Cora smiled at his use of “we.” It felt like they were a team in this, despite their dramatic first introduction. And being on someone’s team wasn’t a feeling she’d had in a really long time. “So you weren’t big on arts and crafts as a kid?”
“Uh no, that was strictly Liv and Mum’s hobby. My brother Jace is a comic book artist, so I guess we could put him in that category, too. Well, minus the glue guns and shit. But the rest of us boys were firmly in the sports and outdoor activities camp.” He dumped some milk into his coffee and waded a spoon through it. “Footy, cricket, tennis, surfing. If there was a competition attached—we’d play it.”
“Sounds like that would take the whole sibling rivalry thing to the next level.”
Trent laughed. “Yeah, you could definitely say that. You’ll see it in action, anyway. Nick is on our cricket team and Adam fills in sometimes if we’re down a player.”
“I really don’t think my being on your team is a good idea.” Cora sipped her coffee and tried not to stare at Trent’s half-naked form. The man was literally physical perfection. And, as someone who had great appreciation for the written word, she didn’t use that particular one lightly. “I can promise you the only time I would ever hit a ball would be in self-defense, and only then because the planets aligned and I made contact out of sheer coincidence.”
Trent shook his head. “You can’t be that bad.”
“Trust me, if I’m a bad person and I go to hell…it’ll be some kind of batting practice.” She shuddered at the thought. “Growing up, I was that kid with a nose in my book at all times.”
Well, when her mother wasn’t berating her for being “antisocial.”
“It doesn’t matter—we’re competitive, but we’re not sore losers. Besides, the biggest thing at stake is a round of beers afterward.” Trent took a long sip of his coffee. “It’s a social thing, and it doesn’t matter if you’re any good. That’s not the point of it.”
As much as she knew she’d be awful, the thought of spending more time with Trent wasn’t exactly unappealing, to say the least. Like his sister, he was friendly and down-to-earth. A veritable antidote for the snobby people she’d grown up with, for whom judgment and ridicule were their sports of choice.
“How novel to do something for the fun of it,” she said, a bitter tone lacing her words. But then she shook her head, determined not to let her baggage cast a shadow over her time in Australia. “Anyway, if you accept my total lack of skills, then I look forward to footing the bill for beers afterward.”
Trent eyed her. Clearly he hadn’t missed her little comment—just another thing she’d shown him about herself, and which she should have kept locked away.
A knock at the front door interrupted the conversation, and Cora took the opportunity to duck into Liv’s bedroom and change out of her pajamas. If Trent was working on the plumbing, then she’d park herself outside and spend a little time with her manuscript. At least that way she could work on her tan at the same time—multitasking for the win!
She gathered up her laptop and the printout of the feedback letter her father had written for her, on which she’d scrawled a bunch of notes. Trent was talking to another man—a guy with dark hair, a beard, and a full sleeve of tattoos down one arm.
“Cora, this is Hale. He’s our local plumber extraordinaire.” Trent grinned. “And Cora is a friend of Liv’s. They’re house swapping at the moment.”
“I’m also the source of the water damage,” she said, sticking her hand out. Hale clamped his big bear paw of a hand around hers and gave her a firm handshake. He had mischievous brown eyes that crinkled good-naturedly when he smiled.
“Uh no, that blame lies entirely with this clown here for not turning off the mains.” He jerked his head toward Trent. “Now, if you’d gotten a real plumber to do the job—”
“Yeah, yeah.” Trent rolled his eyes. “Enough with the self-promotion.”
“Just saying.” Hale held up his hands. “If I were here, there wouldn’t have been a problem.”
“If you hadn’t moved your noisy girlfriend into our house, I wouldn’t even have been here to start work on the plumbing yet.”
Ah, so Hale was the former roommate. To Cora’s surprise, the big