by Jennie Adams
‘Would you be happy to eat here?’ Mr Li posed the question as they neared a restaurant that seemed to be quite popular with a number of local residents.
‘Yes. It looks good.’ Jayne hoped it would be. Moreover, she hoped her thoughts would stop dwelling so much on Alex MacKay. She had to stop this!
The restaurant had lovely little octagonal tables and friendly, efficient staff who coped well with the influx of tourists looking for meals.
Jayne slipped into a chair and Alex sat beside her. Though Jayne continued to chat to their host’s wife as she took her seat, all of her focus was on Alex. So much for controlling that out of existence.
‘The special menu for today is rainbow trout with herb couscous and butter-sautéed vegetables.’ A friendly waitress stood beside their table to offer the menu choices.
Jayne and Mrs Li ordered the trout. Alex and Mr Li ordered a more traditional steak with mashed potato and gravy. They chatted generally about the tour while they waited for their meals to arrive.
‘Jayne, I believe you are a member of the family that runs Cutter’s Tours?’ Mr Li posed the question about an hour later.
Jayne gave a start. She’d been sitting there listening to Alex and Mr Li as they discussed the stock exchange. In truth, she’d been more attuned to the tone of Alex’s voice than the words of the discussion. She was deeply attracted to Alex. Now, at the end of the day, with weariness catching up with her, Jayne couldn’t hold the admission back.
‘I’m not quite sure how you knew—?’
‘I heard you introduce yourself to the winery manager’s wife.’ It was Mrs Li who said this quietly. ‘We don’t mean to intrude. We are guessing that you’re on the tour to study how things are running.’
Her husband carried the conversation further. ‘As business people ourselves and being interested in tour ism, we would enjoy a general discussion of your thoughts about the tourist industry in this country.’
Jayne felt a little at a loss. She had wanted research, but would these people feel the need to reveal her identity to others on the tour? Or want to know things she wasn’t prepared to discuss?
Before Jayne could say anything further, Alex gave the couple a charming smile. ‘There’s no harm in a confidential general discussion.’
In a few short words he ensured the conversation would remain within acceptable boundaries, and did so with finesse.
‘That is what we thought, too.’ Mr Li nodded.
What followed was unusual, but useful. The Lis asked questions about Australian tourism. Jayne and Alex asked questions about Japan’s impressions of Australia as a tourist destination.
By the time they ate pavlova and cheesecake desserts and reached the coffee stage of the meal, some helpful insights had been exchanged.
And if the evening had been simply that, Jayne would have had little to worry about, aside from the edge of nervous anticipation that would remain with her until she’d put her proposal to her father.
Instead, she had another layer of concern.
Right through the evening, Jayne had buzzed with awareness of Alex and, as their time with the Lis moved towards its end, that awareness only deepened.
Alex is too young for you, even if he is truly interested, and you can’t be entirely sure that he is. He might flirt a little with all women who cross his path.
That thought was a lie, though. Because Jayne did know that Alex found her attractive. She’d known it from when they’d first met. And maybe he did flirt easily, but her instincts told her the way Alex reacted to her wasn’t common for him.
That didn’t mean, however, that the man would want to act on any attraction he felt towards her. And what did Jayne want—some kind of holiday fling? That was not her style.
Jayne was content with her organised male company. She had control of that. She made the decisions, chose her level of involvement.
She kept herself safe of all emotional risk.
And there was nothing wrong with that!
They finished their meal and the Lis excused themselves to explore the township a little more. Alex and Jayne opted to return directly to their hotel.
As she and Alex made their way there, Jayne turned her head and spoke. ‘I doubt there’ll be a public lounge at the hotel. But I would like to cover today’s findings with you before we turn in for the night.’
That wasn’t an effort to retain his company for longer. It was the need to gather all the information she could before spending time working on her laptop tonight. It was! ‘Now that I’ve got some feedback from some of the tour group, I’ve got a few thoughts about the pillow gifts. It’d be good to discuss them now, if you’re up to that.’
‘A brainstorming session’s a good idea.’ Alex’s hand found its way to the small of her back. ‘I’m game if you are.’
Oh, Jayne was game. She just had to take care not to pursue some of where that ‘game’ might want to take her.
They stepped through the hotel’s doors and into the reception foyer. ‘Let’s get our room keys and go talk.’
It was just the touch of his hand at her back. They were only words. Delivered in a controlled tone because he was being very careful not to be flirtatious with her?
Was it for the same reason that Jayne was being so careful? Because he really wanted to pursue their interest in each other?
Jayne shouldn’t want to forget everything else and be aware only of him. She’d craved his touch, some physical connection with him. She hadn’t expected to be far too affected by it when it happened.
‘Maybe one of the rooms will have a balcony.’ So she wouldn’t have to worry about the intimacy of speaking with Alex inside.
They got their keys and made their way to rooms that were side by side at one end of the hotel. There were no balconies and Jayne opted for his room.
Alex flicked the light switch and gestured to a small table and two chairs tucked into the corner of the room. ‘Make yourself comfortable, Jayne. Would you like tea or coffee or something from the bar fridge?’
Step into my hotel room, said the toy boy to the older woman.
Stop that, Jayne!
Jayne shook her head in response to his question, when her thoughts were about quite different things. ‘I don’t need anything, thanks.’
She took her seat at the table while Alex opened his roomy duffel bag and drew out a notebook and pen. Jayne did not wonder what else he had in the bag, nor in any other way feel conscious of the confines of their surroundings and how intimate those surroundings were.
Yeah, not much, Jayne.
Alex sat down and leaned his arms on the small table, which instantly shrank it to minuscule proportions in Jayne’s mind. She could lean across that table and stroke her fingers over the beard shadow on his face, touch his lips and discover if they were soft, or firm, or a perfect combination of both…
Jayne lifted her gaze and found Alex’s stark blue one locked onto hers.
His look was not only about good humour or working with her. For a moment he stared, unblinking, into her eyes and their warmth transformed to let Jayne see that he desired her, found her attractive, would equally like to lean across that tiny circle of table and…let their lips meet? This wasn’t teasing or flirtatiousness. This was frank, genuine interest.
‘I know I thought about having the winery and zoo supply us with wines that are specially labelled for some of our gifts.’
Jayne blurted the words out as though they could somehow save her from herself, from the interest in him that seemed to intensify with each passing moment. From wanting to encourage his interest and return it in response. She sucked in a breath. ‘It’s just that, after thinking further, I wonder…’
If I kissed you, would it feel right? And how can I wonder, when you’re ten years younger and if I ever do choose a man to become deeply involved with he’ll be my age or, if anything, a year or two older? A Drew or a George… And I wonder why these thoughts come to me at all because I shouldn’t
be attracted to you when I know it can’t be wise for our working relationship. And yet I am.
‘You wonder if that will be an original enough idea to compete with other things already out there?’ he asked, but his eyes traced over her face, lingering on her lips.
Jayne searched her mind for the thread of their conversation.
‘Yes.’ She drew a breath. ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking. Originality. Also, not everyone drinks wine.’
‘So we keep thinking and keep looking for ideas for this tour.’ He rubbed his hand over his jaw. ‘We have tomorrow as well before we swap to the next tour, don’t we?’
They did, and Jayne said so. She loved that he said ‘we’ and included himself in her plans that way, and that was perhaps even more dangerous for her.
‘What about a theme to incorporate Aboriginal art? You already have some of that in your inventory.’ Jayne thought for a moment. ‘The name of the nearest town. It’s definitely Aboriginal. Maybe the meaning—’
He was already on his feet. He brought his laptop to the table. ‘You’d need to confirm any township definition with local tribal elders or a land council, but we can start with a computer search.’ He used his USB Internet service and they turned up definitions for the nearest two towns. ‘If that second one is correct—’
‘Then we could go with a hunting theme.’
Alex closed the computer and set it on the floor beside him. He leaned his elbows on the table and smiled. ‘Boomerangs, items in the shape of a spear or spearhead. There are plenty of other things that would work as well.’
He shifted slightly in his chair and their legs briefly brushed.
How did such awareness build and build the way it had for Jayne throughout this day and evening? She’d tried so hard to convince herself it wasn’t there within her, but it was.
And…it was there within Alex as well.
Jayne got through the rest of their discussion as quickly as she could, and then stood up and walked to the door. ‘I’ll say goodnight. Let you get some rest. I still have work to do before I sleep.’
I’ll leave now before I give in to wanting to stay here just for the sake of your company.
Alex accompanied her to the door of the room. He glanced down into her eyes. Jayne glanced up. Her gaze fixed on his lips and her heart stood still. She wanted to kiss him, wanted him to kiss her. Wanted it so much.
‘Goodnight.’ She forced her hand to lift and clasp the door handle.
‘Goodnight, Jayne.’ Alex dropped his arm and stepped away from her. His gaze was also fixed on her mouth, but his arms were straight at his sides, as though to force himself not to take hold of her, not to touch her.
Not to…
‘See you—’ Jayne cleared her throat. ‘See you in the morning.’ She stepped through the door and walked the couple of steps to the door of her own room. With fumbling hands, she unlocked it and went inside without looking back.
Only when she had her door safely closed behind her and the room all to herself did Jayne face her thoughts. She’d almost kissed him. She’d wanted—no, needed—that kiss so much.
That knowledge, that need that had pushed past her protective mechanisms, past her determination to make her own sensible choices and not be driven by the kinds of overpowering emotions or feelings that could take her life right out of control, scared Jayne.
She couldn’t allow this kind of lapse to happen. At least she hadn’t pounced on him and taken what she wanted like the stereotypical ‘cougar’ she’d been trying so hard not to think about today. And she didn’t miss the potential of Alex’s kiss. She totally and utterly did not!
CHAPTER FOUR
‘YES, well, thanks for phoning and…I’ll give you a call when I’m back in Sydney.’ Jayne used a bright, polite tone that sounded as though she’d utilised it a lot of times in the past. ‘We’ll sort something out when there’s time.’
It was a short conversation, it ended there and Jayne turned immediately to Alex once it was over and gestured to her laptop where it rested on her knees. ‘Sorry about that. You don’t mind if I attend to this while there’s reception for the Internet connection and the road isn’t hairpin turns?’
She’d been like this since they’d met this morning for breakfast. Cheerful, businesslike, somehow coming across as buttoned up to the neck even though she was wearing another pair of jeans, a scooped-neck T-shirt and running shoes.
Jayne was making such a determined effort not to be conscious or aware of him that Alex couldn’t do anything other than be conscious and aware of Jayne.
Not that he needed any behaviour of hers to encourage him to cross the line. All he apparently needed was to sit close to her. Across a small table in a rented motel room as they wrapped up a day of research and travel, for example. He wished he’d kissed her last night. He’d wanted to even though the other side of him had pointed out all the reasons it wouldn’t have been smart to let that happen.
Maybe, if it had, he could have moved past this consuming curiosity.
And maybe it would just have made you want to know more.
‘I don’t mind. I made a few calls myself this morning before I left my room, but I have a couple more that I’ll make now that it’s business hours and I know I won’t be waking people.’
He’d phoned his brother, Linc, to let him know where he was. He’d told Linc he was travelling with Jayne to get a first-hand look at some of her family’s tours so they could make the best informed decisions about the inventory Jayne would need him to supply.
Alex needed to tell Linc and Brent about the letter from his late mother through that solicitor. That the solicitor had revealed that both his parents had come from the Alice Springs area somewhere, his father with indigenous roots, and that he was trying to discover more about his history. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to discuss it with his brothers.
That trend had continued today. Alex had kept the conversation light and superficial. He felt guilty for holding back, and guilty about his investigations and the motivating needs behind them. He recognised a cheerful, superficial tone when he heard it, though, and Jayne had just used one on the person who’d phoned her.
It had been a man trying to arrange a date.
Alex hadn’t been thrilled to note that fact, but Jayne hadn’t appeared to be all that interested in the call.
‘That’s fine,’ Jayne chirped, before her fingers became busy on the keys of her laptop’s keypad. ‘I wish these last two tours weren’t so tricky to nail down in terms of usable themes we can focus on, but taking them will be the best hope I have of digging out something that will work.’
‘You’ll figure it out, Jayne.’ Her business skills were well developed, a fact Alex had noted more and more as they delved into what she wanted from him for her company and the logistics of how to make it all work. Alex drew a breath, thought about not asking his next question and asked it regardless. ‘I hope everything’s okay back in Sydney?’
Jayne’s fingers tangled on the laptop’s keys and she stopped to delete a line of text before she turned to him. They both knew he was asking more than just that question.
Alex didn’t know how Jayne would choose to answer.
She tipped up her chin and gave him a challenging look that somehow still managed to bring across interest and curiosity towards him, whether she thought she had that masked or not. ‘Everything’s fine. I date casually. That was just one of the guys I see now and then.’
Not attached, then. Not really.
Right. ‘I’m in a similar place in my personal life.’
Jayne knew this now. He’d told her straight out. Somehow that seemed important, whether it should or not.
‘Right. Okay, then. I’d better get some work done.’ She was a little breathless as she said it.
‘Yeah. No slacking on our trip.’ The teasing tone went a little awry, perhaps because he couldn’t get the deepness out of his voice.
They did get on with it
then, though. In the next half hour Alex called four of his suppliers while Jayne worked on her laptop, collating yesterday’s information and survey results into files and emailing different bits and pieces of information to his laptop so he could look at it all later while she worked on her overall proposal.
If Alex thought he could ignore her and not think about her, he’d need to sit at the other end of the bus. Because Jayne looked beautiful working. She seemed to look beautiful no matter what she was doing. Her hair was up in a ponytail again. Alex wanted to take it down and sift his fingers through it.
And he wanted to taste her lips and know…
The phone picked up and a man’s voice answered. ‘Hello.’
‘Hey, Andie. It’s Alex MacKay.’ Alex forced his thoughts back into order. Not easy when the source of his distraction sat right beside him. But he had questions for the leader of the Sydney-based Aboriginal artist group. He had questions about the way he felt towards Jayne, too, but those had to wait. Alex wasn’t sure he wanted to consider them at all anyway. ‘Would your group be interested in some expansion? I won’t know for sure for a week or two, but possibly creating individual items bearing certain native animals on them, or items themed to the language meaning of a township within your tribal area?’
The man was interested and the call ended on a positive note.
Alex glanced at Jayne. She’d packed up her laptop and was staring out of the window.
Now she turned and smiled and said in her low, lovely voice, ‘We’ve been steadily climbing into mountain country.’
He followed her gaze to look at the changing scenery outside the bus’s windows. As he leaned closer, the bus left the sealed road and turned onto a thinner gravel one.
‘Now we descend into the valley.’ Jayne sucked in a breath. ‘Hairpin turns on narrow dirt roads aren’t my first choice for relaxing travel, particularly in a bus and when I have no…’