The Wells Brothers: Luke Page 9
“He retired here.” Smiling, Elspeth reached out to pat his arm. “You’re worried. How thoughtful. But no need to fret, sweetie. He’s worked for museums, he’s worked in Paris, he’s worked in Canberra-”
“Land of politicians. And you think I shouldn’t worry?”
“He’s highly regarded in the antique circles.”
Luke’s lips pursed. “Maybe I’ll go in with you.”
Unbuckling the seatbelt, Mikki opened the car door. “What do you know about antiques?”
“Bugger all,” he replied truthfully, “but I know an honest man when I see one.”
Right at that moment an elderly man was seen in the window carefully placing a vase on the shelf. He gave it a loving brush of his hand before disappearing back into the depths of the shop.
“That’s him,” Elspeth said. “Bernard Yorick.”
“So what do you think?” Mikki asked dryly. “Honest?”
“Honestly old.” Luke stared at the shop. “He looked about a hundred and five.”
Laughing, Mikki got out of the car, Elspeth doing the same. Luke got out a lot slower, still looking at the shop.
“Don’t worry about it, Luke.” Elspeth tugged her dress into place, smoothed down her elegant chignon, straightened the little cardigan and hooked her handbag over one forearm. “I’ll attend to the arrangements for Bernard to come to the mansion and handle the furniture and artwork that’s left, while you and Mikki see what you can find out at the library.”
“You’re on a first name basis with Mr Yorick already?” Mikki queried.
“I met him already, remember? He came to the city and attended a fundraising party at the same time as I.” Setting her shoulders, Elspeth stepped up onto the footpath and walked through the doorway of the shop. “If you’re not back here in half an hour, I’ll come to the library. See you later, dears.”
Beeping the locks shut, Luke looked across the car roof at Mikki, one eyebrow raised above the frame of his sunglasses. “Library it is then, Red.”
He spoke so naturally that Mikki relaxed. The old Luke was back. But then again, maybe he had been there all along and it was just her addled wits that made things seem a little odd back in the vet’s parking lot.
Yeah, that had to be it, especially when he strolled along beside her, arms swinging easily as though he hadn’t a thought in the world apart from his landscaping, pointing across the road to drawl, “There’s the library just up there.”
It was time she took a leaf out of his book and concentrated on what she was here for, not her weirdo moment.
There were enough weirdo moments coming when they entered the library, the woman at the desk taking one look at Luke and willing to do everything but prostrate herself at his feet in a bid to get his full attention.
Standing beside him, Mikki couldn’t help but shake her head in amusement when she didn’t even garner an acknowledging glance. No big surprise, the good-looking landscaper always drew second and third looks from women.
“I’m Anna.” Leaning against the counter, the woman smiled up at him. “What can I help you with?”
“Do you have any photos of the Willock mansion and the grounds?” he asked.
Her eyes widened. “You’re the buyer?”
“No.” Taking off the sunglasses, he tucked them into his pocket, giving her the full-on sparkle of his blue eyes.
Okay, maybe that was being a little sardonic but geez, anyone in a mile radius could see the way Anna stared into his eyes with hunger. Yep, hunger. She was looking at Luke as though she could climb the counter and eat him. Carnally.
“We’d both like to see the photos,” Mikki added.
“Sure.” Anna kept her attention on Luke. “Follow me.”
As she sashayed across to the open section of the big half arched desk, Mikki leaned into Luke’s arm and whispered, “I think she meant for you to follow her, not me.”
“Behave,” he whispered back.
“Oohh, so you did notice her eating you with her eyes?”
Unable to answer because by now Anna was approaching too quickly, Luke nudged Mikki with a muttered, “Later, Red.”
Anna stopped in front of Luke. “So the Willock mansion, hmm?”
“Yep.” He glanced around. “Any photos of the grounds?”
“You’re in luck.” Turning, she started walking down the aisles, a definite wiggle in her hips. “Down here in the local history section we have some wonderful photos in books. Follow me.”
Mikki gave him a little push. “Just follow those hips, Lukey-boy.”
“You’ll keep,” he growled.
“Oooh.” She faked a shudder. “I’m so scared.”
“Maybe your chemist bloke will rescue you.”
“He won’t do it wiggling his hips.” Mikki smiled widely at Anna as the woman checked that they were following.
The librarian gave her a brief once-over, dismissed her as no threat and focussed on Luke. “Right this way, Mr…?”
“Luke.” He placed a hand in the small of Mikki’s back, completely surprising her. “And this is Mikki.”
Anna’s eyes darted between them. “Mikki.”
Very conscious of his big, warm hand, she nodded. “We’re fr-”
“Close friends,” Luke cut in.
Anna’s gaze was calculating.
“Very close friends.” Luke looked down at Mikki, giving her a brief squeeze into his side. “Right, Red?”
Not having a clue what was going on his head, but catching the warning glint in his eyes, she responded with a vague, “Yes?”
Anna gave her a look of disbelief before smiling a little coyly and turning away. “Right this way, Luke.” She added after a pause. “Mikki.”
Glancing up, Mikki couldn’t help but see the grimace on his face. Understanding dawned. “Are you scared of her?”
“Not interested.”
“Hey, I was just asking.” She tapped the hand that rested on her hip. “I’m not the one clinging to me like I’m a burr.”
“I meant, I’m not interested in Anna.” Luke steered Mikki through the maze of aisles.
Amusement bubbled up, the temptation to tease too much. Leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked, Mikki cooed, “Am I your security guard?”
“Don’t enjoy this too much.”
“You mean you’re just going to use me then dump me?” She pouted, snuggled a little closer - which was actually rather nice, because he was warm and smelled good.
He squeezed her hip in reply.
Before she could needle him further, Anna stopped beside two tables facing each other and pulled out a chair. “Here you go, Mikki.”
The cynical side of Mikki said that Anna had something up her sleeve, and she wasn’t wrong. As she sat, before Luke could pull out the chair beside her, Anna yanked out the one opposite and smiled widely at him. “Just sit here, Luke, and I’ll get some of those books.”
Ever the gentleman, he took the seat she held out.
“I’ll just get the books.” Anna turned to the library shelves right behind him, running her finger along the titles.
Luke gave a barely heard sigh and looked at Mikki in resignation. The poor bugger knew the librarian wasn’t finished with him yet despite the openly blatant hint that he and Mikki were more than just friends.
As if. Mikki did a mental snort, then spotted the little stack of papers and a couple of pencils in the middle of the table. Taking a piece, she wrote on it ‘I think she likes you’, folded it in half and slid it across the table to Luke.
Bewildered, he opened it, read, and looked up at her in disbelief.
She met his gaze blandly.
“What are you?” he mouthed. “Ten?”
“Here we go.” Anna placed a book on the table right in front of Luke, leaning over his shoulder to open it, her dark hair sliding down to tickle his cheek.
As Anna opened the book and flicked through the pages, Luke shot Mikki a warning glare.
; Really, the woman had no shame.
Highly entertained, Mikki took another sheet of paper, wrote ‘I think she really likes you’ underlined ‘really’ and folded it in half. Then she waited.
“Now, here’s a really nice photo of Willock mansion.” Anna pointed to a photo.
Luke looked at it. “It’s in black and white. Do you have any colour photos?”
“Glad you asked,” she said brightly. “I’ll be back.” She returned to the shelf right behind him.
Mikki slid the second note across the table and waited while Luke read it before his eyes narrowed. Grabbing a pencil from the middle of the table, he scribbled, folded the note in half again and slid it back to her.
She picked it up as Anna placed another book before Luke and opened it. “This is a much bigger photo.” Her arm brushed against his as she pointed to it. “You can even see the gardens.”
Luke studied it before flicking through the book. “Is this the only photo? I was hoping for more with the gardens.”
“Of course.” She took the opportunity to pat his shoulder. “Hang on.”
Mikki opened the note and read ‘Not as much as the chemist likes you’. Pooh, was that all he had? Very aware of Luke watching, Mikki wrote ‘She’ll do you on the table in a minute. I’ll go blind’ folded the paper once more and slid it across the table.
Luke picked it up, read it, and pursed his lips. Before he could think of a reply, Anna placed a pile of books on the table and sat down, pulling her chair close to his as she grabbed the first book. “Now this one has a lot of photos in it, all in colour and some quite large.”
“Like large…gardens, do you mean?” Mikki asked innocently.
Anna shot her a glance of extreme dislike. Yep, no doubting the librarian knew exactly to what Mikki referred, just as she knew that Mikki knew Anna was hitting on Luke. Or trying to.
Mikki smiled serenely.
Luke gestured. “Come here, Mikki. Look at this.”
She leaned over the table to get an upside down view.
“No.” He gave an affectionate laugh. “Come around here. You can’t see it like that.”
Anna’s lips thinned. Mikki shrugged, got up and walked around the table. What she wasn’t prepared for was Luke to suddenly push his chair back, thrust out one leg, grab her around the waist and yank her down onto his thigh.
She wasn’t sure who was most shocked - she or Anna. Anna’s eyes went round, her mouth dropped open, and Mikki was pretty sure her expression was exactly the same.
“There you go, honey.” Beaming happily, Luke gave her a squeeze. It looked affectionate but his arm around her waist was like steel, his hand resting firmly below her breasts. “Now isn’t this cosy? You’ll also be able to see properly.”
Mortified, she tried to take her weight off his leg by attempting to stand. “Luke-”
Ignoring her attempts, his grip unyielding, holding her securely in place, he turned back to the books. “Now, these photos look great. I can make out the garden beds, how they ran.” Ignoring her subtle shove on his arm, he continued, “A lot of roses. What do you think, Mikki?” All warm and attentive, he looked at her. “You like roses.”
He wouldn’t know, the idiot was making it up. She groaned silently. This was his revenge for her childish teasing. Cripes, her mother was always telling her to act her age, but she had a bad habit of doing dumb things when around her siblings. Luke wasn’t her sibling but he made her teasing come out something shocking.
Now here she was, her bum on his very muscular, hard thigh, his arm around her waist with his hand resting below her breasts, keeping her securely pinned against him.
Anna was not happy, shifting her chair as though Mikki was contagious. “So, these are the books. Have a look, I’ll be right over there if you need me.”
No sooner had she returned to the main desk than Mikki demanded quietly, “Let me go.”
“Not happening, Red.” Luke studied the photos. “Man, look at these grounds. I really need to see them blown up. I wonder if there are some bigger photos. Maybe we can blow them up on the photocopier or something.”
“Luke!”
“No.”
“I’m too heavy!”
“You’re fine.” He used his free hand to turn the page, not looking at her as he added, “Suck it up, Red, you’re staying right there. I’ve got Anna hitting on me, which I don’t like, and you teasing me. You’re my security blanket, so get comfortable. You’re staying right here until we go.” He shot her a determined look. “Unless you want her and the other patrons of this place to watch you struggling and hear you yelling, because that’s the only way you’re getting away from me.”
There was no doubting the set of that square jaw, no doubting the look in his eyes. Luke was dead serious.
Crap on a stick. She was going to spend the time looking at these books from her perch on his thigh. Feeling the flex of muscle beneath her bottom, Mikki bit her lip. Concentration was going to be a big problem.
Especially when he suddenly snuggled her closer while returning his attention to the book.
An unexpected heat coiled through the lower regions of her loins.
Holy heck.
Big problem.
Chapter 4
It had been a brainwave to grab the teasing chit and plonk her on his thigh. It kept the voracious librarian from pressing against him. Luke was pretty sure if he’d tried that on a woman who’d given out unmistakable ‘keep back’ signals, he’d have been done for sexual harassment.
Once Mikki was on his lap, Anna had backed off big time. So far back, in fact, that she had returned to the main desk at the front of the library and was now ignoring them.
He was amused that Mikki was sitting stiffly against him even when he’d snuggled her close. Man, he couldn’t help but notice that she was a sweet smelling, warm, cuddly armful. All soft and womanly, with that big bosom pressed against him. It was either she lean against him as he’d designed his grip to do, or she had to lean away, and that, sir, was not on the table for his Red. She might like to tease, could almost drive a man to his knees with her sometimes withering wit, but scenes weren’t her thing. She’d go to great lengths to avoid them, which was kind of funny considering she liked to poke the angry hornet’s nest now and again.
But now she was caught in her own trap. Sitting on his lap, suffering in silence.
Grinning, he settled down to study the photos in the books.
With a sigh, Mikki finally relaxed enough to lean forward a little and study the photos with him.
“See that?” He pointed to one of the photos with his free hand. “That pathway was originally lined with flowering bushes. Some of those flowers are okay for winter months, but I’d need to do a good mix of winter and summer flowering bushes otherwise it’s going to look very unwelcoming.” He pondered, his mind already ticking on possibilities. “I’ll see what I can come up with for drought-hardy plants with flowers.”
“Didn’t know drought-hardy came with flowers.” Mikki pulled one of the books about historical houses towards her.
“You’d be surprised. Did you know established roses actually do well in dry weather?”
“Don’t you have to keep watering them every day?” Giving up on leaning over enough to read, she hefted the book in her hands and flipped through it, her arm brushing against his side as she shifted.
Man, her bottom was really lush and soft. Nice.
“A good watering a couple of times a week is all that’s necessary.” He studied the pathway. “Hmm, they were originally cobblestones. But that could cause a problem.”
“Not able to do cobblestones? I am so disappointed in you, Lukey-boy. I thought you could do anything.” Bracing her thumb on the edges of the book pages, she fanned them swiftly. The disturbance caused by the sudden rush of air blew one of her wayward curls that had escaped her braid to tickle across his cheek.
Anna’s hair might have annoyed him, but the peach-scented tress caressin
g his skin had him inhaling deeply.
Odd action. Pushing that thought aside, he tapped the photo. “Take a look.”
“The landscaping is your department, not mine.”
“Listen, smart-arse, you’re disappointed in me. I want to prove a point.”
With a sigh, she looked at him. Sitting on his thigh made her slightly higher than him so she was looking down a little. Right down that cutely freckled-nose, in fact.
Now they were so close he could see a faint sprinkle of freckles across her upper cheeks, not many, just a few, but man they were cute. Combined with those sparkling green eyes, it was a surprisingly cheeky, yet winning, combination. “I bet you were a real tear-away as a kid.”
She stared. “What makes you say that?”
He honestly had no idea, it had just slipped out. But no way was he going to admit it. “Thinking of you scribbling notes and giving them to me while Anna’s back was turned. Like a naughty schoolgirl.”
Naughty schoolgirl. He got a sudden picture of her in his mind in school uniform with that red hair in piggy tails and a devilish look on her face. Not so different now, he thought, as he considered her pretty features. Yeah, he could just picture her passing notes in class.
Mikki regained her composure to drawl, “Like you were such a prize.”
“I’m not talking about me.”
“As a kid, you took on a dare to kiss as many school girls as you could behind the gardener’s shed.”
His eyes widened. “How did-”
“You kissed so many girls your lips got chapped.”
“They did not!”
“If you were older than twelve, you might have taken on the dare to shag as many girls as you could con into it.”
His mouth fell open.
Mikki grinned. “You’d have gotten the clap instead of the chap.”
“Who’s been gas-bagging?”
“Aaron.”
“Aaron?” Surprised, Luke blinked. “Since when does he spill things to you?”
“I was at Izzy and Jason’s, and Aaron arrived. We got talking and stories started being told. You got pride of place.” She piously re-opened the book she held. “But don’t get too big-headed, it was a dubious place.”