Summer secrets, p.1
Summer Secrets, page 1
SUMMER SECRETS
Scarlet Bay Book 2
Kris Pearson
ISBN 978-0-9951021-0-1
Lawyer Josslyn Wynn’s sharp manner and workaholic lifestyle make landing a man unlikely. When Cameron Mackay ran out on Jossy’s pregnant housemate, she fought for a protection order to prevent him from seeing his son. When they meet months later at a dinner party his knowing grin and sexy suggestions scrape over her soul like sandpaper.
It sticks in Cam’s gut to be forced to play nice with the bitter, beautiful lawyer but soon he sees he must re-assess everything he assumed about her, and everything he thought he wanted in his own casual, free-wheeling life.
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Love and thanks to Philip for the unfailing encouragement and computer un-snarling… and to Amanda Macleod and Donna Adams for their help with fertility information.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is co-incidental. There are many beaches which could be Scarlet Bay, but it’s created from a combination of several where I’ve had happy holidays.
Copyright © 2017 by Kris Pearson
Cover design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc.
www.gobookcoverdesign.com
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the author.
If you’d like to read the first Scarlet Bay novel, SUMMER SPARKS, or any of my other books, there’s a list of them all at the end.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 – Lift-off
Chapter 2 – Goading the bear
Chapter 3 – Dinner in India
Chapter 4 – And later…
Chapter 5 – Tempted
Chapter 6 – Caught
Chapter 7 – A phone call
Chapter 8 – Far from home
Chapter 9 – Back to the Bay
Chapter 10 – Cars
Chapter 11 – Bedrooms
Chapter 12 – Ribbons and lace
Chapter 13 – Confessions
Chapter 14 – Family matters
Chapter 15 – Wildwood in July
Epilogue
About the author
Chapter 1 – Lift-off
Joss sliced the onions with the ease of long practice, enjoying the satisfying way her new German knife sank through their crisp flesh. She tossed the shreds into the expensive pan and gave it a shake to distribute them. Then she wiped the heels of her hands under her eyes to push a few onion-tears aside.
God, her life was rubbish.
For the next few minutes she leaned on her counter top, gazing out over the dining area to the floor-to-ceiling glass sliders at the end of the apartment, oblivious to the magnificent view of the harbour and the clear summer sky with its few scudding white clouds. Why did none of it truly please her?
She had money to spare, cooking gadgets galore, and was making lamb vindaloo to avoid returning to the office and working on the Ashton case on a fine Saturday afternoon. Filling up time. Trying to feel fulfilled. What a cruel joke.
Christmas was now less than a fortnight away – the worst time of year. Having no partner or children to include in her plans, she’d agreed to work until the day the law office closed. Well, agreed once the pressure was put on pretty hard. That was the trouble with family firms. Her boss, Uncle Harry, had taken his wife to an anniversary lunch up the coast today, and with him off the scene the other members of staff had also found reasons to take time off. Mice playing while the cat was away. Bree said their cousin, Ollie, had invited a girl for a scenic flight in his plane. Jossy wondered if they’d get as far as Scarlet Bay where her sister Anna currently was. Lovely Anna – always the first to volunteer when things needed doing. Right now she was sorting out family treasures, or possibly family rubbish, before the old beach cottage was demolished and a much better one was built on the same amazing beachfront land.
And speak of the devil – a text from her, saying she’d decided to drive back to Wellington with someone called Jason. That was a surprise. There’d been no man in Anna’s life for a while now, although nowhere near as long as there hadn’t been a man in Josslyn’s. Hoping for company, Joss texted back ‘Curried lamb for dinner? Bring someone for me?’
Fat chance that would happen. Biting her bottom lip, she turned and gave the onions a stir, added chopped garlic, ginger and chillies, and started on the spices. She pounded away with her granite mortar and pestle as though she was smashing every bad thing in her life. Soon she’d reduced the toasted coriander seeds, cardamom, cumin seeds, whole cloves and black peppercorns to powder, and the amazing aromas conjured up visions of shimmering silk saris, prowling tigers, and lotus blossoms on tranquil lakes.
Panting slightly, she shook her head at such fanciful dreams just as another text from Anna arrived. ‘See you at 7. His name is Cam.’
Joss’s heart did a deep double drumbeat, and she stared at the screen with trepidation. Cam? Campbell? Whoever he was, serious effort was now called for, and the deep enjoyment of preparing an impromptu dinner party warred with the nerve-wracking prospect of meeting a new man who might expect… things.
*
Josslyn Wynn.
The corners of Cam Mackay’s generous mouth pulled down at the thought of her.
The unseen, stuck up, know-it-all lawyer. How often had he planned vivid scenarios where she fell from bridges, or stepped under buses, or was struck by lightning, or chased by packs of rabid dogs?
Josslyn Wynn was the reason he’d spent many thousands of dollars trying to sort out false allegations and the non-molestation order so he’d gain at least some access to his own child. And now that very same lawyer had invited him to dinner? He was itching to surprise and disconcert the cooking-mad, lesbian feminist who’d wrecked his life. Every letter signed by her had cost him money or peace of mind.
He’d met her sister the previous evening without knowing it. Anna was his friend Jason’s new girl – pale hair, hot body, great legs. It was plain Jase was in, boots and all, even if Anna seemed somewhat out of his league with her diamond ear studs and classy manners. But you couldn’t blame a man for trying.
And now this. A summons – and that’s what it certainly felt like – to fill a dinner party ‘extra man’ role for the sister at very short notice. Unexpected, but far from unwelcome once he’d thought it through. A chance to even the scores, perhaps. To let her know, face-to-face, how much he despised someone like her. Someone who wrecked lives with her over-educated brain and a scrawled signature or two. Cam had always imagined she had a gold- plated pen with a little circle of diamonds around the end. A rich-girl pen. A step even further than her sister’s sparkling earrings.
After dropping Jason and Anna at the front of the high-rise, he shoe-horned the big old car into a park further down busy Cable Street and strolled back to tap the code into the apartment’s security pad. A few seconds later a female rasped, “Yes?” Even that one word sounded abrasive.
“It’s Cam,” he growled.
“Releasing it now. Come up to ten.”
He gave a mirthless laugh. Of course she wouldn’t be down among the traffic fumes. No doubt he’d helped finance the place.
He pushed through the heavy glass door to the lobby and it swung shut behind him with a sharp clunk when the magnetic lock re-engaged.
‘Ground floor,’ the syrupy elevator voice announced.
Cam had deliberately dressed with what he hoped was offensive casualness. Carrying the bundled-up remains of his birthday cake, and some beers in case he was expected to drink over-dry, mouth-shrinking wine, he stepped out onto the tenth floor. A seriously good acoustic guitar piece replaced the tinny elevator music, and he turned toward the sound. One of the other dinner guests stood at an open doorway. Her dark gold hair was tightly pinned up in a style his fingers wanted to tear down, her face was so perfect it looked Photoshopped, and her curvy body had been poured into a second-skin black dress.
His cock stirred, and he inhaled sharply. Why the fuck hadn’t he dressed up? Brought flowers instead of beers and a chunk of leftover cake? Had a decent shave? He’d been so fixated on the thought of finally meeting Josslyn Wynn face to face he’d forgotten there might be other women here tonight who he could make a better impression on.
The greeter’s blue-eyed gaze tracked him as he approached, and she stood a little taller on her precarious heels. This tilted her rack quite deliciously for his inspection, and caused Cam to abandon his casual lope and draw himself up to his full six feet three. She’d do just fine if she wasn’t already spoken for.
“Josslyn Wynn,” she said, still holding his gaze, and offering him a hand tipped with burgundy fingernails.
Cam narrowed his eyes. No way. Not possible. He’d always pictured her as a sour-faced shrew in a prickly tweed skirt and ugly black glasses.
After a second or two he recovered his wits. “Cameron,” he said, taking her hand as lust threaded further through his veins.
“Ferguson,” he added, sliding his big thumb over her much smaller one.
“Duncan…” He paused.
“Mack
Cam swallowed. “And Tristan’s dad. Why the hell are you keeping me from my son, darlin’?”
She tried to pull her hand away, but Cam held on, tugged a little, and she took a small step forward, wobbling on those silly, sexy heels. Legs as good as Anna’s, he’d already noted. She smelled like spice and oranges.
“I was acting for my client,” she insisted, tilting her head back to keep eye contact with him. Confident and aggressive now she’d got over that shock.
About what he’d expected.
“Your client and your pretty little friend.” He put as much suggestive emphasis on the word as he could. “Were the pair of you trying to get a baby out of me?”
A vivid blush spread up her neck. “Dream on, Mr Mackay! Why would I want a baby?” The colour flooded on over her face. “You had your own solicitor. Rosie was single, and made pregnant by a man who then wanted nothing to do with her.”
“You were the perfect couple,” he said, suddenly less than certain about that. “Career woman, tough cookie, noticeably not dating, and living with pretty little Rosie, who was younger and desperate for affection. I do my research too.”
Josslyn Wynn jerked her chin up even higher. “Wrong,” she snapped. “Sister of a friend. New to the city. And it was only for a while until she got settled.”
She yanked her hand out of his with surprising strength and whirled back into the apartment. “It’d be best if you left right now,” she snarled over her shoulder. “Unless you can be more polite than that. The others are already here.”
Cam growled, deep in his throat. The back of her dress was even lower than the front. The bumps of her spine were highlighted by the overhead lamps. He itched to run his thumb down them as though they were big smooth pearls in a necklace.
He followed her into a stark white room with black furniture and a view of the harbour which filled the whole of the end wall. The door clicked shut behind him. That was two security locks, and she’d had to signal the elevator permission to stop at the 10th floor, too.
Cam’s cunningly disguised garages in Mana had some intense security because the cars were valuable, but his boathouse further north at Scarlet Bay was a joke. A padlock on a chain anyone could take apart with bolt cutters, and the access from the water… well… nothing a few thumps with a hammer wouldn’t dislodge, but he didn’t expect the familiar old boat would tempt anyone. The farmhouse on Scarlet Bay Road always had people around. Cam had never known it to be locked. He’d never even had a key.
Still imagining his hands exploring that smooth, pale back, he nodded to Anna and raised an eyebrow at Jason.
So it would only be the four of them. Better, and also worse. If there’d been more of a crowd he might have been able to get Josslyn on her own and grill her further, but with her sister hovering, no way.
Still, too good an opportunity to miss.
He handed over his pack of Tiger beers – ideal with curry, apparently.
Josslyn sniffed, and indicated the wine glasses on the table.
“Not really a wine man, darlin’,” he said, enjoying the way her mouth twitched just as it had when he’d first addressed her that way. Okay, that was good to know. A small annoyance in return for the many huge annoyances she’d sent his way. She could expect plenty more ‘darlin’s’ tonight, and he hoped every one wound her up a little more and pricked at her conscience about what she’d done to him.
He set the plastic box containing the remains of his birthday cake on a low table at the end of the sofa, and sat, stretching his long arms and legs out to lay claim to the space.
“Nice you were free,” Anna said.
Cam grinned. He hadn’t been, but when Jason’s text had come through inviting him to dinner with Anna’s sister, he’d remembered her referring to ‘Jossy’ the previous evening, done a swift Google search, and put two and two together. The girl he’d been planning to take to the movies had been rapidly rescheduled for Sunday lunch.
“Good to meet up again,” he said, attention distracted by Josslyn’s spectacular legs as she walked across to the open-plan kitchen. Long legs in strappy black suede sandals. She looked dressed for a nightclub rather than a dinner at home. He dragged his gaze back to Anna. “And good timing – I’m off to Brunei tomorrow night.”
“More golf?” Jason asked.
Cam nodded. “A lot of money there. My kind of place.” He registered Josslyn inspecting him from under her long eyelashes, and leaned further back into the sofa cushions, slung an ankle across his knee, and gazed around her apartment as though he was assessing it for sale. “A lot here, too,” he said. “You must be doing well for yourself, Ms Wynn.”
“It’s Jossy,” Anna insisted, frowning. “Why are you being so formal?”
“And so bloody rude?” Jason added in a mutter that plainly wasn’t supposed to reach the kitchen.
“Just stating facts,” Can said. “This place didn’t come cheap.”
“Nowhere’s cheap these days,” Anna inserted smoothly. “My little apartment on Mount Vic is now worth almost half again what I paid for it.”
“You doubling your money too, darlin’?” Cam threw in Josslyn’s direction.
“Geez!” Jason exclaimed. “Get nosy, why don’t you?”
Cam tried to keep a straight face. He hadn’t intended winding Jason up, but it was worth it for the effect on Josslyn. She strutted to the end of the long counter and stood there – feet apart, tits out, eyes smouldering straight into his. With her lids lowered, her smoky eye makeup was more visible. Her eyes glittered – dark blue pools of annoyance and danger. Utterly gorgeous. Totally signalling a challenge.
“Has Mana gained much?” Jason asked, obviously trying to douse the flames.
Josslyn raised her nose as though a bad smell had wafted past. Okay, not every house there was top-drawer, but Cam’s property clung to the shore and didn’t deserve that disdainful sniff. “Yeah, not bad at all,” he said to Jason. “As long as a tsunami doesn’t sweep in.” He flicked a glance sideways as their hostess considered that. Beachside. Desirable location.
“Bad news for the cars if that happens.”
Cars. Plural. Would that register too?
“Yep, I wouldn’t want to lose the Merc.” Then he added for Anna’s benefit, “1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE.”
She quirked a brow. “That wasn’t what you collected us in. It reminded me of the old Dukes of Hazzard car.”
He shook his head. “Nope – two doors, but that’s about as far as it goes. They had a ’69 Dodge Charger. I have one of those too, but mine’s a Chevvy Camaro tonight. She’s a bit of a work in progress.”
“You restore them?” Josslyn asked, in a tone that suggested his hands were dripping with engine oil.
“Investments,” he drawled. “When a man’s been bled dry by lawyers, he has to arrange some alternative income.” He saw Anna’s expression change to one of offended disbelief. He’d aimed the barb at Josslyn, and remembered too late that the girls’ father was a judge, and that other members of the family might also be in the legal profession. Tough. They’d no doubt survive a few derogatory comments. He’d bet they heard a lot worse than that.
Jason sent him a slitty-eyed glare and shook his head.
“Seems a ridiculous thing to invest in,” Anna scoffed. “I’ve never known cars do anything but depreciate.”
“Ah…” Jason said, reaching for her hand and confining it in his, surprising Cam by saying in his defence, “These are not your average family sedans.”
Josslyn turned away, plainly not interested in cars, and picked up a platter of nibbles to go with the drinks.
Cam gave a slow nod and couldn’t help himself. “The Merc’s the 3.5 Cabriolet model. Which means a convertible for you ladies. Easily a quarter mill if I could bear to part with her.”
Anna goggled at him, and Jason’s head jerked up.
Cam had the very great pleasure of hearing the platter contact the granite counter again with a definite clunk.
