by Jessica Gray
Her eyes followed his hands towards the front of the camper, where her bed lie over the cab of the truck, and then to the back where the second king sized bunk was located. Okay, at least there would be half of the camper with the kitchen and the bathroom space between them. Enough to get away from his overwhelmingly sexy presence.
She tucked her duffel bag and backpack up onto the bunk and then remembered her list of questions. Food was on top of the list. She opened the fridge carefully, just to literally fall backwards. It was stocked full of – beer. Nothing else.
“Uh, what about food?” she asked.
Nik nodded towards one of the cupboards above the kitchenette, and she opened it. If she had thought it couldn’t get worse, she was in for a bad surprise.
It contained canned ravioli.
She turned around, her hands on her hips and looked at the man who was clearly delusional. “You can’t be serious. Are you?”
Nik gave her a disgusted look and nodded, “Of course I am. There’s more than enough food for two weeks of travel.”
“Beer and canned ravioli?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Sure, what’s wrong with that?”
Reese rolled her eyes at him. It was becoming worse by the minute. God, if I had any other choice, I would be so out of here.
“This,” she indicated the cupboard and the fridge, “is not going to cut it.”
“So what? You want to go grocery shopping?” he asked in a bored tone of voice.
“Exactly. Before we leave Broome.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.
Nik stared back at her for all of three minutes before he gave a disgusted snort and shook his head. “Fine. Whatever. We’ll visit the grocery store on the way out of town. Happy?”
“Not even close,” she muttered as he climbed into the driver’s seat. This is going to be the longest two weeks of my life.
Chapter 8
Nik heard her muttered comment and furrowed his brow. How dare she criticize him or his rig. I’m not going to defend myself. Yeah, the camper’s a little messy, but just because I haven’t taken time to clean up. Well…
He thought about this last thought and acknowledged, if he were being honest, he hadn’t cleaned up because it hadn’t occurred to him. All of his life, there had been other people around to do the cleaning and other chores. He’d never picked up his own room, washed his own laundry, or cooked his own meals. Until he’d found himself in exile. And to be brutally honest, he had absolutely no idea where to even begin.
Reese. The way she’d stared at him in anger made him hot. She was full of passion – well maybe not that kind of passion. But anger was a good start. He’d make her all upset and fuming and before she knew it, they’d crumple the sheets together. That was a plan. He grinned and felt his body respond to the outlook.
But apart from being scorching hot, she had something he’d never encountered in a female before. Gumption, his grandfather would have called it. Nik could count on one hand the people who would have the guts to glare at him. But then again, she doesn’t know who you are.
He looked her over, his eyes lingering on her unruly hair. He absolutely loved her hair and wondered why she insisted on trying to confine it into a ponytail or a braid as she had done this morning.
When she caught him ogling her, she sent him another glare meant to kill, but settled into the passenger seat and buckled up. Yes, he’d have a lot of fun with her. He didn’t mind pushing her buttons if it rewarded him with an angry glare from her mesmerizing green eyes.
Nik started the motor and drove towards the closest supermarket. He tried his best not to pay attention to the mutterings and furious scribbling going on next to him. It appeared she was making a list. A long list.
“I don’t suppose you have…?” she started, only to look at him and then mutter, “Never mind. I’ll just assume if I need it, you don’t have it.”
Nik ignored her dig and made the final turn into the supermarket parking lot. He turned the engine off and then waited for her to finish her list.
He glanced over at her as she began yet another piece of paper and shook his head. What the heck does this woman want to buy in there? The entire store? What else could we possibly need? We have canned food and beer. Well…maybe we need some water. But a list three pages long? There is no way we need all of that stuff.
Reese opened her door and slid out, giving him a look that said he should follow along and not ask questions. He decided to play along, at least for a while. When he moved to open his door, she slammed the passenger door and walked to the entrance of the store, gesturing him to grab a shopping cart. So now he was delegated to footboy, pushing the cart for her?
He followed along behind her, dragging his feet along each aisle and watching as she continued to put what appeared to be one of everything in the cart. And that was in the household cleaners and supplies aisles. Soap. Dish washing liquid. Wash cloths. Sanitizing wipes.
And then they started on the food aisles. She loaded fresh fruits, vegetables, noodles, rice, and so many other items he began to despair of ever leaving the store.
Shopping in the grocery store was something he normally didn’t do himself. Heck, he employed both a housekeeper and a gourmet chef to do just that. They took care of the shopping and he enjoyed the fruits of their labor. Until he’d come to Australia, he’d never even set foot in a grocery store.
The canned ravioli had been the first thing he’d spotted when he visited the grocery store. Normally, he ate all of his meals in restaurants, but he figured it wouldn’t be bad to have some reserves when traveling the Gibb. He could make do with the canned pasta when the need arose.
Reese now moved past the produce aisles, heading into the rows of shelves laden with cans, boxes, and bottles of food. He tried to keep track of what she was putting in the cart, but he found himself completely overwhelmed.
She continued to load a variety of things into the cart, including meats, other canned items, spices, and a whole lot of other things he didn’t know exactly what they would be used for.
That woman was organized beyond imagination. Quickly checking off items on her list, she’d already filled one cart and was starting on the second one.
“Why exactly do we need all of this stuff? We can eat in restaurants along the way.”
She rolled her eyes once again and he felt like a scolded schoolboy.
“Apparently, you’re the one who doesn’t read. There won’t be any restaurants or even supermarkets for hundreds of miles.”
Touché. So she had noticed his mean comment. And given it back. He watched her from the corner of his eye and a smile formed on his face. Maybe it hadn’t been such a bad idea to agree to take her with him. Surely, with all of the things she was buying, she knew how to cook. And she was hot to look at. All focused and serious. Traveling with her would definitely be fun.
Nik continued to follow her around the store, appreciating her trim body, her hips not much wider than his hands could span. They were encased in a pair of cut-off shorts that gave him a great view of her ass. Her very sexy ass.
She wore a dark red tank top with a loose, transparent, and flowing blouse over it. The blouse matched the color of the tank top, but featured a floral print. One side of the blouse had slipped down over a shoulder to the swell of her breasts, exposing tanned skin. His groin stirred when he intently observed her naked shoulder, her hair curling against her neck, and a fine sheen of perspiration giving her a healthy glow. He wondered how her skin would feel under his fingertips.
As she finally headed towards the checkout counter, he followed behind her, trying to keep his mind off the sway of her hips as she pushed the cart in front of her. He pulled the second cart behind him, and as she began to place item after item onto the rolling counter, he told himself to get it together.
The glance she shot at him still contained a healthy dose of anger. He tried to contain the urge to grin back at her. Two weeks is an awfully long
time to be cooped up with a woman who’s mad at you. If she needed all of this stuff to be happy and congenial, so be it.
Chapter 9
In her life, Reese had seen just about everything when it came to disorganization. But Nik definitely took the gold medal for being not only unorganized, but also clueless.
She stole a few glances at him as she worked her way through the grocery store. He looked completely out of place and uncomfortable.
He’d picked up a few things in the supermarket, only to look at them in confusion before setting them down again. She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. Where has this guy been? Mars?
She glanced at his ring finger to find it empty. Apparently, he wasn’t married and didn’t have a wife to do the shopping for him. But then, not wearing a ring didn’t mean anything. Alec hadn’t worn one.
Still, he attracted her, too much for her own good. She’d been staring at him whenever she got a chance. His well-defined abs under the tight black t-shirt fascinated her. The shirt clung to his body, giving away his rippled muscles and contrasting nicely with his dark tanned skin and the brown, almost black curly hair. His hair was slightly too long, touching his neck, but it gave him an irresistible charm. Her fingers itched to run through his hair and down his hard chest.
The sight of his bulging biceps made her mouth go dry and she wondered how his big hands would feel on her.
No!
She wouldn’t go down that road. He was arrogant and obnoxious. Not desirable at all.
To make matters worse, she knew he’d been devouring her with his eyes and every time she felt his look on her back, her body heated up.
When they checked out, he insisted on paying for the groceries. No way in hell would she allow that. After some arguments, he finally relented and they compromised by splitting the bill. His grumble about this fact was almost cute.
They pushed the carts back to the camper and she entered first and then groaned at the mess. Before anything could be done, she would need to clean up this pigsty.
“Where do you want these?” Nik asked, several bags hanging from his hands.
Reese shook her head. “Leave them in the cart for a moment. I need to make space first.” She turned around and grabbed the trashcan, passing it out to him. “Can you get rid of the trash?”
Nik took the trashcan and then looked around like he was lost. Reese sighed and then pointed over his shoulder. “There’s a dumpster over there.”
He nodded and trotted off. Meanwhile, she filled the sink with water and dumped the dishes into it to soak. Grabbing all of the papers, she piled them all together on one corner of the couch, and then kicked the clothing into a pile in the hallway.
Ten minutes later, she had the counters wiped down and was ready to put their purchases away.
“Ready for these things yet?” Nik asked from the open doorway.
“Sure.”
He entered the small space, four bags in his hands and set them on the counter. Then he opened the first cupboard and began shoving everything into it.
Reese held back her gasp and counted to ten before speaking. “How about you bring the bags in and I’ll put things away?”
“Okay. That will make things go faster.”
She held back her pointed response and merely nodded.
But all too soon the bags were inside and so was he. She had to constantly move around him because he was just standing there utterly lost and useless. After several minutes, she could no longer handle the extra stress of having him in her way at every turn. He had to leave. Now. Or she’d never finish unpacking and organizing their supplies.
“Why don’t you go do whatever needs to be done to the truck? You know, check the tires or the oil?”
“You don’t want my help?” he asked, hope evident in his voice.
Reese rolled her eyes at him. “No. I really don’t need or want your help.”
“Great. I’ll make sure everything’s working properly for the trip.”
Reese sighed as he left the camper. She finished unloading the bags, making sure everything was in a logical space. Once done, she quickly washed the dishes and placed them back in the cupboard as well.
She had to give him credit for trying to help her, but she was better off without his help.
At least he hadn’t shirked away from the work. That was a good start. She looked out the small window over the kitchen sink and saw him tinkering with the tires. Good. I hope his knowledge about cars is better than in the household compartment.
Chapter 10
Nik stepped out of the camper and released a pent up sigh of relief. He’d been standing in the middle of his camper, observing the very focused and lovely Reese put everything away so neatly and methodically. It made him realize how inept he was at doing something as basic as buying and putting away groceries.
Thankfully, she’d noticed his awkwardness and sent him away. He walked around the camper, looking for something to do. Cars were his biggest weakness, after women, of course. Since he was a teenager, he and his friends could be found beneath a car, getting dirty and beefing up their vehicles with everything a good tune-up shop could provide.
There wasn’t anything to check with the camper, because he’d done that already the day before. When he’d fueled up at the gas station, he’d taken his time to check out the last little detail of the camper van. Not because he thought it was needed, but because he actually enjoyed doing that kind of stuff.
Still, he lingered outside, checking the air pressure in all of the tires, making sure the lights worked, and double checking that all of the outside hatches were securely fastened. He sure didn’t want to go back inside before she was done storing the groceries and whatever else she was doing in there.
When she stuck her head out the door, looking for him, he met her bright green eyes and his heart jumped in his chest. God, she’s gorgeous. And lovely.
“All good in there, Reese?” he asked her, walking towards the open door of the camper.
“For now,” she offered. “Should we get going?”
“Yeah. We’re not going to make it as far as I would have liked, but there’s a campsite a few hours from here. We’ll stop there and then get a start early in the morning.”
Reese nodded and ducked back inside the camper. He followed her, watching as she made sure the locks were fixed on all of the cupboards, not wanting her hard work to come undone if they were to encounter rough roads up ahead.
“Thanks,” he said.
She blushed and busied her hands. “No problem.”
“Ready?” he asked when she stopped fussing with the drawers and finally turned to look at him.
“Yes.”
“Well, buckle up and we’re on the road. I fueled up last night.”
Reese nodded without looking at him and seated herself in the passenger seat. As they drove out of Broome, he kept stealing glances at his companion. She was sitting in her seat, watching the scenery go by and carefully avoiding looking in his direction. Judging by the cute blush on her cheeks, she was as much attracted to him as he was to her.
After they had been moving along the road for several hours, he told her they’d stop in another twenty miles.
She cocked her head and looked out the window at the sun, still high in the sky. “Why are we stopping when there’s still several hours of daylight left?”
“It’s not safe to drive at night. There are too many wallabies on the road; we sure don’t want to hit one. It could damage the camper enough to end our trip right here.”
“Oh.”
“And the road trains are dangerous. They can’t stop for anything or anyone.”
“Road trains?” Reese questioned.
“Never heard of them?” he asked. She was the most organized person he’d ever met and could equip an entire camper van with everything needed for two weeks travel in the blink of an eye, but she hadn’t heard about road trains and wallabies? That just didn’t fit. There was somet
hing about her trip she hadn’t told him.
“Well…I read something about them, but I don’t understand exactly what they are.”
Nik thought for a moment and then explained, “Imagine a normal semi-truck with a trailer attached. Then add three more trailers onto the first one. That would be a road train.”
“Wow. Is that even allowed?” she asked.
“Out here, it’s vital to the way they conduct business. They move everything in those trailers. Ore. Fuel. Cattle. Supplies. They take up a large portion of the road and usually travel at top speed.”
“And I imagine kicking up a lot of dust?” she added.
“Definitely. We’d better not get behind one of those if we can avoid it. If that does happen, we’ll pull over and take a break.”
Sometime later, he pointed out the window. “That’s where we’re spending the night. Birdwood Downs.”
It was the first campground once on the Gibb River Road, and he was looking forward to the hot showers the tourist maps advertised. He hadn’t shared that bit of information with her yet; he was saving it. For what, he didn’t know.
They found a nice place to park, which wasn’t at all difficult, because they were the only guests. Nik made sure the camper van was stable and the brakes were locked in place. Once that was done, he re-entered the camper to see Reese busy at the little stove.
Dinner? Now that he smelled roasted meat, his stomach reminded him of the fact he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. And just as she had predicted, the campground didn’t offer a restaurant, a cafeteria, or even a shop.
What Reese prepared smelled delicious and would surely taste much better than canned ravioli. He watched over her shoulder for several minutes before offering to help. “What can I do?”
She grinned at him over her shoulder and shook her head. “Honestly, it’s a little crowded in here. How about setting up the table and chairs outside?”
Nik nodded and stepped back. He wouldn’t have known what to do anyways. But she wasn’t his employee so he’d felt obliged to at least ask. Relieved, he exited the camper and retrieved the camp table and the two folding chairs. That was something he knew how to do.