Six Naughty Nights: Love in Reverse, Book 2 (33 page)

When he lifted his head, she was smiling.

He brushed her lips with his thumb. “Still on for tonight?”

“Sure. Have you drawn the card?”

“Oh yes.” Desire curled through him at the thought of what awaited them that night. He glanced over his shoulder. Faith and Rusty had disappeared into the kitchen. He could hear her chewing him out again, poor guy. “You want to read it?” he asked, pulling the card out of his pocket.

She took it and read it quickly. He grinned as twin spots of colour appeared on her cheeks. Previously, they’d picked their cards at random, but he’d taken his time choosing their last Naughty Night. He could remember the wording.
It’s the twenty-fourth century and the galaxy is in turmoil. Mutinous workers are threatening to overthrow the state. You’ve captured a protestor, and you’ve been instructed by your superiors to interrogate her for information. Feel free to restrain her, and use every skill at your disposal to extract the secrets she knows…

She raised her gaze to his. “Tying me up, huh?”

He pulled her closer and nuzzled her ear, breathing in the strawberry scent of her hair. “Any objections?”

“No,” she said, breathless. She played with his shirt. “I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Oh?” He pulled back.

“I’ve got an interview in Dunedin.”

His heart bumped unnaturally and then sank into his boots. But he forced a smile onto his face. “That’s great news. I’m really pleased for you.”

Her shoulders lost some of their tension and the frown between her eyes disappeared. “Oh, thanks. Yes, it is good news.”

“When is it?”

“Soon as I can make it. I was thinking maybe about flying down Monday, if you wouldn’t mind looking after Charlie? I know you’ve got to get back to work though.”

“I can take one more day. Of course I’ll look after him.”

She nodded. Their gazes locked for a moment, a thousand things unspoken. He was going to lose her, he thought miserably.

“Until later, then,” he said eventually.

She nodded. “Good luck.”

“Hopefully I won’t need it, but thanks.” He released her, his hand lingering on her hip as if it couldn’t bear to lose contact with her.

Rusty and Faith came out of the kitchen. Rusty looked smug and Faith’s cheeks were pink, so Toby guessed they’d made up. “Ready?”

“Yep.” Rusty lifted his suit from the hanger and grabbed his bag. He kissed Faith. “See you later, sexy.”

“Don’t push your luck.” But she smiled.

They headed out to the car, and waved to the girls as they drove away.

“You made up then?” Toby queried.

“Yeah. I grovelled. And made a few promises for later.” Rusty grinned.

“Faith being pregnant hasn’t damaged your sex life then,” Toby said, amused.

“Quite the opposite. She’s insatiable.” Rusty rolled his eyes. “I’m exhausted.”

“You’re really complaining about your wife’s increased sex drive? Dude, what’s wrong with you?”

Rusty laughed. “Point taken. I’m guessing there won’t be so much of it when the baby’s born, so I suppose I should make the most of it.” He sighed.

“Yeah, but the baby won’t stay a baby forever,” Toby said. “And you’ve got the rest of your life together.”

“True.” Rusty smiled.

Toby concentrated on the road. Rusty had a hell of a year ahead of him. All the troubles and worries of Faith’s pregnancy, the stress of the birth and getting screamed at in the delivery room, the sleepless night, the dirty nappies and vomit everywhere.

And Toby was green with envy. He should have had all that. It churned him up inside that he’d missed out on it. He hadn’t even seen any pictures of his son at birth, and probably never would, as Esther had told him her photos had been lost in the damage from the earthquake. He’d never get that time back again—those precious memories of Charlie having his first chocolate bar, saying his first word, sitting on a swing for the first time.

“Dude,” Rusty said. “You okay?”

Toby followed his gaze to see his hands gripping the steering wheel, knuckles white. He forced himself to loosen his grip and sighed. “Yeah.”

“You thinking about Esther?”

“How did you guess?” He smiled wryly.

“Been there, done that.”

“Yeah, I’d forgotten.”
 

It had been a peculiar couple of months when Rusty and Faith had got together, supposedly under the excuse of doing research for some articles Faith was writing, even though Toby knew Rusty had wanted to get her into bed for years. They’d not told anyone they were hooking up, but he’d known something was going on. There’d been an odd atmosphere in the group, and Rusty had been preoccupied and moody toward the end, although Toby had not been able to put his finger on why.

“What made you decide?” he asked.

“Decide what?”

“That you wanted to stay with her,” he said. Rusty had always been determined to stay single due to the severe alcoholism that the men in his family suffered from.

“I missed her,” Rusty said. “When I wasn’t with her. I couldn’t think about anything else.” He studied Toby thoughtfully. “Is that how you feel about Esther?”

Toby said nothing.

“Ah.”

Toby sighed. “It doesn’t matter. Even if she does feel the same way about me, she’s off to Christchurch soon, or maybe even Dunedin—she’s got an interview Monday. It wouldn’t make any difference what we feel. She’ll never forgive me for leaving her in Fiji.”

“Are you sure about that?”

He glanced at Rusty. “What do you mean?”

“I mean she’s crazy about you, man. It’s written all over her.”

He looked back at the road. “She thinks I’m all right in bed, if that’s what you mean.”

“That’s not what I mean. She watches you all the time, when she thinks you aren’t looking.”

A shiver descended from the roots of his hair across his shoulders and down his spine. “Stop shitting me.”

“I’m not shitting you. I swear. She’s nuts about you. God knows why. And maybe you should take the time to talk to her about the future, rather than assume you know what she’s thinking all the time.”

That made him think. Was there any possibility of a future for the two of them together? It was difficult to convince himself there was. Because her being crazy about him was one thing.

Her forgiving him for walking away from her was another.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

They arrived at Dan’s house, half-expecting to find him still in bed, but to their surprise he was up, showered and fresh as a daisy. The room smelled of bacon and eggs, and Toby’s stomach rumbled.

“Last chance,” Rusty said as they followed Dan into the house. “If you want to escape to Antarctica or something, now’s the perfect opportunity.”

Dan laughed as he walked into the kitchen. “Nah, I’m good. I’m looking forward to it. It’s not every day you get to promise the woman of your dreams you’ll love her forever in front of all her friends and family.” He stopped then. “Crap, now I’m nervous.”

“You’ll cope.” Rusty gestured at the frying pan on the hob. “Feeding the five thousand, are we?”

“I figured you’d both be hungover, and I don’t want you throwing up over the altar or something. Get the toast.” He started sharing the bacon and eggs between three plates.

“Why do you never have a hangover?” Toby complained. He seated himself at the breakfast bar and buttered the toast.
 

“Skill and an excellent constitution. Oh, and about three pints of orange juice before I went to bed.”
 

Rusty grabbed the ketchup from the fridge. “I’ll never forget that first night you both got me drunk. I couldn’t believe how awful I felt. I swear I threw up three times the quantity I actually consumed.”

“Yeah, but you proposed to Faith, so at least something good came out of it.” Dan grinned and pushed their plates over.

“Just you left now,” Rusty said, pointing a fork at Toby before tucking in.

“Yeah.” Toby concentrated on cutting up his bacon. He didn’t want to discuss what was going to happen after the wedding when he wasn’t even sure himself.

They ate their breakfast and then got dressed. All three of them had hired traditional wedding suits with morning coats, pinstripe trousers and wing-collar shirts. Toby’s and Rusty’s waistcoats and ties were silver paisley, while Dan had chosen a burgundy one with a silver swirl.

They’d just finished dressing when Toby’s parents turned up to check on them. Martha fiddled with their ties to get them right, and then Graham took a photo of the three of them in the garden. Finally they left the guys alone to go to Faith’s house, as they were taking Esther and Charlie to the wedding.

Rusty switched on the TV and they sat and watched the highlights of a recent All Blacks rugby game. Dan started to get twitchy, though, and got up and paced the floor, straightening photographs on the table and checking his tie repeatedly in the mirror.
 

They sat him down and played X-Box instead, letting him beat them at Halo. It worked for a while, although eventually he declared he couldn’t concentrate anymore and turned the machine off.

Both Toby and Rusty made a few phone calls to the wedding organiser and her helpers to check on the progress of events, but everything was going smoothly. The organiser told them Eve had finished getting dressed, the photographer was there taking photos of her in her parents’ garden and the bridesmaids had turned up at the house. The flowers had arrived and the afternoon wedding meal was progressing according to plan. There was nothing left to do except make sure Dan made it to the church on time.

Luckily it wasn’t long before the car turned up. There was a last-minute flurry of activity as they made sure he had his bag packed for the honeymoon, and that he knew where the flight tickets were and had his passport.

“Got the rings?” Toby asked Rusty for the hundredth time.

Rusty patted his breast pocket. “Stop panicking. Do you want to look after them?”

“God no. I know I’d lose them. I can’t believe I agreed to do this again—I’m terrified.” He checked his suit in the mirror again and ran his hands through his hair.

“I’d never have guessed,” Rusty said wryly.

“Why aren’t you nervous?”

“I’ve been the groom. Nothing beats that for nerves. This is a cinch.”

Dan came out of the bathroom looking as white as his shirt.

“You all right?” Rusty asked, half-amused, half-concerned.

“I threw up. God, what am I doing? Why am I putting myself through this? We should have eloped.”

The three of them stood in the living room, looking at each other.

Rusty smiled. “You’ll be all right when you get there and see her.”

“Nothing’s going to go wrong,” Toby reassured him. “Look at us. We’re too gorgeous.”

Dan laughed and brushed down his jacket. “Do I look okay?”

“You look great,” Toby said. “Your mum would have cried if she could see you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Dan mumbled. He breathed deeply and let it out slowly, giving a shaky smile. Toby’s heart filled with sudden affection for him. They’d all been through a lot together. They’d known each other for eleven years now, and he was as close to them as he was to his brothers.

“Come here,” he said, and he gave Dan a manly hug. “You’re going to knock Eve’s socks off. Imagine her face when she sees you.”

He released him, and Rusty took his place, hugging him tightly. “Being married is the best thing in the world,” Rusty said. “It’s worth all this, believe me.”

Dan stepped back and straightened his coat. “Thanks, guys. I’m glad you’re here. You know how I feel about you. Insert some incredibly girlie declaration of affection here.” He cleared his throat. “I’m going to the car.”

He walked out.

Toby met Rusty’s gaze, and they both laughed.

“Want a hug?” Toby said.

“Nah, I’m good.” Rusty gave him a wry look. “But thanks. I’m glad we’re both here for him. It makes all the difference on the day, knowing your mates are looking out for you.” He headed out.

Smiling, Toby locked up the house and followed.
 

They slid in the car, trying to make sure they didn’t catch their coattails in the doors. Toby’s heart increased its pace even more. And he wasn’t even the one getting married.
 

He’d felt the same at Rusty’s wedding, which had been slightly more eventful leading up to the ceremony. Rusty’s brother had gotten into a fight on the stag night and sported a beautiful black eye the following morning, causing them both to have a blazing row when Cole turned up at the house. Rusty had lost his tie and spent a frantic half hour looking for it before remembering he’d put it in a drawer for safekeeping. Then he’d gone into a complete panic when Dan had phoned Faith’s house only to discover she’d gone out for a walk, without her phone. In spite of their attempts to console Rusty, he’d convinced himself she’d got cold feet, and when Eve eventually rang back to say she’d turned up happy as Larry wondering what all the fuss was about, he’d had to have a glass of brandy and then lie down with a cold flannel on his face for half an hour.