Seven Sexy Sins (14 page)

“What’s her name?” asked Toby.

Rusty took a swig from his Coke, saying the first name that came into his head. “Laura.”

“She hot?”

Rusty just looked at him. Toby tipped his head. “Do we get to meet her?”

“Maybe later.”

Dan finished off his beer and put the bottle on the table. “Faith mentioned you’ve asked her to go to the Copthorne on Thursday with you.”

“Yeah.”

“Laura not available?”

“Nah. She’s got a parent evening.”

To Rusty’s relief, Dan nodded. “See if you can get any more details out of Faith while you’re there.”

“About what?”

“About this guy. Beau, or whatever his real name is.” He looked thoughtful. “I want to meet him.”

Rusty finished off his Coke. “I’ll see what I can do. I’m off now. Essays to mark.”

“Okay. See ya Friday?”

“Yeah.” Rusty nodded at them and then left. He got in the car, sighing with relief as he reversed and headed up the drive. Keeping Dan off their backs wouldn’t be easy. He was a smart guy, and he was determined. Rusty was going to have his work cut out. He didn’t like tiptoeing around his best mate, lying brazenly, sleeping with Dan’s sister when he was so obviously upset about it. Were the seven sins worth all this deception?

Rusty thought of the Mars Bar incident and started laughing. Yeah. Absolutely.

Chapter Thirteen

“You know Rusty’s been given instructions to wheedle Beau’s true identity out of you,” said Eve.

Faith paused in the act of slotting in an earring and met Eve’s gaze in the mirror. “Oh?” She looked back at her reflection and moved to the other earring.

“Dan’s desperate to find out who he is.” Eve lay on her front on Faith’s bed, providing necessary fashion advice as Faith got ready for the ball. “He wants to meet him.”

“Well, Rusty can do his best, but my lips are sealed.” She stepped back from the mirror. “Do I need a necklace?”

“Nah. That glittery spray looks so cool.”

Faith studied her reflection. She wore a strapless top made of a shiny, chocolate-brown material and a floor-length black taffeta skirt that rustled when she walked. She’d given her shoulders and breastbone a light spray of glitter, making her shimmer in the light. Finally, she’d fixed her hair on top of her head with a sparkly clip, leaving curls to frame her face.

“Will I do?”

“Well enough for Rusty,” said Eve. “Put the shoes on.”

Faith slipped her feet into her new black high heels. She very rarely wore heels, but the skirt was long and she needed the height to lift it off the floor. “I know I’m going to go arse over tit in these.”

“No you won’t. You look elegant, sweetie. You just have to act it now.” Eve grinned. “He’s going to be shocked when he sees you. They all still think of us as fifteen-year-olds.”

Privately, Faith doubted that was the case with Rusty, but she didn’t say anything.

Eve sat up and put Faith’s make-up back in her bag. “You’re lucky you’re going to this thing. Apparently his new girlfriend’s busy, otherwise he’d have taken her.”

Faith felt like Eve had slapped her with a wet fish. “New girlfriend?”

Looking down, trying out an eyeshadow on the back of her hand, Eve didn’t notice her shock. “Yeah. Called Laura. Another teacher, from Kaitaia apparently. He told Dan about her on Monday.”

“Oh.” Faith picked up her handbag, checking she had her purse and phone. She was shocked to see her hand was shaking. When she breathed, she felt as if someone were sitting on her chest. What was wrong with her? What did it matter if Rusty was seeing someone else?

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Eve rolled over and got to her feet. “That’ll be him. Wait here. I want to watch his face when you walk out.”

Faith felt incredibly nervous. Her body had turned into a cliché, her mouth dry, her palms sweating and her heart thumping so hard she thought she might pass out.

She had to get a grip. She’d given herself a stern talking to on Saturday after Rusty had dropped her off. She had a contract—seven sins, seven sexual encounters, no more, no less. Anything else was out of the question. Even if she were in the zone for a long-term relationship—which she wasn’t—she wouldn’t touch Rusty with someone else’s barge pole. He was exactly what she needed at this precise moment—a lover who was gentle, imaginative, funny and skilled, who could show her what she’d been missing, initiate her, if you liked, into the delights of lovemaking. But he had no more to offer than that. He’d admitted it himself.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was going to think of him as a gigolo, whether he liked the term or not. That way it didn’t matter that he was seeing other women. She was just hiring him for the seven sins. Yes, that made sense. Okay, she wasn’t paying him, but in her head, the label helped. “It’s all about the sex.” She made herself say it aloud. Then hoped Eve hadn’t heard her.

Their voices echoed from the living room, and she sighed and left the bedroom to walk down the hall. Might as well get this over with. Why had she said she would go? She should have sent him by himself. Serve him right.

She entered the living room and stopped. In spite of all her words, her breath caught in her throat.

Rusty stood by the front windows, looking out across the lawn. He wore a black suit and a crisp white shirt with a black bow tie. He’d combed his normally ruffled locks into place, and his hair looked darker than usual, and sleek. He stood with his hands behind his back. Faith had never seen him dressed so smart. The closest she could remember was at her parents’ funeral, where he’d also worn black, but there it had just been shirt and tie. He looked absolutely, completely gorgeous.

And at that moment, she knew she was lost.

Eve cleared her throat, and he turned, glanced at Eve and followed her gaze to the doorway. He stared and his eyes widened. “Fucking hell.”

Eve burst out laughing. “Nicely put.”

Faith walked up to him. They surveyed each other slowly, conscious of Eve watching them, amused. Faith looked him up and down. Her heart thumped, but she made herself say something in jest. “You look like a waiter.”

His lips curved. “Thank you. You look lovely too.” He bent forward and kissed her cheek, his hand warm on her arm.

Eve sighed. “I wish I was going. Have a great time, you two.”

“I’m sure it will be very dull,” said Rusty, indicating for Faith to precede him out of the door.

Eve grinned. “Just make sure if she falls asleep, her head doesn’t land in the soup bowl.”

They both laughed. Faith opened the front door and walked out to his car. There she paused for a moment in the cool evening air and closed her eyes, trying to still her pounding heart.

She couldn’t have done it. Surely. They’d only had sex three times. Well, maybe more than three times, but only three separate occasions. Surely she hadn’t fallen in love with him already? It couldn’t be. She’d just
had
this internal conversation, for God’s sake. But she knew she was kidding herself. What she felt for him went deeper than sex. Didn’t it? How did you know if you were in love with someone, or just in lust?

Whatever she was feeling, it hadn’t happened over the past three weeks. The emotion she was feeling wasn’t something that had shot up overnight, like bamboo. It had grown like a kauri tree, nurtured over years and years. She’d been falling for him since she was twelve, and she was powerless to do anything about it.

“Are you okay?” His hand rested on her waist, and his voice was full of concern. “You look very pale.”

“I’m all right.” She risked a glance up at him. Her heart continued to thud. She didn’t recognise this Rusty, dark and suave, serious and grown-up. Maybe she and Eve had got it wrong—they’d been thinking all along that the guys had them fixed in their heads at the age of fifteen or so, but maybe it was the other way around. Maybe she and Eve had been thinking of the guys as forever boyish, playing computer games, falling off skateboards and bombing each other in the pool. The trouble was, they still did all those things and she found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that they’d grown up.

She swallowed. “I haven’t had much to eat, that’s all. Remind me not to have a glass of wine until I’ve had a bread roll, at least.”

He laughed. “Okay.” He opened the car door for her. “Mind your head.”

“Thanks.” She slid into the seat, tucking her skirt in so he could shut the door.

As she clipped in the seatbelt and he circled the car to get in the driver’s side, Faith mused on Eve and her relationship with Dan. Eve had been her best friend at high school. They were the same age and had all grown up together, but at some point Eve and Dan had obviously seen each other in a different light, and friendship had turned to romance. It was ironic really, considering how strict Dan had been with his friends to ensure they kept away from his baby sister. But then she supposed that was natural—he was older, and he was a guy, and he felt responsible for her because of what had happened to their parents. But he’d been dating Eve for six months now, and Eve already stayed at his house four nights out of seven. It wouldn’t be long before they moved in together.

Faith wasn’t destined to have the same happy ending, however. Sure, Dan had his hang-ups, but he was merely two-plus-two compared to Rusty’s algebraic equation of a psyche. Rusty was so complicated and convoluted she wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to untangle himself enough to have a real relationship. And there was nothing she could do about that.

Was there?

Rusty slid in beside Faith, clipped himself in and started the car. Only then did he glance across at her. “Just so you know,” he said, “I’m desperate to snog you, but I’m worried Eve’s watching us out of the window.”

She fanned herself. “Oh Rusty, you’re so romantic.”

He put the car into drive. “Let me just get around the corner and I’ll prove to you how romantic I can be.”

“Absolutely not, Rusty Thorne. I spent ages applying this make-up, and there’s no way I’m going to let you kiss it off until everyone at the Copthorne’s realised how much effort I’ve put into it.”

“So maybe later then?”

She gave him a wry glance before looking out of the window. He took the opportunity to study her, in between glances at the road. He’d never seen her dressed like this. In the strapless top she looked slender, her shoulders narrow, her generous breasts tightly contained in the boned bodice, but with enough of a swell at the top to encourage his interest. Her make-up was immaculate, and she’d applied false eyelashes onto the top lids, making her look like a film star. The chocolate-brown top brought out her colouring to perfection. She was stunning.

She looked back at him. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I’ve still got bits of chocolate stuck to me.”

He met her gaze briefly before returning to the road. “Don’t tempt me.” She said nothing, and he sighed. “This was a stupid idea.”

“Why so?”

“There’s no way I’m going to be able to keep my hands off you all evening. You little temptress.” To his surprise, she didn’t smile. Her eyes were cool, appraising. He studied the road for a bit, then glanced back at her. “What’s up?”

“I was just wondering…” She smiled. “It’s nothing.”

“Faith…”

“Do you wish you were going with someone else tonight?”

He gave her an amused look. “I’d much rather go with you than Toby, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. I meant Laura.”

“Who?”

“Your girlfriend? The teacher from Kaitaia?”

He burst out laughing. “Faith, I made her up. Dan was asking me who I’m seeing at the moment. He didn’t believe there wasn’t anyone. So I…invented someone.”

“Oh.” She studied him for a moment, digesting the information. Eventually she asked, “Is she prettier than me?”

He went to react to the crazy question and then realised she was joking, and they both laughed. He picked up her hand and kissed her fingertips. “No, sweetheart. She most definitely is
not
prettier than you. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And you take my breath away.” The amazing thing was, he meant it.

He could tell she didn’t believe him by the glare she sent him. But her cheeks pinkened just the same, and he smiled, squeezing her fingers before leaving her hand to hold the steering wheel.

After that, she seemed to relax a little, and they talked about other things as he drove the twenty minutes or so to the hotel at Waitangi. He thought about what she’d said as he drove, however. She’d been jealous. Hmm. What did that mean? He wasn’t sure, but he filed it away in his brain to think about later.

At the hotel, they made their way through the lobby and into the main hall. Faith hadn’t been there before, and she felt like a country girl in the big city, wide-eyed and smiling nervously. She accepted a glass of champagne from a waiter, but caught Rusty’s warning glance and remembered her promise to eat something before she drank any alcohol. He stole a plate of canapés from another waiter and watched her until she’d eaten half a dozen before he let her have a sip of the champagne.

He then began to introduce her to people, and she soon stopped trying to remember everyone’s name, recognising that she wasn’t supposed to and that he was just being polite. She didn’t go to many functions and had been nervous about the evening, but in the end, it wasn’t too bad. They sat at a table with some of his colleagues from the Social Studies Department, and she ate her meal, which was exquisite, and sipped the champagne as she listened to him entertaining his friends with everything from historical anecdotes to rather lewd gags about the Aussies. She worried that he was going to upset someone until she realised half of the department was Australian and it was obviously a standing joke.

He’d been very careful to introduce her as his “friend” to everyone and not anything more serious. She didn’t really expect him to even remember she was there—after all, when she’d gone to a firm barbecue with Toby, he’d deserted her five minutes into the evening and she’d barely seen him for the rest of the night. However, all the while, apart from when they ate, Rusty held her hand under the table, doing nothing more sinister than giving her fingers the occasional squeeze.