be sure he’d heard it. Not till his pupils flared and his breath came in short bursts did she dare think about that night. About that dance.
‘It was wrong being so attracted to you when you were Scott’s girl.’ Brodie shook his head, blond hair falling about his face.
‘Is that why you left?’ She reached up and brushed the strands out of his eyes.
His hand caught her wrist, turning it so he could press his lips to the tender skin on the inside. ‘Of course it’s why I left.’
Breathing was a struggle. Thinking was… impossible. Kissing him was all she could focus on.
‘You were everything. All I could think about… all I could dream about.’ He drew her arm around his neck and leaned in, lips at her ear. ‘All I could fantasise about.’
Each word nudged her body temperature higher. Her hand curled in the length of his hair, gripping, tugging. Resisting.
‘Brodie…’
‘I’ve wanted you from the second I saw you at that resort. You were dancing. I’d never seen anyone move like that before.’
‘We shouldn’t do this…’ Should we?
His eyes were engulfed by the onyx of his pupils. ‘Stay with me tonight.’
‘I am staying here.’
‘Stay with me. In my bed.’
‘Brodie…’ His name was a warning on her lips, but temptation spiralled out of control. Where was her resolve? Her focus?
‘Just for tonight. Then tomorrow we can pretend it never happened.’
He stood and turned, waving to the rest of the Weeping Reef gang as they approached the yacht.
Chantal hadn’t heard them. But with Brodie about to kiss her, a bomb might have been dropped and she wouldn’t have noticed a damn thing.
‘You two looked pretty cosy before,’ Scott said.
The boys had separated from the girls and they hung out on the deck, port side. After dancing their feet off—and putting on quite the show—the girls were taking a break in the cabin, a fresh bottle of champagne flowing and peals of laughter piercing the night air.
‘No idea what you’re talking about, mate.’ Brodie put on his best poker face—which, if his track record was anything to go on, was terrible.
‘You’re so full of it.’ Scott laughed.
‘You’re a bit of an open book, aren’t you?’ said Rob Hanson, Willa’s partner, in his distinctive South African accent. He eyed Brodie with an amused smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.
Just because Scott and Rob had sorted their love-lives out it didn’t given them licence to have a dig at his. Not that he wanted a love-life—he was happy with a gratifying and varied sex-life, thank you very much.
‘Are you going to get it over with?’ Scott took a swig of his beer.
Brodie rolled his eyes and looked out to the water. ‘Nothing’s going on.’
‘Maybe not yet.’ Rob smirked. ‘But you’re better off getting it out of your system.’
Brodie’s pocket vibrated and he pulled out his phone. Saved by the bell! A text from Jenny—aka twin number one. She’d had a fight with twin number two and wanted a place to crash.
No can do, Jen. I’m in Sydney. Stop giving your sister a hard time.
He toyed with the phone, knowing that there would be an immediate response from his serial-texting younger sister.
‘Family?’ Scott asked with a knowing look. ‘They still driving you crazy?’
‘Are they ever?’ He shook his head. ‘I hope for your sake you and Kate only have boys.’
Brodie’s phone vibrated again.
You always take her side.
I do not.
‘Is your sister a bit of a handful?’ Rob asked.
‘Sisters,’ Brodie corrected. ‘I’ve got four of them—all younger.’
‘Jeez.’ Rob let out a low whistle. ‘Your parents must have been gluttons for punishment.’
‘Not really,’ Scott chipped in. ‘Brodie always did most of the work with them.’
‘Just doing my job.’ Brodie waved off the comment. He’d done what any big brother would have. His father’s absence had left a gaping hole in his sisters’ lives. If he hadn’t looked after them who would have?
‘Family comes first, but you have to find some balance,’ Rob said.
Brodie shrugged. ‘The rest of my life is pretty carefree. I sail when I feel like it, work on my business, cruise around the country. Meet lots of interesting people.’
‘Brodie has never had any trouble meeting interesting people.’ Scott rolled his eyes and turned to Rob. ‘He used to have the girls falling at his feet when we were all at the reef.’
‘It’s the tatts,’ Brodie replied. ‘Something about a little ink makes them go crazy.’
‘What’s that about tattoos?’ Willa wandered over and immediately tucked herself against Rob.
Rob gave her a squeeze and grinned. ‘Apparently girls go gaga for Brodie’s ink. What do you think, Willa?’
‘I don’t think it’s just the ink,’ she said, smirking.
‘Should I be getting jealous?’ There wasn’t a hint of jealousy in Rob’s voice, but Willa shook her head anyway. She only had eyes for Rob, anyone could see that.
The rest of the girls had filtered out of the cabin and now joined the discussion. Rob took the opportunity to make Brodie squirm.
‘What do you think, Chantal? Tatts or no tatts?’ His eyes glittered and he fought back a smile when Brodie shot daggers at him.
‘On the right guy it looks good,’ she responded carefully, her eyes flicking from Brodie to Rob and back again, as though she were trying to work out who’d instigated the suggestive discussion. ‘Though looks aren’t everything.’
‘Aren’t they?’ joked Kate, flipping her long red ponytail over one shoulder as she laughed at Scott’s serious face. ‘Joking!’
This time the group wasn’t crashing on the yacht. Scott and Kate were staying at a hotel for the night, Amy and Jessica were going to continue the festivities at a local bar, and Willa and Rob were retiring back to their newly rented penthouse.
But what about Chantal?
‘Are you
