Far North: Hide Your Heart Part 18

"Nate," she hissed, squirming and giggling. "Quit it."

"Help me choose colors, and I'll stop."

"Okay, okay. I'll help."

He released her foot with one final tickle, and her smile-warm, open, carefree-sucker-punched him right in the kisser. Because he realized what he'd done. He'd grabbed her ankle, holding it against her will while he tickled, and she hadn't freaked. No near fainting, no outward sign on her face that his action reminded her of what Jonathan had done. Just laughter and playfulness.

She trusted him. And he had no idea how to tell her what that meant.

So he cleared his throat and pa.s.sed her the samples.

"Here...I thought white all around-or Antique White, whatever the difference."

Lauren s.n.a.t.c.hed the samples out of his hand. "Good grief, you can't paint Mac's house boring old white!"

She shuffled through the cards like a professional gambler preparing for a big game. "What about Tea? Or Thistle and Kapiti with a trim of Rainforest Reef? Or even Thistle and Driftwood. Hmm."

Leaning back in his chair, he studied the crease between her brows. "You know, if Drew and I are left to our own devices in the hardware store, we'll probably come home with ten gallons of bubblegum pink."

Her gaze flicked up. "Over my dead body. You'll turn that place into a blight on the landscape."

"I thought you didn't want me selling it anyway."

She c.o.c.ked her head. "I don't. But neither do I want old Mac haunting me because you've painted his house pink."

"Looks like you're coming to town with us."

Lauren returned the samples to the table in a neat pile. "Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky."

He opened his eyes wide and innocent-like and shrugged.

"I don't trust you one bit, Nate Fraser."

"Yeah, you do." Nate s.n.a.t.c.hed up her hand. He nibble-kissed her fingers and waggled his eyebrows at her until she smiled. "Now pa.s.s me the Wheat-biscuits. I've worked up quite an appet.i.te this morning."

Lauren left her sunhat at home-and for her, it was tantamount to arriving at Bounty Bay Hardware in a bikini. Summer crowds still milled through the town's main street, but the hardware store's mostly empty parking lot settled her pulse down from a gallop to a trot. Holidaymakers were more interested in cafes, surf-shops and bars than the locally owned and operated store.

She clasped Drew's hand and tried not to squeeze too hard as they strolled along the aisles, the salesclerk mixing the agreed paint choices of Thistle, Driftwood, and Fossil out in the back under Nate's supervision. b.u.t.terfly light flutters tickled her stomach, more from the memory of that morning's lovemaking than the familiar nerves at being out in public. Tension seeped out of her muscles; only a few other shoppers browsed along the same aisle, and none of them appeared the slightest bit interested in her or her son.

"Look, a tool belt like Nate's." Drew tugged his hand out of hers and ran to a display of scaled-down, kid-sized tool belts.

"Wow. They're cool."

She crouched next to him, and they examined the little belt on display, complete with a small metal hammer, measuring tape and crescent wrench.

Wheels squeaked on the linoleum, and Lizzie Callahan, mother of two of Drew's preschool friends, turned into the aisle. Her twin sons, Lucas and Logan, let go of the shopping cart and rushed to Drew's side.

"Hi-Drew-what-did-Santa-bring-ya-for-Christmas?" said Lucas.

Lizzie's gaze zipped from the boys to Lauren, then slightly off over her shoulder. "Oh, h.e.l.lo...Lauren."

d.a.m.n. The slight hesitation between the greeting and her name was enough to set her heart pounding again.

On the parent/teacher committee, Lizzie had hinted for months for Lauren to take a more active involvement in the local preschool. Maybe she should've agreed to man a stall at the planned summer fundraising carnival, instead of only offering to bake six-dozen m.u.f.fins.

Lizzie circled the shopping cart, as Lauren stood upright. The shorter woman reached out to gently guide Lauren a few steps away from the chattering boys.

"There's a bit of a buzz going around the social networks-Grace, my niece, showed me on one of her websites a few days ago..." Lizzie glanced over her shoulder as if to check the boys weren't listening.

"About me?" The question slipped out before her brain caught up with Lizzie's sympathetic gaze.

Lizzie lowered her voice even further. "About Alexandra Knight."

She gaped at the other woman, but the certainty on Lizzie's face made denial pointless.

"A few of Alexandra's most famous covers were posted alongside a blurry photo of you leaving Kai Moana. I recognized you straight away." Lizzie sent Lauren a guilty smile. "Actually I recognized you the first time we met at the boys' preschool."

"You did?"

"Hon, coloring your hair brown and expecting guys not to figure you were once the face of Marie Claire is one thing. But with women, pffft-" She dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand. "All the other girls know, and we'd hate you for being tall and beautiful-except you're too d.a.m.n sweet to hate."

Lauren blinked. The other mums knew? They'd never said a word.

"Oh. Well, I guess it's all over town by now." Keeping gossip from spreading in Bounty Bay was akin to preventing the transmission of the common cold-virtually impossible.

Lizzie's nose crinkled. "Well, of course. We are talking about Bounty Bay. No one can keep a secret. But it's okay..." She rubbed a soothing hand down Lauren's arm. "It'll blow over when the next scandal sweeps through. So you used to be a model? h.e.l.l, years ago I used to be a dee-jay on the popular Coast-to-Coast-FM morning show, but do you think anyone gives a hoot about that now?"

"I didn't know that."

"You would-if you'd ever accept one of my invitations to come and hang out with me and the other mums at coffee group."

Lauren shook her head. "I'm sorry, Lizzie. You all must think I'm such a sn.o.b."

"We understood it must be hard."

"I think I've made it harder."

"n.o.body's judging you, hon-well, except Angelique-and that's because she's itching to get you into her salon to fix your horrendous cut and color. She's convinced you hacked off your split ends with a chainsaw."

Lauren laughed, bending to scoop up Drew as he wrapped his arms around her legs. "She's not far wrong. Maybe I am due for a trim."

"Hey." Nate's deep voice behind her sent a s.h.i.+ver down her spine.

She stood and made the introductions, bristling a little at the appreciative light in Lizzie's eyes as she surrept.i.tiously eyed Nate. The muscled length of him- complete with a rakish couple of days' worth of scruff-was hard to ignore, even if you had a husband and twin boys.

Nate grinned down at Lauren, as if he somehow sensed the possessive vibe pumping off her skin. Ridiculous that she felt possessive at all.

"I'd better get going before the boys fall too much more in love with that tool belt," Lizzie said. "Think about the summer carnival, Lauren. We'd love to see you manning the cake stall instead of just baking m.u.f.fins for it. You'll call me?"

"Sure." Lauren smiled and waved at the twins as Lizzie pushed the shopping cart past.

A warm hand settled on her nape, and Nate's lips skimmed over the sh.e.l.l of her ear. "You look like a woman in need of some ice cream to cool down."

"Ice cream," whooped Drew. "I need ice cream, too!"

Lauren walked with him to the checkout, his big, warm palm on the small of her back. Ice cream wouldn't cool the heat setting her on fire every time Nate was close by.

Lauren was a sucker for punishment as much as Nate was a sucker for her m.u.f.fins.

Most days around afternoon break time, she found herself, with Drew in tow, hiking up to Nate's place with a container of home-baked goodies. Every time she spotted Nate, paint-splotched and s.e.xy, a niggling little voice said Drew had gotten too attached-that she had gotten too attached. Each time she told the niggling little voice to "shut it" and went to boil the kettle.

Today, she'd made b.u.t.terscotch brownies-Nate's favorite-because today, she'd heard Bounty Bay's power providers were interested in founding a sustainable-wind farm in the area. Mac's place looked pretty darn good, but even with Kathy's contacts, no one within the community had shown any interest in buying it.

Lauren had gone so far as to speak to Kathy's cousin Samuel, thinking the old, neglected barn a short distance from the main house could be a potential workshop for his art. The man's carvings were a hit with the Asian market, and although Samuel didn't broadcast his financial success, she knew he could afford the place. A brilliant idea-only Kathy's gorgeous but stubborn younger cousin wasn't interested in moving.

Dammit.

Lauren waved out to Todd working on the scaffolding as they approached, and Drew shrieked like a maniac as he spotted his uncle.

"Uncle Todd! Uncle Todd! I wanna come up!"

Todd climbed down the ladder and plucked his nephew up by the straps of his overalls. He swung him in a dizzying, giggling circle before setting him back on his sneakered feet. "Not a chance, squirt. Your mum'd kill me."

"Aw, man! You and Nate let me come up the other day."

Todd winked at her and grinned. "Shh, you little blabbermouth. That's a man secret. You don't tell women man secrets."

Lauren grinned at her brother, who had already told her about Drew's adventures on the scaffolding when it'd been set up two feet off the ground. "Hmm. I'd better go and talk to the boss."

She pa.s.sed the container of brownies to Drew. "Sweetie, can you and Uncle Todd put the kettle on while I talk to Nate?"

"He's around back." Todd tipped his head toward the house. "Say, how come she gives you the baking to carry, squirt?"

"Because I won't let you eat them all. Mummy says you can't be trusted and she says I'm more 'sponsible." Drew wrapped his arms around the container.

"'Sponsible...Right." Todd shot her a hard-done-by big brother look. "As if I'd eat all the brownies-they are brownies, aren't they?"

"Go wash up while I find Nate," Lauren threw over her shoulder as she headed for the rear of the house.

Brand new windows and roof, and now the first coat of paint almost completed on the new clapboard siding. Bounty Bay workmen had come up to finish the electrical and plumbing work. More were due in a couple of days to start on the new kitchen and bathroom, and to install the beautiful rat-p.o.o.p-free carpet she'd helped Nate pick out. Mac's place would soon be a jewel again.

Lauren couldn't help a wistful smile as she rounded the corner. Old Mac would've loved seeing his place restored, though volunteers would've had to hog-tie him before he'd allow anyone to touch it.

Still grinning, Lauren smacked into a solid but not made-of-clapboard wall. The wall's hands shot out to steady her, and she yelped while being dragged flush against a hard chest and stomach.

"Good, you're here." Nate's hands ran over her waist and clamped on her bottom. "I thought you weren't coming." He dipped his head and nibbled on her jaw.

She squirmed closer, threading her fingers behind his neck and holding on tight. "Please tell me you've cleaned your hands, and that I won't have to explain to Drew and my brother why I have two Driftwood-colored handprints on my backside."

His laugh a smoky rumble, Nate kneaded his two handfuls until she nearly purred.

"Lucky for you, I've already washed up."

Before he distracted her any further, Lauren said, "I spoke to a representative from NorthEnergy this morning."

"Mmm." Hot lips pressed against the pulse point at the base of her throat. "You smell so good. Like sugar."

"About wind turbines-"

His lips left her skin. "Turbines?"

"For a wind farm. NorthEnergy would be interested in evaluating the land up here as potential sites for their wind turbines."

"When you say 'the land up here', you're meaning my land?" Some of the warmth drained out of his voice.

"Well, yes. But they said if the sites met their needs after testing, they'll pay ten thousand dollars per turbine per year. That's an amazing investment."

"And I wouldn't have to sell the property to Martin Davis."

Busted. "There is that."

"How many turbines are they talking about?"

This was the cruncher. "One to start with, if the test turbine shows it can produce the power they require-but potentially up to three."

Nate released her bottom and straightened, causing her hands to slip from around his neck. "I'm sorry, Laur. It's not the kind of return I'm looking for. Even best case scenario, thirty thousand a year isn't going to work for me."

"So it's all about money." Her cheeks sucked in on a frown.

"As far as Mac's place goes, yes." His tone blunt, he raised an eyebrow. "I've invested pretty much all I own here, and I'm counting on the profit to fund my next overseas trip."

"For another coffee-table book."

"Exactly. After the sale, I'll be in a position to quit the twenty-four-seven life of a photojournalist."

"I thought you loved that life." A tiny flame of hope flared in the back of her mind.

"What I love is living through the lens of my camera. And selling Mac's place for top dollar will allow me to do that full-time on my own terms."

"I'm still trying to find you another buyer."

With a crooked smile, he tugged her back into his arms. "I know, babe. And I'm keeping an open mind. But no wind farm."

"Fine-"