Seven Sexy Sins (13 page)

But he didn’t. His eyes gleamed, almost triumphantly, and she could see he liked that he’d hooked her, made her see what his other girls saw—the Rusty that made their hearts miss a beat, the Rusty that captivated them. His pleasure irritated her, but still, as he stepped slightly closer to her, bringing both of his hands up to cup her face, she couldn’t move, fixed there by his green-eyed gaze.

He kissed her, long and languidly, and brushed her tongue with his, eventually enveloping her in his arms, a heartfelt, deep, passionate embrace that made her heart thump and a sigh escape her lips when he finally raised his head.

“What was that for?” She cleared her throat as she realised he’d stolen her voice somewhere along the way.

He looked deep into her eyes, and for a brief moment, she thought he was going to say something profound. She should have known better. He blinked, grinned and said, “I need a favour.”

“Oh?”

He released her, taking her hand again, and continued walking along the lake as if nothing had happened. “What are you doing Thursday?”

“Um…I’m in Whangarei in the morning. Nothing in the afternoon.”

“Evening?”

“Nothing. How can I help?”

He looked back across the lake. “There’s an event at The Copthorne in Waitangi. I’m up for an award for running the Medieval Fair last year.”

Faith nodded. The Fair had been a huge success, and she wasn’t surprised he’d been nominated. She and Eve had dressed up as nuns for the day and run a medieval hospital, explaining to the kids how medieval doctors used to diagnose patients by drinking their urine. They’d offered them free samples, which were actually watered-down fruit juice, but looked sufficiently urine coloured to encourage squeals of disgust from the students. “How can I help?”

“I kind of need a date.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And you can’t get anyone else?”

He smiled. “I haven’t asked anyone else.”

“Oh.”

“I thought we decided to be exclusive, until the contract ended.”

She glanced at him. “I don’t mind if there’s someone you’d rather take.”

“There isn’t. You’re my flavour of the month.”

She smiled, because he’d meant it to be funny, but the phrase stung a little. She had his attention, for the moment. Soon his eye would be wandering, however, and he’d be off chasing another skirt. She wasn’t anything special to him—she had to remember that before she got all starry eyed every time he kissed her.

And anyway, what was her problem? He’d never promised her anything other than sex, and that was all she’d wanted from him. Seven encounters and they’d be done. She’d even made him sign a contract stating she didn’t want anything else from him. And she’d done that because even though she was curious about what he was like as a lover, she also knew what Rusty did—kissed girls and made them cry. He was a classic nursery rhyme. She had to keep her wits about her and make sure that didn’t happen to her.

“Yeah, I’ll go with you,” Faith said. She slipped her hand out of Rusty’s and put both hers in her pockets, hunching her shoulders forward.

Relief swept over him. He hadn’t been looking forward to going to the event alone, but he also hadn’t felt right asking someone else to go with him while they were having sex, in spite of her insistence that he could date other girls. And he also wanted her there. He wasn’t sure why. “Great. It’s quite a classy do. Black tie. You got anything to wear?”

“I’m sure I’ve got an old sack I can stitch some sequins onto.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“I know.”

He stopped walking. She wasn’t looking at him, and he could feel the way she’d withdrawn. “What’s up?”

“Nothing.” She shivered. “I’m cold.”

He glanced up at the sky. It had grown cooler, and he could smell autumn in the air. Her nipples stood out like buttons on her shirt. “Come on. Let’s go back to the house.”

As they walked, Faith talked a little about her week ahead, impersonal stuff, keeping her eyes on the ground. He listened but searched his brain furiously to try and work out what he’d said wrong. However, apart from the query about whether she had anything to wear—which should have made her laugh—he couldn’t think why she’d gone quiet. He’d kissed her, and she’d obviously enjoyed it—he’d seen that in her eyes, and had been pleased because of it. How had he upset her?

She ran lightly up the steps of the decking into the house. He followed her in, trailing her into the kitchen. He leaned against the worktop as she poured herself a drink from the fridge. She was saying something about Dan and Eve, talking too quickly, as if she was nervous. As she closed the fridge door, he caught her hand and turned her. “What’s up, sweetheart?”

“Nothing.”

He caught her chin in his hand and lifted it, forcing her to meet his eyes. Large and dark brown, they were suspiciously shiny, like highly polished mahogany. “Faith,” he said gently. “I know you well enough.”

She gave him a smile, but it was forced. “It’s nothing. I’m feeling a bit emotional. My period’s due tomorrow. Hormones, you know.”

“You should have said.”

She flushed. “You don’t need to know everything about me.” She turned and walked over to the decking, looking out across the lake as she sipped her drink.

He hesitated, frowning. Faith was never sharp with him. She was hardly ever in a bad mood, and he’d never known her to be hormonal, in the way that men always joked that women were at “that time of the month”. The excuse was convenient, and she would be aware he couldn’t argue with it. She didn’t want to talk about the real reason she was upset.

He studied her slim form, her narrow waist and curvy hips. Her long brown hair hung down her back in gentle waves. She looked elegant and graceful, even just standing there, motionless. Should he leave her alone for a while? Suggest they go home? Trouble was, he didn’t want to. He was enjoying himself, and had looked forward to spending the night with her. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her tears away. But she wasn’t his girlfriend. She’d made that quite clear.

She
was
his friend, however. As he saw her sigh, he felt a surge of affection for her and regretted he’d done something to upset her. He wasn’t going to leave his friend unhappy like this.

He went over to his bag, retrieved his iPod and speakers and plugged them in. He selected a song and pressed Play. Then he stood by the workbench, arms folded, waiting.

The Beatles’ song “Here, There and Everywhere” began playing. He knew the song was one of her favourites.

At first, she didn’t move. Then, as the music swelled, she moved her head and looked at the floor behind her. Her gaze moved up to his. He met her eyes and smiled. And to his relief, she gave a small, resigned shake of her head and smiled back.

He walked over to her, took her glass and placed it on the table, and pulled her into his arms. They began to dance, and he sang to her as they moved, kissing her temple gently. And when she finally slipped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder, he knew she’d forgiven whatever he’d done that had made her frown, for now.

Two days later, Rusty sat on Dan’s sofa, Coke in hand, and stared as Dan offered him an evening snack. “Er…”

Toby looked over and burst out laughing. Dan looked across at him and then back at Rusty. “What’s the joke?”

Rusty’s eyes met Toby’s, and he grinned ruefully. Dan frowned and looked at the Mars Bar. “I don’t see what’s so funny.”

“Clearly you haven’t read Faith’s website,” said Toby.

“No…” Dan drew the word out, his eyes wary. “Why, what’s she said?”

“You don’t want to know.” Rusty took the chocolate bar from Dan’s hand and opened it.

“You really don’t,” Toby affirmed.

Dan looked at them both. “A Mars Bar? What did she do with it?” His eyes widened as the penny dropped. “Oh my God, you’re kidding me?” He sat down with a sigh, massaging his forehead as if it pained him.

Rusty exchanged a glance with Toby and saw that his friend echoed his reluctance to reveal exactly what Faith had got up to that weekend. Rusty had guessed she wouldn’t be able to keep his little experiment quiet, and he’d been right. Her fans had been exultant that Beau had been so naughty. He was getting quite a reputation. The thought amused him, even though it felt odd that she was sharing their most intimate moments with half the population of Australasia.

Dan leaned his head on the back of the chair and groaned. “I hate this. I hate what she’s doing.”

Rusty took a bite of the bar and studied his best mate. “She’s not a kid anymore.”

“I know. But she’s still my little sister. I feel responsible for her.”

Toby stretched out his legs and put his feet on the table, safe from reprimand, as Eve was working that evening. “You gotta let go, Dan. She is allowed to have sex.”

“She’s not just having sex, she’s having kinky sex. There should be a law against it.”

Toby laughed. “There’s nothing kinky about chocolate.” He thought about it. “Okay, maybe there is, considering what she let him do with it.”

Rusty closed his eyes momentarily. He’d never blushed in his life, but he was remarkably close to doing it now.

Dan frowned. “Not only does she let him do this stuff, she tells everyone about it. I can’t believe what she’s turned into.”

“She’s not turned into anything,” Rusty said with amusement. “It’s her job. She writes about sex. She helps women understand there’s nothing wrong with experimenting and trying different things.”

“I know. And Mum would be horrified.” Dan swigged his beer.

Rusty felt a twinge of guilt. He squashed it firmly. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He and Faith were having healthy, happy sex. That was nothing to be ashamed of. Dan was being positively Victorian. “Your mother was hardly a prude. She bought you your first Playboy, if memory serves me correctly.”

Dan glared at him. “That’s not the point.”

“So what is the point?”

“I don’t like everyone knowing what she does with this guy.” Dan heaved a sigh. “I wish she’d been a nun.” 

Rusty looked down at the chocolate bar. He could still remember the way Faith’s large brown eyes had widened with desire when she’d realised what he was suggesting. He liked shocking her, and he knew she liked to be shocked. Anyone less like a nun, he couldn’t imagine. The thought of her in a wimple, dark eyes watching him over a hymnbook, made him smile.

He looked back up, straight into Dan’s eyes, so like his sister’s. Rusty felt his heart jolt at Dan’s direct gaze. “What?”

Dan blinked, and Rusty realised he hadn’t been looking at him after all. Talk about a guilty complex. Dan cleared his throat. “I was thinking about this guy, the one she’s seeing.”

Toby shrugged. “He genuinely seems to like her.”

Dan frowned. “But don’t you think it’s odd?”

“Don’t you think what’s odd?”

“That he’s agreed to do this with her, spend seven nights with her, just like that? Don’t you think it’s a bit…cold? Calculating?”

Rusty shifted uncomfortably. “It’s what she wanted.”

“It’s what she
said
she wanted.”

Toby sighed. “Girls do like sex too.”

“I’m not saying—”

“Yes, you are. You’re saying because she’s a girl she can’t possibly want sex for sex’s sake. But she’s young, she’s only had two lovers, and they hardly sound like they’ve been the life and soul of the bedroom.” Toby got up to get another beer from the fridge. “She wants to experiment a bit. She wants to discover what all the fuss is about.”

Dan looked sullen. “So she just picks any old guy? He’s obviously been around the block. God knows what diseases he’s got.”

Toby rolled his eyes as he came back. “Dan, you could be talking about any one of us. We’ve all had our fair share of partners. That doesn’t make us easy, and it doesn’t make us Petri dishes for sexual diseases, either. We all use condoms, and I’m sure Faith’s making sure he is too.” 

Dan didn’t say anything. He drank his beer and studied Toby, unsmiling.

Rusty frowned. “Faith’s not stupid. She wouldn’t take risks or expose herself to any danger.”

“I’m not saying he’s a psycho killer or anything,” Dan said. “Although now I’m considering that, thank you very much. I’m just saying…us guys, we’re all the same. We play around—we use girls sometimes. We all pretend we’re on the same wavelength, but deep down, we know it’s different for them, don’t we? We’re always looking for sex. They’re always looking for love. We know we’re breaking their hearts when we sleep with them. We just don’t care.”

Toby laughed. “Jeez, Dan, tune in to the twenty-first century, for fuck’s sake. Girls like sex, believe me. They have the pill, they have condoms and they know how to use them, the same as we do. They’re not sitting around waiting for us to ride up like knights in shining armour—they’re not offering us sex to get to our hearts. They’re offering us sex to get to our dicks. And you’re being chauvinistic if you think anything else.”

Dan drank his beer, glowering. Rusty got up and walked over to the window, looking out across the bush.

Which of his friends’ opinions was right? The truth probably lay somewhere in between. Toby was certainly correct in that there were plenty of women out there who liked sex and went looking for it aggressively. However, Rusty was also aware that nearly every time he’d slept with a girl, they’d wanted him to call the next day. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn’t. But he was aware that when he hadn’t, they’d been sitting by the phone, waiting.

He watched a couple of rabbits hop across the lawn, silflaying in the early twilight. Nothing like that was going to happen between him and Faith, though. They were in perfect accord. She’d drawn up the contract, putting her requests into writing, and he’d been perfectly happy with her demands. They’d been up front from the very beginning. Neither of them would get hurt that way.

“Who are you seeing at the moment?” Dan asked unexpectedly.

“What?” Rusty turned, startled.

“You haven’t mentioned anyone lately. I can’t believe you’re celibate.”

Rusty walked back to the sofa and sat, also putting his feet on the table. “I met another teacher from Kaitaia at the last History convention. I’ve been over to see her a few times.”