Page 24 of Just Say (Hell) No
“Mum,” he said. “Please. No.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m not discussing your sex life with you. I’m giving you my impression in general terms. And the impression was passionate. Which, whether you like it or not, you are. I should know. I’ve known you since before you were born.”
Maybe his mum had been right, because at this moment, facing all that blankness from Nyree, he didn’t feel one bit responsible. She wanted Koti after all, and when she’d seen Kate with him, she’d lost interest in the whole thing?
He’d promised, and he was here. He’d fulfill his promise, and he’d move on. Acting on a decision, like his mum had said. Generally not that difficult for him. “Nyree,” he said, “this is my cousin Ella. Ella, this is Nyree.” He didn’t look at her after that. He looked at the dog. She was lying patiently on the concrete beside the fountain. No beauty, her coat black and dull, her muzzle stubby, and her ribs clearly visible, but she thumped her tail gently when he made eye contact. She’d had puppies recently, he saw, maybe the ones he’d handled. She didn’t seem fussed by the kitten so far, but just to be sure, he closed his hand around it.
“Your… cousin,” Nyree said.
“Yeh. Staying with me for a few months while she goes to school here.”
Ella was looking between the two of them. “What?” she asked Nyree. “Did you think I was hisgirlfriend?He’s old,though.Plus my cousin.”
Nyree suddenly looked much more relaxed, and Marko may have felt that way himself. Or maybe not. “She’s sixteen,” he told Nyree. “Interesting opinion you have of me.”
“Wait. Really?” Ella asked. “I look like I could be a rugby WAG? Like I seriously could be Marko’s girlfriend? That’s so cool.”
“It is?” Marko asked. “What happened to ‘old’?”
“I don’t meanI’dthink you were hot,” she said. “Ew.” And Nyree laughed.
Koti said, “Not trying to rush anybody, because this is fascinating, but if we don’t get our skates on here, somebody’s going to get hungry or need a nappy change or both, and that’ll be me gone.”
“Oh.” Nyree did that slow-blink thing again, and Marko watched again like the fool he was. Then she gathered herself with an obvious effort and said, “Right! If everybody’s ready, let’s take some pictures.”
Marko was still thinking about why he’d want to chase somebody who was making him work this hard when Nyree said, “We still have a few weeks to go before dogs are allowed on the beach for autumn, but we’ll live dangerously and take her down there anyway.” Her gaze landed somewhere beyond Marko when she said, “I’d love to get some shots of you two boys running with the dog, or in the water. And then I’ll get you with your kitten, Marko.”
Koti said, “Fine by me.” He carried the pushchair down to the beach with Kate, pulled out a bucket and shovel, and told Maia, “Daddy’s going to come to play with you in a bit, but first I have to play with the dog. You sit here with Mummy and see how big a hole you can dig.” Then he gave the black dog a few scratches around the ears and asked Nyree, “What’s her name?”
“They’re calling her ‘Shadow’ at the shelter,” she said, unclipping the leash. “Some people have no imagination.”
“Too right,” he said. “Come on, then, Shadow. We’ll show the forwards how it’s done, eh.” And then he ran into the water.
Ella asked Marko, “So are you just going to stand here and watch? Or what?”
He would have answered, except that Nyree was handing him the camera and saying, “Hold this a sec. And by the way… this is not about you.”
“Uh… what isn’t?”
In answer, she pulled off her cotton dress and tossed it to the sand. “Stay here if you’d rather.”
“You have to be joking,” he said.
She was wearing a bikini. There wasn’t much of it, and the deep red color did the Snow White thing for her all over again. She wasn’t any cartoon princess, though. She had genuine, no-excuses, oh-baby-do-me-like-thatcurves.And he hadn’t even seen the rear view yet.
She said, “I could be insecure about that comment. Or I could decide I’m here to do a job, ask for my camera back, go out into the sea, and take some photos.”
He handed it to her, she headed off, and he detached the kitten from his shoulder and gave her to Ella. “Hold my kitten,” he said. “It’s manly man time.”
Ella rolled her eyes, of course.But Marko was watching Nyree walk away, and it looked just about like he’d have imagined. She might be short, but that body was rocking and rolling. After that? It wasn’t even a choice. He stripped off his T-shirt, tossed it to the sand, and ran into the sea.
So he’d get his photo taken shirtless after all, like the kind of poster boy he’d never been. You had to ante up to get into the game.
If you were going to go, you might as well go big. He ran straight past Nyree and out into deeper water, dove under a wave, and strode back out again slicking his hair back, his shorts riding low.
Koti? What Koti? Pretty Boy hadn’t even taken off his shirt. Marko might not have the smile and the tattoo, and he might have a stitched-up forehead, but he had a good inch and twelve kilos of muscle on Koti. Andhewas shirtless.
He’d call it a win.
