by Giulia Skye
She noted the ripple of his jaw as he clenched it, but instead of getting ready to spar with her as she’d hoped, he looked wary—wary of her. Wary that she fancied the pants off him, and he’d be stuck without anyone else around for a distraction.
Adam’s eyes darted to her mouth, his gaze so intense she found it hard to breathe.
“You look like Tom Cruise,” she said. “Pre-Botox, of course. A young, tall, gangly version.”
He simply stared at her.
She was such an idiot.
But then he threw his head back and laughed, a deep rumbling sound that rang out across the ocean. She’d never seen him properly laugh before, and like the bloom of a rare flower or the explosion of a dormant volcano, she absorbed the sight knowing it would likely be a while before she’d see it again.
“Now I remember why I grew the beard in the first place,” he said.
“You don’t like Tom Cruise?”
He arched his brow.
“But he was hot in his day! I thought he’d be a compliment.”
“I look nothing like Tom Cruise.”
“But you’re Tom Cruise-esque. It’s in the slightly wonky nose and the set of your eyes.”
“Is that like me saying you’re Bambi-esque because of your eyes?”
“I suppose. But you know, Bambi was a boy-deer so maybe not quite as flattering, and not very original either. I’ve heard that one a million … possibly two million times before in my adult life alone. But I’d take Bambi any day,” she added, unable to stop rattling on. “The naughty boys at school used to call me Bug Eyes.”
Adam stared at her again. “Only a supreme idiot would describe your beautiful eyes like that.”
Oh.
She blinked. Once. Twice. The clever retort she’d been about to say flattened by the flutter that had rushed its way up again.
Why didn’t you kiss me?
Because—silly crush or not—when he looked at her like that, she was certain he wished he had.
CHAPTER 17
Evie woke the next morning to the sound of grunting and heavy breathing coming from the other side of the truck. She turned to lie on her stomach, catching a glimpse of Adam’s legs and torso moving up and down.
Press-ups?
At this time of the morning?
The heat and light had woken her up, but it was still only twenty past six. She winced at the sight and sound of his exertion but continued to secretly watch him, counting twelve push-ups before he changed the rhythm and lowered his body inches from the ground, paused, then pushed up again. After repeating these slow, grueling presses several times, he held a plank position and pumped his legs in a running action, his toes barely skimming the ground as he pushed his knees toward his chest. He grunted again. And again. Evie turned away, hot and somewhat flustered. His groans weren’t helping to banish the sexy fantasies she’d had of him last night.
Quite the opposite.
She heard him stand. From underneath the truck, she saw his feet were now spread wide. Another torturous exercise. Squats? Lunges? Some minutes later, his face came into view under the truck. He was back in a plank position, sweat dripping off the end of his nose.
He raised his head and caught her watching. “Good morning.”
“You’re not normal, are you?”
“Nope.”
He started another round of press-ups and she rolled over, closing her eyes to the sound of his grunting and imagining him doing something else physical and horizontal.
A short time later, still thinking about physical, horizontal things, Evie ate cereal as she discreetly stared at Adam’s bare back. He was washing himself, dipping a wet cloth into the bowl she’d bought for washing dishes. The campground Adam had seen signs to turned out to be little more than a clearing with a long drop toilet. Not that either of them had minded. She was enjoying the detour and the spontaneity, just like she was enjoying the view.
They were a few kilometers from the highway. She could hear the occasional road train, large Australian lorries pulling several trailers, rattling past, but other than that it was just the call of the birds and the shimmering of leaves in the breeze. She hadn’t been able to trace their exact journey on her map and had wondered if the sandy tracks they’d driven along had even been chartered.
Not knowing exactly where she was stirred something deep within her, like being poised on the edge of a brave new world. She snuck another look at the muscles on Adam’s back. She didn’t think muscles could actually ripple, but his were. Very much so. They worked under his taut skin, smooth and oiled like machinery. She licked her lips and pondered a very interesting concept.
What if she made a move on him?
The way he’d looked at her yesterday had planted a seed. A seed that had germinated overnight and unfurled with the rising sun. It was a silly idea to go with her silly crush, but, as they packed away their camp after breakfast, she told herself there was no harm in testing the water. So much had happened this past week, and this brave new world where she now found herself, reminded her that she was a woman who took control. She made things happen.
So why not make things happen with Adam?
Reaching for her toiletry bag to pack away into her backpack, she noticed her sunblock poking out, reminding her she’d yet to apply any today, like she did every morning without fail.
She called out to Adam and held the bottle up to him. “Would you mind? I’m afraid you’re the only one around today who can do the parts I can’t reach.” She indicated the semi-circles of skin that were exposed by her racerback sports bra, the spaghetti straps of her vest top offering very little protection. “It’s too hot for a T-shirt,” she added, even though Adam, as usual, had put his back on.
She’d always known there’d be a time when she needed his help to apply suncream, but since that night in Derby—since she felt this charge between them—she wondered if a simple favor like this would be construed as something flirty. Something intimate. He glanced quickly at the bottle before taking it from her. She turned her back and hid her smile, sensing his hesitation.
Did touching her make him nervous?
Blimey, if that was the case, he’d run a mile if he ever found out about the steamy scenarios she’d imagined him in last night while she’d been waiting to fall asleep. Him, naked. With her, naked. She bit her lip, still wondering what he would have done if she really had acted upon her fantasies and walked to his side of the truck wearing nothing but the moonlight.
Cold cream hit her hot skin without warning. She yelped. He mumbled an apology and began to rub, his fingers soft but firm, sliding over her skin in small brisk circles. The circles of a man wanting to get the job done. So unlike her dreams in which he’d taken his time.
“You have good traps.”
“Excuse me.”
“Trapezius muscles,” he explained. “This bit here.” He traced a triangle between her shoulder blades. “Do you work out?”
“I try to,” she managed, gathering her thoughts. “Back home I run and do Pilates a couple of times a week, but it’s hard to get into a routine out here.”
“You’re strong and sturdy.”
She turned to face him. “Like a donkey?”
He looked stricken. “No. I—”
“Don’t worry, I’m joking.” She took the bottle from him and indicated his torso with her finger. “If you ever want to tone up that flab of yours, I can show you a few moves.”
“Thanks.” His lips twitched. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She watched him pack his things away. The application of sun lotion hadn’t quite been the sensual experience of her fantasies but at least she’d made him smile. He hadn’t done much of it this morning. He’d reverted back to Quiet Adam. It was just his nature, she reminded herself, but today she thought there was something more at play.
“You seem quiet today.”
“Just hot and tired.”
“Still want to see what’s on the other side of the river before setting off to Windjana?”
They had a few hours in which to explore, having planned to drive to Windjana later in the morning so they could make use of the truck’s air con during the hottest part of the day.
“Yeah, of course.” He finished loading up the truck, closed the boot and nodded to her bag. “You want a hand with that?”
“No, it’s fine.” She plonked her backpack on the back seat then noticed Adam’s much smaller holdall. She eyed it with the usual curiosity.
She liked Adam—and not just because she fancied the pants off him. He was very easy company, but there was something about him that jarred. She looked at his bag again. It was the type of bag one would take to the gym, not halfway around the world.
“Ready to go?” he asked, slipping into the driver’s seat.
She climbed in beside him. It had been clear to her since the start that he’d drastically under packed for this trip abroad. He’d had to buy more clothes in Derby, she’d seen the shopping bags, and she’d noticed his new flip-flops, too, which he’d started to wear yesterday instead of his usual running shoes.
He was wearing one of his new rash tops today, a particularly well-fitting light blue T-shirt made by a sports brand she knew didn’t come cheap. At this rate, the only cash he’d have when they got to Darwin would be the fee she’d agreed to pay him. It wasn’t any of her business how he spent his money, but it did make her wonder.
Had he left Canada in a hurry? And if so, why?
They were halfway to Windjana when Adam momentarily took his eyes off the road to look at Evie.
“So let me get this straight,” he said. “When you were fourteen you found out your father had another family you knew nothing about?”
Evie didn’t know how they’d gotten onto this subject. She was pretty sure she’d been asking Adam about his background, keen to get to know him better, but he had a way of deflecting questions back to her. At first, she’d thought it was because he didn’t want to talk about himself, but now she wasn’t so sure. He seemed truly interested in her, asking her more and more details until she ended up revealing the single event that had marred the end of her childhood.
“I’d spent most of my childhood thinking he was one thing, only for him to turn out to be another.” Adam wore his sunglasses, but she didn’t have to see his eyes to know he looked both confused and surprised. “He walked out on us when I was five, then he moved to LA—or so we thought. It turned out he lived in north London, about sixty miles away from us. His wife and daughters knew nothing about me either.”
Adam blew out a breath. “Wow, people really do that kinda stuff in real life?”
There was more to the story but she didn’t want to drag it up now, like some accolade that defined who she was. She didn’t like going into detail about who her father was, not that his name would mean much to Adam, or anyone else outside of the UK. Her father was a has-been, a small fish in a very large pond.
“Just for the record, this has been a really random conversation to have with a guy I’ve only known a week.”
“I’m all ears. Not much else to listen to out here.”
She held up her iPod charging with a USB adaptor in the truck’s cigarette lighter. “Christina Aguilera?”
“Hell no.”
She laughed. Despite having talked about her father, she was enjoying herself and that interesting concept unfurled a little bit more.
Evie making a move on Adam? She couldn’t.
Could she?
But as the kilometers ticked by, she thought about the brave new world and this fantastic year away from home that she was meant to be having. After her separation from Zac, shouldn’t she be using this time for new experiences that weren’t limited to seeing just the scenery?
So she began to wonder—just for the fun of it—how she would go about seducing a man like Adam. She had very limited experiences with men. There had only ever been Zac, and she didn’t think that drunken snog she’d had in a backpacker bar in Airlie Beach three months ago counted.
The guy, who was from New Zealand, had been called Kiwi by his friends but she was sure his name was something like Sean or Simon. Not that it had mattered. He’d forgotten all about her the moment those friends had returned from the bar handing him a fresh bottle of beer. What did that say about her skills in attracting men and keeping them interested?
With that sobering thought, she had a glimpse at what her life would be like when she returned to England. She still wanted a man to share her life with, still wanted a family. Which meant only one thing. Soon, she’d have to start … dating. The thought depressed her.
“Want a mint?” Adam offered, one hand on the wheel.
“No, thank you.”
Although she wouldn’t mind dating if all the guys were like Adam. Delicious Adam with his fine, hard body and quiet, gentlemanly manners. She didn’t think she’d be so lucky. So why not make the most of it now? After all, he’d started it. He had thought about kissing her and she was on the other side of the world, having the adventure of a lifetime. Couldn’t Adam become part of that adventure?
She peeped again into the possibility of seducing Adam but just as quickly shut the door in its face. What if he rejected her? It would be an utter disaster—and not just for her self-confidence. She couldn’t jeopardize this tour and after that kind of mortification, she’d be finding herself back in Derby quicker than she could say, “Night bus to Darwin.”
Evie seducing Adam? Tempting him with a bite of the forbidden fruit?
What forbidden fruit? She had nothing with which to tempt him. She was totally ill-equipped for seduction. For that, surely, she’d need figure-hugging clothes, a cleavage, and a chilled bottle of wine. She’d need makeup that wouldn’t sweat off in minutes and a hairstyle that didn’t fear a comb being run through it. She leaned back and placed her feet on the dashboard, feeling inadequate that she had none of those things.
She didn’t even have clean feet.
Adam glanced at Evie’s cute toes and worked his way along to her thighs. She had nice legs. They were toned and shapely, and he liked how they were marked with bruises and scrapes, like she wasn’t afraid to use them and get a little dirty.
“So tell me about you?” she asked suddenly. “Any secret siblings in your family?”
He removed his gaze from her legs and focused on the road again. He’d been enjoying listening to her but since she’d told him something personal about herself, he supposed he should do the same. The curse of conversation.
“None that have come knocking,” he replied. “But considering how my dad goes through women, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Your parents are divorced?”
Adam shifted in his seat. Had he said that out loud? Another curse of conversation—or rather conversing with Evie and that way of hers that made him forget. “Like yours, they were never married. Although when he turned fifty last year, he joked about it being time he settled down.”
“Your father’s fifty?”
“Fifty-one now.”
She twisted to face him. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-three.” He could hear her thoughts. “Let that be a lesson in safe sex, eh?” Just then, the road signs came into view. “I guess we should see signs for Windjana campground soon.”
Which meant show time.
Tension pinched his shoulders. Adam had no idea if Skinny Pete had come to Windjana yesterday or even if he’d still be there, and by the time he knew, it would be too late to do anything. He’d be stuck with the same two choices—run away or suck it up.
Since yesterday, he’d been imagining all sorts of showdowns. None particularly attractive. The worst featured him skidding back to the
highway in a cloud hissing with dust and stone, chased by the gang of twenty-somethings who’d lose control of the wheel, have a hideous crash, and become worldwide news. The best scenario was less gruesome, but even that ultimately ended the same way; he’d have to say goodbye to this quiet tour of the Kimberleys. He’d have to say goodbye to Evie.
He could picture the disbelief in her eyes as he came clean, her lips forming a simple O as he posed for photographs, encouraging the Aussie guys to have a shot at Saskia’s bounty, as if the invasion of his privacy didn’t matter to him one bit. He’d then drive Evie back to Derby, offering her the sum of the bounty to ensure she didn’t tell anyone about their time together, and more importantly, that he was on his way to Darwin to spend time with Shane.
Adam would take her out for a meal at the best restaurant in town. “We had fun, didn’t we?” he’d say. “Shame we didn’t see all the Kimberleys together, but hey, you can treat yourself to your own private tour in style now.” He’d kiss her cheek and wish her a nice life, and as he walked away, he’d feel her eyes boring into the back of his head, calling him all types of self-absorbed asshole.
“Adam. You missed the turning.”
He snapped out of his absurd daydream, feeling her eyes on him. “Damn.”
Hitting the brakes, he stopped the truck and dust settled over the bonnet. As he turned the vehicle around, he tried to clear his mind.
“It should be easy to spot,” Evie said as they made their way down the right track. “It’s the only thing down here.”
“I see it.”
The campground was wide and spacious.
And it was empty.
No Jeep. No Skinny Pete. No photographers.
Evie opened the truck’s door, the furnace blast of heat stinging her air-conditioned skin.
“Where is everyone?” Adam asked.
“In cooler parts of the world.” She hopped out and wondered how much time and space Adam would need to come back from his most recent patch of quiet contemplation. “Next time, I think we turn down the air con a few minutes before we stop to give ourselves a chance to acclimatize.”