for producing boys over six feet tall. And Liv held her own when it came to her appetite, too.
“So, Cora is staying at Liv’s, huh?” Nick asked as he sliced another piece of his half-eaten steak. “How’s that working out with you being there, too? Seems odd that Liv would have arranged it like that.”
“Uh, she didn’t exactly arrange it like that,” Trent admitted.
“She doesn’t know you’re there, does she?” Nick snorted. “You can’t move into people’s houses without asking first.”
“One, I’m doing a crapload of work for her…for free, I might add. Two, did I mention I was working for free?” He speared a few chips onto his fork and dragged them through a small mound of tomato sauce. “Oh and three…she’s not paying me.”
“Well, you refused to take any money from her, so I’d say that’s on you.”
“She’s working hard for not very much. I remember what that’s like.” Trent’s first few years as an apprentice were tough—minimal pay for long, grinding hours and generally getting treated like a lackey and a grunt. It was worth it in the end, and Liv was the smartest out of all his siblings, but it would still take her a few years to start reaping the rewards and so, in the meantime, if he could help, he would.
“Okay, so you’re squatting in her house while she’s got a guest staying there.” Nick shook his head. “Classic Trent.”
Unlike his siblings, Trent was very much a “go with the flow” kinda person. It definitely bucked against the rest of the Walters and their goal-setting, list-making, and rule-following ways. Really, it was one of many ways he was the odd one out.
“What? Cora and I talked it over. I told her she could go stay with Adam and Soraya, but she didn’t want to.” The conversation on the other side of the table had moved on to more Australian wildlife horror stories, and Kellen was recounting the time he had a close encounter with a red kangaroo. “Besides, she seems…like she could use the company.”
There was something sensitive about Cora. Something…heavy. Like she was carrying a load on her shoulders.
“I’ll bet you’re real happy to provide her that company.” Nick chuckled and took a swig of his beer.
“You make me sound like a creep,” Trent protested. “It’s not like that.”
Except, in his head, it was definitely like that. Maybe inviting Cora to beach cricket hadn’t been the smartest move, because watching her bound around in skimpy black bathers had given him way too much late-night inspiration. The beach shower last night had been bad enough; now he had more mental images to keep him awake.
“You know, now that I’m looking at her, she kind of reminds me of—”
“Don’t say it.” Trent sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “I know, it’s weird. I’m trying not to think about it.”
Well, that was one way to stop his dick from leaping to attention. Thinking about his ex was enough to kill any attraction or positive feelings dead in the water. Ugh. Time to change the topic of conversation.
“How’re the plans going for the new development?” Trent asked.
Nick sighed. “The new villas are coming along, but not as quick as I would like.”
Nick and his business partners were in the process of seeking approval to build a development of small beachfront properties at the fringe of Patterson’s Bluff. He had grand plans for a collection of villas with shared amenities, which would make the area more accessible to people who wanted a beautiful property by the beach but who didn’t have huge budgets.
“What’s the problem now?” Trent asked.
“We’ve generated enough ‘interest’ that we have a group protesting our plans. They think we’re going to destroy the natural bushland and all the old trees in that area, to plonk down our…what did they call them? McMansions.” Nick’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “As if I would ever build a McMansion.”
“It sounds like they know nothing about what you’re trying to achieve.”
“They don’t.” He shook his head. “And they’re holding things up.”
That would have to be killing Nick. The family joked that Nick’s first word was “now” and he’d grown only more impatient ever since. His brain worked at the speed of light and he had a drive and ego to match. He was the family’s “big thinker,” the guy who always had a strategy for everything. Plan B didn’t factor into his vocabulary, because he always got what he wanted first time around.