Ashton Hill Valentines

"No woman messes with my head, brother; you know how up front I am about not wanting or needing any ties. Unless, of course, she wants to tie me up, then my safe word is Razzmatazz," he grinned and raised his hands, pams out and wriggling his fingers.

"Nope, didn't need that information," Jack grimaced. "Though if you did find a woman willing to put up with your pathetic humour last night we could call off the challenge." He tried to keep his tone casual. His brother got an odd look, and Jack wondered if he really was hung up on a girl for a few moments before Harry narrowed his eyes and amped up his grin.

"You bowing out, brother? You know, if one of us bows out the other still has to finish the challenge," he challenged with a smirk.

"What if we don't? Finish the challenge, I mean," he asked as he dodged a left. "What are the guys going to do?"

"Doesn't matter, pride is on the line, as well as my winning streak at these challenges," Harry goaded his brother.

"That's bullshit!" Jack spat, straightening his stance. "You lost the last..." all too late he realised his mistake and was knocked on his ass by a roundhouse kick. He quickly rolled back to his feet, he couldn't stay down if he hoped to win this sparring match, and now he was determined to beat his brother into a confession about the girl last night, because Jack was sure there was one. They grappled for at least ten minutes before Jack thought he saw an opening to end the match, but Harry twisted at a strange angle, unbalancing him, and moved behind him, wrapping his arm around his throat and applying just enough pressure to make it interesting. Jack put pressure on the side of Harry's leg, bending it and then bringing his foot down hard on his instep before ramming his elbow back into his stomach and dancing away from his loosened grip.

*Son of a mother..." Harry got halfway through his curse before his mother's voice made him clamp his teeth together and groan.

"You're not going to finish that, are you?" their mother's voice cut across the curse, stopping Harry in his tracks. "Your sister is here," she nodded towards the two little boys standing on the deck watching them with wide eyes.

"Sorry, Mum," they said almost in unison, both breathless and bent at the waist as they turned to face her.

"What sort of an example are you setting for the boys?" she asked, looking again at her grandsons.

"A bad one," Harry said contritely, but after a quick glance at Jack continued. "They could be pretty good spar partners though. What do you think, Jack? The bigger one looks pretty tough."

"I think I could take the little one," Jack said, schooling his voice to remain serious. The boys, having worked out what was happening, began squealing and backing away. Jack moved slowly, allowing his nephew to dodge around him before turning and scooping the little boy up.

"I might need some help with this one," Harry said, holding the older boy, Charlie, by the ankles as he wriggled like a landed tuna.

"I've got my hands full already," Jack complained. "This one is slippery," he pretended to drop the squealing Davey.

"You're both idiots, you know that, right?" his sister came out of the back door holding a plate that looked suspiciously like eggs benedict with a lot of bacon. "Go and shower, you both stink," she ordered. "And put my children down!"

"Aww, Mum," Charlie complained.

"Don't mess with me, Charlie," she warned. Stabbing her fork into a piece of bacon.

"Should you be eating that?" Jack asked. The last time he had called her she had been sobbing over the fact that she had put on so much weight during this pregnancy. Annie froze, and Harry whistled, then stepped away, putting some distance between Jack and himself.

"I think you look gorgeous, Annie, you're glowing," Harry said quickly.

"What?" Jack asked innocently.

"I will kill you," she said in a low voice, stabbing her fork in his direction. Jack backed up, still holding Davey.

"Dad says she got twice as many hormones. Run, Unka Jack, she means it!" Charlie called from the safety of Harry's arms.

Jack held Davey in front of him like a shield and made his way back into the house to shower and change. His sister was close to term and looked fifteen months pregnant. She was having twins, which she also blamed her brothers for rather than their mother and the genes she had inherited. Locking the bathroom door, he breathed a sigh of relief and stepped under the hot water, his mind immediately going back to Lara.

*****

Lara heard the knock and went to her door, opening it and expecting to see Jack. She did a double take as Harry stood there offering her coffee and a cupcake from Carter's bakery. She'd already called Carly that morning to see if she was needed and was going down to see her later once the early morning bake was done to find out the details of Carly's kiss with the man who now stood at her door.

"Hey, it was good to see you last night. I thought I'd come and say hello properly," Harry smiled, holding up the coffee and cake offering.

"Is that what you thought?" she asked. "Not invite me out for coffee? You thought you'd come over to my place and wangle an invitation inside?"

"I just thought it might be nice to catch up, that's all. I come back a couple of times a year, and it's unusual to find someone who moved back after leaving for adventure," he said, realising how this might look, even though he meant it as a friendly gesture. "Tell you what, you keep the cupcake and the coffee today and have coffee with me tomorrow. I'll pick you up about this time," he gave her his best boyish grin and backed down the three steps with his hands up in surrender. "Deal?" he asked.

"Fine," she laughed, still disappointed that his brother hadn't been the one to knock on her door. "Just coffee and a catch-up, old friends, right?" She didn't see any harm in that, even if she knew Carly had the hots for the guy, and she might be able to find out how he felt about her friend at the same time. She also knew that Harry would be able to tell her about Jack without her having to dig around to find out for herself. She hadn't been able to get that kiss out of her head after he left last night, nor the longing she felt for his touch again.

"I don't know what you're expecting, but I'm not that sort of guy," he chuckled and walked to his motorbike, grabbing up the helmet.

"Oh, but I bet you are," Lara said under her breath and went back inside. He'd given her one of Carly's cupcakes, and it looked almost too good to eat, but she wasn't that silly, she grinned and took a large bite, licking the glittery cream from her lips.

She'd sat down at her computer again and tried to concentrate on the business course she'd enrolled in online. She'd sat there barely a half hour before there was a second knock at her door. Not wanting to deal with disappointment a second time that morning, she stayed perfectly still hoping whoever it was went away. Even if it was Jackson Delaney, she wasn't sure she wanted what he had to offer either or that she trusted herself to turn him down a second time. When the second and third knock came she slowly got to her feet and answered the door.

Standing on her doorstep was the second Daredevil Delaney in faded jeans and a tight T-shirt looking like clean-cut, boy-next-door yumminess. She kept her face emotionless, despite what she felt at the sight of him. God, he was handsome. She raised an eyebrow rather than saying anything. She leaned against the door jamb silently cursing him. If he knew what he had done to her last night. How she had lain in bed and thought of him when he left her a mess of quivering pent up emotions. How she'd wished he was with her rather than crying out into the silent room.

"Hello, Lara," he said, letting his eyes wander from her bare feet up her bare legs, taking in her smooth skin to the denim shorts and baggy over-sized shirt she wore. His eyes finally flowed up to her face, and he smiled.

"I'm guessing you and your brother have that twin thing going on," she said, refusing to acknowledge how hearing him say her name affected her.

"Twin thing?" he tilted his head curiously. "Is there a reason you're asking about Harry?" he inquired, trying to keep his voice neutral, despite wanting to rip his brother's head off.

"I didn't mention Harry, I was just curious about the whole twin thing," she answered, realising that his tone was too casual and the mention of his brother bothered him.

"Curious about him like you were about me last night?" he prompted, reminding her of what she had said.

"No!" she hastened to reassure him, not wanting him to think that. "Not like at that at all!" she qualified, deciding not to tell him about his brother's visit less than an hour ago. "I Just wondered if you did everything together," she blurted, trying to make the situation better.

"Not everything," he gave her a look that left no doubt in her mind about what he was saying. Not that she'd ever been into the ménage et trois thing, but she was happy about that fact.

"So, what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" she enquired, changing the subject.

"I brought you something," he thrust a plastic bag at her.

"Umm, thank you?" she said as a question as she pulled out a deadbolt from the small bag.

"It's for your door," he said, stating the obvious.

"Well, I didn't think it was for my shorts," she grinned and noticed that the pink of a blush crept up his neck and into his cheeks, making him look adorable as he stood there on her front steps.

"You need one," he said, and then drew a quick breath. "For your door, I meant, not your..." his eyes dropped to Lara's shorts, and he cursed silently. He was acting like a kid with a crush. He tried to gain back some control. "Your door's not strong enough; one good kick and it would be open." He had thought about doing that halfway through his jog back to his car last night.

"As I don't have that much door kicking experience, I'll believe you about that," she let a small smile show. "You went shopping for me first thing this morning, and this is what you came up with?"

"I'm not a good shopper or gift giver. I also need to get my sister something. She's so mad at me she threatened to kill me," he admitted. "I couldn't find anything that couldn't ultimately be used as a weapon at the hardware store, so here I am," he chuckled. "It will make me feel better, if not you, knowing you have a proper lock on your door."

"I hope you brought tools, because my toolkit is comprised of one pink high heeled shoe and an old butter knife."

"I did, but you're going to install it, you should know how, and if you don't, I'll teach you. Once we've got it installed, I'll give you some self-defence lessons too. It's too dangerous for you to be walking alone around town in the middle of the night," he lectured. "Capsicum spray is all well and good, but what if you don't have your purse? You should know how to protect yourself."

"Don't you have anything better to do this morning? Like spend time with your family or see your buddies?" she replied, trying not to sigh at the thought of manual labour and exercise at this time of day.

"There is nowhere I'd rather be and no one I'd rather be with," he fixed her with his intense look, again to try and convey he meant what he said.

The little voice inside her head screamed at her that it was a line; it had to be a line. The way he said it though, with warmth and sincerity in his voice, made her want to believe him. She stepped back from the doorway and let him inside.

Lara was a fast learner and quickly installed the deadbolt, declaring that she might buy herself a cordless drill, as it had multiple uses. When it came to self-defence, she was equally up to the tasks and took on each challenge he presented to her. She had good muscle tone in her firm, tempting body, and Jack had to move quickly more than once to avoid more than a superficial injury to his manhood and his pride. He called a halt and let her collapse onto a couch as he went to get her a glass of water.

"I thought I was going to have to kill you to get you to stop," she groaned after taking a sip of the water. "The only thing stopping me was the thought of getting blood on the carpet. I'm hoping to get my bond back on this apartment when I leave."

"You're leaving?" Jack frowned.

"Once I'm back on my feet again," she nodded. "Despite what everyone thinks, my career, when I had one, never really took off the way I had hoped. Cutting those ties and coming home was expensive in the end. It was worth it, but I dug myself a hole I'm not sure I will ever get out of," she admitted.

"You will. I imagine you can do anything you set your mind to," Jack said, taking Lara's hands and pulling her to her feet so he could move the furniture back to its original position. He held her to him, feeling the contours of her body against his for a long moment.

"You make it so hard," she said softly.

"You do too," he said, barely suppressing a smile. He watched as Lara frowned for the briefest of moments before understanding swept over her and she burst out laughing.

"I meant, you make it hard for me to remember to be smart. When you say things like that when you look at me that way, I almost feel like the girl I used to be, the girl you remember," she gave him a little push and stepped back out of the circle of his arms. "I can't go back to that though; I don't want to be that girl anymore."

"You can still have some of that girl inside you and become smarter and stronger. People don't change completely, Lara," he began, but he saw the flash of anger in her eyes and knew it was the wrong thing to say. "Was she so bad? The girl you used to be?" 'Why had she come home,' he wondered, 'if she wanted to erase the girl she used to be?'

"She wasn't real. What you and everyone else saw was just a façade. She was whatever or whoever people needed her to be. Now I am just me, warts and all, no longer willing to play a part in everyone else life. I want a life of my own," she said more confidently than she had before. "I don't want to be reckless again," she admitted, without adding that she didn't want to be hurt again by believing in someone too much when they didn't care about her at all.

"What's life without a little risk?" he asked, realising he had hit a nerve and pulling her back into his arms slowly, so slowly that she could have stopped the move at any time.

"Safe," she whispered, feeling his arms close around her again and letting herself enjoy the feeling for a brief moment before common sense prevailed. She moved away from him again to take the glasses back to the kitchen. "It's safe. It may be okay for you; you take risks and do reckless things every day. Not all of us can live like that."

"Safe can get boring," he said, following her into the kitchen.

"Yeah, well, boring or not, I'm going to stick with it," she sighed. Lara turned to look at him. "That doesn't mean I'm opposed to a little excitement in my life now and then," she gave him a small grin, realising that what she had just said and the way this man made her feel pulled her in two different directions.

"A little excitement?" he tilted his head at her.

"Well, I'm hoping it's at least average sized, but you never can tell," she laughed in a deep throaty way, letting her eyes quite obviously roam down his body.

"Hoping?" he asked, not about to set her straight on the size of his excitement in case she thought he was overstating it. "Does that mean you could be talked into taking a risk with me?" He asked, advancing on her position against the kitchen bench.

"Now who's the one hoping?" she laughed again.

"It's what gets me through the day," he grinned, closing the distance between them.

"Let's just say I'm considering my options," she smirked and moved away from him again. "Now I have to go and meet a friend soon, so if you'll excuse me I need a shower," she said, feeling as if she had to get him out of her house or she would be reckless with him right then and there.

"What are you doing this afternoon, after you meet your friend?" he asked, not liking that he was being dismissed and wanting nothing more than to have that shower with her. When she hesitated as if formulating an excuse, he spoke again. "I still need to get my sister something, and I am so bad at presents, as you know," he admitted, tapping on the door. "I need help, please, Lara, you'd be doing me a huge favour."

"I'm sure you can manage better than I could, I don't even know your sister," she shook her head.

"You're a girl," he pointed out the obvious. "Just meet me at three beside the fountain?" It was a question, but he gave her little time to think of an excuse as he took up his toolbox and headed for the door. He turned and leant down to lightly brush his lips against hers when she came to the door after he had stepped through it. "See you at three," he grinned and left before she could decline.

*****

Lara sat at the kitchen bench in Carly's apartment. She browsed the website she had helped to improve, and orders were flowing slowly in for Valentine's Day, but not as many as they had hoped. She imagined that as word spread and their social media presence took hold it would improve, and next year, if there was the next year and they weren't both being interns to Gina Izatta, would be better.

"There doesn't seem to be much for us to do at the moment, aside from catch up on those boxes you dropped last night," Lara said casually.

"I didn't drop them, it was... Hey, how did you know about that?" Carly narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"I might have been having my break a bit later than usual and saw you run into that brick wall outside the bakery last night," Lara teased. "You looked like you could handle it though, so I didn't come to help."

"Oh my God, did you see him? Honestly, he's even more gorgeous up close and personal," Carly grinned.

"I did see you get up close and personal with him," Lara laughed.

"I don't think he realises I'm Eric's little sister. We're going for a drink tonight, unless he realises and the bro code kicks in," she sighed.

"The bro code?" Lara tilted her head.

"Harrison Delaney is one of my brother's oldest friends. Guys have a weird thing about dating their friend's little sisters, or, more importantly, in this case, letting their friends with reputations date their little sisters," she sighed dramatically again.

"Harrison hardly seems like he'd be bothered about that," Lara said. She knew men, and there was little that got in their way once they'd honed in on a woman. "Wear something that will knock his socks off and, trust me, it won't matter what Eric thinks."

"It's silly, I know, because he's only here for a week or two, but even just a taste would be worth it, I think," she giggled and picked up a chocolate, licking it slowly before popping it in her mouth. "I can't be expected to get all my endorphins from chocolate!" she laughed louder, making Lara laugh with her.

Lara wished she could be as carefree and confident as her friend. God knows she was more than tempted to taste the delights Harrison's twin offered her, but she couldn't go down that road again, let herself get involved and eventually hurt by yet another man who wouldn't stick around once he'd gotten what he needed from her. She wasn't sure she was capable of having a hot and torrid affair for just a week or two, like Carly was contemplating, no matter how tempting she found Jack. Still, it could be fun, and she'd been celibate for so long.

"What's going on with you? You're a million miles away this afternoon," Carly asked.

"I was just thinking how long it's been since I had a date," Lara smiled lopsidedly.

"Well, there are lots of people back for the festival, I'm sure you could find a hunky piece of man meat to take you somewhere other than Kelly's," Carly grinned. "You know Harry has a brother, right? Just as dreamy, almost."