Sheba started purring, blinking at him several times.
Carefully he gathered her close to him, realising that this was the little Siamese that Bree had written to him about. He’d forgotten about Sheba, but he sure remembered laughing about her antics. Actually, Bast had featured a lot in the letters, too, yet he’d forgotten them as soon as he’d fixated upon their owner.
Yeah, fixated. Sighing inwardly, Nick glanced to where Bree stood smiling at him.
“See?” she said. “Sweet.”
“Sweet,” he agreed, and he didn’t mean only the cat.
Standing there smiling at him, her hair in a loose ponytail that had tendrils sweeping across her cheeks, her lush lips curved in amusement, her apple cheeks flushed pink from the chill air outside, Bree looked sweet.
Sweet enough to lick and eat. Everywhere.
Man, he wanted to taste her. Everywhere.
Bugger this messing around wondering which of them was going to admit previous knowledge of the other first. Time was short, he wanted to get to know Bree more closely, to talk and take the light friendship further and-
“So if you’re coming, you better get a move on.” Bree walked out of the kitchen.
“What?” Nick stared at the empty doorway.
She stuck her head around the door jamb. “I’m heading for the field where I saw the lights last night. You coming?”
“Now?”
Her head disappeared, voice moving down the hallway. “Yep.”
Nick looked down at Sheba in his arms. “I think I’m getting the connection between you two now.”
Sheba purred.
Standing, he put her carefully down on the chair where she primly resumed the Sphinx position.
Out in the hallway, Nick watched as Bree pulled Bast out of a backpack that had been sitting on the floor and set her down on the hallway table, where Bast proceeded to bat a set of car keys around the top. Bree took the car keys off her, and Bast sat down, whiskers forward, eyes bright, gaze fastened on her.
Bree stroked her head. “We’ll be back, baby. There’s plenty of food and water in the kitchen, the litter tray is clean, and I’ve left a hot water bottle in the bed for you.”
Wait…what? “A hot water bottle?” Nick echoed disbelievingly.
“Bast feels the cold. She likes to curl up under the doona with a hot water bottle warming her toes.”
“Uh huh.” Nothing about Bree should surprise him anymore.
“Besides, you should know…”
Nick raised his eyebrows at her.
She hesitated, then shook her head. “Never mind. Let’s go.”
He followed her out, waiting as she locked the front door before following her down the veranda steps.
“We’ll take my van,” she said when he started to head for the Landcruiser.
“Sure.” He got into the passenger seat.
Sliding open the side door, Bree got in, placing the backpack just behind her seat before she manoeuvred between the seats to drop into the driver’s seat.
“Haven’t got the door fixed yet, huh?” Nick queried.
“Waiting for a new door to come in.”
“The panel beater can’t get the dent out?”
“Whatever hit the door had a lot of force. It cracked something in there.”
“Something?”
“Hey, I’m not the panel beater. All I know is it has a bloody big dent in it and it won’t open. I can’t even wind the window down. It’s broken.”
“I’ll have a look at it when we get back.”
She smiled at him. “That’s sweet, but you don’t have to.”
“I know, but I will.”
“Oh, forceful.” She gave a fake shudder. “I like it.”
Amused, Nick clicked on his seatbelt. “You have no idea how forceful I can be.”
“I know how stubborn you can be.”
“Really?” Was she going to say something about their letters?
“You’re sitting in that seat beside me. What does that say about you?”
“I’m experiencing the weird and unnatural?”
She started driving the van along the driveway. “Are you saying I’m weird and unnatural?”
“Nope. You’re in a world of your own.”
She flashed him a smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It was meant as one.” And he meant it sincerely.
Was it his imagination or did the pink in her cheeks deepen? Nick studied her. The woman was an enigma, no doubt about it. Went her own way, did her own thing, and that was another point…Bree was perfectly happy doing things on her own. When she went alien hunting, she did it by herself. She seemed perfectly happy with her own company, confident in her abilities, able to laugh at herself and others. That sense of humour had always come through in her letters, but to actually hear those smart comments come out from between those lush lips was a hundred times better. To see the sparkle in her eyes, the way her lips curved in amusement, to hear the laugh that was always so close to the surface, was so much better than imagining it.
He had to admit that her sense of humour was exactly the same as her letters, nothing was faked, but she had her secrets too. Not once in her letters had she ever hinted at UFO hunting or beliefs, in fact, when he thought about it, she didn’t mention her past much but simply entertained him with day-to-day happenings and musings.
There were two sides to Bree - the light-hearted, fun-loving, confident woman, and a side he basically didn’t know at all.
He wanted to know both sides, wanted to know her true thoughts and feelings. Share them. Damn it, time to stop messing around and just lay it on the line. Before he could say anything, however, Bree started talking.
“Now, I got permission from the farmer to check out the area of the sighting. Don’t tell him I was already there.”
“So he doesn’t know you were there last night?”
“On a need-to-know basis, Nick.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Because you know the need for confidentiality.”
“Anyone passing would have seen your van on the side of the road.”
“Your point?”
“Next to his field.”
“Your point?”
“Bree, it wouldn’t take much to put two and two together.”
“Your point?”
Incredulous, he stared at her. Was she serious? Then he caught the twitch of her lips. “Are you messing with my head?”
“Absolutely.”
He sighed, relaxing back in the seat. “Never mind messing with my head, you’ll do it in.”
“Funny, that’s what some of my teachers used to say.”
“Gee, I can’t imagine why.”
“Is that a hint of sarcasm, Nick?”
“Your point?”
She laughed.
Grinning, he looked out at the passing fields. One thing about Bree, she made him relax, made him laugh, made him feel good about life. Just as her letters had made him laugh when everything else was so grim, so she made him laugh now.
Bree had a way of touching something inside him, that lonely little spot that he rarely acknowledge. She touched it, surrounded it with warmth and laughter, made him feel a part of someone else.
Yeah, he had a good friend in Alex, had made friends with Paul and the other blokes in the town, but with Bree he just felt…Nick turned his head to look at her profile. Complete. She made him feel complete. Like they were two parts of a whole and she drew him to her until they were together.
What am I thinking? A little disturbed by the direction his thoughts were taking, Nick swung his attention back to the fields. “You must have gone through a lot of teachers.”
“Huh?” She glanced briefly at him.
“You mentioned your teachers.”
“Oh. Yeah. We travelled a fair bit, so I had a lot of different teachers.”
“Your family travelled?”
“Yep.”
> “Any brothers or sisters?”
“You’d know that.”
It was his turn to give a puzzled “Huh?”
“Don’t you have a dossier on me?”
Nick blinked.
Bree smiled at him. “Military. Alien sightings. You soldier, me alien hunter. You work for the government, I work for…others.”
“You work for others?”
“You’re not denying the first statements.”
“What?” He shook his head. “Bree, there’s no conspiracy, I’m not here to watch you, I-”
“Nick, Nick, Nick.” Laughing, she flicked on the indicator. “You’re too easy.”
He dropped his head back against the seat. “Messing with my head again?”
“Big time.” Cheerfully, she turned the van onto a small road. “All righty, listen up, soldier. This is the farm where the sighting was. We’re going to report in to the farmer and then go on foot. All you have to do is be polite and look pretty.”
“Afraid I’ll give up your position last night, General?” he asked dryly.
“No, I just like my men to be polite and look pretty.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Am I one of your men?”
“Sweetie, right now you’re my only man.”
Okay, he liked the sound of that. Yeah, he really, really did.
The farmhouse came into view, but Bree didn’t pull up there, driving further on instead to park under a tree near one of the big sheds. As they got out of the van, two men came out and approached them.
As they neared, Nick saw that one was a tall, thin teenager, the other a much older version. Father and son.
“Hi, Ted,” Bree greeted the older man. “Thanks for letting us have a little look around.”
Ted eyed Nick. “Seriously? You, too?”
“I’m just here to look pretty,” Nick replied.
Ted grunted.
His son looked at Bree a touch derisively. “Do you always bring muscle?”
“Always use protection, David” she said gravely. “Then you’ll neve get caught out with something undesirable.”
Protection as in…? Nick almost choked.
David coloured, but Ted obviously didn’t get the double meaning because he simply continued talking.
Or maybe Bree didn’t mean it as a double meaning…did she? Looking at her talking seriously to Ted, Nick just wasn’t sure.
“You’ll have to walk across some of the field and through the trees out the back there,” Ted was saying. “David reckoned he saw the lights from there.”
“I did,” David said. “And some kind of beam things.”
Nick studied David. Hmmmm.
“What colour were the beams?” Bree queried.
“Green and red.”
“And the light? Was it small, big, did it move around?”
“It was just this great big glow, you know? Sat behind the hill.”
“And you saw all this from your window?”
David nodded.
“I can’t believe I’m letting you do this.” Ted looked at Nick. “And I can’t believe you’re actually with her.”
Not really caring what he thought, Nick just smiled.
“He’s the muscle,” David muttered. “Soldier.” He suddenly looked a little uncertain. “Uh - has the military been called in about this or something?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Nick replied easily.
David visibly relaxed.
Interesting, and so very telling.
Ted scowled. “Military? They’ve got more important things to worry about than chasing ridiculous stories of lights in the sky. Now, follow the track through the field to the trees, then you’ll have to go straight.”
“Sure you don’t want me to show you?” David asked eagerly.
Bree smiled. “We’ll be fine. The hill isn’t that big and we can check around the area. But thanks for the offer. If I have any questions, I can come see you?”
“Yeah, sure.” He looked disappointed.
Ted rolled his eyes.
“We better be off, then.” Backpack on her back, Bree turned on her heel and started for the field.
Nick stepped up beside her, matching his longer legs to her shorter stride. Once they were far enough away, he glanced over his shoulder. “David was a little eager, don’t you think?”
“Most of them are.”
“I think he knows more than he’s letting on.”
“We can kidnap him tonight, hold him in the back of the van while you interrogate him. Did you bring a head sack? I forgot to pack one.”
The woman was incorrigible.
Reaching out, Nick slid his hand under the strap of her backpack. “Here, let me carry this.”
“I assure you I’m strong enough to handle it.” She kept moving forward.
Hooking his fingers around the strap, Nick simply stopped walking. Bree jerked to a halt. When she looked back at him, her gaze going from his hand at her shoulder to his face, he matched her raised eyebrow with a lift of his own.
“Really, Nick-” she began.
“Really, Bree.”
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.”
Curiosity replaced her amused expression. “Why?”
“Because I don’t feel comfortable with you carrying a backpack while I swan around free.”
“It’s not heavy.”
He shrugged, walking behind her to edge both hands under the straps. “Arms back.”
Half expecting a smart retort, he was pleasantly surprised when she obeyed. Sliding the straps down her arms, he freed the backpack and swung it around, sliding his arms through the straps and settling it on his back. Definitely not heavy. Adjusting it, he watched as Bree turned to look at him.
“I’ve never had a man do that before,” she said slowly.
“Then they were never brought up properly. A man should always carry the load.”
“Wow, that’s rather old-fashioned.”
He levelled a steady gaze on her. “It was the way I was brought up. I feel comfortable doing it.”
“Duty, huh?”
“Sometimes its pleasure.” He smiled slightly. “Like now.”
Yes, that was a definite pink tinge in her cheeks, and there was no denying the pleased sparkle in her eyes. “Really?”
He could feel the warmth go through him. “Really.”
She glanced away, glanced back. God, she looked so cute when she was flustered, a state he doubted she felt very often. Then she smiled, so soft and sweet, even a touch shy, and he felt it slam into him, right down deep.
In that second all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her, lower his head, take those sweet lips in a soft kiss and-
“Okay. Thanks.” Turning, she walked off.
It took Nick several seconds before he could clear his head enough to follow instead of simply staring wistfully after her. “Bree?” He caught up to her easily. “Is everything all right?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Um…no reason.” Oh suave, very suave. With an inward sigh, he looked down to where her head bobbed just below shoulder level. Not easy to read her expression now.
“Just be careful you don’t drop the backpack,” she warned. “It’s got a good camera in there.”
“As opposed to a bad one?” he joked.
“Every good hunter carries a good camera.”
“And every bad hunter carries a bad one?”
She looked up at him with a slight frown on her face. “Are you mocking me?”
“Maybe I’m just messing with your head?”
“You’re messing with something,” she muttered, looking away again.
“Pardon?”
“I think I’m a bad influence on you.” Stopping suddenly, she placed a hand on his arm. “There’re the trees.”
The trees had never been cleared for farming, so he wasn’t surprised to see that it had a lot of thick underbrush. “Not much room for a spacesh
ip, honey.”
“This is just the beginning. Further in, we might see more.”
“Might?” He continued walking with her. “Aren’t you sure?”
“Nick, you can never be sure on a hunt. People say things, see things.”
“You saw it.”
“Correction. I saw a large glow and laser beams. Was it a spaceship? Maybe. Was it aliens? Maybe.”
Astonished, he stared down at her. “But you believe in UFOs. Why change your mind now?”
“I didn’t. I’m just pointing out that what I saw wasn’t proof it was a UFO.”
“So it wasn’t?”
“It also isn’t proof that it wasn’t a UFO.”
“So you’re telling me that you keep an open mind on their existence? You don’t completely believe?”
Reaching out, she patted his back. “Poor baby. You just don’t understand, do you?”
“I’m trying. God knows, I’m trying.”
“Sweetie, I absolutely believe in UFOs. Whether what I saw last night was one, I don’t know. I saw lights and beams, nothing more. That’s why I’m out here.”
“To find proof.”
“Yes. The hunt isn’t always for live aliens and spaceships, it’s also for proof.”
Nick blew out a long breath. “Right.”
Laughing, she moved behind him, delving into the backpack to withdraw something before she started walking into the thick of trees.
The underbrush was thick, and she had to push branches back to clear the way the further they moved into the forest.
Not happening on his watch. Reaching forward, Nick grasped her wrist. “Hang on.”
“What?” She glanced around. “You see something? Hear something?”
Without answering, he placed his hands on her waist, easing past her in the narrow gap so that he stood in front of her. Removing his hands from her, he started forward, holding the branches back for her.
“Oh, really?” She screwed her nose up. “Now as well?”
He simply looked back at her over his shoulder.
With a sigh, she followed.
No way would Nick have let any civilian woman go ahead in the bushes, and certainly not Bree. He cleared the way where needed, holding back branches and ensuring she got through unscathed. He got a few scratches on his hands, but that wasn’t a concern.
Bree rolled her eyes at him several times but he just looked at her with the desired effect. She kept moving.
The Goodbye Girl Page 11