Hold On to Me (28 page)

‘They're the same people who complain about barking dogs and parties and, you know, other people having fun. And they call
us
the fun police. Oh god, Stella, you do believe me, don't you?'

‘Of course I do. Thanks for the intel. It's getting a little busy. I'd better go.' The women said their goodbyes and Stella ended the call, feeling a little less shaky and slightly more relieved that dirty younger-man truck sex might remain a secret.

The Woman Nearing The Best Years Of Her Life approached the counter holding a hanger in her hand. ‘Would you happen to have this in the next size up?'

Stella smiled, so relieved to be able to think about lovely clothes instead of dirty younger-man truck sex. ‘I'm sure I do. Let me check for you.'

At ten-thirty, Lizzie popped in with a grin on her face. When she saw the paper on the counter, she jabbed at it. ‘I've just come up to see the accountant and thought I'd pop in. Have you seen page three? The couple caught bonking? Isn't it hilarious! That spot's just around the corner from the pub. Although I never would have picked it for a lovers' lane.'

‘What story?' Stella lied. ‘I only made it as far as the front page. It's been incredibly busy this morning.'

Lizzie reached across and opened the paper and there it was, that headline hitting Stella in the eyes like a bad fashion choice. Like plaid and spots together. Like an older woman and a younger man.

‘
Middle-aged couple warned by police over sex in public
,' and then, Stella was sure of it, Lizzie actually snorted. ‘I've been thinking all morning about who it was. Do you think it was anyone from the New Year's Eve party? Maybe it was a doctor from millionaires' row who snuck her lover down for New Year's? Or maybe it was people from some of the holiday rentals, who took one look at each other over the sunscreen and the sandcastles and decided it had to happen. Oh, there's definitely a story there.'

Lizzie giggled and looked up at Stella, her smile transforming into confused. ‘Wow. Not even a laugh from you this morning. You worn out from all that younger-man shagging?'

That's when Stella's heart stopped. Were there no secrets in this town? How the hell did Lizzie know?

‘I don't know what you—'

‘C'mon, Stella. We all know Luca's been staying with you but we're pretending not to notice. Pretty sneaky of you two to be hiding away here in Port Elliot and not coming to play with us at the pub. He is delicious, to be fair. But, you know, we'd like to get to know him a little better—you know that. Although I can totally understand why you want to keep him all to yourself.'

Stella gritted her teeth. ‘Oh god. So everyone knows?'

‘Yep.'

‘What about … What about Anna?'

Lizzie's gaze drifted down to her fingernails and she stopped talking. Stella immediately grew suspicious.
Fuck
. It must mean that Anna knew and, judging by the obfuscation in Lizzie's non-response, Big Sister wasn't happy. If Lizzie knew more, she wasn't spilling the beans.

‘Not sure,' Lizzie said, and suddenly found a display of purses on the counter of great interest. She lifted one, stroked the soft leather and pulled the clasp apart, then closed it again. ‘Oh, is that the time? I've got to go.' She rounded the counter and kissed Stella on the cheek. ‘When you two decide to come up for air, come and have a drink at the pub.'

‘A drink at the pub? Sure,' Luca announced. ‘We'd love to.'

Mr Dirty Younger-Man Truck Sex was standing in the doorway with two takeaway coffees, a killer smile on his tanned face. Three-day growth, that tan, a loose T-shirt, boardshorts and thongs. She wanted to lick him all over. And then slap that smile off his face.

‘Great!' Lizzie clapped. ‘Come round tonight. We've got a fantastic guitar player in the front bar. He looks just like Jon Bon Jovi.' Lizzie skipped out of the shop.

‘Who?' Luca asked, confused.

Stella waved a distracted hand in the direction of the doorway. ‘A singer from the eighties and nineties and two thousands and the twenty tens. He used to have big hair and tight pants. Now he just has tight pants.'

Luca put Stella's coffee on the counter, right on top of the headline. ‘Good morning,' he whispered, pushing his sunglasses back onto the top of his head. He planted his hands on the counter. ‘How's your day going?'

How was her day going? It had started out heavenly, thanks to wake-up sex with Dirty Younger Man. Now it had descended into a mire of humiliation. She turned so his kiss hit her cheek instead of her lips. ‘Oh, I've had better.'

Luca moved next to her, rubbing her shoulder with his big warm hand. ‘What's happened, bella?'

All she wanted to do was throw herself into his arms. She checked to see there weren't any customers in earshot and then whispered, ‘Two things.'

‘Yeah?'

‘Firstly, your sister knows about us. Lizzie hinted at it but then got evasive and I'm sure Anna knows we've been … you know, fucking.'

‘So what?'

‘So? She'll probably want to kill me, that's what.'

‘Wait a minute.' Luca held up a hand. ‘It's none of her business who I …' a sexy grin lit up his face and he raised an eyebrow ‘… fuck.'

Stella wanted to watch his mouth just a moment longer, see the word sitting there on his lips like an invitation her body wanted to accept right away. ‘Stop it, Luca. Remember New Year's Eve?'

‘I'll never forget it.'

Stella tried not to laugh at him, and lightly slapped his shoulder instead. ‘Please. This is so not funny.'

‘Yeah, it was. You laughed like a drain, if I remember.'

‘Yeah, well. That was two days ago and I was on an orgasmic high. You won't think it's so hilarious when you read this.' She moved his takeaway coffee and poked at the paper. Next to her, his shoulder brushed her arm as he bent to read the story.

‘That was a close call, Luca. It was so incredibly stupid of me.'

‘It was fucking hot, that's what it was.' He dropped a hand and, hidden behind the counter, cupped her bum and squeezed it.

‘Ugh, no!' She twitched her arse out of reach.

‘You can't tell me you care about this?' Luca asked incredulously.

‘Of course I bloody well care. Don't you?'

He shrugged. ‘Not really. They didn't use our names, right? Who's going to know?'

Stella took a side step. ‘See what happens when I let my guard down, when I stop thinking? I make stupid mistakes. What if my name
had
been plastered all over the paper? Everything I've worked for would be shot down in flames. My reputation. My business. The whole lot.'

‘Wait a minute. This isn't a disaster, Stella. It's nothing.'

Honestly, his attempt at calming her down was having the exact opposite effect. She felt her cheeks flame in indignation and a lifetime of injustices bubbled up inside her. A lifetime of keeping a lid on risk and being smart and sensible.

‘You make me take stupid risks, Luca.'

Luca's smile faded. Fast. He gulped his coffee down in one swallow. ‘I'm not talking about this here. I'll see you at home.'

At home? He was talking about her place as if he lived there.

‘My home, you mean.'

The look in his eyes grew steely. ‘I'll be waiting for you.'

Luca drove west along the Victor Harbor road, turned left at the second roundabout once he hit the town, and then pulled up outside the offices of the
Southern Gazette.
He slammed the door of his truck behind him but it had no effect on his anger. Ten minutes' drive and he was still fucking furious. He looked up and down the quiet street, the sound of the door slam still echoing between the heritage buildings that sat a couple of blocks away from the busy tourist strip of Ocean Parade.

He wanted to punch something or kick something. A soccer ball usually did the trick. That's what he did when he was frustrated or pissed off. Kicked the hell out of a soccer ball in Adelaide's south parklands for an hour or so, finding new ways to make it to the net, working out his tensions that way.

But there he was instead. Right in the middle of true-blue Australian beach-holiday territory at the height of the cricket season. Something had to give.

Luca pushed open the doors of what appeared to be an old shop and had to wait for his eyes to adjust to the dim light inside. It was sombre, heavy and dark, not the noisy bustling place he expected a newspaper to be.

‘Can I help you?' A young woman called to him from behind one of the two modern desks at the rear of the office.

‘I'm looking for Joe Blake.'

‘Can I say what it's about?'

‘It's a personal visit. Tell him it's Luca Morelli.' The young woman threw him a flirtatious smile and he turned away. He wasn't in the mood. A minute later he heard footsteps on the wooden floorboards.

‘Hey, mate. What are you doing here?' Joe strode over to him and held out a hand.

Luca held out his for a cursory shake. He felt like breaking the guy's fucking fingers. ‘We need to talk. Privately.'

Joe looked at him quizzically. ‘Something happened in your family, Luca? What's going on?'

Luca answered him with a glare.

‘Shit. Okay, follow me.'

They went through the rear door to Joe's office. It was small, with a desk, a bookshelf and a couple of chairs, with a window looking out over the street. Luca closed the door behind them and backed up into a corner. He didn't trust himself to get any closer. He knew Joe was a good guy, that he loved Anna and adored Francesca. He'd become part of Luca's family. But this time, he'd made the wrong call. And Luca had to make sure he knew it.

Joe watched him, his eyes narrowed and his focus direct and inquisitive. Luca noticed he didn't sit down either. He stood behind his desk and propped his fists on his hips. ‘You going to tell me what the fuck's going on? Is it Nonna? Paolo? Sonia?'

‘No. No, they're all good.'

Joe let out a sigh of relief. ‘You scared the shit out of me. For fuck's sake, sit down, will you?'

‘No.'

‘Something's got you freaked out. You going to tell me what it is?'

Luca stilled. Joe's words hit him hard. Trust the former Sydney journo to get right to the heart of the story. He was in trouble. He'd cut Stella off earlier in the shop when she'd started to explain why she was angry because he didn't want to hear what she was about to say. He was pretty sure he was going to be kicked out of her bed and her life. Since New Year's, he'd been the happiest man in the world, and it wasn't just because he'd decided to take a holiday at the beach. It was because of Stella. He wanted to hold her all the time. The waking up with her, the going to bed with her, knowing that she was going to be in his arms at night made him feel like more than a million bucks. And it wasn't just the sex. He loved the way she laughed. The way she woke up next to him in the morning with her face bare and beautiful. He loved the way she spent ten minutes deciding what to wear before she walked out the door in the mornings so she could be a perfect advertisement for Style by Stella. The way she talked about her day when she came home. He liked the kiss at the front door and loved the look on her face when he presented her with her first glass of wine for the night. And he really, really liked it when she dragged him off to bed even before they'd thought about what to prepare for dinner.

Most of all, he liked the kind of future he saw when he was with her.

And all that was about to be blown to pieces.

‘Luca?' Joe asked again. ‘You in some kind of trouble?'

Knowing that he was about to lose everything turned his words into a tirade. ‘Yes. I'm in trouble. With Stella Ryan. And it's your fucking newspaper that's caused it.' Luca lunged for Joe's desk and grabbed the latest edition, which was spread out there. ‘That fucking story. Why did you run that shit, huh?'

Joe slowly sank into his chair. He didn't say a word. Luca swore he could see his brain ticking over, adding two and two together and coming up with fifteen. ‘That was you and Stella?'

Luca nodded and he sat down too. The two men sat in silence for a few moments.

‘When things with her turn to shit for me, I'll blame you.'

Joe leant forward, kept his voice quiet. ‘We didn't know it was you two, swear to god, mate. We had a call from the neighbours and then the cops gave us a few details. It's only four pars, Luca. This is already tomorrow's chip wrapping. Don't worry about it. No one will know it was you guys.'

Luca noticed Joe was desperately trying not to grin.

‘It's not fucking funny, Joe.'

And then Joe exploded in laughter and slammed his fist on the desk. ‘Mate, it's hilarious. You and Stella? In a truck by the side of the road? What are you, sixteen?'

Luca rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head into his hands. ‘She's really pissed.'

Joe waited a moment before speaking. ‘So. You and Stella. It's official, huh?'

Luca looked at Joe. ‘Not any more. Not after that.'

‘You got a thing for older women?' Joe smirked.

Luca glared at him. ‘You think this is a joke to me? It's not a fucking joke, Joe.'

‘Yeah, okay. I can see that. Sorry, mate. Tell me what I can do.'

Luca stood up. Felt for his car keys in his pocket. ‘Make sure no one else ever finds out. If I hear that people are gossiping about Stella … about this … I'll wring your fucking neck.'

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Stella. Customers and window shoppers came and went and she was so distracted she forgot to eat lunch or have her afternoon double espresso. A rain shower had passed overhead mid-afternoon, which drove people into the shop for some respite—and they all left with purchases swinging from their hands.