“No, she’s not. No, I’m not,” she defended quickly.
I saw Payton and Beau exchange conspiratorial glances. I may not have spent much time with them recently but I knew enough to know that meant trouble. Nothing good could come of those two joining forces.
When Beau pushed the empty box aside and tugged Payton into his lap, I watched on with curiosity as he started absentmindedly toying with her engagement ring. I don’t think he was even aware he was doing it.
“So you two claim you’re not friends?”
“What? We’re friends, we’re just not friend friends.”
“That makes no sense,” Beau huffed. “You’re either friends or you’re not. Simple.”
I looked at Carly. Damn, she was beautiful. And those boobs. Holy shit. I was sitting on the couch and Carly was on the floor leaning against the arm rest. I tried not to look. I really did. Okay, I didn’t try very hard, but with a view like this, could you blame me? From my vantage point, I could see straight down the top of her black singlet. Right down to the lacy white bra with a red bow in the middle.
“We’re friends.” I announced it like it was decided. Carly nodded her acknowledgement and killed me. Well, killed my stationery, seemingly forgotten character.
“Yeah, friends my ass. Friends don’t make out with each other. They don’t spend the night pretending to be innocently asleep next to each other, all the while spooning and grinding on each other.”
“Hey!” Carly objected, her face a bright shade of red. It was damn adorable.
“And they definitely don’t sit here pretending to be friends all the while staring down the other one’s top!” Beau added like an ass. He couldn’t just let that one slide. Hell, I’d caught him more than once in the last ten minutes taking a peek.
Carly’s bottom lip popped out as she pouted and adjusted her top. It didn’t help. It didn’t hide those magnificent tits. And it didn’t help ease the problem in my pants, either.
Payton must have been channelling Carly’s embarrassment, or they had some weird girly psychic connection going on, because she cut off this line of interrogation like a pro. “So, Gage. You got any more of those controller thingies so I can help Carly here kick your cute butt?”
“His butt is not cute,” Beau growled.
It took a full second of silence before we all dissolved in a fit of laughter. Thankfully the heaviness and the seriousness was over.
Damn it! These girls were good. I was beginning to wonder if there was anything that they weren’t experts at. When Beau and I died, we flopped back and watched the girls battle it out.
“How long’s Mum staying?” he enquired casually as he stared at the washing basket full of crap in the corner.
“I dunno. Hopefully not long.”
“Sick of her already?”
“Yes and no. I like being on my own. My own space. My own milk.”
“Milk?” Carly piped up as she pressed the buttons like a possessed demon, causing her onscreen persona to deliver a roundhouse kick into Payton’s head.
“She drinks all the milk and doesn’t replace it. Or even tell me it’s empty so I can replace it. All I want to do is wake up in the morning, sit, and have a coffee in peace.”
“Hell yeah!” Carly held up her hand in a high five. How could I leave her hanging?
“You two are adorable.” Payton snickered.
“Shut up!”
“Jinx!” Carly beat me.
When Carly rocked forward to grab her bottle of water, the bottom of her tank top rose up, exposing the stretch of skin just above her shorts. As soon as I caught a glimpse of the dark ink, I was desperate to reach down and tear the shirt away until I could see what it really was. Instead, like the good boy I was, I wriggled my hands under my butt and sat on them. At least then they were somewhat restrained.
I heard the ringing of the phone and groaned. It took a second, but then I realised, that ring tone wasn’t mine. After a little manoeuvring and practically dumping Payton in my lap, thanks but no thanks, big brother…Beau pulled his phone out, then exchanged a few rather rude grunts before ending the call.
“We gotta go.”
“W-what’s going on?” I felt Payton’s whole body go rigid as she found her feet, her eyes not once leaving Beau’s.
“We’ve gotta get home. There’s a fire.”
“What! A fire at the bakery?”
At Payton’s word, there was chaotic movement. Her arms were flapping, she was spinning in circles, and puffing like a steam train. Part of me was scared her head was going to rotate on her neck so swiftly it popped completely off.
“Payton, honey, breathe. The bakery is fine.” Beau’s simple assurance deflated Payton.
“Where’s the fire then?”
“Not quite on our land yet, but it’s headed that way. Bush fire’s broken out. Connor needs a hand.”
“My-my stuff?” Carly stuttered. Clearly reality was setting in. Now it was her turn to freak out.
“It’s okay, Carly. We’ve got time. And nothing will probably come of it. You know how Connor is. He’s always overly cautious. But we’ll head out, pack your stuff, and you can go into town and hang out with Payton.”
“Payton?”
Something weird was going on. Carly had never once even appeared to be weak or fragile. Hell, dressed in her boots and leather jacket with her leg draped across her bike, she looked damn intimidating. Now though, the girl standing before me looked unsure, and maybe even a little afraid. I didn’t like it. Not one bit.
“Of course. I have ice cream and chocolate and cupcakes. Oooh, and wine. I have wine!”
Over Payton’s head I saw Beau roll his eyes, but didn’t say anything. Now wasn’t the time to have two overly emotional and possibly teary women on my hands. We had to get home.
Snagging my keys from the bench, I clicked off the TV, tossed the remote on the lounge, and ushered them out the door. When Carly headed for Beau’s truck, I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing her hand and dragging her over to mine. I wish I knew why, but the idea of her riding with my brother irked me. Even though his wife and her best friend were right there, for some reason it just didn’t sit right with me.
“I’ve got Carly. We’ll meet you at the house. You organise Holly and we’ll head to Carly’s and grab her stuff, then meet you there.”
“Sounds good. I’ll let Connor know.”
A moment later, we were bouncing down the road towards the thick black smoke rising in the air. It was thick and blanketing the sky. I was surprised I hadn’t smelt it before now. Now I couldn’t smell anything but smoke. Not even the beautiful woman beside me.
Risking a glance at Carly, I could see she was curled up against the door, staring vaguely out the window. She looked so lost. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Liar.”
“I’m…not.”
“Nice try. That didn’t even sound convincing to you, did it?”
Letting out the sigh she was holding back, Carly’s head fell back against the head rest as her eyes drifted shut.
“Tell me.”
“I can’t lose my stuff.”
“You won’t.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Yes, Carly. I can. We’ll be there in ten minutes,” I promised as I pressed down a little harder on the accelerator. “It’ll take the two of us ten minutes to get everything together and then you’ll be on your way. Safe and sound.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. Can you trust me? Can you do that for me?”
Reaching over, I grabbed her hand and held it on her thigh. The warmth of her smooth skin crept in, but right now I didn’t have time to think about how good she felt or day dream about how good she would feel with all that smooth skin under me. Right now, I had a promise to keep and I wasn’t going to let her down. Not today. Not on my watch.
Chapter Sixteen
Carly
True to his word, it’d taken Gage
and I less than ten minutes to pack my whole life, everything that was important to me, into my car and be back at the main house. I was worried about my bike, and although I didn’t say it out loud, Gage knew. It was kinda freaky actually how well he could read my mind. I wasn’t sure if I liked it. He’d taken the keys from my hand, jumped on the bike, and revved the engine. After following me to the house, he parked it alongside the veranda, promising it was safe.
I half believed him.
I wanted to. I really did, but on one hand he was telling me that I had to leave and leave now so I was out of harm’s way. Then on the other hand, he was promising my bike was safe leaning against the house. He was contradicting himself, but when the vein bulged in his forehead, and a gust of wind made the smell of smoke so thick I found myself coughing, I quickly forgot my argument. Maybe he had a point. I had no intention of admitting that to his face though, I knew if I did I’d never live it down. Instead I sat quietly in the car and watched as Holly chucked a tantrum.
I got it. She was scared. She didn’t want to leave. Her family was staying to fight and she was being sent away. When Connor tossed her over his shoulder and bundled her into the front seat of my car, I couldn’t help but to laugh. With her eyes shooting death rays, her bottom lip stuck out, and her arms folded, she was the very image of a teenage brat.
A minute later, my car was packed to bursting and we were sent on our way back to town, while Beau, Connor, and Gage stayed to fight the fire, which was moving in quickly.
“They’ll be fine,” I mumbled as I bumped down the driveway, watching them vanish in my rear vision mirror. I don’t know if I was trying to reassure Holly or myself. I was in a shitty position. One I never imagined I’d be in.
“They’re assholes,” Holly replied miserably.
She didn’t fool me, though. Not for a second. She might have been acting like a brat, and I may have wanted to slap that bitchy look right of her face. Instead, I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and headed to Payton’s.
Payton had arrived five minutes in front of us and seemingly had already settled in. All the lights in the bakery were on, even the outside ones. The whole place looked like it was open. Adrian was slouched in a corner booth reading yesterday’s paper while a glass of water sat beside him. I couldn’t see Payton, but I could hear her.
Leaving all our crap in the car, Holly and I followed the noise until we found Payton twirling about in an apron, pulling canisters from the shelves. I’d seen her like this once or twice before, but it was rare. This Payton shaking her ass in time with the beat, was the stressed-out version of Payton I didn’t like to see.
“Whatcha cooking, good looking?” I asked, stepping into view.
“I-I…” I knew she was embarrassed she’d been caught.
“I’m thinking we make sandwiches, sausage rolls, pies, muffins…what do you think, Holly?”
“Whatever.”
There was no doubting she was a surly teenager with an attitude.
“Sounds…sounds good. Let’s start with that!” Payton perked up again and started barking directions.
Normally Payton was a lot fun to be around. She didn’t come across like she was Hitler’s cousin. But when she got like this, when she was stressed and upset, she might as well have been a dominatrix.
While Holly pulled an apron on over her head, I went and fired up the coffee machine. If we were going to be open all night, coffee was needed. After making us all a cup, and dropping off a fresh top up to Adrian, I returned to the kitchen to be handed a stick of butter and a spoon. Looks like I’d be the substitute muffin man.
Three sweaty hours later, I was starving. It was nearing midnight and Payton showed no sign of slowing. The glass case out the front was overflowing. The ovens were still full, baking the goodies that were making my mouth water from the smell. A few hours earlier, Adrian had set up a small radio in the corner so we could keep up to date with what was going on out there.
The bell above the door jingled and I trudged out the front to see who’d come in. Every bone in my weary body ached. I was dying to kick my shoes off, lie down, and have a nap. I couldn’t though. While Payton baked her anxiety away and Holly tried her best to keep up, I kept quiet. I could tell with each passing moment Payton was becoming more and more agitated.
“I need coffee!” Mia whined as she marched through the door like she owned the place.
“What are you doing here, Mia? It’s the middle of the night,” Payton asked, pointing out the obvious.
“Derek’s gone out…”
“So’s Nate,” Josie grumbled as she juggled her sleeping daughter in her arms.
“Out?”
“They’ve headed over to Sullivans’ to give him a hand. Apparently the wind turned and it’s headed straight for them.”
“Shit.”
I didn’t have to know who Sullivan was or why he mattered. I already knew he did. I couldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. I hoped for Mia and Josie’s sake the boys showed up soon. Safe and sound.
They didn’t.
Somewhere around two, Josie took Matilda upstairs and tucked her into Payton’s bed beside a very tired and grumpy Holly. Now we were sitting around gossiping. What else was there to do? No one was ready to go to sleep. We couldn’t. At one point someone, I couldn’t even remember who, it may have even been my idea, suggested we sleep in shifts. It was as if we’d inadvertently volunteered to be the firefighting catering company for the next couple of hours or days, however long they needed. If we were going to do this, then we’d need some shut eye. The issue was, no one wanted to go first.
As the sun was rising, I sat in the gutter in the deserted street and watched as the dark sky turned orange, then yellow, before bursts of bright blue took centre stage. It was hot already. Today was going to be another scorcher. Damn Aussie summers.
Something bumped my shoulder and I turned to see a flour-covered, exhausted Payton sink down beside me. Where I’d taken breaks through the night, stopping to sit for a bit or have another coffee, Payton had ploughed through like a woman possessed. Or maybe just like a woman in love who was too afraid to sit still for a second.
“You okay?” I asked stupidly. I knew she wasn’t. How could she be? I had to say something though.
“Yeah.”
“You look tired.”
“You look like shit.”
“Gee thanks. What a great best friend you are!” I teased, nudging her back.
“Why don’t you go have a shower?”
“Why don’t you?”
“I…I need to…it’s my shop. I’ll stay while it’s open. You go.”
“How ’bout I make you a deal?”
“What?” she huffed. I’d almost forgotten how bitchy Payton got when she was tired.
“I’ll go shower. Then I’ll come down and man the store while you do.”
She looked reluctant. So when she nodded her agreement I was completely shocked. Not wanting to risk it, I found my feet and stumbled over to the car. Yanking open the back door, half my wardrobe fell out on the ground at my feet. It wasn’t exactly shirts and shorts either. It was my underwear. Scattered all over the asphalt. As quick as I could, I scooped up my lacy lingerie. I loved lacy lingerie. Behind me I could hear Payton’s teasing giggles. Without even turning around, I threw my hand up in the air and gave her a much deserved one finger salute.
Spying my camera gear on the other side, I tucked a pair of panties and a bra in my pocket and nudged the door shut with my hip. I might be tired as hell and in more pain than was normal, but I knew what made me happy. My cameras. Around the other side, slowly and methodically, I pulled them out of their cases one by one, checking to make sure in my haste, or more precisely, in Gage’s haste to get me out the door, he’d tossed them in. Thankfully, he hadn’t been a boy about it. They were packed in well amongst my jumpers.
Opening my red case, my heart sank.
It was empty.
My favourite camera. The
one my grandfather had given me. My first camera. The one I’d learnt to capture the moment with. It wasn’t there.
“No!”
Payton was at my side instantly. “What? What’s wrong?”
“M-m-my camera,” I stuttered, holding out the empty case.
“What happened?” Adrian’s deep voice boomed through the early morning.
He was kinda intimidating. I wasn’t scared of him. I knew he’d never hurt me, but he wasn’t exactly a teddy bear, either.
“Her camera isn’t here.”
“Is it in the car?”
Men! Grrr! Sometimes they were just too methodical. All I wanted to do was have a little tantrum and stamp my feet. I was tired. I was hungry. And I was annoyed. I just wanted to go crawl into my bed and sleep for a week. Instead I had to deal with this bullshit.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
Payton ran her hand down my arm in an attempt to soothe and calm me. At least that’s what I think she was doing. It was either that or she wanted to be close enough to hold me back in case I lost my shit and slapped her father-in-law.
“Let’s take everything out and have a look, then.”
I knew it was the right thing to do. I really did. It made sense, and I’m sure my precious camera with the personalised leather strap Pop had made for me would be in here somewhere. It had to be. There was no other choice.
It. Wasn’t. Fucking. Here.
All my shit, and Holly’s, was heaped in piles on the street but I didn’t care. Glancing around, I could see my hot pink thong and matching bra on the top of a pile and I couldn’t bring myself to give a shit. My camera wasn’t here.
“I’m going back.”
“Don’t be stupid, Carly!” Payton admonished.
“You don’t get it. I need my camera.”
“Carly, calm down. I’m sure everything is safe. It will be on the table at your place when you get home in a couple of hours. You’ll see.”
Fucking Josie. I wished she’d stop cheerleading for a second and just be real. Right now, real was a hormonal bitch who was barely seconds away from exploding like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
“Well, I’ll just go get it.”
Meet The McIntyres - The Complete Series Page 39