Just My Luck by Rosalind James Read Free Book Online Page A

either dull, or it sounds like a pickup line. I generally end up opting for dull.”
    “Honesty works, though,” she told him. “That was pretty good right there.”
    “Really.” He sounded surprised. “I should throw myself on your mercy, you think?”
    “Definitely. A strong man being endearingly awkward . . . I like it. It’s an approach, anyway.”
    “Better than spilling a beer on her, I reckon.”
    “Much better.” She realized that she was paddling along with a smile on her face. Why hadn’t she met this guy before? She liked him.
    “I’ll try again, then,” he said. “Did you spend Christmas here as well, on the Coromandel?”
    “No, in Auckland. And it rained one day, but otherwise the weather was good. Just to anticipate you.”
    He laughed. “Do anything special?”
    “I did, actually. I bungy jumped off the Sky Tower. Kristen’s Christmas present.”
    “Crikey. This is me shuddering back here.”
    “No, really?” she asked in surprise. “It was amazing. You should try it.”
    “I’ll take your word for it,” he decided.
    “You don’t like thrills?”
    “I love thrills. Know how to get them, too. And it’s not by jumping off buildings.”
    Wow. She didn’t think she’d pursue that one. Maybe he meant rugby. Yeah, right. He hadn’t meant rugby.
    They were silent for a few minutes. Ally could tell from the speed of their progress that Nate was, in fact, paddling strongly in sync with her. So he actually did know how to kayak. And he hadn’t felt the need to let her know that, which impressed her even more. He was steering them into a bit of chop now, around the big rock that stood well offshore. And into an area of churning waves on the back side.
    “The Washing Machine, they call this,” he told her as they went through it, to her delight. “I thought you’d want to experience it.”
    “You were right,” she said. “I love waves. This is fun.” Drew and Hannah were staying well out of the chop, she noticed. Drew keeping Hannah’s stomach happy, of course.
    “I’ve got a question for you,” Ally said as they left the area behind, headed further up the coastline. “My own conversational topic. Those nicknames you guys have. You always call Liam ‘Mako,’ don’t you?”
    “Yeh. Rugby nicknames. We like nicknaming things anyway in En Zed, and with rugby, it’s a bit of a tradition. A bonding thing, I guess.”
    “All right. So what’s Mako mean? Isn’t it a fish?”
    “Yeh. It’s a play on his surname, of course, Mahaka. But mako’s Maori for a type of shark. Fastest shark there is. Aggressive, too. Hook a mako, and it can jump straight into your boat and fight you. Hard as hell to bring in, no quit in them at all. And that’s Mako too. Takes two or three blokes to bring him down, and he’ll be fighting all the way to the end, every time. He’s the man you want beside you in the tough spots. He’s a warrior.”
    “He didn’t seem like that,” Ally said in alarm. “What Hannah said . . . does he have anger issues? Should I be concerned for Kristen?”
    “What I said, that’s just on the paddock,” he assured her. “It’s a rugby nickname, eh. With women . . . nah. No worries.”
    “OK,” Ally said dubiously. “I guess you’d know. And your nickname is Toro. For Torrance, I figured that out. But if Mako’s about the shark, Toro probably does have to do with the bull thing, right?”
    “So they say.”
    Oh-kay. That was all she was going to get out of him. Which made her wonder just what that nickname really was all about. Don’t go there, Ally.
    “So what’s Drew’s nickname?” she asked instead, turning her mind hastily from the danger zone. “Everyone seems to just call him ‘Drew.’”
    “Well, his name’s Andrew,” Nate pointed out.
    “Yes, and your name’s probably Nathan. Why isn’t he . . . Callie, or something? Callo. Drewie.” A laugh escaped her at the idea.
    “You’d never call him that,” Nate said immediately.