by Mandy Magro
‘Well, just remember this: You deserve a man that loves you for the beautiful, kind, strong, intelligent woman you are. I don’t think Alistair is ever going to be that man—he’s never going to change his spots. And the worst thing is, he’s taken away a lot of your confidence and zest for life. This may be the first time he’s cheated on you—’ Jane grit her teeth and glanced skyward before bringing her gaze back to Charlize’s ‘—that we know of, but he’s hurt you time and time again with the way he treats you. He’s hardly ever home, and when he is he expects you to do everything for him. When was the last time he did something to show you how special you are? I mean, the guy can’t even make you breakfast. On Valentine’s Day he didn’t even give you a card—let alone flowers or chocolates—and you sat at home and had dinner for one while he was supposedly working late.’
Charlize nodded miserably. ‘I know, I know. I’ve already given him way too many chances.’ She smiled sadly as she swallowed down the welling emotions. ‘It’s just, as much as I could see things going down the gurgler, I haven’t wanted to believe our relationship was falling apart. I still have feelings for him, and he knows it. And I hate it. It makes me so vulnerable, and you know how much I hate feeling defenceless to a man.’ Charlize wiped her eyes and sniffled. ‘Before Alistair, I’d never have let a bloke walk all over me the way he has.’
‘Well, you’ll just have to find that strength again. And if it takes me giving you a few slaps over the head to snap you out of any crazy decisions, or maybe hiring a hit man to get rid of Alistair forever, you know I’ll be there for you.’ Jane smiled sassily as she gave her a wink.
Charlize reached out and pulled her childhood friend into a tight hug. ‘Thank you, Janey, for putting up with me moping around, for saving me last night, for letting me and Bruce move in with you, and for being the best friend any girl could ever wish for. I honestly couldn’t have stayed away from Alistair for this long without you.’
Jane hugged her tightly back and then pulled away while still holding onto her. ‘You’ve saved me from my fair share of bad relationships over the years, so let’s just say it’s my turn to look after you. You know you can stay here as long as you need to. I love having you around. The place is always spotless and I come home to the most amazing food I’ve ever eaten.’
‘So you’re just using me for my OCD cleaning habits and my amazing culinary skills.’
Jane grinned. ‘Yup.’
Charlize playfully slapped her mate. ‘I love you.’
‘I know, you told me that about a hundred times on the way home last night … or should I say, slurred it a hundred times.’ Jane smiled as she regarded her friend with kind eyes. ‘I love you too, Charz. But I’m worried about you. Please promise me you’re going to try and pull yourself together. You don’t want this affecting your career. You’ve worked way too damn hard to let it all go belly up over a man.’
Charlize traced an X over her chest with her finger. ‘Cross my heart. I’m going to do everything I can to pull myself together. And I will try my best to ignore Alistair’s phone calls and texts until I know exactly what I want. I’m not going to give him a chance to sweet talk me into running back to him because he’s very good at that.’
‘Good. Try and spend some time on yourself. In my opinion, unless you have a man that’s going to treat you like his queen, they’re just not worth it.’
Charlize smiled as she rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, Miss I’m-Waiting-For-The-Right-One.’
‘Well, one of us has to stay on the straight and narrow.’
‘I’d rather live life on the edge, it’s more fun there.’ Charlize hung her head backwards over the bed, regretting it instantly when the room began to spin. She quickly motioned for Jane to help her back up as Bruce leapt from her lap and to the floor. He sat and eyed her with his head cocked to the side.
Jane reached out and grabbed Charlize’s hands, yanking her back up the right way. ‘And boy oh boy haven’t I learnt that the hard way over the years? The amount of times you’ve gotten me into bloody trouble.’ Jane giggled as she shook her head. ‘My theory is you have more chance of landing flat on your face if you’re balancing on the edge all the time. I like to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground, thank you very much. That way I know where I stand and what to expect.’
‘Like I said, no fun.’ Now sitting again, Charlize poked her tongue out and then rolled her eyes, smiling playfully. ‘Anyhoos. I suppose I better get up and get myself looking decent. I have a meeting with the boss at ten. I’m nervous as hell he’s going to grill me because I haven’t been focused on my work these past couple of weeks.’ She jumped from the bed, her singlet skew-whiff and her matching boxers riding up her bum. ‘Right. Plan of attack is: nice hot shower, a clean outfit, greasy fried eggs on toast, plenty of coffee and then off to catch the train because my car is still parked at the restaurant you saved me from.’
‘I’m sure Jasper understands you’ve been hurting badly, and therefore not yourself lately.’ Jane stood and straightened her already immaculately ironed knee-length skirt. ‘I can give you a lift if you like. I’m heading straight to the courthouse so I’ll be going past your office block. We’ll go and grab your car after work.’
Standing at her wardrobe with Bruce at her heels, Charlize chose a black suit and then knelt down to pick matching heels. Bruce joined her in her quest for footwear, hindering more than helping as he jumped from one heeled shoe to another, knocking most of them over in the process. Charlize couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Thanks Janey.’ She turned and smiled at her friend. ‘What would I do without you?’
‘I’d hate to think.’ Jane said with a smile as she turned in her heels.
CHAPTER
2
‘But wait, Char, there’s more,’ The Insider’s editor-in-chief, Jasper Oliver, said. Leaning towards her, he dropped his voice. ‘Kylie Miller handed her resignation in last week, and I reckon if you can pull this article off, you might just find yourself next in line for managing editor, which means you’ll finally get your own office after years of working out of a cubicle.’ He eyed her as if to say how amazing would that be?
Charlize’s jaw dropped and she stared across the desk at her immaculately groomed boss as his attention shifted to his ringing mobile—words completely evading her.
‘Jasper Oliver speaking. Aha. Right. Are you serious? Look, I am in the middle of something but I can give you a few minutes, so go on.’ He spun his seat around to create some privacy; leaving Charlize to ponder what he’d just told her.
A promotion from fashion and gossip columnist to managing editor, wow! But the way she was possibly going to get it, well, it wasn’t so appealing. Attending a country rodeo and overseeing a naked calendar shoot of dirt-covered cowboys? It was just all so overwhelming, and not in a good way.
What could she possibly have to write about some hick who rode bulls and bred cattle for people to eat? To make matters even worse she was going to be staying on his property—probably in some shack full of spiders and snakes and God knows what. She trembled with the thought. Here she was thinking her job was in jeopardy, when in truth a massive promotion was dangling right before her—but with a catch. And what a catch it was.
Her, on a cattle property, in the middle of Woop Woop, for an entire week?
He had to be kidding. Good God, she’d never even heard of Grenfall, or Greenwell, or whatever the hell it was called, and she had no desire whatsoever to report on a rodeo, even if it was the Australian Championship. If the word on the street was anything to go by, all cowboys were womanisers and completely arrogant, and that was the last kind of man she wanted to be around right now. How ironic that this would be the assignment to prove her worthiness. In her dazed state she almost snorted with laughter, but instead took a sip from her vanilla soy latte and then twirled one of her long ringlet curls around her finger as she tried desperately to come to grips with his offer.
Being a beach lover and a city girl, she’d n
ever gone any further inland than the outer suburbs of Sydney. Why would she traipse into the never-never of Australia to interview a bull rider when her job as a columnist was mainly to keep women up-to-date on all the celebrity gossip and the latest fashion trends—not forgetting important matters like the best sexual positions for mind-blowing orgasms and how to win your dream man.
And just when it couldn’t get any more crazy, to coincide with her story, Jasper wanted to put in a calendar of—wait for it—tastefully naked (as he had put it) men from the outback. Her boss had come up with plenty of wacky ideas over the years—and she had to admit that most of them actually worked—but she’d bloody well heard it all now. Had he been smoking wacky weed or was he just simply losing his mind? She half expected someone to jump out from under the desk to tell her she’d been punked.
Glancing around the room, she prayed she was being filmed because she’d rather be made a fool on national television than sent into the middle of nowhere where life’s little luxuries were out of reach. This would have to be her worst nightmare—other than being eaten alive by a shark or a crocodile. And how would Bruce feel about being in the country? Because there was no way on earth she’d be leaving her little mate behind, not with Alistair hell-bent on getting him back. How would she survive without her favourite coffee every morning? She’d literally die without her barista-made caffeine fix. An involuntary sigh escaped her.
Now off his phone, Jasper spun around and gazed back at her, his lips pouting as he evaluated her unusual lack of speech. He tapped his pen against the desk, and then blew out a weighty breath. ‘Seeing as you’ve been saying how you wish you could get away to clear your head, I thought you’d be really excited about this opportunity, Charlize. If you do this right, there’s a fair chance you will be climbing the ladder in here. I’ll be making sure the big boss knows I feel you’re ready for it.’
Charlize turned her attention to the hazy city skyline visible through Jasper’s wall-to-floor windows. What she’d give to have an office like this, but one step at a time. ‘I was thinking something more like a deserted island surrounded by turquoise water with half-naked waiters serving delicious cocktails, Jasper. Not a trip to the deserts of Australia to report on a rodeo and watch a bunch of cavemen get naked for a photo shoot.’ She gazed back at him with a determined stare. ‘Please tell me they are going to be covering their manly regions for the calendar.’
Jasper’s mouth twitched like he wanted to smile. ‘Of course they are, darling. We don’t want our readers having coronaries now, do we?’ He leant forward and folded his manicured hands on his desk. ‘Look, you know how rural romance has taken Australia by storm, and how shows like The Farmer Wants a Wife have topped the television ratings—’
‘Just for the record, I’ve only ever watched The Farmer Wants a Wife a handful of times. I’m more a Bachelor fan.’
‘Well, I want us to get on the country-loving bandwagon with a spicy article about an equally spicy kind of countryman. You know, something our readers can really sink their teeth into. I want you to give them the lowdown on the day-to-day life of a professional bull rider and you wouldn’t be able to do that without spending a decent amount of time with him. And the calendar? Well, that’s just an added bonus.’ His gaze intensified. ‘I want you to really get to know what’s underneath the bonnet, so to speak. I want to know what drives him to do the most dangerous sport on earth, what makes him tick, what makes him the man he is.’
‘If I accept this mission, I’ll do my best to uncover everything about him,’ she replied between sips of her coffee.
Jasper gave up trying to hide his smile and grinned broadly, his perfectly white teeth a testament to his dentist fiancé, Greg. ‘If you accept this mission. Ha, good one darling. Charlie’s Angels is one of my all-time favourites.’
Charlize returned his smile. ‘So tell me, Jasper, how did you even hear about this bloke?’
He sat back in his chair, crossed his legs and folded his hands in his lap. ‘I was reading through one of our rival newspapers on Sunday and found an article about a group of five blokes from the bush who were getting together to pose nude for a calendar to raise money for drought stricken farmers.’ Jasper grinned like a cat that had gotten the cream. ‘And of course this grabbed my attention …’ He chuckled to himself. ‘The article mentioned how one of the blokes—Dallas Armstrong—is climbing the ladder to becoming the Australian bull riding champion, and how rodeo is taking Australia by storm.’
Charlize raised an eyebrow. ‘First I’ve heard that.’
Jasper gave her a look, then continued. ‘And it was right at this very moment I thought, hey, this might be exactly what we’ve been looking for to ramp the sales up. So, I sussed him out on Google and it turns out his father was a three-time Australian Champion bull rider too, and an absolute legend to rodeo-loving folk. He passed away recently, but he still has a huge following on his Facebook fan page, as does Dallas for that matter. So there’s plenty to write about when it comes to this bloke and his life.’
‘Dallas’s father has passed away?’
‘Yes. He died in a car accident eight months ago.’
Charlize’s journalistic instincts clicked in. ‘Poor man. What happened?’
Jasper pointed at her with his pen. ‘And this is why I love you, darling. Always the inquisitive one, you are. Just like me. Which is why you rock at your job.’ His brows furrowed. ‘I’m not aware of the finer details but if anything juicy comes up in regards to the accident, or anything else for that matter, be sure to let me know, won’t you?’
‘Of course I will.’ In her job, passing info on was a given.
Jasper clapped his hands together, making Charlize jump. ‘But with all that said, we’ve veered off what I want for the article.’ He sat up straighter. ‘I’m betting our audience would love an insider’s view into the life of a real cowboy, and Dallas Armstrong is a true-blue country boy. He’s quite the star on the rodeo scene, and to top it all off he’s smoking hot—which is what our readership wants.’ Jasper grinned triumphantly.
Charlize nodded.
Jasper continued, his enthusiasm for the project spilling from him. ‘Having the calendar as a bonus to the Christmas edition will be a great sales gimmick. Plus, we’ll be doing a good deed by donating one dollar to Australian Drought Aid for every copy sold … and that could easily amount to well over a hundred thousand dollars. Because everyone needs farmers to put food on their tables, even pescetarians like you.’ He stood up and came around to the other side of the desk, then leant against it. ‘So it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.’
‘Oh, Jasper, I don’t know. We’ve never done anything even remotely close to this. Are you sure you’re not barking up the wrong tree with all this rodeo cowboy stuff?’
‘I’m so confident that I’m going to offer you a three-page spread to tell your story.’
‘What if I say no?’ Charlize replied cheekily, one eyebrow cocked.
‘You won’t, not with a promotion like this one hanging on it. And I won’t take no for an answer anyway.’ Jasper sat back and resolutely folded his arms over his chest.
‘So this is more of an expectation, Jasper, than an offer on the table?’
‘Look, we’ve known each other for a long time, Charlize.’ He had been a good friend of her mum for over twenty years, and her boss for the past six. ‘I promised your mother I’d look out for you while she and your dad are gallivanting through Europe like a pair of free-loving hippies now they’ve retired—bless their cotton socks—and in my opinion you need this time away … desperately.’ His perfectly shaped eyebrows creased together. ‘You haven’t been your on-the-ball self these past couple of weeks. I can completely understand after what Alistair did, but you need to keep a firm focus on your career after working so hard to get where you are.’
Damn it, Jasper was right. ‘But what about Bruce?’ Her voice sounded squeaky.
Jasper smiled. ‘I knew you’d be
worried about leaving him behind, so I’ve already asked about Bruce. Dallas’s mother told me he’s very welcome to go with you. Apparently she loves dogs, and so does Dallas.’
‘Are you positive there are no rooms left at the Grenfell motel? I’d be much more comfortable there.’
Jasper nodded firmly. ‘I’m one hundred and ten per cent positive. And besides, they don’t allow dogs to stay there anyway.’
Charlize tried to conjure up another excuse. ‘But what will I eat?’ As much as she wanted the promotion, reality was beginning to set in and the shock of it was making her feel faint. She eyed the wastepaper bin in case she needed to hurl up her breakfast.
‘I’m sure they have fish and vegetables out there in them there sticks,’ Jasper replied in the worst country-twang accent Charlize had ever heard.
‘Oh, you are hilarious, Jasper.’ Charlize wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. ‘Seriously, I hate rodeos. They’re cruel to the animals and I don’t agree with them one bit. So how am I meant to report on one and be positive about it?’
Jasper cocked one eyebrow. ‘Really? Have you ever been to a rodeo? Or watched one on telly?’
Charlize blew air through her lips like Jasper had just said the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. She screwed her face up as she threw her hands in the air. ‘No, why would I?’
‘Then how do you know they’re cruel?’
She shrugged. ‘Just the consensus, I suppose.’
A smile tugged at Jasper’s lips. ‘Consensus of whom?’
‘Oh Jasper, I don’t know, the in the know people.’
‘Well I beg to differ with these—’ Jasper made air quotes ‘—in the know people.’ He shook his head, tutting. ‘After spending a summer as a teenager on my uncle’s hobby farm and attending a few local rodeos with him I wrote an article on the welfare of the animals they used for rodeos when I was at uni. And I beg to differ. Contrary to what many believe, most of the animals used in rodeos are treated like part of the family.’ He reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. ‘You know me, darling, I can’t hurt a fly. I cry every time I watch Marley and Me, and don’t even get me started on War Horse or Red Dog.’ He flapped his free hand through the air, sniffling animatedly as he visibly reminisced about his favourite movies. He sucked in a breath and then blew it out dramatically. ‘So I’d never go sending you anywhere they were cruel to animals, capisce?’