“Tell me again why I helped you to win her hand?” Betty demanded of Lake.
To Kirsty’s great dismay, she’d discovered that when Lake gave her his shop, he also gave her his underwear mascot.
“Technically, he hasn’t won anything,” Kirsty said. “For there to be an engagement, there has to be an actual proposal and a declaration of love. Then there has to be an acceptance. None of these things have happened.”
They were in the tiny kitchen in the flat above Lake’s old shop. They’d squeezed in to eat breakfast, which was pies for Betty and cereal for the people who cared about their arteries. Lake wrapped his arm around Kirsty’s waist and pulled her to him. He lowered his head and whispered in her ear.
“I can show you how much I love you, if you like?” he whispered, and her heart skipped a beat.
Memories from the night before flashed on the screen inside her head. Delicious.
“Stop canoodling,” Betty said.
Kirsty turned to her latest problem. It had been a shock to Kirsty’s system when the flat door had thudded open at seven in the morning and Betty had shouted that she’d brought pies. Lake had rolled over, kissed her on the side of the neck and asked her to get him one before he curled back under the duvet. She’d put her feet on the small of his back and kicked him out of bed.
“Hand over your key to the flat,” she told the evil one. “I’m not having you walk in any time you like.”
Betty folded her arms and shook her head.
“It’s my building. I’m keeping the key.”
“Lake?” Kirsty said in exasperation.
“You can keep the key if you want to,” Lake said.
“Lake!” Kirsty said as she elbowed him.
He grinned mischievously.
“I have to warn you though, Betty, there’s a good chance you’ll see more than you want when you walk in. You know what newlyweds are like. Insatiable. I expect there will be sex everywhere. In the living room, on the couch...”
Kirsty grinned at him.
“...The hall carpet, and the kitchen counter,” she said.
“I eat there!” Betty said in disgust.
“I’m just letting your know what you’re in for,” Lake said. “Might be a better idea to knock the door first, until the novelty wears off—say, in twenty years or so.”
Betty mumbled something under her breath, delved into the hidden pockets in her dress and came out with a key. She thumped it into Kirsty’s hand.
“This isn’t fair,” she grumped.
“But better for all concerned,” Kirsty told her.
Betty frowned.
“Who’s going to be in charge of the shop now that the two of you are here?” she asked.
From the way she said it you could almost hear her think, not Kirsty, not Kirsty.
“Me,” Kirsty said with delight. “It’s my shop now.”
“What about the one over the road? That’s your shop too. You belong over there. It isn’t like you don’t have enough to keep you occupied without bothering with this one.”
“Actually, I’ve had some thoughts on that,” Lake said as he casually sipped his coffee.
The women gave him their attention. He cleared his throat.
“I thought I’d turn it into a security business,” he said.
Kirsty’s heart skipped a beat. He really meant to stay.
“With what?” she said. “You don’t have any savings, I don’t have any insurance and you gave this shop to me.”
“I thought I’d use the backroom downstairs first off. Run classes, start the business and as the money comes in we can renovate over the road.”
“Where will I design my new lingerie line?” Kirsty said.
“Can’t we share the space?” he said with a smile. “It’s big enough. I can partition a section off for you.”
“Half,” Kirsty said.
“A quarter,” Lake said.
Her eyes narrowed.
“We’ll talk about it.”
He pulled her close and whispered in her ear.
“We can negotiate in bed,” he promised.
Kirsty doubted those sorts of negotiations would go in her favour. She felt herself melt against him anyway.
“What about me?” Betty grumped. “I don’t want to be stuck with the knickers while you do all the fun stuff.”
Lake looked towards heaven, it seemed he was counting to ten. Kirsty smiled, she loved this new expressive side of him.
“I thought,” Lake told Betty patiently, “that you might like being the security business mascot a little more than being the underwear mascot.”
“Do I get to carry a gun?” she said hopefully.
“No.”
“Investigate?”
“No.”
“Go undercover?”
“No.”
“Then what’s the bloody point in that then?” she fumed. “I’d rather stay with the lingerie shop. Your business doesn’t sound any fun at all.”
“I’ll let you interrogate people.”
“It’s a deal,” she said with a grin. “Now that’s sorted, I’m going home. Cardboard Lake and I are watching the Coronation Street omnibus.”
With one last grump she was gone, waddling out of the house like their own wee tartan duck. Lake grinned after her before turning to hug Kirsty. She leaned into him and breathed deeply. So this is what contentment smelled like.
“Want to go look at the space downstairs and see what we can do with it?” he said to the top of her head.
“Not right now,” Kirsty said. “We have more important things to do.”
She took his hand and led him along the hallway and into the bedroom. She opened the curtains wide. Over the road, white snow covered the remnants of her old life, making it clean. She turned to Lake, who did that raised eyebrow thing he thought was cool. Kirsty pointed to the old armchair beside the bed.
“Have a seat,” she ordered.
He did as he was told, with an amused smile on his face.
Slowly, Kirsty began to untie the belt of her blue wool dress. Lake’s eyes went wide. She let the dress fall open. Lake licked his lips.
“I owe you a striptease,” she told him. His eyes shot to hers. “In daylight.”
He thought for a minute and then he grinned widely.
“Caroline,” he said.
“Yep,” Kirsty said as she let the dress fall to the floor. “You should never have expected her to lie.”
His gaze darkened as it followed the length of her. Kirsty’s heart raced within her.
“Remind me to thank her,” he said in that husky lust laden voice of his.
Kirsty reached behind her to unsnap the pink La Perla bra she’d nabbed from Lake’s shop - from her shop.
“You may have won the bet, but I’m still keeping your shop,” she told him. “This doesn’t change that.”
Lake grinned at her.
“I wouldn’t expect otherwise,” he said as she threw the bra at him.
“As we both know,” she told him as she hooked her thumb into her panties. “The shop is a separate issue.”
He didn’t answer as she wiggled her hips to slowly lower the satin and lace.
“After all, you were very clear that I had to fight back,” she said as she kicked off the underwear.
She took a step towards him, wearing only the black high-heeled boots he loved so much.
“Looks like that backfired on you, soldier boy,” she told him with pride. “Especially seeing as you have completely and utterly lost this lingerie war.”
Lake gave her that grin of his that said he knew better, then he grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap.
You can read about Alastair and Rainne in
Here Comes The Rainne Again,
Invertary Book 6.
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Invertary Books
Lingerie Wars, Invertary Book 1
Goody Two Shoes, Invertary Book 2
Magenta Mine, Invertary Book 3
Calamity Jena, Invertary Book 4
Bad Boy, Invertary Book 5
Here comes the Rainne again, Invertary Book 6
Caught, Invertary Book 7 (coming 2016)
Benson’s Boys
Reckless, Book 1
Other Books
Mad Love, London Book 1
Laura’s Big Break, London Book 2
Action
Read on for a short excerpt from Invertary Book 2, Goody Two Shoes.
PROLOGUE
Six Months Ago—Las Vegas