Forever Scarred (3 page)

She blinked slowly
, calming her heaving chest as she took in the vicious scarring that covered most of his face. The blackened bruises and swollen nose were obviously something new and she guessed that he had had some recent surgery, but his sapphire blue eyes honed in on her, impaling her with their intensity.

His hands were still on her waist
, nearly encircling her completely but she didn’t try to escape them. The feeling of warmth and safety was too wonderful to describe. He was very close to her and she caught a waft of his aftershave, mixed with a hint of river water, but the almost overpowering scent was of man, hard and muscled and almost dangerous. She breathed in deeply, sucking it into her senses, never wanting to forget it. She almost stammered as she spoke.

“
Th…thanks, I nearly went over. I didn’t hear you come up behind me.”

Joe
’s lips twitched up into a smile and he gave a small laugh, his merry blue eyes dancing as he stared down at her.

“
Obviously. Probably because you were moaning so loudly about your wonderful boss. He sounds like a barrel of joy. Now, I wonder if that’s anything I can bribe you with later on in the week? Could be good for when we are working in teams and I need to be on the winning side.” He grinned slyly and Lucy opened her mouth to protest before she realized that he was probably joking. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head at him.

“Oh, very funny aren’t we. I
knew I should have kept my big mouth shut. I need this damned job, so I would be forever in your debt if you would keep quiet about that little indiscretion.”

Ellen moved up behind Lucy. She looked over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows at Joe, who suddenly remembered
that he still had his hands around the young woman’s waist. He dropped them quickly and stepped back as Ellen touched Lucy’s arm and guided her back towards the front entrance.

“I’m just going to
settle Lucy in and then we are going to have dinner. That should just give you time to clear up this hall Joe. Fancy coming in here with your fishing gear on. Go change and then meet us in the kitchen later.”

Joe stared down at his waders and at the footprints that stretched across the
black and white polished tiles, then he gave Ellen a sheepish look.

“Oops! Sorry
Ellen. I’ll get onto it straight away. See you later Lucy.” He gave her a quick wink out of a hooded blue eye and then turned towards another doorway off the hall.

Joe stood with his back hard up against the door to the scullery and breathed deeply. His hands were still tingling and his body was almost vibrating with a need that he could barely understand.

He had been on auto pilot as soon as
he had walked in through the front entrance and seen the back of the most beautiful hourglass figure he had ever had the pleasure to lay his eyes upon. Encased in an efficient black business suit with her tiny waist cinched in with a wide black belt and a set of pins to die for showing beneath the hem of her knee length skirt, the woman had drawn him directly to her. He knew immediately that this was who he had felt watching him from across the river and his heart beat cranked up a few notches.

When she had turned and fallen into him,
his heart had leapt violently in his chest and was still pounding an erratic rhythm that wasn’t calming even now.

He’d caught sight of the
delicious dimple peeking in her apple red cheek as she had realized that he was joking about bribing her and his heart gave another unexpectedly violent somersault.

Her dark blonde hair was tied in a sloppy sort of bun at the base of her neck and tendrils of soft hair had been escaping from the clip that held it all in place. Her dark brown eyes had only shown shock at him being there, not at what he looked like.

He leaned against the door trying to catch his breath as he imagined her hair blonde tumbling across her naked shoulders and he felt as though someone had punched all the air out of him. He couldn’t seem to find enough of it to breathe.

With her
full figure, heart shaped face and full red lips, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.

He
dragged in a ragged breath and shook himself as he stepped away from the door. He bent to begin tugging off his waders furiously. There was absolutely no point in thinking about the woman, she was way out of his league, but his heart wasn’t listening to his head.

Lucy. The name rolled off his tongue and he closed his eyes as the vision of her swept over him again.
Her breasts had filled the white shirt she wore under the black jacket and her hips splayed wide beneath the tiny waist. He had seen how round and perfect her ass was as he first walked into the hall. Now he just wanted to feel it in his palms, to glide his hands up that perfect body and mold those beautiful breasts with his fingertips, to put his lips to her nipples and flick his tongue across their tightening peaks while she cried out his name as he took her.

H
e began to sweat as his mind flipped between the gorgeously erotic pictures of her in his bed.

Shit!

H
e was in deep trouble and he knew it.

He stood up
straight again without taking off the waders and blew out the breath he had been so desperate to pull into his lungs. There was no way any of those dreams were going to happen. He caught sight of the reflection of himself in the scullery window and winced as he saw a stranger staring back at him. He wondered if he’d ever get used to the shock as he took in the multitude of scars, the black eyes and crappy, swollen nose.

What woman would ever want him
now? He had never considered himself anything like good-looking in the first place and any relationships had been difficult enough before being blown to shit. Army life was hard, with long months of separation and worry. It was not what most women wanted. And even if any of those that did fancy a bit of a thrill with a big, tough army guy had come on to him, it wasn’t what he was looking for. He had never been a one night stand type of man. He wanted a woman for keeps and not just a few hours of unfulfilling passion.

He
didn’t think that he would ever have any type relationship now. He’d only had sex once since the bomb that had ruined him and even then he’d had to pay for it, something he swore he would never do again. He had come away from the mercifully brief encounter feeling dirtier than he had ever been before, even filthier than when he was up to his neck in dust and sand while out in Afghanistan.

He glanced back at the closed door and listened as he heard heels clipping across the tiled floor towards the staircase.
He knew it was Lucy. Ellen tended to wear flat pumps even when dressed up, which wasn’t often these days and David’s wife Geraldine, never ‘clipped’ at anything. She had more of a slinky, graceful glide that she managed to keep up under all situations.

He thought about the
evening ahead. There was no way he could sit in Lucy’s company during dinner. He wouldn’t be able to think of a damned thing but wanting her and as that was never going to happen he would rather he didn’t see her at all. He was going to have to put up with her making him sweat enough at the weekend when the rest of her group descended on them and he decided to put off the moment until then.

He strode through the scullery and into the
big kitchen. Patrick stood by the long kitchen table, a lethally sharp knife in his hand as he looked down at the enormous trout Joe had caught. He glanced up as Joe marched towards the back door.

“Where are you going? I
thought you were staying for dinner. I’m going to make a béarnaise sauce to go with this trout. It’s an absolute beauty.”

His voice brought Joe to a sharp halt
, his hand poised to turn the door knob. He didn’t look up at Patrick as he replied gruffly.

“No,
I can’t stay. You lot enjoy the trout. I just remembered some stuff I have to do. I’ll grab something later down at the cabin. The freezer is well stocked.” His voice had an odd tone to it and he hoped that Patrick wouldn’t notice.

Patrick
noticed immediately. He frowned and put the knife down on the table.

“What stuff? Can’t you do it later or tomorrow? We have a few days off
, remember.”

Joe grunted
glumly, unable to keep the misery out of his tone.

“T
his can’t wait. I need to set something up and check to see how it works before that new lot gets here. I may need time to make adjustments if it doesn’t work out.”

Patrick looked at the set of Joe’s shoulders and knew that there was nothing to go and prepare, but he didn’t say anything on the subject. He
picked up the knife again and sliced one side off the trout. He wrapped it quickly in some foil, walked up to Joe and slapped it into his hand, looking carefully into his eyes as he passed it over.

“You had better take this then. It’ll be nicer
fresh than anything from the freezer. Do you want something to go with it? I’ve prepared a load of veg already.”

Joe shook his head
as he kept his eyes on the floor.

“I bought bread this morning, that’ll be good enough.
I’ll bung it on the barbeque later. I don’t really fancy anything at the moment.” His tone still didn’t sound normal and Patrick was silent for a few seconds and then he gave a grim smile as he cuffed Joe on the shoulder.

“Yeah, sure there’s nothing
around here that you fancy.” He gave a small snort and turned back to the remainder of the trout as Joe opened the kitchen door and walked off into the forest.

Chapter Three

Lucy stared down at the piece of fish sitting on the plate in front of her. It was a beautiful soft pink colour and perfectly cooked.

Patrick had served it as a starter with some crusty homemade bread that was still hot from the oven and a delicious sauce that was obviously laden with butter filled calories, but her appetite had left her as soon as she realized that no one else was going to join them at the kitchen table.

She
met Geraldine and David soon after arriving. The delightful Robbie was with them and he immediately launched into a much embellished adventure of how he had caught the fish with Joe. She smiled and listened and gasped in all the right places until David gave him a gentle cuff over his head and told him not to tell their guest a load of rubbish. Joe had caught the fish and had then caught Robbie too.

Geraldine laughed at the boy
’s angry pout at his father, but Robbie didn’t take long to return to his naturally cheerful mood. He caught Lucy’s hand and brought her to the big oak kitchen table where he pulled out a heavy chair with much grunting and puffing and then waited for her to sit down before he dropped into the chair beside her.

It was only as Patrick served up the trout that she realized that
one person was missing. Joe obviously wasn’t going to be eating with them. She tried to hide her disappointment behind the obvious question.

“So where is our intrepid fisherman? Isn’t he joining us
after all?”

Patrick glanced at Ellen and then turned to Lucy.

“He intended to but after he met you he remembered that he had to test some equipment out before the rest of your group arrive. He’s caught up with something that he must sort out or he won’t be happy using it. He didn’t want to leave it in case he has to make any adjustments. Joe is very dedicated to his work.” His tone was deep and meaningful.

Lucy stared at the big man for a moment
wondering if there was a hidden meaning in his words and then looked back down at the fish on her plate. A sudden lump lodged in her throat as she realized that Joe was probably avoiding her for some reason and it prevented her from asking anything else about him.

Ellen looked
knowingly over at Patrick and it seemed as though a silent message was sent between them. She gave a small sigh and turned to David.

“Will you go down and check he has t
aken his meds and is wearing his mask later? I know he’s been told he can leave it off more often, but the scarring will be helped and the swelling will go down quicker the longer he wears it.”

David nodded
at his sister.

“I’
ll drive down later if he doesn’t come back up.” He looked up at Lucy and began to explain. “Joe had his nose remade about six weeks ago and he had a new skin graft over one of his cheeks. Something had gone wrong with the previous one. His body suddenly began rejecting the grafted skin for some reason. We’re hoping that this one will take better and last longer. He’s still on a lot of antibiotics and he is meant to wear a pressure mask to reduce the scars but they’re damned uncomfortable and we all know from experience that it’s tempting to leave it off.” He looked back to his sister. “I have to go down there anyway. He still has my spare set of legs and I want them back.”

Lucy nearly choked on the tiny piece of trout that she had managed to put in her mouth.

“Your spare legs?” She stammered out and then flushed deeply as she realized how shocked she sounded.

But David just laughed.

“It’s my own fault. I keep getting them wet. I should wear waders but sometimes the urge just gets to me and I just have to tweak that zip wire a bit and have a go. I always end up in the river and the water isn’t good for the joints in my legs.” He leaned down and tapped at a place below the level of the table. A dull thunk rang around the room. “False legs.” He clarified and smiled at Lucy.

Lucy managed to swallow the trout. She wasn’t sure what she was more shocked about. The fact that David had
two false legs and she hadn’t even noticed or the thought of a zip wire that ended up in the river. She decided to find out more about the zip wire as that was her biggest concern.

“
This zip wire? Is it part of our course?” There was a tremble in her voice that she couldn’t disguise but David didn’t seem to notice. He laughed again.

“Yes, it’s fantastic fun.
Runs right from the top of the ridge down into the ravine. I can get it that taught it’s almost on free fall. Saved Ellen’s life when Patrick used it in a slight emergency we once had.” David gave a grateful nod to Patrick. He raised his glass a fraction at the memory of an incident that they would probably all rather forget and then took a sip of the wine that Geraldine had poured.

Lucy grabbed up her glass and took a big slurp too.
She decided that she would question Ellen about having her life saved at a later date. The zip wire itself sounded far more terrifying.

“Top of the ridge?
What ridge? Is it very high?” Her hand shook as she replaced her glass on the table. She took a couple of calming breaths before she took another forkful of the trout.

Patrick lifted his chin.

“It’s not so much that the ridge is high, but that the ravine is very deep. There are steps down the side but it takes an age and they are uncomfortably steep in places. Ellen had the idea of a zip wire for the kids when she first bought this place but I have to confess that it’s mostly the adults that use it. And Joe uses it in the team building stuff of course. You will love it when you’re flying through the air at breakneck speed with only a handbrake and the water to stop you. There’s a small cable car too, but no one ever uses that and we certainly wouldn’t use it on corporate weekends.”

Lucy’s fork clattered to her plate
. She had turned an odd shade of green.

“I don’t do heights
very well.” Her voice was a taught whisper. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to take part in that sort of team building stuff. Maybe Joe can work something out so I can use the steps.”

Ellen laughed
lightly.

“You’ll be lucky. That’s the whole point of these type
s of exercises. It’s all about helping each other overcome barriers, taking you out of your comfort zone and encouraging you to do things that you’ve never tried before. He has brilliant success with it which is why the courses are so popular. It gives a team the confidence to overcome anything and that applies to work life too.”

Lucy looked down at her plate. The remaining piece trout suddenly made her feel as though she was going to be sick. She picked up the dropped fork and pushed the fish around the plate, desperately trying not to appear rude by not eating it.

Robbie started talking again and the conversation suddenly centered on him for which Lucy was very grateful. She kept her head down and listened as he chattered on about his adventures in the forest, but didn’t join in again until the trout had been taken away and a huge portion of delicious smelling pie had been placed in front of her.

She automatically pressed her fork into the pastry and noticed how the layers flaked away so crisply. She
waited until the others had been served and then lifted a small mouthful to her lips. She almost moaned aloud when the pastry immediately melted in her mouth. Her taste buds began to sing as her tongue met succulent pieces of meat covered delicious juices and she groaned as she suddenly found her appetite again and began to consume another calorie filled, buttery creation.

“Please tell me we don’t eat like this all the time.
” She managed to speak between mouthfuls. “I don’t think my hips will survive three filled with this kind of food. Do you ever serve anything slimming?”

David
gasped and looked positively shocked at her words.

“Slimming? Does anyone here even know what that means?
This is France! We do not do slimming here. And we’re all ex-army, well us guys are and so are most of our guests normally. They wouldn’t know a thing about slimming if it jumped up and bit them.” He looked around the table as if daring anyone to contradict him. “I shouldn’t worry about it Lucy, by the time Joe has put you through your paces and run you through your course each day, you’ll need a dinner like this in the evening.”

Lucy looked slightly confused for a moment.

“I’m not sure I am in the right hotel. You’ve already shocked me with the zip wire contraption. Carter told us that it was all team building and problem solving, but he never clarified exactly what we would be doing. He intimated a more, well, a more desk based experience.” She spoke slightly nervously.

Geraldine let out a
gusty laugh and then quickly stifled it as David frowned at her.

“Maybe we had best just let Lucy and her team
, find out what they are in for when the rest of them arrive. I understand that there are twenty two of you coming?”

Lucy looked curiously at Geraldine for a moment
. The beautiful French woman obviously knew a lot more than David was telling her. She turned back to David.

“Yes, we’re a pretty big firm.
It’s insurance mostly but we do have a loans department too. Carter will be sending the rest of the staff over in groups if he thinks this course is suitable. There are over two hundred of us in the company and it’s just the managers and one selected team member of each department coming this time. Carter is very concerned that the two sides of the company don’t work as well as possible together. He feels that our profits could be maximized by greater and more efficient communication between the staff.” Her mouth went dry as she spoke and she sipped at her wine again nervously.

Ellen looked up at Lucy curiously.

“And you feel the same?”

Lucy turned to Ellen and
rolled her eyes.

“Well, if it was any other company I would say anything’s possible, but Carter is a law unto himself. He’s like a bulldozer. He just runs over anything in his path if he doesn’t think it’s a good idea. He has a suggestion box that he encourages the staff to put ideas into, but he never even looks at them. He empties the box straight into the bin every Friday and then just does what he likes. I should think the rest of the staff are celebrating that he’s not going to be there for a couple of days.” She put another forkful of the heavenly pie into her mouth and closed her eyes as all the
flavours hit her.

Patrick glanced over at David and a knowing look passed between the two of them. They had met men like Carter
Freeman before. They all needed taking down several pegs but there was a right and wrong way of doing it. Patrick thought that they knew the right way.

He looked over to Lucy.

“Well let’s just hope that he learns a few things while he’s here. I’m sure if anyone can help your company it will be Joe. He’s a brilliant negotiator and strategist. We rely on him entirely. He’s the real deal when it comes to courses like this.”

Lucy looked up at Patrick and met his gaze full on. She
decided to take a chance. If these men were not afraid of their injuries then there was no reason that she should be either. She gave a small, slightly cheeky smile.

“The r
eal deal eh? Including his legs?” She glanced over to David and gave a quick wink.

David let out a huge guffaw of laughter and had to cover his mouth with his serviette as he almost spluttered pastry halfway across the table.

“Ha! You are going to fit in here perfectly Lucy. But just so you know, it’s only Patrick and myself with missing limbs, Joe just has a missing face.”

Lucy glanced back to Patrick again
as he leaned down and tapped his leg under the table. The same thunking noise that had come from David now could be heard over by Patrick. She opened her eyes wide, amazed that she hadn’t noticed a thing amiss with either of them, apart from a few facial scars which she suddenly realized she hardly aware of any more. She stared at Patrick’s hands, to check that she hadn’t missed anything else and then before she could reign in her tongue, she spoke again.

“And you have to get your spare legs tuned up by Joe too, I take it?”

Patrick smiled widely.

“
Just the one actually, but yes, I have that one serviced by Joe too. Fortunately for us, him being a trained mechanic, he’s pretty good at that sort of thing.”

Robbie touched her arm and looked up at Lucy
with adoring eyes.

“Joe’
s good at everything Lucy. He’s brilliant at finding me when I’m hiding really secretly.”

Lucy smiled down at the boy.

“Yes, I expect he is. Well, I’m sorry he wasn’t able to join us for dinner. It would have been nice getting to know him a little better, though it sounds as though I will have had enough of him by the end of the weekend. I wasn’t really expecting to have to slide down zip wires.”

Geraldine gave a small chuckle.

“Yes, you will be doing that and you will ‘ave a wonderful night time romp through the forest and campfires and canoeing.” Her heavily accented voice did nothing to calm Lucy.

She
looked positively horrified.