***
Marcus was locking up about five when he saw Madeline coming out of her gate. She gave him a quick wave and walked away in the other direction. Perfect — he was heading that way, too. He grinned to himself at how prim she looked in her navy pinstripe suit, her hair tied in her regulation nape-knot, and wondered as he watched the sway of her hips whether she was wearing lacy lingerie beneath or the cotton underwear he had seen her in the previous day.
‘Who’s that, Uncle Marcus?’
The boyish voice of his nephew intruded on his fantasy. Marcus looked down at Connor, whom he’d picked up from school earlier and brought back to the practice as a favour to Nell, who didn’t knock off until six. He’d helped him with his homework and then Connor had helped him, unpacking boxes like he did it for a living.
Of course, using the skate park as a carrot had helped.
‘Her name’s Maddy. She’s a doctor next door.’
‘Is she your girlfriend?’
Marcus laughed. Only in his dreams! ‘No. Why?’
Connor shrugged. ‘You were looking at her kind of funny,’ he said. ‘And she’s really pretty.’
Marcus nodded. His nephew must have got that keen eye from him. ‘Yes, Connor, that she is.’
‘Can I ride the board to the park?’ Connor asked, throwing it down on the ground and pushing it backwards and forwards with a foot.
‘OK, but stay close and don’t go too fast. Remember you’re going downhill slightly. If you break your arm your mother will kill me.’ His nephew laughed at him as he did up the chin strap on his helmet and checked his knee and elbow pads.
Yeah. Bulletproof.
Madeline had heard the skateboard approach and she hadn’t needed to turn around to know it was Marcus. She was fast gaining a sixth sense where he was concerned. She braced herself for his presence and found herself wishing he’d get thrown off on one of the many cracks in the aged footpath just to avoid having to look at him after last night.
Honestly — a grown man riding a skateboard deserved to fall on his butt!
But the board swished straight past her and the boy riding it gave her a cheeky grin. He was familiar and she realised it was Marcus’s nephew. When Marcus did catch her up a moment later, she jumped.
‘How are you feeling today, Maddy?’
‘Fine,’ she said, not bothering to stop or even acknowledge him as her heart thundered madly. She knew she should thank him again for his help but, given the way the night had ended and the things he had made her feel and the subsequent dreams, the less conversation about the previous day the better.
‘Finished for the day?’
‘Yup,’ she said, again refusing to look at him.
‘Can I walk with you?’
No, you can’t. ‘It’s a public pavement. Your nephew?’ she asked.
He nodded. ‘Hey, Connor,’ he called to the boy a few metres ahead of them. ‘Come here and meet Maddy.’
Connor braked and with some fancy footwork flipped the board up into his hand and tucked it under his arm.
‘Hi,’ said Connor, as he approached.
‘Connor, this is Maddy.’
‘Hi,’ said Madeline, gritting her teeth to not correct Marcus in front of the boy. He was very cute, his uniform shirt untucked, and Madeline got a glimpse of Marcus at six.
‘That’s a pretty name,’ he said.
Madeline blinked. She always forgot how candid children could be. ‘Actually, my full name is Madeline.’
Connor thought for a bit. ‘Oh. Maddy is much prettier.’
Yep, definitely a chip off the old block, thought Marcus as he chuckled and then ruffled his nephew’s hair as Maddy shot him a disparaging look.
‘Is your uncle teaching you how to ride?’ she asked Connor.
‘Nah, I already know how to do that. He’s teaching me to do tricks. Oops.’ He clapped a hand over his mouth and looked stricken. ‘I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.’
‘Don’t worry, Connor. Your secret is safe with me,’ she assured with a smile.
He looked at his uncle uncertainly. ‘Sorry, Uncle Marcus.’
Marcus laughed. ‘It’s OK, mate. Go on, get on your board.’
They watched Connor ride ahead a bit. Madeline turned to Marcus and pinned him with a what-the-hell look. ‘Let me guess, he’s not supposed to tell his mother, right?’
‘He wants to learn and I’m teaching him. He’s a boy, he needs to be wild. Nell’s a little too protective.’
Madeline shook her head at him and strode off, briskly this time, but he caught her up easily with his long-legged stride. ‘You know he’s going to blab, right? Sooner or later?’
‘Yup.’
‘And what happens then?’
He shrugged. ‘She’ll come round. She’s just a product of our home life. We grew up kind of insecure. She wants to keep him safe from everything.’
He fell in beside her and they walked for a few seconds. ‘So, I guess we’ll be neighbours as of tomorrow.’
She knew it, yet still the idea was hard to compute. She glanced at him and he smiled at her and Madeline wished she hadn’t made eye contact. There was an easiness about him that was dangerous. Not evil or sinister, just a threat to her sensibilities.
He knew he was sexy. He didn’t flaunt it but it was there in every move, every nuance. His confidence was breathtaking.
‘Oh, goody, skater boy in a suit. It’ll be worth it just for that,’ she quipped, giving his grunge look a disparaging once-over.
He laughed and she felt like she’d just been dipped in a vat of warm sweet molasses.
‘A suit? Me? Hate to disappoint but these are my work clothes.’
Madeline stopped and stared at his fashionably faded long shorts with ragged edging and frayed pockets and his trendy purple striped shirt, unbuttoned and flapping in the breeze. Her eyes lingered at the tantalising glimpse of smooth chest.
She stared at him incredulously. ‘This is what you wear to work?’
‘Well –’ He grinned. ‘I usually button my shirt.’
She shook her head and started walking again. ‘Are you sure you left Melbourne under your own steam? You weren’t run out, by any chance?’
He laughed and it felt as though he was licking the molasses from her skin.
‘I was a little unconventional for Melbourne,’ he admitted. ‘Just another reason I moved north.’
Madeline stopped at the light and they waited for it while Connor pushed the button continuously. The lights changed and they stepped onto the road.
‘The other being Connor?’ she asked.
He nodded. ‘And the weather. It’s hard to skate in layers and I love to surf...but I’m getting too old for Victorian sea temperatures. Way too cold.’ He shivered, thinking about it. ‘Here I can do both all year round. In next to nothing.’
She looked at him again and at his open shirt, trying to block out the images his words were conjuring in her head. She did not want to go there.
‘Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place.’
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ he said lightly.
She felt the full force of his gaze and his lazy smile and his dimples and she forgot how to breathe for a moment. ‘So, any other reasons for the big move?’ she asked, to force herself to breathe again.