Lu glanced down at the contract in her hand and he watched as pleasure bloomed in her cheeks. ‘I’ve got a job, Will.’
‘I know...’ He bit his tongue to keep the word honey from slipping out. ‘Congratulations.’
‘I’ve got to tell the boys.’
Lu shot him an enormous smile before picking up her bag. Dumping it on the desk next to him, she stood up to scrabble in it and eventually yanked out her mobile. Will heard the rumble of a male voice as he stretched out his legs and crossed his feet.
Will listened patiently as she spoke to one brother and then the other and then, sending him an apologetic look, quickly ran through the news again with Mak. Every time she said the words ‘official photographer’ she did a hip wiggle that had the blood rushing from his head.
Attraction aside, he was enjoying watching Lu bounce out of her shoes with excitement. When had she last had momentous news of her own to report? He suspected that it had been a long, long time. This was all hers; it had nothing to do with her brothers, Mak or anyone else.
He knew what success felt like—the satisfaction a person felt when the validation of hard work or talent came their way. He’d experienced it most of his life, was probably addicted to it, and had possibly become a bit blasé about his successes. Apart from his ‘Stupid Years’, failure was rarely—OK, never—an acceptable option.
Lu finished her conversation with Mak and looked up at him, her mermaid eyes excited. ‘I’m even deeper in debt to you now. You rescue me and you hook me up with a job.’
No, he wasn’t going to allow her to shift the credit to him or anyone else. This was her moment. ‘All I did was hand Kelby the media card. I didn’t say or do anything more. You got this job because you obviously have some wicked skills with a camera.’
Lu rocked on her heels. ‘So you didn’t hint or suggest that he should—?’
‘You’re assuming that I have a lot more power than I actually do. I wouldn’t tolerate anyone telling me how to coach, so I extend the same respect to the publicity division. I wouldn’t dare tell them how to promote or publicise. No, Lu, you did this,’ Will told her, his voice low and serious. She needed to understand that this was her achievement and hers alone.
Lu looked at him for a long minute and then her hips shimmied again in excitement. He really wished she wouldn’t. How was he expected not to think about what those hips were made for when she did that?
‘Yee-hah!’ Lu laughed and did a little pirouette. ‘So, what time do you think I should be at work on Monday? What should I wear? And, more importantly, how many lenses should I bring? Maybe I should bring all of them—’
Will’s lips quirked. ‘How many do you have?’
‘Eight? Nine?’
He swallowed his laugh. ‘I’m sure you won’t need them all. And Kelby will e-mail you what you need to know. Or tell you on Sunday. I’m finally going to see if I can find a temporary flat to move into. I can’t stand that hotel a minute longer.’
Will moved to stand in front of her, resting his hand on the desk next to her hip. He saw the heat sliding into her cheeks, caught her motion to lift her hand to touch him and felt disappointed when it fell back to her side.
Will moved closer so that his clothes brushed hers. ‘Congratulations on your job, Lu.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Every new job should be celebrated.’
What was he doing? It’s just a kiss, he told his inner critic. No big deal. He’d kissed lots of woman before and walked away unscathed.
Besides, kissing her wasn’t a big deal...he could stop at any time.
Yeah, but you’ve never kissed a mermaid before.
Will placed his hands on her hips, pulled her towards him...and his mouth had barely brushed hers when the office door opened and Kelby bounced inside.
‘Whoops!’ Kelby exclaimed.
Will looked over his shoulder to see Kelby back-tracking and cursed, silently and slow, until the door slammed shut again.
Lu pushed one eyebrow up. ‘Well, that was awkward.’
Will bunched his fists to keep from reaching for her again. ‘Sorry. That wasn’t supposed to happen.’
‘You didn’t even kiss me properly,’ Lu pointed out.
She straightened up and lifted those tanned shoulders. She must have seen something in his face because she stormed into the conversation.
‘Will, I don’t want this to get weird—especially since I asked you out. I don’t want you to think that I’m chasing you, or looking for...’ Lu bit her lip as her words trailed off. She waved an agitated hand in the air. ‘I’m not looking for anything more than a couple of laughs...some fun. I’m not a complete idiot. I know that you’re only going to be around for three months and that was just a little bit of getting carried away by the moment. Frankly, I’ve just come out of a decade-long relationship with two boys and I gave them every last bit of energy I had. I just want to have some fun—some company. I thought maybe you could do with the same.’
Company? What was she offering? Company company or sex company? ‘Does the company involve getting naked?’ he asked in his most prosaic voice.
Judging by the shock that jumped into her eyes, she hadn’t reached the bedroom. Damn. Then her eyes smoked over and he knew that she wasn’t far behind him. Unfortunately, along with I-want-get-you-naked there was a healthy dose of I-don’t-know-what–I’m-doing as well.
And anyway, what was he thinking? Hadn’t he decided to try something different while he was here in Durban? Yet here he was, sliding right back into old patterns and habit reactions.
‘Ah...um...well...’ Lu stuttered. Good God. ‘Actually, I had thought about it.’ Lu eventually got the words out.
Her expression was calm and composed, slightly challenging. and if her eyes had been sending him the same message he would have had her up against the wall and been kissing the hell out of her by now. Unfortunately she had the most expressive eyes in the world and, thanks to living with two sisters, he easily read the trepidation behind the big girl/brave girl look she was giving him.
OK, I’m scared but I’m prepared to try this anyway.
He wasn’t sure why but he instinctively knew that he didn’t want to be Lu’s experiment.
‘Will?’
Knock.
‘Will?’
Knock.
‘Will!’
Kelby knocked again and Will grinned. Saved by his best friend. Again. He definitely owed Kelby for getting him out of a conversational ass-whipping. Because there was no good way of telling a woman Thanks, but I’ll think about it.
Will yanked open the door to let Kelby inside and sent Lu what he hoped was a reassuring smile. ‘I’ll leave you to talk with Kelby and I’ll see you on Monday night. OK?’
‘Sure.’
Hmm, there was more starch in that one-syllable word than there was in a shed-load of potatoes. Maybe Kelby hadn’t saved his ass. He’d just delayed it getting flogged.
* * *
Whatcha doing?
That was the third, fourth—fifth?—time one of the twins had texted her today and asked the same question.