Free Lawless by Jessie Keane Page A

opened and the customers streamed in.

18
    ‘Hi! Rob!’
    Daisy got back home shortly after six, and there was Rob out on the front drive, washing down the Mercedes in the fading half-light with his shirt sleeves rolled up. She thought he looked sexy as hell. His toffee-blond hair was flopping into his eyes. Her heart did a roll, just seeing him there. He glanced up, didn’t smile.
    ‘Oh. Hiya, Daise.’
    ‘Busy?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    He carried on soaping the car. Daisy watched him working, imagining those strong, strong hands on her body. He was so reliable , Rob. You felt like you could count on him for anything. She’d had a pig of a day, but seeing him was the perfect salve to her wounded feelings. Her co-workers hated her. She was the boss’s daughter, slumming it – that was how they saw her. They were determined not to give her a chance. But at least Rob didn’t have any of those stupid preconceptions.
    ‘How’s it going at the store?’ he asked, seeing that she was still standing there, watching him.
    ‘Fine. Great!’ she lied.
    ‘Good,’ said Rob.
    ‘Rob . . .’ Daisy stepped closer, and snagged her instep on the hose, twisting her ankle and lurching sideways. Rob reached out, caught her arm, steadied her.
    ‘Careful,’ he said.
    ‘Ow,’ said Daisy. That hurt. God, why wasn’t she any good at all this femme fatale business, like chic Auntie Vi? But no. She lumbered around the place, tripping over hoses and making a fool of herself.
    ‘All right?’ he asked, still holding her arm while she hopped on one leg.
    ‘Yeah. Fine,’ said Daisy, wincing.
    ‘Sure?’ Now he was smiling. Laughing at her. She was sick of being laughed at.
    ‘Fine,’ said Daisy, yanking her arm free and straightening herself up with all the dignity she could muster. ‘See you,’ she said, and limped off indoors.
    Rob watched her go, and sighed. He knew where she was going with this, and – OK – he had wanted to go there too, quite badly. He thought she was the sexiest woman he’d seen in a long while, and he wanted to fuck her bandy. But he’d had time to think it through, and now he reckoned it would be a stupid move. She was too bloody posh , for a start. And too bossy. Plus, she had a shedload of baggage. She’d done that rich-girl-goes-crazy thing in her younger years, driven everyone nuts. Was she over all that shit yet? Who knew?
    On top of that she had babies. Twins, for God’s sake. Double the trouble. Plus there was that crazy little fat fucker of an ex-husband – not that he could give a shit about Simon Collins, but still, it was an unwanted complication. And she was the boss’s sister, and Kit was almost off his head at the moment, there was trouble building up there with him and the Danieri mob. It was all a little too close for comfort. If he got together with Daisy and then they fell out, how would that sit with Kit, and with their mother Ruby?
    Rob got back to polishing the car.
    No. Best to steer well clear of the complications. Find a nice single girl down the pub, no kids, no hassle, no crazy lunatic exes or unwanted connections, and let off steam with her instead.
    It was all Daisy could do to stay awake, but she forced herself to get up out of the cosy armchair in the twins’ room and make her way downstairs to join her mother. The previous evening she’d been so exhausted she’d gone to bed as soon as she finished bathing the twins with Jody and tucked them in for the night. She didn’t want to make a habit of being in bed by seven thirty.
    She sat down on the sofa beside Ruby, kicked off her shoes and gingerly rubbed at her ankle. It was still sore, but she wasn’t limping any more. No permanent damage. Not enough to cry off work tomorrow, which was a pity. Fucking store work.
    ‘You OK?’ asked Ruby.
    Daisy looked up at her mother, wondering whether to come clean, but the strain on Ruby’s face stopped her in her tracks. ‘I’m fine, but what about you? You look as if you’re