Chapter 44

Hunter

I hated Jamie's family.

I hated them before this whole thing exploded, hated the shadows in her eyes when she came around to hang out with Millie. They only seemed to fade when she'd been hanging around us for a while.

But then she had to go right back home again.

I'd asked my mum about it one day when we were teenagers. Jamie was crying quietly in Millie's room, my sister holding her tightly through it.

"Some parents…" Mum rinsed the dishes with too much emphasis before setting the plates down in the sink. "They don't hurt their kids enough to warrant a call to child protective services, but…" She stared into my eyes. "They still hurt them plenty. No bruises to show for it, no cuts or broken bones."

"You sure about that?" I snapped.

"Yes." I knew my mother was strong, and I saw that as she met my stare head on. "I checked. I've talked to Jamie and so has your father. We'd never be able to live with ourselves if anything serious happened to her."

"Something serious is happening!" I stabbed a finger in the direction of Millie's bedroom. "Jamie never cries."

"She doesn't," Mum agreed, "and the best thing for us to do right now is to be patient and listen. That's what she really needs."

My mother had never steered me wrong before, so I turned to Jamie now, prepared to do just that.

"Mum's got anxiety," Jamie explained, throwing her chip to one of the many seagulls clustered just off from us. I ripped off a piece of paper, piling chips, a piece of fish and a potato cake on it and then handed it over for her to take. "She's never seen anyone about it because in her mind, she doesn't need to. Instead, if she just controls everything and everyone… No, not everyone."

I watched her jaw flex and she grabbed a handful of chips, munching on them but not really tasting any of it.

"Not the boys because they've never been susceptible to her guilt trips. She has to manage Dad carefully. She can manoeuvre him into doing what she needs him to, but no demands are allowed. That gets dismissed straight away as nagging." Her eyes met mine, and I saw pain and humour there, making for a strange combination. "But other women? She doesn't hold back with us. One of my sisters-in-law tries to keep the peace when Mum comes to town, though I'm not sure she'd stay married to Dave if my parents come back to live here."

I nearly shuddered at the thought of that.

"Amber just ignores Mum, or acts like an even bigger bitch, fighting fire with fire. Part of me wants to warn Nadia about what she's getting herself into." A small smile and she picked up her fish and took a bite from it. I felt like I was being strung up tight, every joint straining against the growing tension, but I kept my mouth shut. "But maybe she'll get through this fine. Nadia is so sweet and lovely." Jamie shook her head. "The daughter Mum always wanted. Maybe that's why she's getting so anxious about the engagement party. It has to be perfect. Everything needs to be perfect, and when there's a possibility of that, Mum's riding a high. She can see it in her head, I think, a vision of how it could be."

I watched her hand float through the air, as if gesturing at the promised land, where everything went Majorie's way.

"But of course we never live up to her expectations." Jamie's hand dropped like a stone. "I never lived up to them. I'm starting to think half the reason I became a mechanic was because I was trying to escape her. I'd go and bug the guys in the garage, annoying my brothers and frustrating my dad, but that was better than Mum getting pissed at me. Hanging around with them all the time, I got a good understanding of basic car maintenance. In the garage I was capable, smart, and my dad was excited about how quickly I picked up the skills he was teaching us, until the boys got pissed. She fought me working on cars right up until the point I qualified as a mechanic. Being a grease monkey was not the future she dreamed of for me."

"But what about your dreams?" I was supposed to be listening, but the words just came out. "Jamie, what about what you want? I'm not intending to have kids, but if I did," I frowned, willing her to see it, "then it'd be my job to make sure they got every chance to see their dreams come true."

She stared at me then, like I was a small child. If she'd reached over and patted me on the head, I wouldn't have been surprised, but instead she delivered a scathing judgement.

"You don't understand." Her head started shaking back and forth, growing faster as she spoke. "Living with Angus and Heather, you couldn't."

"Mum and Dad can be pains in the arse?—"

"No, Hunter." She set the food down, and somehow that felt like a rejection of me, of everything I was trying to say. "No one in your family can ever doubt that they are loved. Your parents, even your siblings, you all do whatever you can for each other without question."

I flushed at that, knowing it was true, but how did that become a liability?

"Even go on fake dates with your sister's best friend to help her out."

"Any other friend and I would've told Millie to piss off." I picked her up then, putting her down between my legs and curling my body around hers. Somehow I felt like I needed to become a physical barrier between Jamie and the world. But the threats she was facing came from the inside, not the outside, so I just tried to hug her through this.

"Most people's families aren't like that," she said, rubbing my arm like I was the one who needed soothing. "They're a bunch of people thrown together by genetics with personalities too similar to get on and needs too different for everyone to meet."

"Seems like everyone else is getting their needs met," I said, unable to keep the judgement out of my voice. "Are you other brothers getting badgered daily about the engagement party? Is Frankie?" She blinked, wanting to answer, but not able to come up with anything. "What does your mother want? What's it going to take to get her off your back this time?"

That seemed to put us back on solid ground.

"Me in a dress, with a date who looks good in a suit." I couldn't stop myself from smiling, knowing that I was the perfect guy for the job. "Me attending all the events Nadia's family has invited us to, like visiting a bridal boutique tomorrow." She shrugged. "Whatever it takes for me to present as feminine and in a stable relationship."

"Stable relationship…?" My grin widened. "That might take a bit more work, but the suit? You know I've got you, babe. I can hire a swanky car, open doors, and escort you like the best of them." And suddenly Majorie's dreams didn't seem so crazy. I could just see how it would be, the restaurant date of a couple nights ago replayed and done right this time. "I can throw my credit card at Millie again, get her to find you another amazing dress."

"Yeah, I guess…"

Jamie was vibing with me seconds before, but her light seemed to fade again. I mentally called her mother a whole lot of names, because while some girls really didn't enjoy dresses or feminine clothing, the way Jamie was that night made me think she didn't hate it.

That in the right circumstances, away from her mother's harsh eyes, she actually quite enjoyed frocking up.

But even if she didn't… The tailor who'd custom fitted my suit was a contact I'd made doing fashion shoots. She did a lot of work for the different menswear companies, performing quick and dirty alterations to get an off-the-rack suit fitting a model better. Kelly was always happy when I brought her more work, though I wasn't sure if she did suits for women.

I needed to find out.

"Eat up," I ordered, nodding to the food. "It's going cold and I had one more thing planned for tonight."

"What?" That faint smile, the look of curiosity was exactly what I was after. Jamie always bounced back fast, and that's what was happening right now.

"Eat your food and I'll show you."

"Show me…?" Her eyes narrowed. "This isn't some prank involving your dick, is it? Because I already got up close and personal with that today."

"Yeah, you did." I grinned before biting off a chunk of fish, then chewed and swallowed it. "I promise my dick will stay in my pants at all times."

And it did.

Once we were finished and the leftovers were tossed to the seagulls and the wrappings placed in the bin, I went back to the van, grabbing my surfboard.

"Surfing?" She took a step backwards. "No, no, no. My balance is freaking terrible. I trip over everything."

"No surfing." My arm went around her waist, directing her back to the beach. "And you just need to trust me."

"Trust me…" She hissed, but when I pulled her into the water, she came. I let the board float on the water's surface, holding it in place.

"Throw yourself on and then I'll show you."

"If you take me anywhere near the waves?—"

"The water's pretty damn flat right now," I told her. "No waves to catch, even if I wanted to. Jump on, Jamie, unless you're scared?"

Hayden and I used to use that phrase to egg the girls on to do all sorts of dumb stuff, and right now she frowned in recognition of that. Didn't stop her from pulling herself up on the board, though. Dripping wet and sitting astride it, she couldn't have looked any more beautiful. Jamie let out a little yelp as I jumped on behind her, hands gripping the edge of the board.

"I've got you." I murmured into the back of her neck, feeling her shudder against me as I leaned over. "We're just going to paddle out a bit."

"A bit?!"

"Relax."

"You know not one single woman has ever relaxed when told to do so by a man," she snapped.

"OK then, help me paddle."

I leaned over, raking my hands through the water, and with some help she did too. It was a lot harder work than when I was solo and lying flat, but we got a way out. Away from the road, the traffic, and the families walking along the beach, the sounds all fell away, replaced by this. I saw now just how far I'd missed the mark on that first date, because as Jamie leaned back against me, the sunlight turning everything to red gold, I knew that this was how it had to be. Jamie didn't need more drama in her life, she needed peace.

So I shouldn't have placed a kiss against the back of her neck.

She stiffened, all the tension I'd worked hard to dispel returning, but only momentarily. Once she was able to assure herself she was safe, her body softened back against mine. I wanted the sun to stop in the sky, to stay exactly where it was, so this moment could stretch on forever.

"It's so beautiful out here." Jamie's sigh was everything. "Like I didn't expect…" She moved her legs experimentally through the water. "I didn't think it would affect me so much, but… it's like being in a whole other world." She reached down, scooping up a handful of water, the light refracting off the drops as they slipped from her hands. "It's quiet and still and peaceful." She nodded at that before looking over her shoulder at me. "Thanks. As a do-over, this is pretty damn good."

"Pretty damn good… I was hoping for mind blowing, but maybe that's the next part of the night," I said and she let out a little bark of laughter when she realised what I was insinuating. My hand slid over her thigh, the fabric of her shorts floating free, making it oh-so easy for me to slide under and cup her bare skin, but I didn't. "Remember I still owe you, and I'd never want anyone to say that Hunter McDonald doesn't pay his debts."

"Are you offering to get me off because I've had a shitty day?" she asked, the smile evident in her voice.

"A bad day, a day that ends with a ‘Y.'" I bent over, pressing another kiss to her neck. "Whatever you need." My hand slid higher. "Millie told us to look after you, and I take these things very seriously." I edged my fingers under the leg opening of her shorts.

"Pretty sure she didn't mean… Shit!" My finger grazed her clit softly, just enough for her to register. It would help me work out if she was receptive. Her hips bucked up into my palm. "Here? Now?"

"No, I think I need a bed for what I have planned for tonight," I said, pulling my hands free before dragging them through the water, turning the board into the shore. A small wave rose behind us, giving us enough momentum to send us rushing towards the sand. "But I need to know if this is what you want."

As we stepped out of the water, her clothes were plastered against her skin. I caught the sharp points of her nipples, the way her chest heaved and her eyes bore into me, but whatever her body was saying wasn't consent.

"You managed to distract me from my mother's bullshit for a while," she replied with a grin. "But I'm not quite over it. Maybe you could come up with something else to get my mind off her?"

I scooped her up, Jamie's giggles in my ears as I threw her over my shoulder, carrying my board back to the van under my other arm. My answer came in a kiss, my hands cradling her head as I pressed her against the panel of my car.

"You don't even have to ask. I am ready, willing, and able to serve at any given moment." I performed a salute. "Scout's honour."

"Willing to serve…" Her grin lit a fire inside me, one that warmed me all the way through. "Intriguing. Better show me what you've got."