He paused and dropped his forehead against hers as a tinge of sanity prevailed. ‘Oh, God, Lucy. No condom.’
‘It’s all right, I’m on the pill.’
‘Are you sure?’ he ground out, holding himself back as her muscles held him tight and sweet.
‘Yes. Please don’t stop. Please.’
He stared at her and her eyes were hazy with desire and her voice was thick. Her heart was thudding against his chest, as fast as his was and it was hard to feel where he stopped and she began. Their skin was slick with sweat, and need. He pushed in deep and it felt so good. Nothing had ever felt so good before.
##
Lucy shook her head as she came out of a daze; Garth had led her to the bathroom off his bedroom and was running water in the huge tub.
‘Okay?’ He tilted his head and smiled at her with that sexy, slow, lazy smile and her insides curled as he pulled the dress over her head.
‘More than okay.’
Garth held his hand out and helped her into the deep circular spa bath, and she leaned back and closed her eyes. The warm water was bliss against her skin.
‘We’re so lucky with the underground water supply out here, aren’t we?’
‘We are.’ He grinned down at her and she realised that she had included herself in the ‘we’.
‘I’m sorry I haven’t got any nice smelly stuff or bubbles. I only use the bath when my muscles are sore after a day on horseback.’
‘It’s fine.’ She watched as he stepped out of his jeans and climbed in with her, putting her head back as he reached for a flannel, soaped it up and ran it across her shoulders. ‘I’d better not stay too long.’
‘I was hoping you might stay the night again, but I guess you’re right. I can’t be greedy.’
‘I’ll need to come over one night and do some more work. If that’s okay?’
‘That’s more than okay.’
Garth dried her off with a big fluffy towel, and they sat in the kitchen while Lucy’s hair dried. She grinned at him. ‘I know I’m going to get teased anyway, but I won’t give them any ammunition.’
‘You seem close to your cousins.’ Garth’s eyes were warm and she looked down as he played with her fingers. ‘But I’ll be honest Lucy, the thought of you being close by is one I really like.’
A strange feeling ran through Lucy. ‘I’ll be honest too. The idea of being here, out on the farm, isn’t as bad as I thought it would be when Gran first mentioned it.’ She looked at him as an unfamiliar shyness ran through her. ‘And now we’re . . . er . . . friends—’ Heat tinged her cheeks as he grinned at her ‘—it will be fun. I mean I won’t have to put up with Liam’s moods. If it gets too bad I can always come over and visit you.’
‘So you and Liam first?’
‘Yes, she nodded slowly. ‘Me and Liam.’
Chapter 18
Six weeks later, Liam and Lucy had settled into a routine at Prickle Farm. Jemmy and Seb were back in the city but called every couple of days. Lucy listened with surprise as Liam outlined to Seb on the phone what he’d done that week. He hadn’t been as moody as Lucy had expected, and she was happy with the way the work at Prickle Farm had been divided between them. Pop was recovering well and was getting around the property on one of the quad runners, albeit under Gran’s eagle eye. Lucy was rarely needed out in the paddocks and she spent most of her days looking after the farmhouse and working on her current campaigns in between baking. Garth came over to help out when Liam needed a hand, and Liam had got into the habit of going over to Garth’s place and helping out some afternoons. And no one had as much as raised an eyebrow at the number of nights that Lucy spent at Garth’s.
Lucy had raided Gran’s garden for cuttings. Garth had dug garden beds at his new house and rigged up an irrigation system. Lucy took great pleasure as the cuttings had taken root and Garth had built a new fence to keep the roos and dogs off the new garden beds.
Lucy was on her way back from her second trip to Sydney. Two trips down for the monthly meeting had kept her up to speed with her work and with the internet connection at Garth’s place, she was handling the telecommuting with ease.
As she turned off the main road onto the short stretch that led to Prickle Farm, she frowned. The only problem was the speed with which the relationship with Garth was developing. She knew it was destined for heartbreak.
Okay, they loved the same things. They watched movies together, shared the same tastes in music, argued politics and both dreamed of holidays in the tropical north. She loved spending time outside with him in his new garden and soaking in the huge tub with him on the nights she stayed over.
But there was a bigger problem. No matter what Liam said about ‘not taking the country out of the girl’, Lucy was a city person. The time she was spending with Garth was not going to change that.
Not that he’d asked her to stay or hinted at making anything permanent. But Lucy suspected it wouldn’t be long before he did. It was time to pull back and put some space between them. As she drove over the third cattle grid, she glanced to the west. Garth’s horse was tethered to the fence that formed the eastern border between the two properties. Lucy pulled over to the side of the dusty road and put her hand up to her eyes, squinting in the strong afternoon sun. Garth was about fifty metres along the fence and as she walked towards him, he leaned back and pulled the wire tight. She reached up and shooed the small black flies that always aimed unerringly for her eyes. His muscles strained beneath the tight T-shirt and his hat was tipped forward over his eyes as he concentrated on tightening the fence wire. His head was down and Lucy gasped as a movement in the red dirt behind him caught his attention.
A large snake was slithering towards his legs. Lucy stopped walking and put her hand over her mouth. If she called out or caught Garth’s attention as she got closer, he was likely to step back and land right on it.
A six foot eastern brown snake. One of the deadliest in the west. Perspiration ran down her face, and the flies were forgotten as she stood and watched. The snake came to a stop about a metre behind Garth’s legs but she knew how quickly they could strike. Her heart thudded and dread filled her chest.
Oh, shit. What should she do? Before she could move, Garth’s cattle dog began to bark and ran between Garth and the snake. The snake reared and struck the dog as Lucy screamed. ‘Run forwards, Garth! Snake!’
Garth dropped the wire strainer and with one hand on the wire vaulted over the fence in one fluid movement as the dog barked and circled around the snake.
‘Stay there, Luce,’ he called. ‘I’ve got a gun on my saddle.’
As she watched he ran along the fence to the shade where his horse was tethered and pulled his stock whip off the pommel of the saddle. He whistled to the dog to come as he approached the fence. Jack, his red kelpie limped over to Garth and flopped into the dirt as he cracked the whip and the snake twirled in the air.
Lucy ran over to Garth and he put one arm around her shoulder. ‘Thanks, Luce. That bugger snuck up on me.’
‘Garth.’ Lucy gulped in a breath. ‘I think it bit Jack before you got it.’
He leaned down to the small red dog panting on the hot ground, his eyes cloudy.
‘Shit, I think it has.’ Garth looked around. ‘Fuck. I knew I should have brought the ute out.’
‘What do you need to do?’
‘I need to keep him still and get him into town to the vet.’ As he spoke, Jack started to twitch as his muscles went into a spasm.’ ‘I wonder where it got him.’
‘On his back leg, I think,’ Lucy said. ‘Pick him up. I’ll drive you into town.’
‘Thanks, sweetheart.’
The endearment hit her like a punch to her chest. Garth was unaware of her inner turmoil as he lifted the dog and ran to Lucy’s car. She grabbed a blanket from the boot and spread it on the back seat and he gently laid the small dog on it as she jumped behind the wheel.
Garth sat in the back and spoke softly to Jack as Lucy sped back i
nto Spring Downs.
‘If you want to tell the vet we’re on the way, my phone’s in my bag on the floor,’ Lucy spoke over her shoulder as they got closer to town where the mobile phone service kicked in.
Garth made the call and kept his hand on Jack. Jack was his best dog, and was more than a work dog; he was old and he’d had him before he’d gone away to the west. He clenched his jaw as Lucy accelerated; she knew Jack was special to him.
By the time they pulled up outside the vet surgery, Rod, the local veterinarian was waiting for them with the antivenene loaded ready to inject.
‘I’ll put him on oxygen too,’ he said as Jack lay on the stainless steel table. Rod looked up from the dog and smiled at Lucy. ‘Hello, Lucy, I heard you were back in town.’
Garth pushed away the surge of jealousy that ripped through him when Lucy bestowed a high wattage smile on the good looking vet.
‘Oh hi, Rod, I’m so sorry, all my attention was on Jack. I didn’t even realise it was you. You came back to Spring Downs?’
‘As soon as I qualified.’ Rod glanced across at Garth before he turned to Lucy. ‘You’ve moved back too?’
‘Oh no, I’m only visiting.’
‘How about coming into dinner on the weekend and you can tell me what you’ve been up to.’
‘I’d like that.’ Lucy’s voice was strange and she looked away from Garth as she accepted the invitation. ‘It’ll be great to catch up.’
Disbelief slammed through Garth as Lucy flirted with Rod, and he tightened his lips. Maybe she could have said, ‘we’d like that,’ or ‘we could both come.’
##
‘Good to see Rod working back in town,’ Lucy said as they headed back home.
‘Yes.’ Garth looked away and watched the brown paddocks flash past.
‘I sat next to him right though primary school.’
‘Did you?’ Garth said.
‘He always wanted to be a vet. Good to see he got there.’
‘Yes.’ The word was almost a grunt but Garth didn’t particularly want to talk about Rod Rogers.
‘He said Jack would be okay, so don’t be too upset. He’ll be fine.’ This time her smile was tentative.
‘Yep.’
Lucy shot him a funny look but he turned to stare out the window again.
‘I’m really surprised that he came back to Spring Downs,’ she said.
This time he couldn’t help himself. ‘And why’s that, Lucy? Because it’s not a place that anyone with any brains would want to live? Have you ever thought that’s only your opinion on the place? Some of us love living out here. Give me the west over the city any day.’
‘Whatever floats your boat.’ This time her response was clipped but Garth noticed her hands tighten on the steering wheel.
The rest of the trip home was quiet and he pointed to the paddock where he’d left his horse beneath the trees. ‘Just drop me here.’ He knew his voice was terse but standing there like a shag on a rock, listening to Rod organise for Lucy to have dinner with him at the pub on Saturday night had put him in a filthy mood.
‘See you later, maybe.’ Her voice was quiet.
‘Maybe.’ Garth watched as the dust billowed behind the car as she drove towards Prickle Farm.
Okay, so they were sleeping together and maybe he’d been stupid to think it meant anything, but he’d not been able to stop his dream of making a life with Lucy. The more time she’d spent with him over the past six weeks, the deeper and harder he was falling for her. No, scrub that. It was going to be how hard he’d fall when she went back to the city and left him.
Because she would. He was kidding himself. He was just a nice little sideline for her while she was here.
Filling in her nights. Meaningless sex. A toy boy. Garth knew he was being unfair but the thought of Lucy leaving left him cold and empty.
All along, she’d been up front about going back to the city, but foolishly, he’d thought he could entice her to stay.
He kicked at the dirt as he walked past the dead snake and over to his horse. The snake was black and covered with ants and he stood there staring at it for a moment. Maybe it was time for a wakeup call.
Chapter 19
Lucy closed her eyes and squeezed back the tears as she drove back to the main road to Prickle Farm. The invitation from Rod had been unexpected but she had seized it. It had given her an opportunity to pull away from Garth. She’d grabbed the opportunity without thinking; it would show Garth that they weren’t serious. Regret sat in her throat like a brick. It had been a stupid thing to do and she wished she could pull back those words.
She should have turned to him and said, ‘How about it, Garth?’ but that would have been publicly outing them as a couple. And they weren’t. And she didn’t want them to be.
Or did she?
Oh, hell, I don’t know what I want.
The look on Garth’s face and the tightness of his lips as they’d driven out of town had shown her how much she’d hurt him with her hastily thought up response.
Stupid, stupid. Why hadn’t she just sat him down and told him the way it was going to be?
Because I don’t think I can. Maybe this was the best way. Let him think she was fickle. Let him be the one to pull back because he was hurt.
Because he didn’t trust her anymore. Maybe now, he’d believe that she was serious about going back to the city. Maybe he’d realise that there was no future for them.
He was country.
She was city.
And his words when he’d lashed out at her had shown her that in bucket loads. They were totally incompatible. Okay so they were perfect in bed together . . . or in the shower . . . or in the huge tub in his bathroom . . . and by the dam . . .
Lucy shook her head as she slammed the car door in the hay shed. She was going to have to forget all about Garth McKenzie and move on. It would be a lot easier when she was back in Sydney and it was time to do something about that.
Gran and Pop were out visiting a neighbour, and Liam looked at her curiously as she clomped up the back steps.
‘Everything okay? Good trip? How was Sydney?’
‘No.’ She choked back a sob. ‘I had to take Garth to town. Jack got bitten by a brown snake in the front paddock.’ Hopefully Liam would think she was upset about the dog. She was, but Rod had assured them Jack would survive.
‘Gran and Pop rang, they’re going to stay out for dinner. Are you going to Garth’s?’ Liam followed her up the steps to the verandah that went around the whole house.
‘No. I’m tired from the drive and I’m not hungry. I’m going to have an early night.’
He laughed. ‘I was sure you’d be straight over there. You haven’t seen him for three days.’
Lucy whirled around and Liam bore the brunt of the feelings that were surging through her. ‘Well, I’m not and I wish you would all stop assuming we’re a couple. We’re not, and I’m going back to Sydney in six weeks. Remember?’
Her face crumpled and she burst into tears.
‘Hey, Luce.’ Liam’s hand on her arm stopped her from opening the door and running inside. ‘What’s wrong? Really?’
Lucy’s shoulders sagged and Liam pushed open the door and held it open for her. ‘Come and sit down and tell me what’s wrong. I’ll get us a cold drink.’
Lucy flopped onto the soft lounge and lifted her face up to the cool air puffing out of the air-conditioner. She was pleased that Gran and Pop were out. At least there was only Liam to see her have a meltdown.
Over the past few weeks, she’d been so bloody emotional; it was way out of character for her. Happy-go-lucky Lucy, who usually took everything in her stride. She’d even cried at an advertisement on the television the other night and Garth had hugged her and wiped her tears away.
Liam walked from the kitchen and handed her a glass of juice with ice cubes chinking in it.
‘So spill. You obviously need a shoulder to cry on. Did you and Garth have a blue?’ Liam pulled up a woo
den chair and sat in front of her. Lucy grinned through her tears. His face was grimy and there was a line of red dirt where his hat had caught the perspiration as he’d worked out in the hot paddocks all day. He totally looked the part of a cattleman.
‘You’ve really taken to country life, haven’t you,’ she said.
‘You have too. You’ve fitted in so well.’ Liam leaned forward and looked at her as she shook her head emphatically. ‘Is that the problem? You don’t know what you want?’
‘Oh, I know what I want.’ Lucy’s smile was bitter. ‘I want Garth. But I don’t want to live out here. And I can’t have one without the other.’
‘Very true.’ Liam nodded. ‘Take care that you make the right decision, Lucy. I made the wrong one a few years back, and I’ve regretted it ever since.’
‘What happened?’ Lucy stared at him. ‘That’s if you want to share.’
‘Water under the bridge now. I can talk about it without it hurting too badly.’ His voice was sad and she stared at him.
‘I fell in love with an Aussie girl I met in London. Angie’s work visa ran out, and she had to come back to Australia.’
‘And?’
‘She wanted me to come back with her, but foolishly I put my career first. It was before the first round of job cuts in Fleet Street and of course I planned on being the next Clive James.’ He lifted his head and his eyes were bleak. ‘Too late I realised I shouldn’t have let her go.’ His laugh was bitter. ‘And the irony? I’m back here now, my journalism career’s gone and I’m making a new life she would have loved.’ He shook his head. ‘She’s a country girl and she was doing a vet exchange just outside of London.’
‘Can’t you get in touch and let her know you’re home?’ Lucy frowned. It all sounded so simple when it was someone else’s problem.
‘Nope. Too much pride. Last time she emailed me, she had a new man, and was living happily in Victoria. She doesn’t need to know I’ve come home. No point.’
‘I think you should.’ Her voice was emphatic.
‘And I think you should give Garth a chance. You obviously love him and he loves you. Have you told each other that or do you skirt around it like Angie and I did?’ Liam shook his head again and lifted his glass. ‘Does it really matter where you live if you love somebody? Think about it, Lucy.’
Loving Lucy: A Prickle Farm Romance Page 10