Rough 'n' Tough Read online

  “Hitting a woman is never okay, arsehole,” Harper said. “And giving one a black eye is unforgiveable.”

  “I’ll fucking sue you for this.”

  “Yeah, try and find me.” Harper kicked out at him, not with the toe of his boot but the base, shoving Cedric further away, toward the shop end of the alley. “Now get the hell out of my sight before your head parts company with your neck.”

  Cedric swung a glare at Carmel. His right eye was already swelling and a slit gaped on the rise of his cheek, a single drop of blood spilling from it.

  A bloom of joy at the sight of his marked face filled her chest. Now he knew how she’d felt. He’d look in the mirror for days and weeks to come and be reminded of how it felt to be a victim.

  “Does daddy know what rough company his princess is keeping?” Cedric snarled, then spat onto the ground, blood mixed in with the white blob.

  “My father will know exactly what you tried tonight,” Carmel said, tipping her chin. “So don’t threaten me or approach me again. I’m not keeping your secrets any more.”

  “This eejit won’t hurt you again.” Harper pulled a small roll up from his pocket and balanced it between his lips. “’Cause he’ll have me to deal with if he does.” He flicked open a square silver lighter and touched the flame to the end of his cigarette. The orange glow danced over his face and made his eyes flash.

  “We’ll see about that.” Cedric scooted away from them, using the wall for support.

  It was then she started shaking. It began in her belly and worked its way down to her knees and up to her jaw, spreading everywhere in between. She pulled in a breath, surprised when it was a strange stuttering inhalation.

  “Hey, you okay?” Harper asked, catching his cigarette between two fingers and peering at her.

  “Yeah, he’s not a nice man, that’s all. Bit of a close shave.” She paused. “Thanks, you know, for…”

  He raised his eyebrows and tipped his head. “For?”

  “For coming to my rescue like a knight in shining armour.”

  He chuckled. “I’ve been called many things, but never that.”

  “Take it as a compliment.”

  “From you…aye, I will.” He grinned.

  Suddenly she was fully aware of the fact she was standing in a dark alley with an Irish traveller who’d just shown he was rough and tough. Would he be the same with her? Would he want paying? Her necklace? Something more?

  She shivered at the thought of what something more could be. His voice, the sweet smoke, the way the light caught his skin making his ink all the darker, was the stuff of fantasies.

  “If I was a rich bloke, I’d buy you another bottle of whatever fancy shit that was.” He nodded at the glass on the ground. “But I ain’t so…sorry.”

  “It’s fine, really. No point crying over spilt milk, or in this case, spilt champagne.”

  “Only the best for you, eh?”

  “Except when it comes to picking men, so it seems.”

  He grunted. “Aye. You could do a lot better than him. Must be plenty of posh twats around who’d take you out dancing and stuff.”

  “I don’t want to go dancing with posh twats.”

  “Oh no?”

  “No.”

  “So what do you want?”

  “Passion, love, a real man.”

  He grinned, flashing his white teeth. “Ain’t many of them in these parts.”

  “I guess not.”

  He balanced his smoke between his lips and flicked open a flash black leather wallet. Cedric’s face stared out from it. “He was right, he ain’t got any cash.” Harper slid his fingers into the interior section showing it was empty.

  “You took his wallet?”

  “Don’t feel sorry for him.”

  “I don’t.” God, when had he done that?

  “Just thought there might be a few quid in here to get your necklace fixed but there ain’t.”

  “It’s okay, Mother will take it to the jewellers.” As she’d spoken she realised how spoilt she sounded, how easily her problems were fixed.

  Some of the time.

  Harper pulled out the driving licence and shoved it in his back pocket. He then handed her the wallet. “You should give this to the shop.”

  “Yes, he might think he dropped it when…you know.”

  “I thumped him?” He leaned in a little closer, licking his lips as he did so.

  She swallowed. “Yes.” She paused. “What do you want with his driving licence?”

  “Nothing.” He brushed his lips fleetingly along the length of hers. Nothing invasive, just a whispering touch.

  She held her breath. A tremble of longing attacked her belly. That merest of connections was sexy as fuck.

  Suddenly he stepped back. “I gotta get going.”

  “Where?”

  “I’m seeing a man about a dog,” he said.

  “Oh, okay.” She felt weirdly bereft at the thought of him leaving.

  “But I’ll see you tomorrow.” His gaze didn’t leave hers.

  She frowned.

  “Trimming your bushes, in the morning.” He sucked on his roll-up, grinning as he then blew the smoke out.

  “Oh yes, of course.” She straightened. “Yes, I’ll see you then.”

  Almost as quickly as he’d arrived, Harper was gone.

  Carmel reached for the magazine which had also slipped to the floor, then after checking Cedric really had gone, she went back into the shop to hand in the wallet and buy another bottle of Lanson.

  It wouldn’t look good to show up at home without one.

  ***

  Breakfast the next morning was a lazy affair, as though the prospect of another scorching day had made Carmel’s parents lethargic before they’d even got going. Despite the fact they both had things to do, they lingered over breakfast. Her mother taking her time over a grapefruit and her father, on a new diet for his blood pressure, eating muesli at a painfully slow pace.

  “Diane called,” Carmel’s mother said. “Apparently there are gypsies in McGowan’s field.” She downturned her mouth. “Must be awful for her, like having rats move in.”

  “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Carmel said quickly.

  Rats? That’s a bit harsh.

  “Well they’re known for their thieving ways, and they’re hardly respectful.” She paused. “Chances are they’ll leave a shocking mess behind, too.”

  “When did they arrive?” her father asked, glancing up from his phone.

  “I’m not sure, a day or two ago.”

  He nodded slowly and narrowed his eyes.

  Carmel knew he was thinking of Harper. He’d allowed the rats onto their property without realising. She also knew he wouldn’t say a word to her mother. The last thing he needed before going out the door to a big meeting in London was his wife in a tailspin.

  Carmel stirred sugar into her tea and pretended to study the Twitter feed on her phone. A sudden pang of worry for her father hit her. It was unlike him to hire casual help, she’d thought as much at the time. Normally he’d have got round to employing someone local and permanent when one member of household staff quit. She wondered if this blood pressure thing and some of the big deals at work were getting to him. Likely he was concerned about her passing this damn university course, too.

  She sipped her tea. It was just as well he didn’t know she fancied the pants off one of the gypsies. That he’d come to her rescue in a dark alley and afterwards all she could think of was what if he’d pushed her up against the wall and fucked her.

  Would she have let him?

  A thousand thoughts crowded her mind and the memory of Harper’s lips on hers made something delicious slither it’s way down her spine. He’d made her feel alive, horny as hell, as if she were walking on a cliff edge.

  But he was risky territory. She’d heard of adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, the crack-cocaine high of an illicit encounter—one which would be more than frowned upon, it would split up fam
ilies if it were followed up on.

  Was this how Romeo and Juliet had felt?

  Maybe. Probably. But whatever it was she wanted more, and there was no denying the fact she was looking forward to Harper arriving at the property, stripping off his top and getting to work. There was also no getting away from her attraction to him, the frisson of excitement at knowing he’d almost, nearly, just about kissed her.

  Eventually her parents left the house. The silence of the vacuous space was loud for a few minutes, until she put on some music and jumped through the shower.

  After printing out several documents she needed to study, she poured a glass of elderflower cordial and opened the door to the patio.

  The sound of Harper’s power tool drifted towards her.

  He’s here already.

  She hadn’t heard him arrive, but likely she’d been in the shower or the study at the far end of the house.

  Setting down her paperwork and drink, she glanced at the horizon. Not a cloud to be seen and the hills already shimmering with heat haze.

  Her shades were slotted into the neck of her lemon-yellow Gucci top, and she pushed them onto her face. Through the tinted glass she could make out Harper but not Bart. It seemed he was working alone today.

  She moved the papers around the desk, willing an atom of enthusiasm for her dissertation to grip her.

  It didn’t.

  After a while the drone of the power tool clicked off, and the sound of doves on a pagoda to her right took its place along with the distant hum of a plane.

  Harper began collecting the branches he’d removed from the bushes. His muscles flexing as he hoisted the bigger ones into the air and piled them up.

  A sheen of sweat soon lined his back, and at one point he stopped, released his hair and re-tied it.

  Carmel rubbed her fingertips over her palms, wondering what it would be like to run her fingers through the long strands.

  A tightening pulled at her belly. This man had her aroused just by working in the garden. She’d never known anything like it, this magnetic tug of attraction. The way her body was taking no heed from her head. It wanted what it wanted and there was no stopping the signals it was sending to her nipples, her pussy, her heart.

  She sipped her drink, hoping to cool the burning inside of her. It was a flame, and created a heat as intense as the sun.

  Some time later Harper spotted her as he was winding up the cable on his chainsaw. He inclined his head in greeting then carried on with what he was doing.

  Carmel couldn’t ignore the shard of disappointment zipping through her. She’d hoped he come over, ask for more water, and initiate a chat perhaps.

  But it was clear when he carried on working he had no intention of doing any such thing. It was as though the night before had never happened. Their moment in the alley, his breath mixing with hers, his heat, the way he’d scared the shit out of Cedric on her behalf, was a dream.

  Her stomach rumbled and she made a salad. After eating it indoors, she glanced of out the kitchen window.

  The branches had gone, so had Harper’s tools.

  A sagging feeling dragged at her chest. So that was it, he’d gone. Like a wisp in her imagination, a fantasy, a childish hope, the one man who’d made her want to throw caution to the wind, for once think what the hell, had gone from her life.

  Her skin itched, and the hormones racing through her veins made her restless. So she did what she always did when feeling at a loss, she slipped into her bikini and dived into the pool.

  As usual the refreshing fizz of the water was soothing, but only for a moment, because as she surfaced a figure standing at the opposite end of the pool caught her attention.

  Harper.

  Chapter Four

  Harper stood with his back to the open doors and his arms folded over his bare chest. Today he wore a silver necklace and the two small pendants on it hung just past the hollow of his throat.

  His low sitting jeans showed off the defined angles of his obliques and his bricked abdominal muscles.

  Carmel set her feet on the base of the pool and pushed her hair back over her head. “I thought you’d gone.”

  “Been tidying up.”

  “Have you finished now?”

  “Aye.”

  “My father isn’t here, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, I can knock later for the cash.”

  “Yes, he’ll be back at some point today.”

  Harper said nothing, instead he stepped up to the edge of the water and looked down at the shimmering surface. “Nice pool you got here.”

  “Yes.”

  “Handy for cooling down on a hot day, eh?”

  “Yes, I suppose.” She stretched out on her back, kicked and looked up at the white ceiling. The water’s reflection created dancing diamonds that flickered and flashed. “Why don’t you take a dip? If you’re hot, that is.” As the words came out of her mouth she wondered just what she’d done—just what trouble she’d invited into the pool.

  But she shut the little voice in her head up, because she didn’t care. Harper was right. She did have a nice pool and he was clearly hot. Cooling down seemed the sensible thing.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” he said.

  She tread water and watched as he toed off his shoes and then shucked off his jeans.

  His legs were long and thick with muscle and body hair. And as he stepped beneath the shower, holding his face up to the water, his skin glittered and gleamed and his black boxers stuck to his body.

  And what a body, his butt the perfect roundness and his groin…well there wasn’t much left to the imagination now his boxers had become a second skin and that was one damn fine package he was sporting.

  He stepped out of the stream of water, opened his eyes and caught her looking at him.

  Heat travelled up her neck to her cheeks, and she quickly turned and set off for the far side of the pool

  A swift splash told her he’d dived in behind her.

  She made it to the end and set down her feet. Turned and pressed her back against the tiles.

  He surfaced. “Jeez, that’s good.”

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  “I do, it’s grand.” He struck out into a fast crawl. When he was in front of her, he stopped.

  He stood, the water flowing down his face and the tops of his shoulders in rivulets, slicing over muscle and tendon. His hair was plastered to his head and highlighted his strong, straight nose and sharp jawline. The tattoo behind his ears, of the row of drifting feathers, appeared to come to life now his skin was wet.

  “I like it all, a lot,” he said, his gaze seeming to penetrate her soul.

  Carmel looked into his dark eyes, the outer rings of his irises were almost black, his pupils wide. She could happily drown in them.

  “I hope you didn’t have nightmares about that eejit in the alley last night,” he said.

  “No.” She shook her head. “Quite pleasant dreams actually.”

  “Oh yeah?” He grinned, a sexy lopsided tilt of his mouth that made her pussy clench. “What about?”

  “Kissing.” Her attention was drawn to his lips. The top one was a little thinner than the bottom and a sprinkle of stubble sat just above it, dipping into his cupids bow. “I dreamt about kissing.”

  “And who were ya kissing in this dream?” he asked, moving closer and creating a small wave which splashed against the rise of her breasts.

  “It was more like someone was kissing me.” Her voice, though quiet, echoed around the walls in a whispering murmur.

  “Ah, I get ya.” He set his hands on the side of the pool, either side of her, trapping her in.

  Her heart rate picked up. He was so close, just like the night before in the alley. And once again her body reacted violently with a desperate need for him, for more, to do the unthinkable.

  Be with him.

  “I guess good girls like you don’t make the first move.”

  “What makes you think I’m a
good girl?”

  He smiled. “You’ve got it stamped on your forehead. I’m a good girl, never step out line, do whatever daddy tells me.”

  “That’s not quite true.” She frowned.

  “Oh no?”

  “No.”

  “So what have ya done that ya shouldn’t have?”

  “Lots of things.”

  “In the last week?”

  “Well…” There was one glaringly obvious thing. “I shouldn’t have invited you into the pool, for a swim. You’re here to do a job, not take a dip.”

  “But you did, and baby, it ain’t swimming on my mind.” He pressed in closer, his chest just touching hers. “And I don’t think that’s what was on yours either when you invited me in here.”

  The water made their flesh slick together, even through the material of her bikini top. She should move away, she knew she should.

  Because what the hell was he doing? This hired help guy, this gypsy, this man who couldn’t be more wrong for her. He’d cornered her and was looking at her as if she were his next goddamn meal.

  “I…Harper…I…” She reached out and touched him with her fingertips, just to the right of where his pendent sat. It was a delicate silver feather and a purple stone the shape of a teardrop. The feather had stuck to his flesh at a slight angle.

  “Mmm?” he asked.

  “You really shouldn’t…”

  “I really shouldn’t what?” He pressed his teeth onto his bottom lip and his eyelids became a little heavy as he pushed a lock of her hair over her ear.

  Where his finger brushed her skin, the nerves tingled and a delicious sensation spread over her scalp.

  “You, me…” she managed.

  “There is no you and me.” He slotted his fingers into her wet hair and cradled the back of her skull. “There never can be. We both know that.”

  She stared at his face, so close now, and became lost in him. The rest of the world faded away, there was just Harper and their bodies, close in the water and his mouth…

  He kissed her. Just a brush of lips to start with but it quickly deepened. Their tongues stroked against each other, heat and wetness spreading.

  Carmel gripped his shoulders—hard and solid muscle and tendon stretched over bone—and pulled him closer.