Bad Boy (Invertary 5)

“My sister is here this week,” Abby rushed out. “I need to concentrate on her. And...” Her face flushed crimson.

“And if she sees you with me your chances of heading off a custody battle will be blown.” He clenched his teeth tight enough to make his jaw ache.

Abby turned towards him. “Maybe, after...”

“Aye, no problem.” Flynn recognised a brush-off when he heard one. He straightened his shoulders. “The food smells good.”

Abby bit her bottom lip. “I need to focus on this situation with Katy.”

“I understand.” He forced a smile, worked hard to make it charming. “Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s only for the week.” She shuffled in place. “I mean, if you want to, later, if you still want, you know...”

His eyes snapped to hers only to find her studying her feet. The tight feeling in his stomach released. He stepped into her space, put his hand on her cheek and made her look up at him.

“Damn straight I want.”

“So, maybe after Victoria leaves...” Her uncertainty brought a rush of anger.

“Definitely after Victoria leaves.” He gently kissed her lips, never closing his eyes. “We haven’t had our fill of each other. Nowhere near.”

“But we need to wait until after this week.”

“We can keep our hands off one another for a week.” As the words left his mouth, he felt they were a lie.

“Yes. Yes we can.” It was clear she wasn’t convinced.

Flynn wasn’t sure if her uncertainty comforted him or made him anxious. If she was half as desperate to touch him as he was her, they didn’t have a hope in hell.

17

“We didn’t underestimate them.

They were a lot better than we thought.”

Bobby Robson, former England manager

“I have a secret,” Katy said. Victoria’s face paled, making Lawrence chuckle. “You can’t tell Muma.” Katy looked towards the bank at the bottom of the high street where they’d left her mother to do her business. “You need to promise not to tell.”

“I promise?” Vicki didn’t sound so sure.

Katy cupped her mouth with her hands and whispered louder than she’d been talking. “Flynn bought me a swimming pool so I’d be well behaved in front of you. Am I being well behaved? It’s important to keep your end of a deal. Flynn says so.”

Lawrence laughed as he watched Katy undermine every effort Victoria made to keep the girl at arm’s length. They were wandering the high street under the pretext that Abby had to shop for Katy’s new school year—which was six weeks away. Lawrence suspected she just wanted to get them out of her house for an hour or two. She probably felt like she was under siege.

“I’m not supposed to tell you any more stories about other people’s business either,” Katy said. “Flynn said it isn’t nice to talk about other people. He said they might want to keep their business secret. He said you wouldn’t understand it anyway, because you don’t live in Invertary. He said the people who live in Invertary are weird and other people don’t always understand them.”

Victoria looked utterly helpless as Katy spilled all of her secrets. It was the most vulnerable he’d ever seen the woman, and the look suited her.

“Do you talk to Flynn a lot?” Victoria said.

Katy shook her head. “Only since Muma stabbed his swimming pool. Before that I wasn’t allowed to talk to him. Muma said he was a bad influence. But I watched him a lot. I can see his bus from my bedroom window and sometimes when Muma puts me to bed I get up and watch Flynn.” She scrunched up her nose. “You aren’t going to tell on me, are you, Aunty Victoria?” She batted her long lashes as she looked up at Victoria.

“No.” Victoria caved embarrassingly fast.

Katy gave her a smile so dazzling it required sunglasses. She put her tiny hand in her aunt’s and dragged her towards the shop selling toys. Victoria was so startled by the contact that she stared at the hand for a minute before clasping it tight. The sight made Lawrence’s heart ache.

“I asked Flynn to help me look for a daddy.” Katy was completely unaware her every move was breaking through walls her aunt had spent years erecting. “To get a new daddy, Muma has to marry a boy. I thought about Flynn, but I think he wouldn’t make such a good daddy. He isn’t really a grownup, he only looks like one.”