Christmas Holiday Husband by Kris Pearson Page A

barbecue. “Goodness,” she exclaimed, trying to keep a straight face.
    A few minutes later she checked her watch. “Nearly two-thirty. Teacher thinks it’s time for lessons in the classroom.” There were groans from the girls, but Tony agreed they’d been out in the sun long enough.
    As they drove back to Wharemoana, he reached across and caressed her thigh, running a finger from her knee up to the hem of her shorts, then down again. She shivered with the implied promise of intimacy to follow, and was surprised when he said, “School hasn’t finished for the year yet. Or not according to Bob and his wife. How did you swing it?”
    She lifted his hand away and dropped it on his own leg. “No mystery. I’m an on call relief teacher. A fill in for when others get sick or schools are short of staff.”
    “So you don’t have a permanent class at the same school?”
    “Sometimes, but mostly not for long. And yes, I swap schools all the time.”
    He looked across at her, doubt in his eyes. “But why?”
    “The hourly rate is better. Simple as that. I wanted to get my house deposit together as fast as I could. It means I have to be ready every morning to jump into action plugging emergency gaps, but it’s a better deal moneywise.” She reached back and gathered her hair into a ponytail, then let it fall again. “We don’t all live in your nice clean easy world, Tony.”
    He narrowed his eyes at her. “Yeah—no mud, no dung, no floods or droughts in my world. No pests and diseases, no worries about draconian government regulations or overseas markets cancelling their orders at short notice. No problem staff. No tractor or quad bike accidents. Really nice and easy...”
    Ellie bit her lip. “Sorry. But you know what I mean. There’s only me to depend on, so I have to do the best I can.”
    She turned away and stared ahead at the ribbon of gravelled road. “When I saw your ad asking for a private tutor, I thought ‘why not?’ I’m a good teacher—you learn a heap when you’re facing new classes all the time. I was able to start straight away, and that seemed to suit Ginny.” She glanced over at him again. “And then the flat caught fire, and it was amazing to have the possibility of a job with accommodation.”
    The corner of Tony’s mouth kicked up. “It was even more amazing when you came bouncing into the kitchen yesterday.”
    “Surprise all round,” Ellie agreed, removing his wandering hand from her leg yet again.
    They arrived at Wharemoana soon after three.
    She bundled the twins into the schoolroom until four. The girls wanted stories of dinosaurs, and her mind kept wandering to Tony’s long golden back and broad shoulders—warm, strong, and slippery with sunscreen. As a teaching session it was far from productive.
    After that, she hurried to her bedroom and hid Cal’s photograph in the top drawer amongst her underwear. When she met Tony on the balcony tonight, their dark-haired, dark-eyed son would be safely out of sight, just in case.
    She sifted through the contents of the drawer. Her mother had given her a lacy ivory camisole and matching panties for her last birthday. She laid them on the bed in readiness, and found the short black skirt she was fond of. And an aqua top with thin straps to show off her sun-kissed shoulders. Not from Paris, but perfectly pretty.
    She drifted into the en suite bathroom and emerged a little later, clean, fragrant and just slightly nervous. After so many years it still felt right when Tony caressed her. Every nerve in her body sparked and burned for him, however much her sensible brain tried to deny the attraction. But...
    She shook her head as she wondered how to keep the truth hidden from him. Not just of Cal’s existence. Any relationship she embarked on with Tony would mean so much more to her than his coolly delivered ‘mutual pleasure, no strings’ description—and he must never know that.
    Xxx
    All thoughts of an early departure to bed were wiped