The Man Ban - Nicola Marsh Page 0,61

of BS she’d fallen for.

44

At the end of an eight-hour shift, the last thing Manny felt like doing was having drinks with other couples. He’d much rather have Harper all to himself, in his bed preferably, but while he may not have had a real relationship before, he knew it meant making sacrifices.

At least he knew Samira and Rory, and Pia, though he hadn’t met her husband, Dev, yet. Harper had been pretty chuffed about them reuniting, and from what Samira had told him, Pia and Dev had been through the wringer trying to conceive, and infertility had precipitated their separation.

So he could do this. Play nice for an hour, make small talk, then whisk his girlfriend back to his place for some raunchy one-on-one time.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Harper said, as they strolled along the Yarra River to an upmarket Southbank bar.

“It’s because I’m still processing. The aunties really call me the Unicorn?”

“Yeah, because you can’t be captured. A figment of the imagination of a thousand pining brides-to-be, apparently.”

“They’re always trying to matchmake, regardless if you welcome it or not, and I do not,” he said, wondering why Izzy hadn’t mentioned the nickname over the years.

Though it wasn’t exactly flattering, and he’d hazard a guess the aunties had never used it in front of his gran. She’d always been fiercely protective of him, and in a battle of Izzy versus the aunties he’d have his money on Izzy every time.

“You’re Anglo-Indian though, so arranged marriages aren’t part of your culture. Why do they feel the need to interfere?”

“Because it’s a skill born of a lifetime’s practice,” he said drily, remembering countless functions where he’d been introduced to an endless parade of “suitable” women.

Doctors were considered the Holy Grail for matchmaking mothers, and he’d been successfully dodging them ever since he graduated.

“I can’t wait to show you off to the community,” he said. “Having a girlfriend will finally get those old crows off my back.”

“So that’s all I am, huh? A prop in your dastardly plan to foil the aunties?”

“You’re also incredibly talented in bed,” he deadpanned, cracking up when she bumped him with her hip, hard, and he staggered a step. “Hey, don’t be so brutal. I’m coming off a difficult shift and I’m only doing this because you asked so nicely.”

The memory of how she’d asked, by giving him a blow job as a prelude, had him wanting to finish these obligatory drinks in thirty minutes rather than sixty.

“It’s our first outing as a couple,” she said, her smile surprisingly shy. “It’s kind of nice.”

“You know what would be nicer?”

He lowered his head to whisper in her ear every filthy thing he’d do to her later, and by the end of it she was leaning into him, her breathing accelerated.

“You don’t play fair,” she muttered, tilting her face up to his. “The least you can do is kiss me.”

“I’m not into PDAs in the middle of Melbourne,” he said, struggling to not laugh in the face of her outrage.

“You better give me some kind of public display of affection right here, right now, mister, or I’m going to torture you.”

“How?”

“By telling you I’m going commando under this dress and your naughty wordplay means I won’t be sitting down the entire time we’re in the bar.”

With that, she strutted up the steps in front of him, leaving him with a raging hard-on and lamenting his urge to tease, because Harper had matched him quip for quip while upping the ante.

She was magnificent.

He bounded up the steps after her in time to hold the door open, and she smiled sweetly before entering.

“There they are.” She pointed to a corner of the bar where the other couples had nabbed a tall table surrounded by stools. “Behave.”

“After that stunt you just pulled?”

“Who, me?” She batted her eyelashes and he laughed. “As I recall, you started it with your dirty talk.”

“Stop it. I can’t walk up to these people with a boner.”

She tapped her lip, pretending to ponder. “And here I was thinking I took care of that situation about an hour ago.”

“You. Are. Killing. Me,” he said, through gritted teeth.

“Hey, they’ve seen us.” She waved and slipped her hand into his. “Just stand behind me till you get that thing under control.”

“That thing is going to make you very happy later.”

They grinned at each other, electricity arcing between them with the promise of what was to come. He loved her mischievous side, and he could imagine them having a lot of fun together