A Home On Bramble Hill. Holly Martin

She would just walk across his garden as if she had every right to do so, which of course she did. Five metres away, four, three… and if he had noticed her he hadn’t come out and yelled at her yet. Suddenly something in Finn’s downstairs window caught her eye, and despite her best intentions to be in and out in mere seconds, she couldn’t help but look.

      There was Finn, stark naked, drying his wet hair with a towel.

       Chapter Four

      He had evidently come downstairs to answer the phone, as he was chatting away on it, not expecting anyone to stroll across his back garden.

      His body was glorious, he was so tall and big. His great broad chest, with that tantalizing pierced nipple. Muscles screamed from every part of him. Every single part. She couldn’t help but let her eyes wander, following the thin smattering of hair down from his navel to his groin. She swallowed. He really was big in every single sense. She wondered if he had to have some special licence for it, an operator of heavy machinery. His thighs were huge too, there would be a lot of strength and stamina in those hips and thighs. She imagined what it would feel like to be wrapped around those hips, to feel that much strength under her hands, against her own body.

      Suddenly aware of what she was doing, that she had been frozen to the spot for at least a minute, if not more, she looked back up at Finn’s face. How long he had known she was there was unclear, but he was staring at her – his mouth partly open in shock. Not only had she looked through his window and caught him naked, but she might as well have opened a bag of popcorn and pulled up a chair for the amount of time she had spent enjoying the show.

      She turned away and hurried through the back gate. Out the corner of her eye she saw Finn quickly wrap a towel around himself and move to the door to confront her.

      ‘Oi!’ came Finn’s voice through the gate. ‘Get a good enough look did you?’

      Stifling the smirk from her mouth, she whirled to face him. He was so tall that even though the gate was closed, she could still see his head and chest above it. That chest with the pierced nipple.

      ‘Let’s call us even shall we, since you stood perving at me in my bedroom this morning.’

      ‘I was not…’ He paused, clearly fighting with the decision to shout at her or accept she was right. ‘Fine, let’s call it even.’

      This surprised her. She fumbled with her keys, trying to get inside as quickly as possible, but the damned key wouldn’t turn and he was still standing there watching her. Finally she undid the lock and tumbled through the door, knowing her face was burning bright red yet again.

      *

      Dusk fell on Bramble Hill, leaving trails of plum and tangerine across the sky. The village, as always, was peaceful and quiet. Though next door to Finn was a sudden hive of activity.

      For the last few minutes he had watched Joy load up the back of her car with boxes and bags. She was dressed entirely in black.

      But the weirdest thing was what she was doing now, obscuring her number plates with a purpose made black cover. He wasn’t an expert on the law, but he was pretty sure that was illegal.

      She hopped in the car and to his great surprise, she tied a black bandana round her head, like a pirate. With a great wheel spin, she disappeared up the road.

      One thing was for sure, she was up to no good.

      *

      Joy stood in the darkened trees, gently touching what she had achieved. It was beautiful. The dragon almost glinted in the moonlight. A huge sense of pride filled her and she wanted to stand and stare at it all night. But now she needed to be gone before anyone discovered her.

      She quickly loaded her gear into the back of the Range Rover and manoeuvred out through the trees with the skill of someone with years of experience in off-roading at night. It wasn’t long before she hit the road, and minutes later she arrived back at her house.

      This was the first job she had done so close to home. She had always worked far away in case she got caught, but this particular job was going to pay very well.

      She moved silently into her garden, diligently unloading all her gear into the shed. Her tools would need cleaning the next day, so she quickly disassembled them ready to be cleaned and left their parts spread out on the work bench.

      She moved out into the garden, stretching her arms above her head as she looked up at the stars that glittered like diamonds above her. Thousands of them peppered the inky blue sky, some were in great white clusters but others were separate, proudly standing alone. Without the lights of the city here, the night sky seemed endless above her. She lay down on the chair swing to look at them properly. She and her mum used to lie and look at the stars sometimes. She tried to remember some of the constellations that her mum had pointed out to her all those years before. Orion was easy, as was The Plough and Cassiopeia. And there was Draco – the dragon constellation. Joy smiled fondly as she remembered what she had achieved that night. The Seven Sisters was harder, the constellation you could only really see when you didn’t look directly at it.

      She smiled as she put her hands behind her head. She would just stay there a while longer and find a few more.

      *

      Finn stood annoyed at the window. For someone who never got involved, he was doing a pretty poor job of it.

      He had watched Joy take all her boxes back to the shed and then lay down on the chair swing and she hadn’t moved since. That had been over an hour before. She had evidently fallen asleep on the chair and all Finn could think about was how cold she would be.

      He was determined not to care so he’d forced himself to go back to bed. Sleep evaded him and periodically he kept sitting up to look out the window to see if she was still there.

      Knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep until he resolved this, he grabbed a thick blanket off his bed and stormed down the stairs. It was like having a child next door. She was old enough to look after herself, she certainly shouldn’t be falling asleep outside.

      He opened the connecting gate and walked straight over to her. One arm was behind her head, her eyes were closed, casting shadows over her pale cheeks with her long dark lashes. Her red hair, glinting in the moonlight, looked like curls of fire as it hung over her shoulders.

      Cursing himself, he placed the blanket gently over her, and tucked it in around the edges. She stirred slightly and he prayed she wouldn’t wake up and see him.

      ‘Dad?’ she mumbled.

      God, his heart ached for her. He had to physically stop himself from carrying her into the house and putting her to bed.

      He went back to his own house, happy that she was now at least warm, though it was still several hours before he actually fell asleep.

      *

      Joy woke the next morning and smiled when she realised she had spent the night outside. Her grin broadened even more when she realised she was tucked warmly underneath a blanket.

      It had to be Zach. He really was lovely. It was such a shame that he had this reputation. She would be silly if she thought she could be the person to change him.

      She stood up, wrapping the blanket tightly round herself to protect her against the cool chill of the morning.

      The man himself was standing in his garden, smoking a cigarette. Startled to see her there, he quickly stamped it out, grinning at her sheepishly.

      ‘Morning.’ Zach stepped closer to the fence. He smelt of smoke, and though it was not a particularly attractive habit, the smell of it always reminded her of her dad. He leaned across the fence to touch her face and to her horror he gently pulled a snail from her forehead. She blushed as he placed the snail on the fence between them.

      ‘I erm… fell asleep on the chair,’ she explained lamely.

      ‘So I see.’

      His