Linc leaned back against the railing and tried to get his head together. When he’d walked outside a minute ago, he hadn’t been expecting the swift kick of attraction he felt when he set eyes on Cash—his brother’s girlfriend. He wished the last reminder was enough to cool his roaring libido. It wasn’t. What the hell was his brother doing with a woman like that? She wasn’t even his type. Griff did serious relationships; he’d had the one steady girlfriend all the way through high school until they broke up after going away to uni. Then he’d met Tiffany at ag college and they’d been together almost four years until she’d taken off on an overseas job. Ever since then, Griff hadn’t had a steady girlfriend as far as he knew. He liked the quiet, studious ones. The girls that you took home to meet Mum. Although Cash seemed to have won over his mother, from all the gushing he’d had to listen to since arriving yesterday.
And yet here Griff was with Cash. Cash with the tattoo and a smokin’ hot body. She was nothing like the sweet, Sunday-school-teacher kind of girl Griff usually went for. Admittedly, Cash probably wasn’t trying to look hot, but there was just no denying the woman’s curves under that outfit. His gaze fell on her crossed legs and the way she casually swung one strappy-sandalled foot every now and again. Christ, even her feet were sexy. The delicate black and red spiral that graced the top of her foot and wrapped around her ankle in a vine did things to him he wasn’t sure a foot was supposed to do. There was a free-spirited, rebellious streak about her, and he somehow suspected that underneath her fresh-faced appearance there was a wild side to Cash Sullivan.
As she lifted her long hair, he caught the briefest glimpse of black lines at the base of her neck. More tattoos. He itched to find out just what else she was hiding under those clothes. The thought excited him more than he cared to admit.
‘I like your piercing,’ Payton was saying. His gaze zoned in on the tiny glitter of a stud in her nose that he’d missed.
‘Thanks.’
‘Do you do them at the spa?’
‘Yes, actually, I do. I’m a qualified body piercer.’
She didn’t look like any body piercer he’d ever seen. The ones he’d seen looked like walking advertisements for their trade, with huge holes in their earlobes and studs in every conceivable body part. Cash looked clean-cut and wholesome in comparison.
‘Cool,’ Payton said, looking wistful.
‘What is?’ his sister asked, coming back outside.
‘Cash does piercing over at the day spa.’
‘Don’t even think about it, young lady.’ Harmony narrowed her eyes at her daughter.
‘I like your tattoo too.’
Cash smiled graciously at the younger girl, but after noticing the less-than-thrilled look on Harmony’s face, she dropped her gaze back onto her drink.
‘Once I’m eighteen I’m getting my nose pierced and a tattoo,’ Payton informed everyone in general, but clearly it was aimed at her mother, who looked anything but excited by the prospect.
‘Go right ahead if you want to look like a delinquent. Good luck finding a job,’ Harmony said, and instantly Linc’s hand tightened around his glass of beer as he saw Cash flinch slightly.
‘I’ve got tats and I’ve managed to work ever since leaving school,’ he pointed out.
‘It’s different with men,’ his sister shrugged.
‘Cash has both,’ Payton pointed out, oblivious to the backhanded insult her mother had just given the woman.
‘Your mum’s right, Payton,’ Cash said calmly, and Linc was impressed by how dignified she sounded. ‘You should think very carefully before getting a tattoo. They last forever and people can be very quick to judge you once you have them,’ she added, taking a sip of her beer before coolly holding his sister’s gaze.
He bit back a smile.
‘When did you get yours?’ Payton asked.
Cash followed the girl’s gaze to the finely scripted ink words written on the inside of her lower forearm. She remembered the day she’d walked into the small back room of the tattoo parlour and given the handwritten quote to the burly tattoo artist. ‘I got this one when I was about nineteen, I guess. But you should take your time and think about what you want to put on your body—make sure it’s important enough to live with for the rest of your life.’
‘What does that one mean?’ the girl asked, still looking at the quote on her arm that read: Rise and rise again, like the Phoenix from the ashes, until the lambs have become lions.
‘It’s a reminder about never giving up.’
The teen pursed her lips and gave an approving nod of her head.
‘Robert, the roast is ready to be carved,’ Lavinia called and began directing everyone to take a seat at the large timber table.
‘Ignore my sister. She’s not usually like this. I don’t know what her problem is lately,’ Griff said quietly as they stood up to walk across to the beautifully set table further along the verandah.
‘It’s okay.’
‘It’s not.’
Cash saw that he was genuinely angry about it and put her hand on his arm gently. ‘I’m a big girl. I can handle your sister,’ she smiled. ‘She’s probably just having a bad day. It’s no big deal.’
His brother pulled out a seat on the other side of the table and Cash caught his eye. It was only brief, but it made her pulse leap automatically in response, and she dropped her hand from Griff’s arm, busying herself with taking a seat to cover the fact she was uncomfortably flustered.
What was going on? She’d known Griff for weeks. Why would she be acting like this over his brother, who she’d known all of two damn minutes? Griffin was reliable and kind. Focus on Griffin. You do not need to be sidetracked by hormones and a pair of blue eyes that do unnerving things to your heartbeat.
Dinner was a unique experience for Cash. Dining with a large family wasn’t something she’d ever done. Her own family was about as opposite as you could get to this. She listened with interest as Bob and Lavinia spoke about the area and the neighbours, how the community pulled together and the mind-blowing number of committees they were both involved with. Bob had been a member of the local rural fire brigade for almost thirty years and she was surprised to discover that Griff was also. It made sense, she supposed. After all, out here, who else was going to defend their properties and the town?
Throughout the conversation and meal, Cash noticed that Don left the table twice to take business calls, making her wonder if there was some kind of sudden boom in the real estate market in Griffith. There was something a little too slick about Don. Harmony didn’t speak, she just drank more wine and seemed to withdraw inside herself, while the two teenagers ate their meal in sullen silence, sneaking glances down at their laps to the phones they were trying to discreetly play with.
‘Payton. Holder,’ Harmony snapped when she finally glanced over and caught the two children playing on the devices. ‘Put those phones away, right now.’
‘But Dad gets to use his,’ Holder whined.
‘Your father’s working. Put them away.’
Cash thought Payton was about to argue, but one glance across at her grandparents and she wisely closed her mouth, sliding her phone into her pocket and picking up her cutlery to resume eating.
Don returned a few moments later without bothering to apologise for the interruption, and Cash wondered if anyone else was picking up on the distinct chill coming from the far side of the table where Harmony and her family sat. It was none of her business—she didn’t even know these people—but clearly there were some major issues going on in Griff’s sister’s marriage. Not my circus, she repeated firmly. She had enough issues of her own to deal with without taking on anyone else’s.
After dinner, Cash pushed her plate aside and stifled a groan. She couldn’t think when she’d last eaten so much food. ‘Thank you, Lavinia, that was amazing.’
‘I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Cash.’
‘You’ve outdone yourself, Ma,’ Griff agreed, leaning back in his seat and dropping his arm across the back of Cash’s chair once again.
‘You say that after every meal,’ Lavinia chided him lightly, but Cash saw a warm glow in the woman’s face and knew she loved taking care of her family. She tried to imagine what growing up with a mother like Lavinia would have been like, but couldn’t. ‘Well, I hope you saved some room for dessert.’
Cash almost groaned at the thought of more food but smiled bravely. She could only imagine what dessert would be like following the delicious meal she’d just eaten. Maybe she had a little more room to squeeze in a taste of whatever culinary delight Lavinia had whipped up.
Cash rose from the table as everyone started gathering the plates but was waved back into her seat. ‘You just sit there and relax,’ Lavinia said. ‘Griffin will keep you company while we get dessert ready,’ she added, and Cash tried not to cringe at the blatant attempt to orchestrate some alone time for them.
Griff happily handed his plate across to his brother to take inside and added a ‘Thanks, mate’ just to add insult to injury.
‘I hope they haven’t scared you off tonight,’ he said quietly, looking into his beer after they’d all gone.
‘Your family’s great,’ she said and honestly meant it, although she wasn’t sure what he was trying to ask by ‘scaring her off’—that sounded a little more serious than the neighbourly drop-ins they’d been sharing over the last few weeks.
‘You’re a hit with Mon’s kids.’
Cash gave a small smile. ‘I’m pretty sure your sister thinks I’m a poor role model.’
‘Nah, she’s just going through some stuff right now. Don’t take it personally. It’s the first time I’ve seen Payton actually have a conversation that didn’t involve one-word answers and eye-rolling.’
‘Anything that a mother wouldn’t approve of will always be something a teenager thinks is cool.’
‘Mon’s just a bit of a … perfectionist. I think she’s struggling with her kids becoming teenagers.’
Somehow Cash thought there was a bit more to it than a stressed-out mother of teenage children, but, again, it wasn’t any of her business.
Lavinia came back out carrying plates and everyone else soon followed with an assortment of dishes, including Cash’s cake. This wasn’t a simple dinner, this was a feast of gargantuan proportions. Oh, dear God, the food.
Cash refused to sit while everyone else cleaned up after dessert and helped carry in the last of the plates. The kitchen was a chaotic traffic jam of bodies and clinking cutlery, and with no idea where things belonged, Cash was actually in the way and didn’t argue when she was ushered outside once again.
‘I just need to borrow Griff for a minute though,’ Lavinia said, grabbing hold of her son. ‘Linc’ll keep you company for a few minutes, won’t you, darling?’ She smiled up at the startled face of Griff’s older brother.
‘I’ll be fine, Lavinia,’ Cash tried to protest, feeling more than a little awkward that she somehow needed to be babysat, particularly when this guy clearly didn’t feel like being the babysitter.
‘Nonsense, out you go,’ she said, shooing them from the kitchen, and Cash went, feeling like a naughty child that had just been banished by the grownups.