16

Deke pushed through the second heavy door into the gents’ toilets of Invertary pub and stopped dead. He didn’t freeze in place at the sight of the urinals, which were now wrapped up tight in knitted blankets, or because the doors to the stalls had been blocked by tightly woven woollen webs, or because there was writing on the mirror that said the men had been yarn-bombed. No, the reason he couldn’t take another step forward was because the small window high on the back wall was now filled with a curvy backside clad in formfitting black jeans. Legs were kicking off the wall, leaving scuff marks, in an obvious attempt to gain purchase. It was a futile effort. There was nothing for the high-heeled sandals to grip to.

There was grunting. Some cursing. Irritated groans of frustration. Brenda was stuck. When the shock wore off, Deke did what anyone in his situation would have done—he pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos. Then he left the toilet, exited the pub and rounded the building to look up at the other half of Brenda.

She was hanging limply out of the window, a couple of feet above Deke’s head, and from her muttering, she hadn’t yet realised he was there.

“Of course I know how to break and enter.” From her tone, it was clear she was mocking herself and the words she’d given someone earlier. “I’m an expert. Although I’m used to breaking out of places, not into them. Don’t worry. I’ll get us in and out of the pub.”

“This a private conversation?” Deke said.

Her head snapped up. Her blond cloud of hair looked like a halo around her head.

“This isn’t what it looks like.”

Deke pinched the bridge of his nose. “It looks like you’re stuck in the gents’ toilet window. Of the pub you broke into.”

Her head went back down, so she was hanging upside down again. “Okay, then it is what it looks like.” Her head came up again. “I feel I should point out that this situation in no way affects my performance at work. The fact I failed in my escape doesn’t mean I’m a bad employee.”

Deke gave his head a little shake. “What?”

She looked earnest. “I don’t want you to think that I do this sort of thing all the time. I don’t want you to regret employing me. This has nothing to do with work. At work, I’m professional. Ask anyone. Well, not anyone in Invertary, seeing as I’m new here.” She sucked her plump bottom lip into her mouth for a second. “And you probably can’t ask past employers, seeing as that would leave a trail. A trail would be bad. But if you could ask anyone, they would tell you that I am all about being professional at work. So you don’t have to worry.”

Deke stared at her in bewilderment, which Brenda obviously took to mean that he needed more convincing.

“You don’t need to worry about me doing anything illegal at work.” Her eyes went wide. “Or outside of work. This is a one-time thing. And it isn’t really a criminal activity. It’s more like an activist activity. You know, like the people who break into cosmetics companies and free bunnies?”

Deke’s lip twitched. He was fighting it, the laughter bubbling up inside of him, desperate to come out. She was so damn cute and so freaking deluded, which was sexy as hell. Everything about Brenda was sexy as hell. If she wasn’t one of the traumatised women they were helping out, he’d have been all over her in a heartbeat. As it was, he knew she was off limits. Way off limits. The last thing he wanted was to upset Brenda by coming onto her.

“Deke,” Brenda said, cutting into his thoughts. “I need help. The window frame is cutting me in two.”

Deke glanced around for something to stand on so that he could help lift her out. There was nothing. Then it occurred to him that she was going headfirst out of a window that was eight foot above the ground. There was nothing for her to hold on to. Nothing to break her fall. It was the craziest thing he’d ever seen. The thought of what could have happened to her melted his humour, replacing it with anger.

“What were you thinking? You could have broken your neck.”

She looked down at the concrete ground beneath her. “I panicked.” She looked back up at him. The wide eyes were back. “I have a tendency to do things first and think about them later. It’s a personality flaw.” She paused, obviously thinking about what she’d just said. “Although not at work. I always think things through at work. I’m all about responsibility at work.” She waved an arm. “This is off-hours me. I store up the crazy for my downtime.”

“I get it. You’re a model employee. One that just happens to have been caught red-handed during a break-in.”

“There’s no red on these hands. I didn’t steal anything. In fact, I left stuff behind.” She smiled widely. It was kind of crooked and totally charming. “I’m like Santa.”

Deke wondered if Brenda’s form of logic was contagious. “I’m going inside, see if I can pull you back into the room.”

Her face paled. “Wouldn’t it be better if you pulled me out this way? Facing you.”

“There’s nothing to stand on out here and the window isn’t as high up in the bathroom.”

She visibly swallowed. “How about you go back inside and bring out a chair to stand on? That would work. Right?”

“Out here there’s a good chance that when I yank you out of the window we’ll both topple to the ground. Less chance of an injury inside.”

“But...” Her voice was rising with each sentence, the panic clear.

“But what?” Deke was losing patience. “It’s two in the morning. I’m tired. Spit it out.”

She opened and shut her mouth a couple of times and Deke frowned at her. Her shoulders slumped.

“It’s embarrassing that you’re going to be up close and personal with my rear end.”

Deke ran a hand down his face. “I’ll keep it professional.”

She made a strangled squeaking noise. Deke turned on his heels and grinned all the way back into the building. He grabbed a chair from the bar on his way to the restroom. When he got there, Brenda was muttering to herself again.

“It couldn’t have been my hand that was stuck, oh no, it had to be my backside. I have great hands. I could be a hand model. Why couldn’t he get up close and personal with my hands? Why does it have to be my bum? In these jeans? The jeans that add an extra ten pounds to my backside. The jeans that are too tight and give me a muffin top. The jeans that have a tiny hole in the seat. Deke Miller is going to be face to face with my huge bum. Kill me now. Just kill me now.”

Deke made no effort to hide his amusement now that she couldn’t see him. He put the chair under her and looked up. Her backside was just above his head. She was wrong about the jeans. They were perfect.

“You about done talking to yourself?” he said.

She let out a little scream. “A bit of warning,” she snapped back at him.

“Would you have rather I just grabbed you and pulled?”

The crazy woman was thinking about it. Deke climbed up on the chair and surveyed the situation. She was wedged in tight. In fact, the space was so small that she must have angled her shoulders to get out in the first place. Deke wasn’t sure he’d be able to get her back in. Not without help.

“I think we need to call for help,” he said.

“No!” Her backside jiggled. “It will be fine. We don’t need anyone else.”

He wasn’t so sure. “We’ll try.” He examined the situation. “I’m going to lift your hips up. Once I’ve got you off the windowsill, can you push back? Then I’ll hold your weight as you angle your shoulder through. How does that sound?”

“Like hell,” she muttered. “Great,” she said louder.

Deke put a hand on each of her hips and she jerked at his touch. He snapped his hands away instantly. Damn it to hell, he knew touching Brenda was a bad idea. There was no way these women could have dealt with the traumas they went through and not have an aversion to men touching them.

“I’m sorry.” He kept his voice as soft as possible. “I know you don’t like this, but I can’t help you without touching you.”

There was silence for a second. “I don’t mind you touching me, Deke. You just surprised me.”

Her words were a hand that clenched around his heart. She was making the effort for him. Trying not to freak him out with her insecurities and issues—just like his mother used to do. He’d watched his mum swallow her fears over and over as he grew up, all because she wouldn’t upset her children. It cut deep that he was causing Brenda to do the same.

“Bren, you knew I was going to hold your hips. How can it be a surprise?”

“My mind was on something else.”

Deke didn’t have time to delve into the strange workings of Brenda’s mind. It was late. He was tired. And this needed to be over. “How about I get some women to help?”

“Deke,” she said, “I’m fine. Well, I’m not fine. I’m being sliced in two by this window frame. But I’m okay with you holding my hips.” She paused. “Just don’t look too closely at my backside, okay?” There was a pause before she started muttering again. “First thing tomorrow, I’m going on a diet.”

She was a nut. There was nothing wrong with her backside. It was heart-shaped and lush. Deke snapped his eyes away from the sight and concentrated on the task in hand. No! Not in hand. His hands weren’t going anywhere near that backside.

“Okay, on three. I lift. You push. Got it?”

“Got it.” At least she sounded determined.

Deke grasped her hips. This time she didn’t jerk at his touch, but he could have sworn he felt a shiver. He clenched his teeth at the thought of causing her discomfort, and focused on what needed to be done.

“One, two, three.” He lifted her hips off the windowsill.

Brenda pushed back enough for him to wrap an arm around her waist and take her weight. Her behind was pressed against his chest. Her heel caught his leg.

“Sorry,” she said.

The woman had worn heels to a break-in. She was a total, utter nut.

“Right, I’ve got you. I’m going to hold your weight up off the frame. You need to push back and angle your shoulders through. Don’t worry about falling. I’ll hold you. Just don’t push back too hard. I’m standing on a chair and I don’t want to topple.” He also didn’t want to lose his grip on her. If he did, her ribs would slam into the frame and she’d suffer bruising and pain.

“No problem. Soft backward push and a twist. I can do this.”

He wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or to herself again. Deke held on to the frame with one hand to balance them as he kept the other arm wrapped around her.

“You ready?” he said.

“Just psyching myself up.”

Deke looked heavenwards and asked for patience.

“Right, I’m going to push.” She suddenly barked out a laugh. “This is like Lamaze.”

“Brenda. Focus.”

“Right.”

He watched her shoulders, knew when she was going to lever up, and braced. With him holding her weight, it wasn’t a big deal getting out of the frame. She wriggled a bit and then slid back through. He felt the relief travel through her body. He wrapped both arms around her middle and looked up at her. She was grinning widely. It was like sunshine. For a second he lost track of the fact he was standing on a chair with Brenda balanced in his arms.

“Thanks.” The word travelled through him, jolting him back to awareness.

“I’m going to lower you down slowly,” he said gruffly.

She nodded and wrapped her fingers around his forearm. Deke slowly slid her down the length of his body to the floor. It was a twisted kind of agony, feeling the soft curves of Brenda’s body against his taut muscle.

As soon as she got to her feet, he released her. She swayed slightly before standing firm. Deke jumped off the chair, which meant he was standing close beside her. She barely reached his shoulder—even in her ridiculous heels.

“You’re a star, Deke.” She rubbed her stomach.

He watched the movement and frowned. “You okay?”

“Bruises, I think.” She shrugged like it was nothing, which made his jaw tighten. She was no stranger to bruising, and he hated that.

She peeked up at him, large blue eyes through black lashes. “Is this the part where you make a citizen’s arrest?”

Deke knew what he should do. He knew the right thing to do. The responsible thing. He also knew he wasn’t going to do any of it.

“No.”

Her grin was dazzling as she bounced on the spot. A little bundle of hyperactive glee.

“I’m not going to ask if you’re sure, because I really don’t want you to change your mind.” She reached into the front pocket of her jeans and produced a scrap of paper. She handed it over to him. “This is the code for the alarm, so you can reset it.”

Deke was seriously going to have a long talk with Dougal in the morning. Seemed like the whole of Invertary had the code to his alarm system. Brenda glanced around the toilet, sucking that bottom lip back into her mouth. Deke tried to look away, but it was just too much effort. She looked back up at him.

“You aren’t going to undo the knitting protest, are you?”

“No.” He had way better things to do with his time in the middle of the night than unravel the knitting mess the women had made. Things like sleeping. Or standing under a cold shower until he forgot the feeling of Brenda’s body pressed against his.

“Great.” She bounced again. “I should go, then.” She pointed at the door.

“I have my car. I’ll take you back.” There was no way he was going to let her wander through town in the middle of the night alone, especially when he knew for a fact her ride had already left. He’d be having a word with Robin about that in the morning too.

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” Brenda looked less than thrilled that she still had to endure his presence.

Deke tried to not let her obvious discomfort bother him as he grabbed the chair, put it back where he’d found it, set the alarm and locked the pub doors. With all the noise they’d been making, he half expected to find a crowd waiting for them outside the building. There was no one. Just the black, silent night and the lapping sound of the loch. They climbed into his old Land Rover and headed up the hill to the other side of town. Brenda sat beside him, her arms folded and her focus firmly on the passing scenery. He knew it must have been hard for her to be in a vehicle alone with him. All he could do was keep his distance and get them back to the spa as fast as he could.

It only took a few minutes before they were pulling into the driveway. Deke passed his house and drove straight to the manse. Robin had left the porch light on for Brenda, but there was no sign of her. Something Deke didn’t like one bit. She should have been there, waiting, watching out for her friend.

Brenda opened her door, but turned back to face him. “Thanks, Deke. Really.” Her face was soft and Deke wanted nothing more than to bury his nose in the crook of her neck and breathe her in.

Instead he nodded once, sharply. She turned to climb out of the car.

“Don’t diet.” His words came out low, surprising him as well as Brenda. He knew she’d heard him because she froze. “You’ve got a great backside.” Shit, he had no finesse whatsoever. There had to have been a better way to put that.

Slowly, Brenda turned back to him. Deke wished she wouldn’t. He wished she’d get out and pretend he’d never opened his mouth.

“Deke—” she started, in little more than a whisper.

“Don’t,” he cut in. “That was over the line. Blame it on sleep deprivation.” He bit the inside of his cheek to stop from telling her again that he was serious. She shouldn’t do anything to take away from her curves. They were perfect.

He stared straight ahead, hoping she’d get the message and leave things be. Instead, he felt her move beside him. Deke stiffened when her hands curled around his forearm. When he looked her way, he found she’d twisted back around in her seat and was leaning into him.

They stared at each other for an eternity, the air in the car suddenly thick. Man, she was beautiful, with her heart-shaped face and ivory skin. As if in slow motion, her hand reached up to cup his cheek. Deke stopped breathing. He held her gaze as she closed the gap between them and then her lips were on his. Soft, full lips that gently teased at his mouth with sexy little kisses. Deke wanted to turn into her, clasp his hand in her hair and take the kiss deeper. Instead, he clenched his hands on the steering wheel and let Brenda kiss him. Her lips were satin smooth, and there was a delicious hint of strawberry. It was the most perfect kiss he’d ever had.

With one last brush of her lips against his, Brenda moved back. Her hand left his face and she looked up at him with a dark, heavy-lidded gaze. Deke watched her, afraid to say anything, afraid to move. In case he ruined everything. In case he scared her away.

Quietly, she turned and climbed out of the car. As she went to close the door, she hesitated, then those killer eyes hit his.

“I liked your hands on me earlier, Deke. I liked it a lot.”

He’d lost the ability to breathe.

“In fact,” she said with a cheeky smile, “I wouldn’t say no to having them on me again. Or your lips, for that matter.”

Deke was stunned. Helpless to respond in any way. She wasn’t freaked out? She wasn’t scared? She’d liked him close? She wanted more? His head was reeling at the revelation.

With a coy little smile and a mischievous sparkle in her eye, Brenda shut the door and practically skipped up the drive to the house. Deke watched the door close behind her. He sat in his car for a long time, until he realised his fingers were still wrapped tightly around his steering wheel. He flexed his hands as he released his grip, and then he smiled.

A slow, wide smile.