handsomeness of his face. He’d been good-looking when he was younger, but now he was truly a man, and it showed in the hard, slightly cynical light in his eyes and the density of the two days’ worth of scruff shadowing his jaw. He seemed more comfortable in his own body, too, as though he’d settled more deeply into his own skin.
“Jason tells me you’re back for good this time?”
She couldn’t help but register the skeptical note in his voice.
“A friend and I have started a business together. We’ve got a studio in West Melbourne.”
He looked surprised. “Yeah? So you really have given up all that la-la-land stuff?”
“That’s right. How about you? A little birdie tells me you’re running a bar somewhere suitably grungy.”
“Collingwood. And I own the place.” His tone told her he was aware she’d been taking a retaliatory shot.
“The same little birdie tells me that congratulations are in order.” She raised her glass. “Here’s to becoming a daddy.”
He snorted his amusement. “Go ahead, get your digs in while you can. Everyone else has.”
“Have they?” She glanced at Jason, who shrugged apologetically.
“You’ve got to admit, it’s pretty ironic. Considering.”
She knew exactly what he meant. Seth had always been a walking, talking poster boy for an unencumbered, live-for-the-moment lifestyle.
“So have you swapped that little car you used to drive for an SUV yet?” she asked.
“Not yet.”
“You should probably get onto that,” Jason said. “Not much room in that Audi TT for anything.”
“It’s a baby, not a refrigerator,” Seth said.
“Still. You’re going to need to haul a lot of stuff around,” Vivian said. “Diaper bag, pram, portable cot, baby seat... You might even need to get a wagon.”
“Enjoying yourself?”
She pretended to consider. “You know, I am. Is that wrong?”
Jason laughed. Seth gave him a sardonic look.
“Your burgers are burning, by the way,” he said.
“Shit.” Jason turned to the barbecue and started urgently rotating hamburger patties.
Seth didn’t even bother trying to stifle his smile.
“This’ll be you soon,” Vivian said, unable to resist teasing him some more. It wasn’t every day a girl was handed such a golden opportunity. “Barbecues, kids running all over. The whole nine yards.”
“I’m up for it,” he said, surprising her.
She cocked an eyebrow and gave him a look, but his gaze remained unwavering.
“Well, look at that. James has grown up.”
“It’s not that much of a stretch, believe it or not. You’ll see when it happens for you.”
She laughed, acknowledging the hit. “That about makes us even, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know. That stuff about my car was a low blow. I might need to get a few more digs in.”
She held her arms wide. “Free shot. Head or gut, your choice.”
His gaze ran down her body, lingering on her thighs in her tight black jeans.
“Can I choose a different body part?”
She checked her watch. “And there it is. A new record, even for you. Less than five minutes before the first innuendo passed your lips. Impressive for a new father.”
He tried not to laugh but couldn’t pull it off. “Jesus, you’re a smart-ass.”
“Thank you. I’ve had ten years of practice.”
“Has it been that long?” His gaze narrowed.
“Jason and Jodie’s ten-year anniversary was two months ago.”
He whistled. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”
“Doesn’t it?”
Seth took a pull from his beer. “So, tell me about this business you’re starting up.”
They talked for half an hour, filling in the gaps in each other’s lives. As always, she was hyperaware of everything she said and did while near him. He’d always had that affect on her, magnifying her self-awareness to almost painful levels.
Probably that was the rampant sexual awareness that always seemed to be unleashed when they were within a few feet of one another. As she’d acknowledged to herself all those years ago, it had been inevitable that they would sleep together, given that they enjoyed what could only be described as sizzling sexual chemistry. It was just as well that they’d gotten it out of the way early, when it meant about as little as was possible. She wasn’t so sure that she would have escaped unscathed by Seth’s charms if she’d held off any longer. He was simply too magnetic, too attractive and sexy.
Plus, she liked him. She was aware that if one of her girlfriends was dating him, she would advise her to expect nothing but great sex and lots of disappointment. But since neither she nor anyone she personally cared about was emotionally invested in him, she was free to enjoy and celebrate his good qualities.
He was funny. He was hot. He was self-deprecating in the best possible way, yet also charmingly unrepentant about his worst characteristics. He knew who he was, and he liked himself. The older she got, the more important—and rare—both those things seemed to be.
Their conversation ended naturally when Jason started transferring the cooked food to the table that was serving as a buffet. She went one way, Seth the other, and while she remained aware of him for the next few hours, she made a point of not looking in his direction or engaging with him again.
It would be too, too easy to allow their light flirtation to become something else in her own mind. She’d sidestepped that pitfall when she was twenty-three, and she wasn’t diving headfirst into it now she was thirty-three. No matter how wicked and compelling his dark brown eyes were.
The party began to die down after the birthday cake had been dispensed. Children started to become overtired and the high-pitched wail of an upset child became the norm not the exception. A steady stream of parents made their way out the door, and even though Vivian was starting to feel the call of an afternoon nap—one of life’s greatest pleasures in her book—she wasn’t about to abandon her sister to clean up alone. She was returning to the kitchen with yet another armful of dirty plates and cutlery when she found Seth saying goodbye to her sister.
“Great party, as always, hostess with the mostest,” he said, dropping a kiss onto Jodie’s cheek.
“Glad you enjoyed yourself,”
