most likely—as the hood shut with a dull thud.
“Where are you living these days?” he asked.
“Frankston South. Off Karrs Road.”
“Perfect. I’m driving past on the way to the pub.”
She started to protest again but he walked to the driver’s side of the hatchback and leaned in to grab her handbag.
“You need anything else before we lock it up?” he asked as he passed her the bag.
Her expression became rueful. “You’re not going to let this drop, are you?”
“Can’t be a knight in shining armor if the princess won’t get up on my horse.”
She scanned his face, almost as though she was looking for evidence of something. His sincerity, perhaps? Or maybe she was thinking more of his association with Steve.
“It’s just a lift, Pippa.”
“True. And I wouldn’t want to deprive you of the chance to play Sir Galahad.”
“Especially since the urge only hits once every five years or so.”
She laughed, the sound loud and honest. “I bet. I’ve got some shopping in the back that should come home with me.”
He followed her to the trunk and grabbed the bags.
“Thanks.”
“All part of the service.”
“There’s a service? And here I was thinking I was getting special treatment.”
She was so dry he couldn’t help turning on the charm a little. “That’s part of the service, too.” He winked, deepened his voice a notch.
Pippa laughed again as they headed for his car. “My God, Harry. No wonder half the women in Frankston love to hate you.”
They were on familiar ground now—Pippa giving him a hard time about the “revolving door” to his bedroom.
“You’ve been talking to the wrong women.”
“Sure I have.” She gave him a look over her shoulder before opening the passenger door.
Harry smiled. He hadn’t been so sure earlier, but now he was glad he’d stopped. It was good to see her again, and even better to help her out of a jam, even in a very minor way.
Digging his keys from his pocket, he prepared himself for a challenging, entertaining five minutes.
PIPPA PRESSED A hand against her belly as Harry stowed her shopping. For some unknown reason, seeing and talking to him again had made her nervous.
A different kind of nervous, obviously, than the way she’d felt when his black car had swerved into the emergency lane so abruptly. The Nepean Highway was a public enough road that she hadn’t been afraid for her personal safety, but she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t been a little concerned. Then her rescuer had unfolded himself from his car and she’d known she was in good hands.
The car dipped as Harry slid into the driver’s seat. Pippa eyed his worn jeans, faded black T-shirt and tattooed arms, acknowledging the irony that someone who looked so fierce could make her feel so safe.
At first glance, Harry looked exactly like the sort of man that should make a woman worry—the military-short hair, the honed power of his arms and shoulders, the sheer height and breadth of him. And, of course, there were those tribal tattoos snaking around his arms. Inky-black and impossible to miss, they marked him as an outlaw, someone who didn’t color between the lines.
Not exactly your usual white-knight material, yet she knew Harry well enough to know he was a big softie underneath his fierce exterior.
“Got a big weekend planned?” she asked as he started the car.
“Always.” The smile he flashed her was confident, bordering on cocky.
“Fathers of Melbourne, lock up your daughters.”
“Fat lot of good that’ll do.”
It was true. She’d seen Harry in action enough times to know he didn’t have to go hunting for women. They came to him, flicking their teased blond hair and sashaying their miniskirted hips. Watching him charm them out of their underwear had fascinated her—but then she’d long recognized that she had a self-destructive penchant for bad boys. Witness her six months with Steve, who was the blond, blue-eyed version of Harry—a teenage boy’s mind in a grown man’s body, all about fun and good times and no responsibility.
As always, thoughts of Steve Lawson tightened her stomach, so she pushed them away. There was no point getting herself all bunged up over a situation she could do nothing to change.
“Let me guess—you’re kicking off at the Pier. Then you’ll move on to the Grand or the Twenty-First Century, and you’ll wind up at Macca’s place playing pool in the garage till three in the morning,” she said.
“Sounds pretty good, except Macca’s moved in with Sherry and the pool table went west.”
It wasn’t hard to interpret the disapproving note in Harry’s voice. He and Steve had never been shy about their disgust with their mates who’d met the right woman, married and bowed out of their boys’ club.
“Oh, dear. Another one bites the dust. Next thing you know you’ll be taking on a mortgage and buying golf clubs, too, Harry.”
“When hell freezes over.”
He sounded so grimly determined she had to laugh. “How old are you?”
“Thirty.”
“Getting up there.”
He shot her a look before taking a right turn off the highway. “You sound like my sister.”
“Relax. I’m only yanking your chain. I honestly can’t imagine you settling down. You and Steve like your lives too much the way they are to change them.”
She bit her tongue, but it was too late. She’d drawn attention to the elephant in the room. A short silence followed. Harry glanced at her but she kept her gaze front and center.
“For what it’s worth, for a while there I thought you had him on the ropes.”
“The question is, would I have wanted him once I got him?” Again, the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. She held up a hand immediately, signaling she knew she’d stepped over the line. “Pretend I didn’t say that, okay? Strike it from the record.”
Harry was the last person she wanted to vent to about Steve. The absolute last.
“So is Alice walking and talking and stuff yet?” Harry asked after a small silence.
“She’s six months old, Harry.” Was he really so clueless?
He raised his eyebrows, clearly wondering what he’d
