“You think? How the hell am I going to fix this?”
“You’re asking me for advice?”
“Quit being a smartarse and help me.”
“Tell her about Dad and Elizabeth, about me. Explain you were coerced into doing the show and wanted to protect her.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Play the long game and show her by deed. Be her friend, and when the right opportunity presents, tell her you love her.”
“And if she doesn’t believe me?”
Tyler clapped him over the back. “The long game, bro. If you really love her, then she’s worth fighting for, worth taking a few knockbacks. As long as she isn’t seeing anyone else, you’re in with a chance.”
Nolan nodded, seeing the sense of patience even though it galled him.
Later that afternoon, he and Tyler drove to the rugby grounds and prepared for the game. When they ran onto the field and he scanned the sidelines, searching for Yvonne.
“Enough of that,” Connor said, nudging Nolan sharply in the ribs. “Mind on the game. Sexy women come later.”
Yvonne enjoyed the rugby game. She stood on the sideline with Susan, Christina and Maggie clapping and cheering each successful drive and run the Hawks made toward the try line.
“What’s the score?” Julia asked, breathless and beautiful with Ryan and Caleb in tow.
“They’re actually winning,” Maggie said without taking her gaze off the game. “Connor will be so excited. Go, go!” she screeched when the Hawks got the ball. It flew from player to player and everyone cheered until one of the opposition did a head-high tackle on Tyler.
“Boo!” Susan shouted, and the supporters on their side of the field echoed her cry.
“Penalty,” Maggie said, seconds later. “I wonder if they’ll kick for a goal or decide to run the ball.”
Yvonne joined in the banter, her earlier sullen mood gone after shopping with the girls and her hair appointment earlier in the day. They were in Auckland until the following evening, so she might as well make the best of things. No matter what Nolan said, she couldn’t risk getting hurt again. Marriage—well, she’d thought she was getting forever when she said “I do” and look at the result. Her husband and her dance partner.
The final whistle blew, and the Hawks’ supporters jumped up and down in excitement, applauding wildly.
“We’ve won a game,” Maggie said. “Twenty-one to three. It’s unheard of. We need to celebrate.”
“Later at the club,” Julia said.
“Is anyone going to the clubrooms with me?” Maggie asked.
“I will,” Christina said.
“I’m going back to the hotel room to have another hot bath. My muscles are killing me,” Yvonne said. “You girls have tired me out.”
Susan gave her a quick hug. “I’m going to head off too. Want to share a cab with me? Maggie, can you tell Tyler and Nolan we’ve gone?”
Back at the hotel, Yvonne ran the bath and gathered her hair into a topknot, pinning it in place so she didn’t get it wet. Her morning visit to the hairdresser might have been expensive, but her dollars were well spent. The man had wanted to cut more off the length, and she was still wondering why she’d listened to Nolan’s plea to keep her hair long.
The bubble of the spa bath eased the ache in her arms and legs, and once dressed in a new pair of black trousers and a tunic top, she felt heaps better. She made a cup of peppermint tea and sat by the window in the late afternoon sun. The harbor was a busy place with ferries sailing over to Devonport and off to places farther afield. A tall ship drifted in the distance, the sails billowing with wind.
The door opened. “Yvonne?”
“I’m here,” she said, setting her tea aside and standing.
Nolan came to an abrupt stop. “You look beautiful.”
Pleasure sizzled at his compliment. She’d thought she looked good, but Nolan was devouring her with his gaze and her confidence soared.
