You're the One (6 page)

The ambo’s
eyes narrowed speculatively. “And just why would you want to handle
her?”

Not going
there, no way. Especially not with this teasing, cocky bastard.
Moz’s gaze flicked to Scott and Simon, both watching him with the
same speculative gleam in their eyes. Nor with these two.

“If you’ve
finished gossiping like old maids,” he drawled, “can you tell me if
you’ve heard of any rentals?”

“Here.” Ryder
pointed to an armchair. “Why don’t you sit and share your
thoughts?”

“Share my
thoughts? With you three? Are you shitting me?”

“What’s wrong
with us three?”

“What’s right
with you three? No thanks.” Moz dropped onto the armchair, Mozart
immediately standing on his hind legs to place his paws against
Moz’s knees and meow anxiously. He stroked the cat’s head. “It’s
all right, boy, I’m not going anywhere.”

“That’s
right,” Ryder crooned. “Daddy is staying here and letting us know
why he’s so interested in a certain blonde.”

“Not in this
lifetime.”

“What’s wrong
with Del?” Scott queried.

“Nothing’s
wrong with Del.” Far from it. Kind of. “But that’s not why I’m
here.”

“You were the
one who brought up her house.”

“Her security.
I came to see Mozart and you three just happened to be here, so I
brought up her
security
.” Moz watched Mozart start a slow
circle of the lounge, sniffing everything in sight. “Finished.”

“Finished?”
Ryder echoed. “So why are you sitting down?”

“To visit with
Mozart.” Moz looked at Simon. “Your friend isn’t too bright, is
he?”

“It’s okay,”
Simon replied cheerfully. “Elissa still lets me play with him.”

Ryder turned
incredulous eyes on him. “Jesus, that sounded just so wrong.”

Scott
laughed.

“If you were
into men, it would be so right,” Simon pointed out.

“Neither of us
is into men,” Ryder retorted.

“Then it’s
just your filthy mind, isn’t it?” Simon leered. “Or is it wishful
thinking, sweetheart?”

“I need a
vomit bag.”

Grinning, Moz
settled back in the armchair, relaxing as the men exchanged
insults. He’d become friendly with them all, mostly Simon as he was
his brother-in-law, but he couldn’t truthfully say he was great
friends with them just yet. It was kind of a work-in-progress. Moz
didn’t make friends easily.

Grant, on the
other hand, well the vet and he had come to know each other a lot
more since he’d taken on the role of RSPCA inspector. It was a
given, seeing as Grant was the only vet in town. The man was a good
bloke.

But one thing
he was grateful for, was the happiness Simon brought to Moz’s
little sister. Elissa was the very picture of contentedness and
happiness.

Moz’s gaze
drifted to the fireplace mantel where photos stood. One was of
Scott’s wedding, where Moz towered behind Simon and Elissa. Man, he
looked a little grim even though he smiled. Probably because he’d
been so wary of the man he had never met courting his sister.

In turn,
almost everyone had been wary of him. He was under no illusions, he
was taller than the average man, heavily muscled, and he hadn’t put
himself out to make great friends, just tried to be pleasant and
dig around to find out what kind of man his sister was dating.

Del had been
pissed. He sure remembered that. He’d been holding her gingerly in
his arms as they’d danced at the reception, her slim, buxom figure
pressed up to him, and he’d asked her point blank if the firie had
a bad reputation. When she’d denied it, he’d pressed a little
harder, because everyone knew that good friends sometimes stretched
the truth. She’d asked him what would happen if Simon did have a
reputation, and in hindsight, telling her that he’d personally rip
Simon’s head off and use it for a football wasn’t the nicest thing
to say to a woman he’d just met that evening. Even a whole year
later the stunned look on her pretty face, followed by the pure
indignation and anger, was still vivid in his mind. She’d sure made
an impression on him, especially when she’d told him if he said one
more word she’d make sure he couldn’t walk without wincing.

His gaze
drifted to the next photo taken of the original group of friends
before they’d gotten married. Simon, Scott, Kirk, Ryder, Dee and
Del. Del was the only single one left. In the photo they were
younger by a couple of years, but they hadn’t changed. The two
women, cousins, looked very alike, both blonde and buxom with pale
blue eyes and a whole lot of attitude. Only Dee was generously
curved, whereas Del was curvy but slim.

The woman had
a pair of breasts on her, that much was obvious. So obvious he’d
seen several men eyeing her sideways. Okay, he couldn’t help it,
he’d snuck a couple of glances her way when she wasn’t looking. So
sue him, Del had a figure to make a red-blooded man’s mouth water.
She also had a tongue on her that could spout sarcasm enough to
make someone wince. Not as bad as Dee’s, true, but Del certainly
had her own way.

Eyes drifting
half closed, he pondered, his thoughts drifting back to Del’s
kitchen. Man, he’d backed her smart-mouthed body up to the wall,
pinned her in and dared her to do something. That might have been a
mistake. Her scent had drifted up to him, the warmth of her body so
close, and man, those big, pale blue eyes had shown a flicker of
alarm, then gone all… No, he must have imagined it. But he hadn’t
imagined the way she’d gone all breathy, the way her fingers curled
into his shirt. To be honest, he’d intended to scare her into
admitting she needed some help, but then he’d gotten too close,
carried away by his anger, and when he’d brushed her cheek with
his, breathed into her ear, felt her so warm and soft and at his
mercy, it had certainly had his thoughts going a little awry. That
had been unexpected.

About as
unexpected as…

“
Hurry up,
Del. I’m about to do something to you.”

“
Oh sweet
mother mercy, yes please.”

Yep, as
unexpected as that.

Elbow propped
on the arm rest, head turned partially as he tracked Mozart’s
progress around the room with a lazy gaze, Moz stroked his chin
with thumb and forefinger. Yeah, her response had been very bloody
unexpected.

Even more
unexpected? The hot zing through his loins at her breathy moan. He
couldn’t believe she’d moaned that, couldn’t believe he’d felt
that, and then everything had gone from disbelief from both of them
- yes,
both
- to a semblance of normalcy.

All Moz could
do was keep going with his first intention and leave what had
happened to ponder later. Probably not a good idea to ponder it
now. He could do it in bed tonight. Where no one would see him get
a boner.

Wait.
What?
He blinked.
Boner?

Before he
could think further, Elissa strode into the room carrying a large
plate of home made biscuits.

The freshly
baked smell had Simon instantly alert. “Oh, sweetheart.” He stood,
taking the plate from her, dropping a kiss on her smiling mouth.
“You always know when I need food.”

“Not very
hard,” Ryder said. “That’s pretty much always.”

“The way to a
man’s heart and all that.” Elissa winked.

“Have you told
Dee that?”

“Dee has you
already. All she had to do was offer you sex.”

Moz choked on
his mouthful of biccie. Coughing and spluttering, he grabbed
Scott’s can of Coke and swallowed. It took a full minute before he
could blink the tears from his eyes and clear his throat enough to
croak, “I did not hear my little sister say that!”

“Yeah, you
did.” Simon grinned. “Your sweet, innocent, little sister is full
of surprises.”

“I don’t want
to hear.” Hells bells, he so did
not
want to hear.

“Hot
surprises.”

Elissa blushed
but dimpled up at Simon. The sick bastard kissed her again, right
after he threw Moz a sly wink.

“Do you mind?”
Moz brushed the crumbs off his shirt.

“Not at all.”
Simon took a mouthful of biccie. “Oh, Lis, sweetheart, you have
magic fingers.”

For a second
Moz didn’t know if Simon meant for baking or something more
nefarious. “If you say anything further, I’m going to rip your head
off.”

“That’d upset
Elissa.” Simon smiled sweetly. “Your baby sister.”

“I’ll find a
way to cheer her up after. Give her a ticket to the policeman’s
ball or something to find a new man.”

Elissa rested
her head against Simon’s arm. “He’s all the man I want, Moz.”

“You might
want a loan of my vomit bag,” Ryder said to Moz.

“I’ll need a
whole bucket if Simon keeps this up.”

Scott stood
and stretched. “As amusing as this all is, I need to get a move on.
I promised Ash I’d mow the lawns.”

“So whipped,”
Ryder drawled. “Ring on the finger, ring through the nose.”

“You’ve got a
ring through your tit, what does that say?”

“It’s actually
through my manly nipple, you ignoramus, and I’ve had it since I was
a teenager. That says I’m a rebel.”

“The rebel who
actually ran out of his mother’s house when she found out and slept
on the floor in my room because he was too scared to go back
home.”

“Hey, I’m not
arguing that. We all know my Mum. I’m just lucky she didn’t rip it
right out.”

They all
winced in sympathy.

“I’m surprised
she didn’t,” Simon said. “What happened?”

“Dad talked
her around.” Ryder gave a lewd wink. “If you know what I mean.”

“Only too
well.” Scott gave them all a wave. “Bye.”

Ryder waited
until he left before turning his attention back to Moz. “So, what’s
up with you and Del?”

Trust that
jerk. Moz scowled at him.

“The man’s got
a death wish,” Simon informed Elissa.

She looked at
her brother with interest. “You and Del? What’s with you and
Del?”

“Nothing.”

“So why did
Ryder mention Del and you?”

“Because he’s
an idiot.”

Her gaze
became calculating. “Have you got a thing going with Del?” Her eyes
widened. “And she didn’t tell me? Wait,
you
didn’t tell
me?”

“Before you
get carried away, sis, there is nothing going on between us.”

“He had words
with her,” Ryder told Elissa helpfully. “They clashed.”

Moz pointed at
him. “You’re a dead man walking, ambo man. I’m warning you.” He
turned back to Elissa. “I was just concerned about her safety,
nothing more. I had a word to her about her locks.”

“Which reminds
me.” Ryder smiled widely. “How did you see the locks in her house?
You had to be inside for that.”

“I saw them,
all right? There’s nothing-”

“You mean Del
just invited you in to check all her locks? My my.”

Moz narrowed
his eyes. “I could squash you like a bug.”

“Why were you
in Del’s house?” Elissa queried.

“I was just
concerned for her safety-”

“She’s in
danger?” Horrified, Elissa looked up at Simon then back at Moz.
“What happened?”

Good grief.
“Nothing happened, all right?”

“He saw her on
the roof,” Ryder said.

The bastard
just didn’t know when to shut up.

“For crying
out loud! Elissa, I saw her on the roof, went to have a word to
her, happened to go inside and notice the locks on the
windows.”

“All the
windows?” Ryder put his finger tip to the corner of his mouth.
“Including her
bedroom
window?”

Elissa’s eyes
went wide. “You and
Del
?”

“No! Not me
and Del! I just noticed she had her security doors unlocked, was
concerned, checked all the locks - you stay out of this, you
smirking bastard.” Moz jabbed a finger in Ryder’s direction,
effectively silencing his next unhelpful comment, and looked back
at his sister. “I noticed they were rusty and flimsy and Simon
informed me that she should have changed them. Which, dickhead,” he
pointed again at Ryder, “you didn’t follow up on.”

“Yeah, but I’m
going to.”

“When? Next
week?”

“Damn it.”
Ryder shoved to his feet. “No. I’ll do it now.”

“But the shops
are shut.” Moz folded his arms, unable to help but feel a little
smugness when the ambo’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ll check
the locks myself, ream her a new one, and organise a time for me to
go over and fit new locks.” Ryder flipped him the bird. “Arse.”

“Yeah, but at
least I’m an arse who thought to check.”

Ryder glared
at him. “I’d take you down but Elissa wouldn’t like it.”

Moz gave a
bark of laughter.

~*~

Pulling in
behind the row of shops, Del got out, locked the door and headed to
the newsagent back door belonging to her cousin. Walking in through
the back door, she shut it securely before continuing through the
small open area into the kitchenette. The door was open, which
meant that Jezebel and her now-grown kittens were all at Ryder’s
house.

Del shook her
head. Ryder and Dee were married, yet the flat above the newsagent
they still classed as hers, while the house Ryder rented from his
parents they both classed as his. And their combined belongings
were in both. Go figure. Even the cats were carted from house to
flat, depending on where they were spending the night according to
Ryder’s shift work.

Still, that
was Ryder and Dee.

Speaking of
Ryder…

Moving through
the little kitchenette where she had lunch almost every day with
Dee and their friends, Del walked down the aisle to see her cousin
going through some paperwork as she leaned on the counter.

“Hey.” Dee
didn’t even look up, her pen ticking something off on the
paper.

“You need to
do something about your husband.” Del dropped her small shoulder
bag on the counter right on top of the paper.