Half an hour later, Lucy was throwing axes like a pro. The whole place was a rage-relief experience. They had a rage room full of stuff such as china, bottles, old furniture and weapons like bats and golf clubs. She could hear people screaming and bellowing from the other rooms, and the smashes and crashes. Their space was like a shooting range with big targets on wooden walls, and axes laid out for throwing.

  ‘There you go, Luce!’ Jackson hollered as she sank another axe into the target, this time almost on the bull’s-eye. ‘You nailed it!’ She turned to see his palm up, and high-fived him as he laughed. ‘Feel better?’

  ‘Well, I’m not mad any more.’

  I might have imagined Maddy on a couple of the throws, though.

  He chuckled. ‘Good. We should come again.’

  ‘We should join up to their loyalty scheme or it might get expensive.’

  He laughed, that rumble giving her a tingle under her overalls. ‘Hungry?’ he asked.

  ‘Starving,’ she answered.

  ‘Let’s go get something to eat,’ he said, putting his arm around her shoulder. They put down the axes and headed back to the changing room. They were the only ones there, and Jackson clicked the lock on the door. They stood behind the door for a moment, toes almost touching, suddenly feeling awkward after the chaos.

  ‘Why did you come to meet me at work?’ she asked him. ‘Why didn’t you just ring me?’

  ‘I thought you might ignore me, after yesterday. When Mum said you’d asked her to have Zoe, I connected the dots. I found this place online a while ago and thought it would be good to have some fun for once.’

  ‘It was.’ She grinned. ‘Especially after this morning.’ Her eyes widened. She hadn’t meant to say that.

  He lowered his head closer to hers. ‘This morning?’

  ‘Er...yeah.’ She shuffled from foot to foot. ‘I spoke to Maddy.’

  His expression was blank, which cheered her up to no end. ‘Maddy who?’

  ‘Maddy, from nursery?’

  He shook his head, his lip curling into a ‘so’ motion. ‘And?’

  ‘And she wanted to know if you were spending the day with your girlfriend.’

  She could have sworn on the medical textbooks she revered that his eyes lit up.

  ‘Ah. Right.’ He grinned, all lopsided smile and pearly white teeth. ‘You were jealous.’

  She flushed, the fear of being so close to him scaring her. She didn’t just mean body to body either. ‘No, of course I wasn’t.’

  ‘Liar.’

  ‘Jackson, come on.’

  ‘No, you come on, Luce.’ He sighed, thumbing towards the door. ‘We did the rage. I’m not doing the denial thing any more. I was jealous.’

  ‘Of Josh?’

  ‘Yeah.’ He huffed, taking a step closer. ‘I swear, I wanted to fire the guy on the spot. I saw him hand you his card.’ He bit down on his bottom lip and she tracked the movement. ‘I didn’t like it. I don’t want you to date him.’

  ‘Yeah.’ She raised her chin a little. ‘Well, I saw Josh this morning.’

  There it was again—that low, reverberating growl.

  ‘I set him straight—told him the truth and that I won’t be accepting any invitations from him.’

  ‘You did?’

  ‘Yep. I will not be dating Josh, so I don’t want you dating Maddy.’

  ‘Done. I don’t want you dating anyone.’

  ‘Done,’ she shot back. ‘Same goes for you. What else did you want to talk about?’

  They were both breathing a little faster now, moving infinitesimally closer.

  ‘Why you arranged for Zoe to sleep over at my folks’.’

  ‘Because I wanted us to talk without distractions. Why did you really come to meet me in the car park?’

  ‘Because I couldn’t wait to see you a minute longer.’ His lip twitched. ‘I meant it. I didn’t want someone else hitting on you before you got home and I got the chance to tell you that you drive me crazy.’

  ‘You drive me crazy.’

  ‘I know.’ He growled. ‘But you drive me crazy more than when we fight, Luce. I...’

  He sighed, a bone-shattering, deep sigh as his arms came up around her. She put her hands on his chest and he stilled, as though she was going to push him away. When she didn’t, he went on.

  ‘I can’t lie to myself any more. I won’t. Fighting with you is the most alive I have ever felt. You get under my skin so badly, I want to unzip it and tuck you in. Since the paintballing day, you were it. But I knew Ronnie and Harriet were end game; it was too complicated to even try. I thought you hated me, too. So, I told myself it was fun, sparring with each other, picking fights, and it was—but I can’t sleep across the hall from you for much longer without losing my mind.

  ‘I spent the night in your bed, and now I can’t stop wanting it again. I just lay there, holding you, smelling your hair and wishing I could wake you and chase those bad dreams away for ever. I started using your conditioner just so I can smell that coconut smell you had that night; I need it with me when I’m away from you and can’t get my fix. I can’t afford the damn water bill any more, with all the cold showers. That day, when we crashed into each other, I barely got out of that alive, Luce. I wanted to just pick you up and carry you to my bedroom.’

  She heard her breath hitch in her throat.

  ‘I want your hands on my bare ass for ever. I swear, it took everything I had in me not to wrap your sexy legs around me and take you to my bed.’

  ‘Why didn’t you?’

  Lucy was so turned on, she couldn’t stand it. His words were like caresses she’d wrap herself in. For ever... Every time he said it, she wanted more, wanted to tell him yes. To beg him to do all that, and more.

  ‘Because you weren’t where I was. Because you pretend to hate me. Sometimes, I think you really do.’

  ‘I don’t,’ she rebutted. ‘I’ve shampooed my hair so much since we moved in together, I think my hair might fall out. The other day you were taking the rubbish out and I wanted to wrap myself in a bin bag just so you’d lift me up and throw me over your shoulder. You wind me up so much, I can’t stand it. I don’t hate you Jackson, I have cold showers too, to stop myself from blurting out how freaking gorgeous I think you are. Then I think about you in the shower, and I forget I washed my hair already, so I do it again. Then I smell your shower gel on the shelf next to mine and the whole cycle starts again. Even when we’re with Zoe, my mind wanders. I can’t help but notice how sexy you are when you’re being cute with her.’

  At some point when she’d been talking, he’d tightened his grip on her; her feet were barely on the floor now as he held her to him. She could feel him breathing hard, almost panting beneath the orange jumpsuit.

  ‘I’m not stupid, Jackson. I know I’m a mess, and stubborn and prickly, but I swear, when Maddy asked about you this morning, I got it. I know why you were angry about Josh.’

  She bit her lip, afraid to say the final thing she had to tell him. She felt it would be too much, she’d be too exposed. And far too turned on to concentrate on the dull panic her rational brain was trying to convey down her frazzled nerve endings.

  ‘Because...’ Her voice gave out. ‘Because it’s not hate, or lust, it’s...’

  ‘Because you’re mine,’ he answered for her. When she nodded, he lifted her off the floor into his arms, and she wrapped herself around him as he leaned her against the door and pressed his lips to hers. ‘Finally.’

  Oh...this man is going to be the end of me, she thought as she tasted him for the first time.

  His lips were soft at first, as if he was waiting for her to come to her senses. The second she moaned into his mouth, all doubts were gone. He kissed her like a starved man, as if he’d been waiting his whole life to caress her mouth. ‘Lucy. You’re...so...mine,’ he rasped out, his voice all growly.

  ‘Shh,’ she said, threading her fingers through his hair and pulling his mouth back to meet hers. ‘No more talking.’

  She felt his little laugh and she wriggled closer to his body. The laughter stopped, replaced by a visceral rumble as he ground her against the door. Sexual tension years old was unleashed. She grabbed his zip, pulling it down. His torso was bare, and she pulled away from his mouth to marvel at it. ‘I love your chest,’ she murmured as his lips fell onto her neck, nipping and kissing along the length. She leaned down and took a nipple into her mouth, licking at it and feeling the sensations in her own groin.

  ‘Are you trying to kill me?’ he mumbled, lifting her higher as she reached for his zip.

  ‘Yeah,’ she panted. ‘Death by sex.’ The orange jumpsuits were getting hot; she felt her body roasting from the inside. ‘Take it off,’ she begged.

  He met her eye, and she could see it was taking him everything to slow himself down. ‘Are you sure? We haven’t talked about...’

  She was already pulling at her own zip. ‘Jackson,’ she begged. ‘No talking.’ If they started talking about this, what it meant, she’d sober up from her lust. She was drunk on him, and she didn’t want to stop. ‘Take off your clothes. Now.’

  One minute she was pressed up against the door, the next she was on her feet, her breath ragged, loud, in the room. He undid his zip the rest of the way, leaving him standing there in black boxer shorts.

  She shuffled out of her jumpsuit, leaving herself in her underwear. The dark hue of his eyes deepened as she looked back at him shyly.

  ‘Oh, no, not the green...’ she heard him mumble. Looking down at her matching jade underwear, she started to pull her clothes back up, but he stilled her with his hand, picking her up once more.

  ‘Don’t you dare,’ he warned. ‘I just meant I knew I’d be lost when I finally saw you in them.’ His teeth found her nipple through the lace as his body covered hers once more, leaning against the wooden door, overalls discarded. ‘Ever since I found them in the dryer, I’ve been obsessed with the colour green.’ He sucked gently, and she gasped as her nipple hardened beneath the lace. Pulling his head back up to meet hers, she wrapped herself around him tighter. She was desperate for him to do more, touch her more, say more.

  ‘Stop teasing me, Denning,’ she begged. This time, when their lips met, neither of them spoke. The dam finally broke between them and they were all hot breath, fingers, pulling and pushing. She clawed at his back. He was everywhere all at once, tongues and teeth, skin on skin. He groaned when his fingers finally dipped below the lace, and then he shifted her in his arms.

  ‘I’m about to get a condom...’ He panted, his arms solid around her quivering body. ‘Last chance to stop this, Luce. We need to...’

  She pushed her finger to his lips. ‘Get it,’ she begged. ‘Don’t stop now.’

  She ground against him. ‘Sex now. Talk later.’

  His eyes darkened and, when his lip curled up, she knew who the victor was. Not letting her loose, he grabbed a foil packet from his jeans and passed it to her, only releasing her to drop his pants. Hers followed suit. Rolling it on, she felt him stiffen in her grasp, and then she was back in his steel hold. He kissed her frantically, pinning her to the door and lifting her legs higher. He told her to hold on tight and then he was inside her, thrusting, teasing and hitting everything just right. She was flush against the wood, limbs clinging to him as he started kissing her.

  Why the hell weren’t we doing this the whole time? she thought as his hot length speared her harder, deeper, hitting the sweet spots she dimly remembered and some she’d never known she had.

  She tried to be quiet, aware that she could hear shouts of rage coming from behind the door, so at odds with the sounds of pleasure from within. He took every moan she had and muffled it against his jaw, against his mouth.

  ‘Lucy...’ He breathed. ‘You feel so good. Lucy, my Luce...’

  His movements were faster, more erratic, as she tightened around him. When he whispered her name again, she was done for, toppling over the edge as the white-hot orgasm ripped through her body, but still he drove on. Thrusting and cradling her to him as if he couldn’t bear not to touch every inch of her, he growled and she felt him come hard. His arms came up under her bare bottom like a muscular shelf, holding her steady as she felt him shake on his own legs. He kissed her again and then touched his forehead to hers. Coming back down to reality, they both looked into each other’s eyes, still wrapped around each other, sweaty and glistening.

  ‘I guess that’s what they mean by make-up sex.’ She giggled. He huffed out a laugh, kissing her forehead and flashing her a smile she’d never seen before.

  ‘A few years in the making,’ he mumbled, before his expression turned serious. ‘I meant what I said—you’re mine, Lucy.’ He kissed the corner of her mouth, and she felt him tighten himself around her protectively, as if he was afraid she’d bolt from his embrace. ‘If you’ll let me, I promise to make you happy—you and Zoe. I can’t bear to go back now. Not now I’ve had this.’ His look turned positively feral. ‘Had you. There’s no other woman on this planet who drives me insane. No other woman I’d rather be with.’

  He kissed the opposite corner, turning her in his arms as he carried her away from the door. She wrapped her arms around his broad, sexy shoulders. ‘What do you say?’ He looked so nervous, so utterly gorgeous, her mouth went dry just looking at him. ‘I’m pretty good at reading you, Luce, but I need a clue here.’

  She leaned forward, brushing her lips against his. ‘I say I’m ravenous.’ His hopeful grin dipped, and she couldn’t bear it. The bubble they had was thicker now, and she didn’t want to pop it. ‘Take me home, Jackson. Feed me, and then you can take me to bed and show me just how much you mean all that.’

  His face split into a devilish, delirious smile and he twirled her round as he spun on the spot. ‘Jackson!’ she squealed as he bellowed out a whoop. ‘People will hear you!’

  He put her back on her feet, reaching for his clothes. ‘Let them,’ he said, slapping her on the butt cheek as they both scrambled to get dressed.

  * * *

  That was the last night they slept in separate rooms. He kept good on his word. He drove her home right away and fed her appetites until she was satiated. He showed her how much he meant every word, more times than she could count. Much, much later, he curled her into his arms, smelling her hair with a contented sigh as they cuddled in her bed. As she felt her heavy lids close, lulled by the sound of his heart under her, she smiled as he whispered more words to her.

  ‘I want to sleep like this for ever, Luce. There’s no getting rid of me now. I love you.’

  Lifting her head, she saw the nervousness in his face as he stared back.

  ‘I do. I love you.’ His grip tightened, just a touch. ‘Don’t run. I haven’t the energy to chase you right now.’

  She laughed softly. ‘Where would I run to?’ she asked. ‘I’m home.’ She kissed him, wanting the little furrow in his brow banished as he waited to see her reaction. ‘I love you too, Sasquatch.’

  His returning grin was her new favourite thing, she decided, before sleep won.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  IT HAD BEEN going so well—so well. The sex was hot...more than hot. It was as if the pair of them were teenagers. Since the Axe Me Another frantic bonking incident, as Jackson affectionately referred to it, they’d never stopped. They’d christened all the rooms in the house bar Zoe’s. The shower was Jackson’s particular favourite. He loved to soap up her boobs while they stood under the spray, he turning the shower to cold to shock her just after they’d heated each other to the point of combustion. Name anywhere, they’d done it there: her car; his car, twice. There was even a stack of mops in the downstairs cleaning closet that was still blushing.

  It wasn’t just the sex, though. They were together in every sense of the word. Jackson was romantic, which she’d never expected but readily appreciated. He’d leave her little notes around the house, stuffed in her locker at work or in the lunches he made her take to work in case she forgot to eat—which she did, of course.

  I always called you Trig because it was our thing. A reminder of when we first met.

  You’re such a good auntie. Zoe and I heart you mucho.

  See you tonight, baby, miss you already.

  Eat your greens, Dr Bakewell.

  Their work colleagues were surprisingly un-shocked. When she’d told Amy, she’d just laughed. ‘I knew it,’ she’d said. ‘About time mate. Man, it’s so good to see you happy.’ Lucy had laughed, wondering at how things had changed.

  * * *

  They’d had an offer on Harriet’s and Ronnie’s house; a young couple had offered the asking price. She’d even found a tenant for her place. She hadn’t told Jackson yet, but she reckoned that, after the lease expired, she’d sell up too. There’d be no point in having the place, and she no longer thought of it as home.

  Zoe was thriving too, growing every day. She talked more and more all the time. She loved living with Jack-Jack and ‘Luby’, as she called her. Lucy had worried about whether the pair of them together would confuse her, but she didn’t seem affected. In fact, she seemed thrilled to see the pair of them together. Jackson told her it was because kids were smart, and happy parents meant happy children. It was true, she came to realise as the days went on: they were all really happy. She should have known it wouldn’t last for ever.

  * * *

  It was a Friday like any other. They were both on the late shift, Zoe sleeping over with Sheila and Walt, who were doubly elated at the news that Lucy was now even more part of the family than before.

  I can’t wait to sleep in tomorrow...shattered. Then I’m going to do that thing that makes

  your toes curl. Then breakfast. I’m thinking of pancakes at that place we like after we pick