefulness in her wording.

‘That’s good,’ he said with a smile. ‘I like a girl who keeps her options open.”

Her hitting him playfully on the arm broke the tension he’d foolishly created.

‘I’m just a sex object to you, aren’t I?’ she accused.

‘Absolutely. So, do you want to go look at this wedding, or do you want to go home? Don’t forget, we’ve only got four hours before I drive you home. We’ll have to set off by eight if I want to be back in Sydney by midnight. I’m a Cinderella kind of guy when I have to be in court in the morning.’

‘Decisions. Decisions.’

‘Yeah, life’s a bitch, isn’t it? So what do you reckon? Which is it to be?’

Angelina knew he thought she’d opt to go home. And she wanted to. She wanted to so much it was criminal.

All the more reason not to.

‘I think it would do you good to see that there is more to a relationship than just sex. That couple in there are about to promise to love and cherish each other till death them do part.’

‘Until divorce them do part, don’t you mean?’

‘You’re a cynic, do you know that?’

‘Takes one to know one.’

‘Point taken. But I still want to see the wedding,’ she said firmly, and walked over to press the button that would change the traffic lights. ‘Despite the fact that the bride has already gone inside.’

‘Fine by me. I not only like to watch sometimes, but also to wait. Waiting whets the appetite further.’

‘You have a one-track mind.’

‘Where you’re concerned, I have.’

‘You’d better behave yourself in this church.’

‘I’ll be an angel.’

‘Don’t be facetious.’

The lights changed and Angelina launched herself across the road, Jake hot on her heels. She could hear the organ blaring out the Wedding March even from that distance.

‘No wandering hands during the ceremony,’ she warned him as they skipped up the steps.

‘Definitely not. I know you. You won’t be able to control yourself.”

‘I will!’ she countered, but blushingly.

‘No? Pity. Well, let’s hope this isn’t one of those long ceremonies. I’m not sure I’ll be able to sit on a hard pew for more than twenty minutes, max.” She laughed, not a good idea since they’d just entered the vaulted interior of the cathedral, right at the moment when the organ stopped. Her laughter echoed up into the cavernous and unfortunately silent ceiling. Several heads whipped round to glare.

‘Sorry,’ Jake apologised to them. ‘I can’t take her anywhere.’

‘Stop it,’ Angelina hissed. ‘Just shut up and watch.’

He shut up. But not for long.

‘Hard to see much from this far back. Want to get closer?’

‘No! I can’t trust you to behave.’

‘True. I’ve always been a bad boy in churches. Can’t stand all the hush-hush nonsense. Makes me want to break out.’

‘If you embarrass me,’ she whispered, ‘I won’t go to your place with you afterwards at all. I’ll make you drive me straight home to the Hunter Valley.’

‘Don’t think so,’ he returned just as softly. ‘You left that pretty handbag behind, remember? We’ll have to go collect it. Although, perhaps not. You could always collect it next weekend.’

Angelique frowned. She’d been trying not to think about tomorrow, let alone next weekend. ‘I…I have to have lunch with Alex next weekend.’