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Jodie didn’t drink. Mostly she thought alcohol tasted like cat pee smelled. It left her feeling morose. The alcohol, not the cat pee, and seeing as she was morose enough without the help, she decided to drown her sorrows the way she usually did—with chocolate.
She sat on the flat roof area that acted as her terrace, her back to the outside wall of her living room and her legs stretched out in front of her, with a large box of chocolates beside her. She’d tiled the roof in terra cotta and blue, dotted plant pots around, hung shade sails and furnished it with quality wooden tables and chairs. With trees on the property trimmed, it was possible to make out the loch in the distance, as well as the lush green hills surrounding the town. Up here, away from everything, she could take a moment to breathe. Something she very much needed after the day she’d just suffered through.
“Is this a private pity party or can anyone join in?” The deep drawl shivered through Jodie.
So much for her peace and quiet.
Jodie turned in her seat to see Mitch standing in the patio doorway. He was dressed in worn jeans and a U2 tee from their Joshua Tree tour. She owned a version of that tee herself.
“How did you get in here?”
“Deke sent me up.”
Rat bastard brother. She’d deal with his interference later.
“What are you doing here?” And yes, the words did come out in bitch tone.
“I brought you the gift I’ve been trying to give you since yesterday.” He held up a pretty pink gift bag. “You would have gotten it earlier, but you were too busy throwing me around like a rag doll.”
Jodie scowled at the bag. “Couldn’t you have just left it on the doorstep?”
“Nope. We’re having some quality time together. This is what people in a normal relationship do, Jodie. They hang out.”
“By people in normal relationships, you mean the ones who actually want to be in those relationships and aren’t blackmailed into it by pathetically desperate men?”
She was hoping to get a rise out of him, but instead he just laughed.
“Here.” He handed her the bag.
With a grumble, she took it. “Are you trying to buy my affection?”
“Absolutely, and I can tell by your accommodating disposition that my evil plan is working.” Mitch nodded towards the bag. “Open it.”
“Bossy man.” But she was too curious not to peek inside.
Her heart stopped. There was a pair of shoes in the bag. A pair of designer crocs. They were red with tiny ladybirds attached to them and a flower motif running over the toe section and around to the heel. They were over the top, whacky and totally amazing.
“You got me shoes?” she said, a little breathily. She was a girl. Shoes had superpowers over her. She couldn’t help it.
He shrugged, but his eyes twinkled with amusement. “You’re on your feet all day. These are supposed to be comfortable.”
Jodie felt a strange falling sensation. He’d thought of her comfort. She kicked off her flip-flops to put on the new shoes. They fit like a dream.
“How did you know my size?”
“You left your boot in my room the first night you stayed over, Cinderella.”
That reminded her: “You still haven’t returned it.”
His smile was devilish. “The prince gets to keep the shoe.”
“You’re no prince, and the shoe gets returned to the woman he falls—” She cut off the thought when she realised who got the shoe. He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Never mind,” Jodie said. “Keep the boot.”
“Coward,” Mitch muttered. He turned his attention to her feet. She was wiggling them to show off her new shoes. “Shoes look good, babe.”
Jodie turned up to him and opened her mouth to tell him he could go now he’d made his delivery. Instead, he leaned over and kissed her. It was soft, slow and sweet. About half a point away from being a perfect ten. And he only lost that half point because he shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
Jodie’s eyes had floated shut at the touch of his lips to hers. When she opened them again, it was to see him smiling softly in front of her. The sight annoyed her. He would be so much easier to resist if he wasn’t so gorgeous.
“Beer?” he whispered.
“Fridge,” she answered before she remembered she didn’t want him there.
“I’ll grab one and then we’ll hang out.”
“Seriously? Do we have to?”
With a deep chuckle, he sauntered towards the kitchen, all lean limbs and toned muscle. And yeah, she noticed the fit of his jeans, too. They were butter soft and faded just enough to be sexy as hell. Jodie pulled the box of chocolates closer and picked her favourite. One bite of hazelnut praline and she was in heaven. So much so that she’d almost forgotten Mitch had invaded her home until she felt him slide down the wall to sit beside her.
His eyes were warm when they shifted between the chocolate and her mouth. “Got some for me?”
“Don’t even think about touching the chocolate,” Jodie said. “I will toss you off the roof if you try it.”
“You have a mean violent streak, Jodie. I like it.”
“I also have the skills to follow through on it.”
“Yeah?” His lip twitched before he tipped back his head and drank some of the beer.
Jodie gave him some consideration. Was he mocking her? Thinking she was making false threats? It was time to knock that notion right out of his tiny head. “I’m a level one expert in Krav Maga.”
“I’ve reached level five in Grand Theft Auto.”
“Krav Maga isn’t an online game, idiot. It’s an Israeli martial art. Level one expert is the equivalent of having a black belt.”
“I was joking. I know what Krav Maga is. I watch The Simpsons. I saw the episode where a girl kicked Bart’s butt.” He considered her for a minute. “Is it wrong that knowing you can kick my ass makes you even hotter?”
Jodie was beginning to wonder if Mitch wasn’t a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
“Nice up here,” he said when he’d finished his beer.
“It was.” Jodie ate another chocolate and tried to inch away from him. He was sitting so close that he was pressed against her from shoulder to thigh.
Mitch foiled her plan by wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. Jodie probably should have protested, but she was holding a box of chocolates and protecting them took priority.
“How’s Fiona?”
The question surprised Jodie. Mitch’s only experience of the woman was when she’d screamed the place down at his arrival. She couldn’t believe he’d remembered her name.
“She’s getting the help she needs.”
She glanced up at Mitch and saw a muscle throb at the corner of his jaw. “Wouldn’t mind five minutes alone with the guy who got her into that state,” he said, and Jodie felt that strange falling sensation all over again.
“Get in line.”
The sun was setting over Invertary. The predominantly white buildings were painted in shades of red and gold by the fading sun and the cool green of the hills turned a warmer, deeper shade of emerald.
“It’s a good thing you’re doing here, Jodie.”
“Don’t get any highfalutin ideas. We aren’t running a charity. The women have jobs and pay their way, like they would anywhere else. We’re hardly saints.”
“I heard how little you’re charging for rent on the manse. Most places would call it subsidised living.” He seemed amused by her efforts to set him straight.
“Some people would call it good business. You have happy staff, you have hardworking staff. Which translates into more profit. Trust me, we might care a whole helluva lot about what we’re doing, but we’re under no illusion that it’s purely altruistic.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Man, you’re annoying.” As usual, her comment had little impact. “What’s happening with your efforts to get rid of the protestors?”
“Oh yeah, the other reason I crashed your pity party. I’ll give you an update for a kiss.”
She didn’t move. She could be patient and wait until he came to his senses.
“After the update, then,” he said when he’d eventually found his sense. “I managed to shut Morag down. She didn’t have a permit to sell food on your land. Either she sells from the road, which would need a police permit, and Matt isn’t feeling too favourable towards that idea, or she protests without the pie stand.”
“She’s going back to the bakery, isn’t she?” The one thing Morag loved more than protesting anyone who didn’t reach her standard of morality, was making money.
“Yep. When I explained the situation to her, she suddenly realised that there was nothing illicit going on in the spa. Seemed she was misinformed.” He obviously thought this was funny.
Jodie didn’t. Anything that would bring the wrong sort of attention to the spa wasn’t funny. It was one thing to advertise your business; it was another thing entirely to become a humorous end piece on the six o’clock news—which was what she feared would happen if the protests continued. The men who were looking for Jodie’s employees wouldn’t notice an ad for a spa, but they sure as hell would notice the evening news. What if one of the women was caught on camera? She couldn’t even think about that. She’d promised them they would be safe in Invertary and she’d do everything within her power to make sure it happened—including making a pact with the devil beside her.
“What about the men?” she said.
“That’s a bit trickier.” He placed his empty bottle on the tile beside him. “We have to prove they’re disturbing your business to get rid of them entirely. There hasn’t been any monetary disruption or any sort of harassment of your customers, which means they’re within their rights to sit out there and shout crap to amuse themselves. I did manage to use the trespass laws to stop them from setting up on your property, but the chances are that tomorrow they’ll just protest from the sidewalk outside the gate.”
Jodie began to feel a little helpless. Not something she was used to or enjoyed. “Fantastic. That’s no improvement at all.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that. Instead, I’m going to pretend that you said, ‘Wow, Mitch, you are so cool. Thank you for getting rid of Morag and pushing the men off my land.’”
“It’s not that I’m ungrateful.” Jodie felt bad at her ungracious attitude.
“But...” Mitch prompted.
“I just want them gone.”
Mitch patted her thigh. “Never fear, baby, Mitch is here.” He gave her a smug smile. “Turns out that the fact you live above your business is a stroke of luck. We can use the harassment laws to knock this on the head. It’s against the law to try and force someone to do something near their dwelling. Matt is going to have a word with the Domino Boys and point out that I will have them charged with harassment if they turn up here again. I suggested that if they really wanted to get in the spa, they might consider starting a petition instead of camping outside the building.”
Hope blossomed in Jodie. She was beginning to think he might actually be able to work the miracles he claimed. “They’re gone, then?”
“There’s no knowing what goes on in the heads of the Domino Boys, but fingers crossed they won’t be coming back.” Dark eyes captured hers as relief and joy swept through her. “Now. Time for my thank you kiss.”
A spike of heat joined the relief and joy. “Well, you do deserve one, even if you’re forcing me to give it to you.”
The heat in his eyes was scorching. “I’ll take it any way it comes, baby.”
With feigned resignation, Jodie put down her chocolates and straddled Mitch. She casually rested her arms on his shoulders and played with the hair at the back of his head. His big hands clasped her hips, but he didn’t make a move towards her. He just sat there, passively, waiting for her to do all the work. The thought of having him at her mercy made Jodie shiver.
She took her time studying him. He really was the most gorgeous man she’d ever set eyes on.
“You’re too pretty for your own good,” she told him.
“It’s the cross I bear.”
Impossible man. Jodie closed the gap between them and gently rubbed her lips against his. That was all it took to flick the switch inside her that put the world on mute and let her focus on the man beneath her. By the time she’d swiped her tongue over his bottom lip, and nibbled on the fullness of it, Mitch had lost his ability to sit passively. One big hand flattened on the middle of her back and the other curved around the nape of her neck, as he pressed her into him. A second later, he’d taken over the kiss and Jodie felt herself float away.