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  His mouth formed a small smile and his eyes twinkled against the night sky. ‘My pleasure,’ he whispered. ‘Again.’ He held out his hand. It was no longer hot, just warm and smooth. Honest. ‘I don’t think we’ve met. My name’s Luke.’

  ‘I’m Flora. And the pleasure was all mine.’

  In ways you will never know.

  Luke leant towards her, his manly lips so close to her own they almost touched. She could feel herself being drawn towards them. ‘Nothing will ever be more pleasurable for me than this night with you,’ he murmured. And then he was gone.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning, Flora was in a state of dreamlike shock. She drifted, or maybe danced, around the house tidying and cleaning to the Strictly Ballroom soundtrack, the closest thing to Latin music she could find in her meagre collection of CD’s. Contented, she dust-busted the sofa and plumped the cushions, wiggling her hips to the music as she relived each moment of the previous night in her mind. The rumba was a fun dance, and she hadn’t been that crap at it. She’d only stepped on Luke’s toes once or twice and he had repaid her in kind.

  Congratulating herself for having the courage to actually walk home with him, Flora disinfected the benchtops and removed a hint of a smear from the bathroom mirror. From behind her glasses, her reflection stared back at her, glowing. There was no other word for it. Her cheeks and eyes were luminous. Perhaps she could dispense with the glasses, she decided, putting them on the counter, and maybe she could add a little more of that clear lipgloss. After all, a girl never knew when a surprise caller might pop in for a coffee. Even one called Luke. But that was silly. He was gone, back to his boat never to be seen again. Last night was just one of those things. A lovely memory.

  Spectacle-less she went back to the living room to straighten the curtains and clean the windows in the sliding door. It was funny how such a brief encounter could make her feel so high, she thought, as she added a few twirls and twists to her impromptu routine. Just the promise of that kiss had sent her emotions through the roof. There was no way she was missing that dance class next week.

  At eleven o’clock, the phone rang and Flora dashed to answer it, convincing herself that Luke had used his navy spy techniques to get her number and was calling to ask her out. But it wasn’t him. Of course. It was Louise. She was calling from somewhere Beaufort Street, where she had only moments before managed to procure the most darling little handkerchief top. It was, apparently, a must have for summer.

  ‘Why did you leave me to go home alone?’ Flora growled into the speakerphone as Louise finished her monologue on the latest acquisition. ‘I could have been kidnapped and murdered by some crazy guy from Wolf Creek and you wouldn’t have even missed me until I didn’t turn up for school on Monday.’

  ‘Sorry,’ said Louise. ‘We got sidetracked.’

  ‘Who is ‘we’?’

  Now, PJ was in on the act. She was yelling over the sound of a bus going up the street. ‘We met up with Dylan. He said, and I quote, “you’d think she’d be able to get herself here without our help. I’m not moving, it’s too bloody cold out there.”’

  Wanker, Flora thought. The sooner PJ ditched him the better.

  ‘But you said you were coming to meet me. You know I don’t like the dark. Serial killers can lurk on any corner.’ Flora tried to sound cross. She wanted them to feel guilty, to realise that being irresponsible wasn’t always fun, even if it had worked out rather well for her.

  ‘Oh stop being such a baby, Flower, you’re still in one piece.’

  Flora huffed and puffed, trying to sound stroppy and for a moment or two all that could be heard was the rumbling of a bus as it crossed a speed hump near them. Then PJ said, ‘Are you cleaning, again, Flora? This a serious conversation. Can you put the bloody scrubber down for a minute!’

  ‘Of course, I’m cleaning, I always clean on Saturday…..’ Flora replied as she wiped down the pantry doors and stood back to survey her handiwork. ‘And don’t change the subject. Where did you go, anyway?’

  ‘Karaoke was boring so we left the pub and went to the Sapphire. I’m no good at that singing stuff. I can’t sing my way out of a paper bag.’

  Hallelujah! If nothing else Louise had finally had a revelation.

  ‘And you didn’t think to tell me? What if I’d turned up and you weren’t there?’ Not that she would have wanted to go. Being in a place where she could ignore Dylan’s put-downs by pretending to concentrate on something else was fine but in a bar where conversation with that toad had to be exchanged? She thought not.

  ‘I sent you a text. Didn’t you get it?’

  Flora could feel her temperature rise. They were trying to blame this on her. ‘No, I didn’t get it. And… anyway…. I had a good time without you and I didn’t walk home alone.’

  ‘Oh. My. God. You totally met someone!’

  Flora paused. Suddenly, she was remembering Luke’s firm hand on the small of her back and the way he smiled into her eyes. Bugger it. They’d be sure to weasel it out if her if she didn’t tell. They’d hear it in her voice. She was a hopeless liar. ‘He was very cute.’

  ‘You met a cute guy?’ repeated Louise, sounding flabbergasted. ‘At a dance class? Are you sure he wasn’t gay?’

  Oh, he wasn’t gay. Even Stevie Wonder could have seen that. ‘He walked me home.’

  ‘Get out.’

  ‘I thought he was going to kiss me.’

  ‘No way. You didn’t bloody let him, did you? I swear to God, Flower, we leave you alone for five minutes and you’re off pashing some desperado. Don’t you remember what happened on the party bus? You’re incorrigible.’

  Well, that’s a little rich, Flora thought. PJ was after all, the one who’d enrolled them in Adult Education classes in Horse Husbandry last semester so they could meet rich horse breeders. Flora hated horses. She didn’t know why they couldn’t have done a sensible course in wine appreciation or something. Lots of men did those. And did they have to keep bringing up the Party Bus incident? How many times did she have to tell them that wasn’t her fault.

  Louise interrupted. ‘What’s his name? Are you going to see him again?’

  ‘I don’t think that’s any of your business.’

  ‘Oh come on, Flower, tell. I’ll cut up my credit card if you tell.’

  ‘His name is Luke and, no, I’m not seeing him again. He’s a sailor on the HMAS Darwin. Here today, gone just as quick. I couldn’t have a relationship with a man like that. Absolutely no stability.’

  ‘Not even if he had fabulous shoulders?’

  ‘Not even if…. Now go and get some scissors from the shop assistant. I want to hear the crunching of plastic within the next thirty seconds.’

  Chapter 5

  Monday morning was the first day of the new term, nine weeks until the Christmas break, and Flora was praying that the usual Monday staff briefing would be cancelled. She had yard duty before school and she wanted to get a handle on the End of Year Concert item before the day began, so a quick revisit of the play would be in order. It was vital that the children had their parts so the parents could begin organising costumes. There were also reports to consider. Her assessments had to be finalised this week so she could start on those and she needed to collect the resources for her Christmas gifts.

  Nobody could ever accuse me of being disorganised, she thought, as she raced down the corridor towards the staffroom. Not like some other people she knew, who had neglected to spend the mandatory three or more days of their holidays in planning time to go shopping instead. Judging by the text messages they’d sent her during the weekend, she was sure they had heaps more to do than she did.

  She opened the door. The room was lit, the minutes stacked on the console beside the door and the tables arranged in a semi-circle. The meeting hadn’t been cancelled. Bugger, she thought, and with only a glimmer of hope remaining that the day would improve and her class would have all learnt to tie their shoelaces in the break, she took her place. />
  Sitting down beside her, PJ was as impatient as ever. She was fiddling in her handbag for a Mentos, flicking her mobile to ‘silent’ and checking her diary all at once. Flora didn’t know how she kept abreast of her schedule, the diary Dylan had bought and pencilled all her dates into didn’t seem to help.

  ‘I hope this doesn’t take too long,’ PJ said. ‘I have to get my photocopying done. Jasmine will blow a bloody gasket if I ask her again.’

  Flora wasn’t surprised. Their hard working teacher’s assistant, Jasmine, regularly performed duties above and beyond her job description for PJ. Sometimes, Flora thought she could probably teach the class better than PJ. She’d certainly had enough experience supervising them while PJ raced off to make yet another imperative phone call, most likely to her manicurist.

  ‘Have you seen the agenda?’ Louise groaned as she took the chair beside PJ. ‘There’s no way we’ll be out of here before the bell goes and we have that Science Club meeting after school. I’m never going to get my programs finished.’

  ‘Bloody hell, I completely forgot.’ Quickly, PJ flipped her phone and sent a text. ‘Dylan,’ she nodded at her phone by way of explanation. ‘I’m meant to be picking him up from the city after school. Looks like I’m going to be late. Again.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ Flora muttered. She didn’t like Dylan. He was insulting to PJ in front others and expected her to drop everything for him. The fact that he was handsome did not, in Flora’s opinion, discount the reality that he was horrid. Yet PJ couldn’t see it. She was so desperate for a husband and the inheritance that lingered in the family bank account, she’d say yes to Osama Bin Laden if he popped the question. Resolving not to say what was on her mind, Flora picked up a pen and went back to the daydream she’d been having – the one about Luke and some dirty dancing of a non-salsa kind. Such a pity that a daydream was all it would ever be. Luke had gone off sailing the world, with a hot girl in every port, no doubt.

  ‘Quiet please, everyone.’

  At the desk in front of them Miriam shuffled her papers and coughed, waiting for the room to come to attention. She was wearing a black version of the eighties power-suit she favoured with massive padded shoulders, gold naval buttons and a white frill necked shirt done up to the neck with a brooch to fasten it. It was the suit she normally reserved for school occasions when the parents were present. Miriam liked to make an impression but Flora wasn’t sure if she was making the one she wanted. Many of the parents in this upwardly mobile environment laughed down their noses at her fashion faux pas.

  Flora studied her superior along the table. The suit, usually a snug fit, was hanging from her frame. It had not been doing that a fortnight ago and her hair had been definitely been restyled. It was now something reminiscent of Posh Beckham.

  Only she’s not Posh, thought Flora. She looked more like a vulture and her long beaky nose and sunken mouth, covered in a slash of deep plum lipstick, only added to the illusion.

  Miriam clapped her hands. ‘People, we need to make a start because, as you can see from the agenda, we have a lot to get through before eight-thirty.’

  The room silenced.

  ‘Firstly, I’d like to introduce you all to our new temporary Principal, Luke McDermott. ‘He comes to us from Kent Grammar in Sydney and will be filling in for Jeff while he’s on sick leave. Luke was highly recommended by his last Principal and has a special expertise in middle schooling and single sex classes, which should be useful considering we’re heading in that direction ourselves.’

  ‘Note the way she emphasised the word ‘temporary’,’ Louise hissed in Flora’s ear. ‘She’s so spewing that she wasn’t given the job.’

  Flora rolled her eyes. If that were true, Miriam would be even more unbearable. Flora would really have to watch her back.

  A sheet of minutes slid in her direction. On the side was a scribbled message.

  Mr McDermott is easy on the eye.

  Hmm, Flora wrote back. It wasn’t worth looking. Anything over the age of twenty and male was easy on the eye according to PJ. It was ludicrous. She knew Dylan would throw a fit if he so much as heard her talking about another man.

  ‘Not my style,’ PJ whispered, ‘but he doesn’t look like complete tyrant.’

  ‘Not at all,’ Flora added, without looking up. She wasn’t interested. She was too busy devising love scenes with Rumba guy in her head to worry about a man with a tweed jacket who wanted to introduce middle schooling. But PJ was relentless.

  ‘He’s a bit McDreamy. Reckon?’

  Flora straightened in her seat. It seemed a quick glance would be needed to appease her friend. ‘Oh…my…God.’

  Suddenly, the perils of middle schooling faded into obscurity. The blood drained from Flora’s head and her heart, not where it should be at all, began doing backflips in her throat. ‘Oh….. shit!’

  ‘What?’ Louise and PJ frowned. Flora never swore. She was anal about the whole professionalism thing.

  ‘Flora? Are you alright?’

  Flora was trembling violently. Her pen had dropped to the table. ‘It’s him. Oh God. Oh God. What am I going to do?’

  ‘Who?’

  This is her worst nightmare come true. Luke wasn’t a sailor, he was a teacher! And he was here…. in her school, drinking from the same coffee mug and eating from the same biscuit tin. Trying to control her breathing, she sneaked a peak from over her glasses.

  Oh God, he looked even more gorgeous than last Friday night. What was she going to do?

  She had almost kissed her boss.

  Embarrassed, Flora covered her cheek with a wisp of hair and slunk her body as far under the desk as she could without falling from her chair, which only succeeded in causing her to fall to the floor with a massive thud. For some reason she felt self-conscious and it wasn’t because she was splayed out like a hearthrug on the staffroom floor. Luke was looking straight at her. Oh bugger, bugger, bugger!

  ‘What in bloody hell are you doing?’ hissed PJ, grabbing Flora’s arm and tugging her roughly into her seat. ‘Will you sit up. Miriam is giving us the evils.’

  ‘I can’t. It’s him.’ Flora was utterly confused. How could this be happening? How could this vision of perfection materialise in her own environment? It was one thing to spend the weekend with unrealistic fantasies and a bar of chocolate but another to have them sitting in front of you in a business shirt and tie. It changed everything. Oh bugger, bugger, bugger!

  ‘Are you positive?’ Louise and PJ were checking him out, as Flora nodded in sad recognition, almost tempted to laugh aloud at the absurdity of it all. They must have looked odd, the three of them sitting in a row gawking and falling off chairs. Still, it was nothing more than some of the other female staff. No wonder Miriam had appeared in her special suit. She’d met him already. She could recognise a single, hunky man when she saw one and she wanted a piece. It wasn’t because she was livid at him for taking the job she coveted so.

  Swallowing, Flora rubbed her lids beneath her glasses, hoping that somehow Luke would be gone when she opened. ‘Yep, it’s him.’

  ‘The one from the other night? The guy who tried to kiss you?’ PJ asked.

  ‘Yep.’

  Louise squinted through her fringe. ‘Wow. He’s hot. Bet you never thought you’d see any more of him.’

  ‘You could say something like that.’

  ‘Bet she wishes she did.’

  Flora glared at her. PJ was so vulgar sometimes.

  ‘And you’re sure you didn’t kiss him?’ Louise asked. ‘You look awfully guilty for someone who only walked in the dark.’

  ‘I didn’t kiss him.’

  ‘Well put your head up, then, for God’s sake. You’re drawing attention to us.’

  So, Flora lifted her head, covering it quickly with the sheet of minutes as if engrossed in something important. With the stealth of an ASIO spy, she peeped around the side as discretely as she could for someone who had just made a fool of herself by falling off her own chair in
front of twenty–three colleagues. She had to look. She had no choice. It was Luke.

  The man of her dreams.

  It’s all in the lips, she thought as she studied his mouth. That’s where the attraction stems from. Ok, so his jawline was strong too but the lips were plump and kissable and he was doing that sort of sexy frowning thing, like he’d been doing in the mirror the first time she saw him.

  She squinted a little more. Something was different. The hair. The short raven style had streaks of leaf brown that didn’t look dyed, that was the same, but he’d combed it in a more sober fashion to look professional. And then there were those eyes, just as she had remembered them in her mind - dark, smouldering, bottomless. She could sense them on her face, searching for recognition. No, it wasn’t just the lips, she admitted. It was the whole package.

  Louise leant across the table, pinching PJ’s forearem. ‘I think the fourth term has taken on a totally new meaning for Flora.’

  ‘I think sex has taken on a whole new meaning! Maybe now she’ll take off those hideous glasses.’

  ‘Will you two shut up, this could be important,’ Flora shushed, trying to concentrate.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Flower,’ giggled Louise. Everyone knew, Miriam saying anything important during a staff meeting about as likely as Australia winning a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

  Chapter 6

  The next afternoon, Flora was in her classroom, balancing on a chair, on a desk because she didn’t have the time to walk ten metres to the storeroom to get the stepladder. She knew it was dangerous, and that Miriam would have her on a stick if she saw her, but she was trying to reach the top of the pinup board to secure a loose corner of a picture. It had been dangling that way all day and it was driving her nuts. It was bad enough that Luke was here and yet more of her underwear was missing…. but she was not going to have her perfectly ordered world disrupted by a loose sheet of card, too.