The Lawson Boys: Marty (9 page)

Turning away,
he placed his hands on his hips and strode across the room.
Stopping in the doorway, he took another deep breath and turned
around to look at the slumbering woman on the bed.

Belle was
different. That was all there was to it. He didn’t understand how
he could forget propriety when with her, but it was there as plain
as the nose on his face. Something had made him forget his own
rules.

Well, crap.

But he couldn’t
walk away just yet. Leaning one shoulder against the door frame, he
studied the woman sleeping on the bed. Pretty, the figure of an
overblown hourglass, a contradiction at times and virtually unknown
to him, Belle affected him like no other woman he’d just met.

Mister ambled
past him, crossing the room to jump on the bed and walk up beside
Belle. He sniffed her dress before settling himself near her waist.
From his new, rather enviable position, and dribbling a little, he
gazed aloofly across the room at Marty.

“Okay,” Marty
said. “You get to sleep with her. I don’t. I get it.”

Mister sniffed
and closing his eyes, he rested his chin on her gently rounded
belly.

Lucky cat.

“But she thinks
I’m
handsome.”

Mister didn’t
open even one eye in acknowledgement.

Marty smiled
slowly. “And she owes me a kiss.” Pushing away from the doorframe,
he took hold of the door handle and partially shut the door,
switching off the light at the same time.

He had every
intention of seeing Belle the next day.

Moving with
more purpose, he strode down the staircase to find that the kittens
had abandoned the silk purple panties under a side table. Reaching
under, he straightened with the fragile material in his hands and
trudged back upstairs to Belle’s bedroom. Dropping them on a chair,
he took one last look at the voluptuous sleeping beauty on the bed
before grinning and making his way back downstairs.

Chapter 3

“Mum-”

“I can’t
believe it! You actually stormed the church and told everyone that
Trevor took your - your - I can’t even say it!”

“Mum, it’s not
that bad.” Belle winced at both the lie and her pounding head.

“Not that bad?
Belle, the whole town is talking about it! Everyone knows you’re no
longer a virgin and who did the deed.”

“Really, I
don’t want to talk about this to you.” Or anyone.

“You have to
face your friends, your boss, everyone. How do you think this
looks?”

“That I’m a
total idiot?”

There was
silence on the other end of the phone line for several seconds and
when her mother spoke again, it was in a softer tone. “I’m sorry,
sweetie. I know this has been hard for you.”

She had no
idea. Belle rested her aching head back on the pillow. A gallon of
water and two paracetamol later and her head still felt like it had
been used for a football.

“I think you
should come home,” Mrs Broune added.

“And face
everyone?”

“You’ll have to
sooner or later.”

Wasn’t that the
ever lovin’ truth? And how much did that suck lemons? Blowing out a
sigh, Belle stared up at the ceiling.

“Does Diana
know?” Mrs Broune asked.

“Mrs Lawson?
No, she doesn’t. I haven’t told her.”

“I see.”

Frankly, Belle
didn’t see anything except that she’d been a total fool and now she
had to go back home and face everyone. Maybe it would be better to
go home and face everyone now. Meaning go home and hide in her
house until she had to go back to work and
then
face
everyone.

“You’re just
lucky that Trevor didn’t press charges,” Mrs Broune pointed out.
“Being in court because you assaulted him would have been the icing
on the cake.”

“Thanks for
being so understanding.”

“Now, sweetie,
you know your Dad and I love you, and no matter what happens you’re
our daughter and we’ll stand by you.” Her mother’s tone warmed.
“Come on, Belle, this’ll all blow over. You just need to come home,
weather the curiosity, and soon it will all be in the past.”

“And the
scarlet woman of the town will fade into the background again.”

“As soon as
another scandal overrides it.”

“Thanks, Mum.
That makes me feel so much better.”

“Okay, you can
stay in the city for the rest of your holidays and then come home.
It’s your choice.”

“Yeah. It is.”
Belle sighed and closed her eyes. “Sorry, Mum.”

“No need for
that. What’s done is done. Your just lucky your Dad didn’t go into
the city and punch Trevor’s lights out.”

Alarmed, Belle
jerked upright, thumping head and all. “No!”

Mrs Broune
laughed. “No. I talked sense into him. He’s here if you want to
speak to him.”

Not really. How
embarrassing, talking to your dad when he knew you’d - Belle
cringed at just the thought.

“Hey, Pumpkin.”
Mr Broune’s voice was low and gravely as always, but thankfully not
judgemental.

“Hey, Dad,” she
replied dispiritedly.

“Slapped the
bastard, huh?” Her father gave a short, barking laugh of approval.
“That’s my girl.”

Warmth swept
through her and she relaxed. “Made a fool of myself, Dad.
Again.”

“Ah, Pumpkin,
life’s like that. You come on home and we’ll face the gossips
together.”

“Sorry about
the gossip, Dad.”

“Don’t worry
about it. Other indiscretions have been the talk of the town, such
as Bertha Mixton getting caught sneaking out of old Bernie Bartho’s
house in the early hours of the morning.”

Belle’s brows
shot up. “Really?”

“Yeah. Was the
talk of the town until…”

“Until my
indiscretion became public knowledge?” Belle finished dryly.

“You have to
admit, Pumpkin, you topped it.”

“Yeah, I
did.”

After a moments
silence, Mr Broune spoke again. “Something juicy will soon pop up
and your little episode will fade. Now buck up, you have to decide
whether you’re going to come home or stay in the city for the
remainder of your holidays.”

“Yeah, about
that. I haven’t decided yet.”

“Well, if you
want me to come and pick you up, just say the word.”

“You’d fly over
here?”

“You’re our
Pumpkin, of course I would.”

Her frazzled
nerves were calming, no doubt about it. “Thanks Dad, you’re the
best.”

“You just let
me know.”

“I will.”

After a few
more minutes of talking, he rang off. Rolling onto her side, Belle
placed the mobile phone on the bedside table and closed her eyes.
It was midmorning on a sunny Monday, her head was thumping, and
she’d managed to convince Mrs Lawson that she had a bad headache
and nothing more serious. Luckily, her sympathetic host had plied
her with paracetamol and kept the curtains drawn, leaving Belle in
peace.

Even the
kittens seemed to know she wasn’t well, for they were asleep on the
bottom of the bed. Mister had disappeared. All she wanted was a few
hours to get over this hangover and then she could deal with facing
Marty.

Belle winced.
She could only remember bits of the previous evening, but it was
enough to know that he had told his friend who she was and she’d
proceeded to drink herself into a half remembered state. Oh God,
what a mess. She had never gotten drunk in her life, and she
couldn’t believe she’d behaved so atrociously while with her host’s
son. Regardless of whether or not he was a devious turd, she should
have maintained control.

Trevor had
really screwed her up.

The mobile
buzzed on the table and she tried to ignore it, but it kept buzzing
insistently. Finally she grabbed it and peered at the number
showing.

Holly, her best
friend. News travelled fast. There was no way that Holly would
leave her alone until she got answers.

Actually, she
was glad that Holly had rung. Placing the mobile to her ear, she
said, “I’m a slut. I’ve fallen to pieces since I got here. I got
drunk, I crashed a wedding, I slapped a man, I made a fool of
myself. I’m The Other Woman.”

“Wow,” said
Holly. “I’m impressed.”

With a
reluctant laugh, Belle went up onto her elbow, reaching out to the
little bottle of water that Mrs Lawson had left by her bedside
table.

“So the city is
having a dubious effect on you?” Holly continued.

“You could say
that.”

“How about I
come over and we vandalise Trevor’s car and house?”

“I don’t think
my parents would approve.”

“They don’t
need to know.’

“I somehow
think they’ll find out. Besides, I’ve done enough damage to the
family name right now. The town needs time to recover.”

“Belle, lovey,
you’re a heroine here.”

Belle nearly
choked on a mouthful of water.

“Seriously,”
Holly said. “Mr Bartho said if he were ten years younger he’d come
and claim you for himself.”

“
Ten
?
He’s eighty five!”

“He prides
himself on his stamina.”

Belle shuddered
at the image.

“And you’re the
local heroine of Mrs Harris’s garden club. The old ladies there
reckon you’re a prime example of a decent woman not taking - how
did Mrs Harris elegantly put it? Oh yes, any shit, I believe it
was.”

“Mrs Harris
didn’t say that!”

“Okay, I
ad-libbed, but she meant the same thing. My version just had a
little more punch to it.”

Belle
laughed.

“So don’t worry
about being a slut, lovey, your reputation is okay here.” Holly
hesitated. “Mostly.”

Belle closed
her eyes. “In some places.”

“Hey, there’re
always going to be dicks around. You can’t let that rule your
life.”

“I’m not
afraid.” Terrified, maybe. Possibly. Okay, definitely.

“Listen, I’m
not going to lie. You know there are a couple arses dying to see
your face and make snide comments, but you gotta stand up to them,
Belle.”

“I’ve always
stood up to bullies, regardless of their ages.”

“Good. Now to
something else.”

“If this is
about Mrs Mixen having it off with old Bernie Bartho, I already
know.”

“Wow, word
travels faster and further than even I realised. How did you hear
about that?”

“Mum and Dad
just rang me.”

“Ewww.”

“I know. Mixen
and Bartho? Double eeewww.”

“No. Your
parents hearing of your cherry popped.”

“Thank you for
that, Holly. Just the reminder I needed.”

“Sorry.”

Belle rubbed
her aching forehead.

“So,” Holly
continued. “You coming home?”

“You don’t
think shifting away to the other side of Australia would help?”

“Running never
helps. Now listen, people here know what happened, you seriously
think word won’t travel? For all you know, newspaper reporters
could be hot-footing it to the Lawson’s door right now.”

That did make
Belle sit upright. Oh God, it was true! Word would somehow travel,
especially if those dicks back home thought about doing it.

“Do the Lawsons
know?” Holly added.

“No! Well,
one.” Getting up, Belle leaned across to the window and peered
outside, half expecting the house to be besieged with reporters and
TV vans.

All was
quiet.

“One?” Holly
queried. “Who?”

“Marty
Lawson.”

“You told Marty
Lawson?”

“No. He saw me
at the wedding and recognised me.”

“Marty was at
the wedding?”

“Yeah.”

“Friend of the
bride or groom?”

“What? I don’t
know.”

“Well, he had
to have had an invite. So he was either friend of the bride or
groom.” Holly paused before bursting out, “Oh my God! You don’t
think he’s a friend of Trevor’s, do you?”

“No, of course
not.” Was he? Sitting back on the bed, Belle bit her bottom lip.
She really had no idea. He certainly hadn’t said anything about
being the friend of the cheating bastard, but then again, neither
had he leapt to the defence of the bride. “Uh-oh.”

“That doesn’t
sound good,” Holly said.

“I have no
idea. Oh shit. Holly, if he is a friend of Trevor’s, why is he
being nice to me?”

“The Lawson boy
is being nice to you?” Holly was dubious. “Be careful, Belle. He’s
a womaniser and a heart-breaker. He could be faking sympathy to get
into your panties.”

“I seriously
doubt it, Holly. Marty is a handsome hunk who has scads of
beautiful women falling at his feet begging him to get into their
panties. He’s definitely not trying to get into my plus-sized
panties.” Worse luck.
Shit, where did that thought come
from?

“I dunno,
Belle. Just be careful, that’s all.”

“No need to be,
but thanks.”

“So, let me
know when you’re coming home and I’ll meet the plane.”

“Thanks
Holly.”

“Okay, I have
to go. Work is calling. Unlike some of us, I have to make a
quid.”

“That’ll be me
next week. If I still have a job.”

“Of course
you’ll still have a job! Geez, a little scandal is good for
business. Mary’s thrilled.”

“Thanks for
that. Really.”

“No worries.
Gotta go!”

Not
particularly wanting to talk to anyone else, Belle switched off the
mobile before placing it on the bedside table. After scrutinizing
the driveway and having the reassuring sight of emptiness, she
slowly stretched and worked the kinks from her neck.

Okay, she had
decisions to make. Holly spoke the truth, sooner or later word
would leak that it was Belle Broune, aka The Other Woman, who had
crashed the wedding and slapped the groom. And following that it
would soon be known that The Other Woman was staying with the
wealthy, well respected and prestigious Lawsons.

And once that
happened, the Lawsons could be besieged with reporters.