The Problem With Heartache by Lauren K. McKellar Page B

some point, the ticketing assistant came over to watch, and I saw her get out her phone. I glanced over at the boys. Jay’s hat was still firmly on, and it was no longer just sunburn I was worried about protecting him from. It was a different danger entirely.
    “Excuse me,” I said.
    “Yeah?”
    “Can I please ask you not to take photos?” I scrunched up my nose. “He’ll do a selfie with you when he’s off the slides; hell, I’m sure he’d even kiss your cheek in it. But this is private stuff.” I didn’t know how Lottie felt about having her son in the media, but since I’d never seen photos of Jay in the magazines, I doubted it was something she was keen on.
    “Sure.” The girl nodded and put her phone in her pocket after deleting the pictures she’d taken. Really, what was stopping her from taking more when my back was turned? I guess all you could do was hope.
    Lee came jogging up, his wet hair flicking everywhere, Jay talking a million miles per hour at his side.
    “Coming in?” Lee asked me.
    “It’s freezing!” I protested.
    “Warmer in than out. I promise.” Lee spoke the words, but I didn’t really hear them. It was hard to concentrate with all the visual noise his chest was making. It was so shiny, and well-defined, and sexy, the edges of a tattoo wrapping around his lower ribcage.
    “Kate?”
    “Huh?” I jerked my gaze back to the present. Oops!
    “I said, you could wear your underwear. It covers just as much,” Lee suggested, and I had to agree with him here. It did cover just as much as a bikini would. It was the way it covered it that was a problem.
    “Somehow, I don’t think lace mesh bikinis will ever be in-fashion swimming items,” I said sarcastically, and Lee laughed.
    “You could try it and see?” he husked. That line, and the combination of sexy, half-naked lead singer made my cheeks heat, and I became a little too lost in the moment again.
    But that wouldn’t do. I was here to work. It had only just been a fortnight; I wasn’t here to swoon over Lee- freaking -Collins.
    I pressed my hand to my temple and closed my eyes for a moment, willing Lachlan’s face to disappear from my mind, then clawing it back desperately. Flashes of our happy times together, working at Sideways, running in the rain, holding hands …
    I shivered. Seven months wasn’t enough time to heal a broken heart. I still needed him like I needed to breathe.
    “You guys make a really cute family,” Selife Taker said, snapping some more shots of us on her camera phone.
    “Oh, we’re not—”
    “Thank you.” Lee gave her a megawatt smile and she all but melted under its intensity.
    “Delete those ones too, please.” I gave an asinine smile, and was greeted with a pout but compliance nonetheless. She slowly retreated back to the front desk.
    Lee and Jay ran around the water fountain, Jay’s hat flying off behind him as they chased some invisible assailant.
    “No pictures, thanks,” I reminded the girl, in case she chose this moment to take another.
    Lee stopped running. He froze. He picked up Jay’s hat, placed it firmly on his head, and then he took five steps closer to me. Five long steps, during which I analysed how his chest glinted in the sun with each movement. How his legs were just coiled muscle, ready to spring. How good he was with Jay.
    “You can take a picture,” he said, his breath hot in my ear. He was so close to me that tingles bolted up and down my spine like lightning.
    “I …” I started. Guilt rolled over me, but for just one moment I focused on the firm lines of chest, his pecs at my eye level. I couldn’t finish the sentence. Not when he was so close. When he was so naked.
    Heat rushed to my cheeks again.
    “Why are your cheeks red, Kate?” Jay asked, his tiny, slightly chubby arms folded across his chest.
    “Yeah, why are they, Kate?” Lee asked, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
    “No reason,” I mumbled, my arms now folded across my chest. There was no