No Way to Treat a Lady Read online

  No Way to Treat a Lady

  (Treats to Tempt You Tasters)

  by Serenity Woods

  *

  Copyright 2015 Serenity Woods

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is coincidental.

  Chapter One

  “The day I start dating again, the whole farmyard will fly, not just the pigs.”

  Hayley made her declaration without any hint of irritation or depression in her voice. She’d come to terms with her single status a while ago, shortly after her ex-husband had told her their temporary separation was becoming permanent due to him moving two hundred miles away to live with his bimbo girlfriend.

  She wasn’t bitter, though. Well, not much. He’d left her stranded with four kids under ten and no hope of ever having sex again for the next twenty years, but she’d almost got over the urge to put arsenic in his soup.

  Almost.

  She leaned forward, rested her forehead on the table, and banged it a few times. The thought of never getting laid again made her want to howl like a dog tied up outside the supermarket.

  “Aw,” said Maisey, her sister-in-law. She put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’ll happen. You’re too lovely to be single for the rest of your life.”

  Hayley sat back and huffed a sigh. “I’m not lovely. I’m a dry and shriveled, crotchety old woman. The last time I had a first date was before the turn of the century.” Maisey laughed, and Hayley raised her eyebrows. “I’m not kidding. Ben and I started going steady in 1999.”

  Maisey tried her best to keep a straight face, but the giggles kept on coming. “That does make you sound old.”

  “I know! I’m thirty two, Maisey. I’m practically an octogenarian.”

  Maisey continued to giggle, and Hayley eventually gave in and joined her. If she didn’t laugh, she’d cry, and God knew she’d done enough of that over the past year.

  Her reluctant laugh turned to a genuine chortle at the sight of her brother being drowned in the pool by three of her children. It was a gorgeous morning, the height of summer in New Zealand, and Joss and Maisey had come to her house to look after the kids for the rest of the day—and for the night. Hayley had never stayed away from her kids overnight before. Part of her was devastated at the thought of leaving them behind, worried they’d need her, they’d cry all night, or they’d drive Joss and Maisey to distraction with their demands.

  The other part of her couldn’t wait. Just a couple of months before, she’d started a part-time job at a local sports center. They were sending her to a posh hotel in Waitangi for a refresher course for the afternoon, following which there would be dinner and some kind of show. Hayley didn’t care about the course or the show. She was looking forward to a night on her own in a hotel. She was going to take a bath without someone banging on the door five minutes after she got in, order room service, drink half the minibar, and watch cable TV until she passed out. Bliss.

  Next to where she and Maisey sat on the deck beneath the shade of an umbrella, the baby who’d been dozing in her carry seat roused. Maisey lifted her out to sit on her knee. She winked at Hayley. “Actually, this would be the perfect opportunity for you to have a dirty weekend.”

  Hayley snorted. “If by that you mean it’s likely I’ll spot dust on the TV and spend the evening cleaning, you’re probably right.”

  “I mean it. Away from the kids. On your own. This course—there are bound to be lots of gorgeous guys on it, right? I can see you working out in the hotel gym, and along comes one of them, his torso all toned and shiny, wearing a pair of those skimpy shorts that make your mouth water…”

  “Maisey…”

  “He’ll ask you back to his room,” Maisey continued dreamily, “and you’ll make mad, passionate love all night.”

  “Good Lord. The only passion I’ll experience will be trying out all the desserts they offer on room service.”

  Maisey’s eyes danced. “I dare you.”

  “What?”

  “To have a fling.”

  Hayley’s eyes widened. “Don’t be daft. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.”

  “Why not? People have one night stands all the time.”

  “Not people like me.”

  “Of course people like you! That’s what one night stands are about. All the fun and none of the commitment. Imagine it. No strings sex with some muscular rugby dude you’ll never see again. How liberating would that be?”

  “Maisey!” Hayley’s cheeks were growing hot. “Please stop. You’re embarrassing me. I’ve only ever slept with Ben, and I haven’t done that for a long time. I’ve had four kids. What makes you think I could get naked with a complete stranger and let him…” She envisaged what she’d let him do, and her vision blurred.

  “See!” Maisey was triumphant. “Hot sex. No strings. Complete stranger. It’s just what you need.”

  Hayley knew there were people who had one night stands. She couldn’t imagine how they could possibly do so. For her, sex had only taken place in the security and comfort of a stable relationship. It had been about sharing herself, and showing her husband how much she loved him.

  And look where that had gotten her.

  She glanced at Sammy, Ethan, and Liam, who were taking it in turns to swim under Joss’s legs. She was in her thirties, a mother whose life consisted of school runs, packed lunches, changing nappies, and wiping noses. She hadn’t felt sexy in…jeez…years. She wasn’t sure she even knew how to feel sexy anymore. The notion of picking a complete stranger, taking him back to her room, and letting him take off her clothes was laughable.

  And yet something tingled deep inside her, a flicker of excitement. She wasn’t that old. Women her age still enjoyed sex, according to the magazines, anyway. The odds of her finding a guy who’d be interested in taking on four kids was about the same as scientists discovering a form of chocolate that was better for you than Brussels sprouts, but a one night stand… She’d looked after her figure, and she wasn’t bad looking.

  Then she saw Maisey’s impish smile, and her excitement evaporated.

  “Oh, stop teasing me.” She rose to kiss her kids goodbye. “You shouldn’t make fun of your elders. I have to leave now. You two sure you’ll be okay?”

  “I think we can manage for one night.” Maisey rolled her eyes. “You go. Have fun. And if the opportunity presents itself, make sure you take it, won’t you?”

  Hayley wouldn’t, but she gave her an indulgent smile. Maisey meant well. She just didn’t realize how difficult it was to get back on the horse when you discovered the saddle had fallen to pieces and you’d left your mount tied up in the previous town.

  Chapter Two

  Later, as she sat in the large hall listening to the speaker drone on, Hayley mused on Maisey’s words, there are bound to be lots of gorgeous guys, and tried not to laugh out loud. She’d also assumed a sports management refresher course would attract the kind of young, fit guys you saw on body spray adverts, men who’d once played rugby or football professionally and who’d now turned to the management side of things.

  The truth was quite the opposite. The majority of people there were women, and the men present were either a lot older, were fitness freaks who were more interested in their reflection in the mirror than anything else, or were hard-nosed businessmen who’d never give her a second look.

  She fought off a wave of depression and concentrated on her notes. Dull as it might be, she wanted to return from this course with a better understanding of the changes involved in the running of a sports
center since the last time she’d done it, back before Liam was born. She’d attempted then to try and maintain a career alongside being a mother, but a second child and then quickly after that a third had soon made a mockery out of that idea.

  It still wasn’t easy working and looking after the kids, but Joss and Maisey had insisted she go for the job when it became available, telling her they would help with the school run and try to ease the load wherever possible. Having Maggie—the baby—in daycare three times a week was a godsend and gave Hayley freedom she’d never thought to feel again, even if she did have to fight with guilt at having someone else look after her kids.

  She clapped politely as the speaker finished, then checked the program. One more before a break for coffee. This guy—Jed Williams—was going to talk about what different sports centers offered in terms of physio for customers who’d had injuries. Jotting his name at the top of a fresh sheet of paper, she underlined it and then looked up as he took the podium.

  Wow. Her eyes widened. Now you’re talking. A small part of her brain thought of the mischievous grin that Maisey would be wearing if she were sitting beside her.

  In his mid to late thirties, Jed Williams was tall, broad-shouldered, and with dark hair going gray at the temples. He wore a dark gray suit, white shirt, and a gray-and-blue striped tie. His whole look was very understated, sophisticated even. He also looked vaguely familiar.

  Hayley wiped under her bottom lip to make sure she wasn’t dribbling and forced her gaze onto the paper. There was nothing wrong with ogling from afar, but the guy was likely to be either married or seriously involved. There was no way anyone as gorgeous as that would have escaped a woman’s clutches.

  He probably had a thin, nasally voice, she told herself, waiting for him to speak. Her eyes fluttered shut when he introduced himself. His voice was deep and rich, suggesting he could carry out every sexual technique she’d ever heard of, and introduce her to a few new ones while he was at it.

  She forced herself to concentrate. Jed spoke for twenty minutes about physio practices, and she scribbled away, hoping she’d be able to make sense of her notes at the end considering she had no idea what she was writing.

  Jed finished and took a few questions from the floor. Hayley sat with a pounding heart as she tried to pluck up the courage to speak. He answered the final question and glanced around the room. “Anyone else?”

  Hayley pushed herself to her feet before she could think better of it.

  “Yes?” He raised his eyebrows at her. Was it her imagination, or did his gaze brush down her briefly before returning to her face? It was difficult to see as he was some distance away.

  She cleared her throat. “Um…I wondered if you have any advice on offering swimming classes for people with disabilities. Are there any considerations we should be aware of aside from the obvious issue surrounding water safety?”

  “That’s an excellent question,” Jed said, and smiled. He went on to say something about where she could find an excellent resource for swimming advice, and Hayley nodded and wrote on her pad, although later she would be unable to read her own writing.

  When he’d finished, she said thank you and sat, heart racing, and he wrapped up the session and let the organizer take the podium to announce the coffee break. She noticed he had a slight limp as he walked away.

  Hayley waited for her cup of coffee impatiently and then shouldered her way through the crowd to where the organizer was talking to a couple of the speakers.

  “Excuse me,” she said when there was a brief pause, “do you know where Mr. Williams is? I have a question for him.”

  “He’s holding a workshop upstairs,” the organizer said. “Sorry. You might be able to catch him later.”

  Hayley’s heart sank. “Thanks.”

  She walked over to the window. The course was being held in Rutland’s, an exclusive hotel bordering the Waitangi National Trust in the beautiful Bay of Islands. Outside, huge rolling lawns led down to a sandy beach, and beyond that the Pacific Ocean sparkled in the sunlight. It was a fantastic view, and she pushed away her disappointment, determined to make the most of the place.

  Even if she had spoken to Jed Williams, there was little to no hope of him being both single and interested in her. And even if he had been, did she really have the courage to ask him for a one night stand? She laughed and finished off her coffee. Of course she didn’t. The best she could hope for that evening would be a delicious meal, a couple of glasses of New Zealand sauvignon, a kingsize bed all to herself, and a whole night of uninterrupted sleep.

  That, in itself, was a blissful proposition.

  Chapter Three

  Hayley sat through the next two presentations, attended a seminar, and tried to look interested, even though none of the speakers were as interesting as Jed Williams. After that there was some kind of pre-dinner cocktail party. She’d brought a dress to wear, but as she stood in front of the mirror in her room, she couldn’t summon the enthusiasm to go. What was the point? She wasn’t a natural socializer, and she’d end up standing in the corner being a wallflower and feeling sorry for herself. She decided she’d go to dinner that evening, but in the meantime she would go for a swim.

  She put on her costume and slipped a loose summer dress over the top. Taking a towel with her, she made her way down to the ground floor and along to the pool.

  With most of the attendees at the cocktail party, it was almost empty. The smell of chlorine hit her as she walked in, her feet echoing in the large room. It had a magnificent view over the grounds, and the afternoon sun slanted across the water, covering it in sparkles.

  Only one person was in the process of swimming a length when she walked in. He reached the end and stopped to run a hand through his dark hair, and she saw the flecks of gray at the sides. She inhaled sharply at the realization that it was Jed Williams.

  Panic rose inside her, and she went to turn around and leave. Then she got cross with herself. She was only going for a swim. He probably wouldn’t say two words to her anyway. She was going to concentrate on the pool and screw everything else.

  Stripping off the dress and leaving everything on the benches, she braided her hair, lowered her goggles, and stood on the edge of the deep end. She was vaguely conscious of Jed watching her from the opposite end, but she ignored him, took a deep breath, and dived in.

  After only a few strokes, happiness surged through her, and she stretched out, relaxing into the movements and enjoying the stretch of her muscles. Keeping to one side of the pool, she reached the end, tumbled and turned, and swam back. Oh, the joy of swimming without having kids in the pool! She tried to get up early to swim in her own pool, but it wasn’t really big enough to do lengths, and besides, getting up before Maggie was nigh on impossible.

  She swam for a while, lost in the joy of cleaving through the water, and only stopped when her muscles were loose and her breaths came hard and fast. She pulled up at the deep end, holding onto the side while she lifted her goggles.

  Blinking away droplets of water, she looked right into a pair of gorgeous blue eyes.

  “Hi,” Jed Williams said, smiling.

  “Oh.” She wiped her face and hoped snot wasn’t leaking out of her nose. “Hello.”

  “That was impressive.” He indicated the length of the pool. “You’ve swum professionally, haven’t you?”

  She stared at him, only aware that her jaw was sagging when his grin spread. “Yes,” she said hurriedly, “I was on the verge of representing New Zealand at the Olympics.”

  “Wow.” He looked even more impressed. “What happened?”

  Ben had happened. She’d met him at a party and had become besotted with him in weeks. When she’d fallen pregnant a few months later and he’d asked her to give up her career and marry him, she’d done so without any qualms. What a fool.

  But she wasn’t about to admit that to Jed. “Life happened,” she said.

  He nodded and pulled a face. “Yeah. It has a tendency to do th
at.”

  She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, feeling an immeasurable relief that he wasn’t going to quiz her about her life.

  He ran a hand through his short hair. “I used to play rugby for the Blues but I had a car accident in my twenties and smashed up my hip. I still exercise, but it hurts if I push myself too hard.”

  She’d thought she’d recognized him and remembered now hearing about the accident. “That must have been difficult for you. What do you do now?”

  “I took a degree in physiotherapy, and I also give talks on rehabilitation after accidents like the one I gave today.”

  “Having firsthand experience must help.”

  “Yeah. I know how tough it is to get yourself moving again, anyway.”

  They observed each other for a moment. His shoulders looked even broader in the water, his firm muscles tanned and gleaming. She remembered how he’d limped away from the podium. Although he’d obviously regained much of his fitness after his accident, clearly his hip still gave him trouble.

  Gathering confidence when he didn’t finish the conversation and swim off, she smoothed a stray hair from her face and said, “I enjoyed your talk. It’s going to be useful for me, especially the information on supporting the disabled. We have special swimming classes for disabled students at the local high school.”

  “That’s great. It’s really useful for strengthening limbs, as well as for developing confidence.”

  They smiled at each other, and her spine tingled, although it could have been the water jet aimed at her back.

  “Not going to the cocktail party?” she asked.

  “Nah, not my sort of thing. I’ve been anti-social since my divorce. All the chit-chat bores me. I’m happier on my own.”

  She nodded, wondering what to think of his comment. Was he telling her he was single? Or was he brushing her off, informing her he’d rather be left alone? She was so out of practice with all this. She was terrified of saying the wrong thing and making a fool of herself. What should she do now?