Outback Secrets, page 15
He kept a straight face, but Henri felt fireworks skate across her cheeks. She really couldn’t work him out. Was he flirting with her or merely in character?
‘Thank you,’ she managed, then took a much-needed sip of the cool, sweetly delicious liquid.
‘You’re more than welcome.’
‘I missed our surfing lesson this morning.’
‘I didn’t want to wake you because you looked so comfy, but I had something I had to do. Sorry, I probably should have left a note but I’m still getting used to this whole relationship thing.’
She smiled. ‘You and me both. And it’s fine. Glad everything was okay.’
‘Of course.’ He nodded slowly, his eyes trained on hers, telling her he too was referring to their conversation last night.
The knowledge that she hadn’t ruined things between them relaxed her.
‘Planning on watching more Christmas movies tonight?’ he asked.
‘Don’t start that again. Unless you like being a loser, because I’m prepared to argue to the death!’
Liam’s lips flickered upwards. ‘Well, don’t fall asleep on the couch, because I’ll be a little later than usual and I don’t want to wake you when I come in.’
‘Oh? What are you up to?’ Her ridiculous heart wondered if he was meeting someone—a female someone—not that it was any of her business. Unless he wasn’t discreet and someone in town saw him with someone else. The situation was already complicated enough without people jumping to the conclusion that Liam had two women on the go.
He lowered his voice. ‘I’m going to deliver Dolce’s rocking chair.’
‘I’ll help you,’ she offered. ‘That rocking chair must be pretty heavy.’
‘It’s fine. I’m used to lifting heavy stuff on my own.’
‘It doesn’t mean you have to.’ Granted, Liam was a big, muscly guy but it still wouldn’t be easy to move that masterpiece around on his own. Especially not in the dark, while trying to be all stealth-like. It was the least she could do considering all he was doing for her.
‘Okay. If you insist. I might close up slightly earlier than usual anyway, because it’s quietened down now.’
As if fate wanted to prove him a liar, at that exact moment, there was a shout from the corner near the pool table. ‘You fucking bastard!’
Even before she’d turned to see Jaxon Bird’s hands wrapped around Brad McDonald’s neck as he slammed him onto the table, Liam charged around the bar. Sheila, who’d been dead to the world moments earlier, was right behind him, baring her teeth. Liam launched himself at the boys, dragging Jaxon off his so-called friend and holding them both at arm’s length as Sheila stood between them all. Even from the bar, you could hear her growling. Although Jaxon looked to have made the first move, Brad bounced up and down on the spot like a caged beast ready to strike, and Henri worried that Liam might become collateral damage.
‘That’s enough. Calm the hell down or you’re both banned from the pub till next year,’ he ordered.
Although Henri stilled at the authority in Liam’s voice, it was like neither of the boys actually heard him.
‘What the hell, man! She’s my ex-girlfriend,’ Jaxon shouted.
‘You two were just kids when you were together,’ Brad retorted. ‘I’m showing her what it’s like to be with a man!’
‘Fuck you!’ Henri flinched as Jaxon shoved Liam out of his way as he laid into Brad again. ‘You hurt her, and I’ll fucking kill you!’
Dylan ditched the bottle of wine he’d been holding and ran to offer assistance.
Liam grabbed both offenders by the scruff of their necks. ‘I’ll kill the both of you if you don’t stop disturbing the peace!’
He started to drag them towards the door, shoving Brad at Dylan. The tall Welsh bartender caught him as if he were a rugby ball.
‘They’ll be right,’ Sexy Rexy said as Liam and Dylan escorted the boys from the building.
Henri had almost forgotten he was here. Nerves pulsed from her belly up to her throat. ‘I hope so.’
‘Liam can handle those two babies. I’ve seen him deal with a lot worse.’
She prayed they’d do as they were told as she took another sip of her cocktail. ‘By the way, I’m Henri Forward. Not sure we’ve ever been properly introduced. You work for the shire, right?’
Sexy Rexy nodded and thrust out his hand, which she shook firmly despite the fact it was warm and sticky. ‘Rex Carter. I’m the chief executive officer of the Bunyip Bay Waste Recovery Park.’
‘Sounds like a big job,’ she said, taking a sip of her drink to hide her smile. She’d only ever heard it called the rubbish tip, and CEO? That was a bit of a stretch. ‘Do you come here a lot?’
The man glared daggers at her. ‘What are you trying to say? You think I’m a drunk? You think I have nothing better to do with my time?’
‘No. Sorry. Nothing like that.’ Although if the shoe fits. Henri tried for a placating smile. ‘I was just thinking that must mean you know Liam quite well.’
His face softened. ‘Yeah. You could say that. He’s a good bloke. If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now, and I reckon I’m probably not the only one.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘After me wife up and left with me brother, I started coming here of an evening just to get out of the quiet house. Drowned my sorrows in Jack Daniels. But after a while even JD didn’t make me feel any better. When I didn’t show up here one night, Liam came around to my place. Broke down me door and found me passed out in me bed. He called the ambos and they got me back.’ He glanced down into his glass, which was almost empty. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to kill him for stuffing up my plans, but he didn’t give up on me. He told me how he enjoys our chats and said he’d miss me if I wasn’t around. And well, it might sound stupid, but …’
‘It doesn’t sound stupid,’ Henri said, barely managing to get the words out around the lump that had formed in her throat. She’d already suspected that Liam wasn’t just a good-looking guy but also a truly good one, and this just proved it. His patrons weren’t just customers to him—he cared about each and every one of them.
‘These days, I only drink the light stuff,’ Rex continued as he lifted the pint and downed the dregs. ‘And Liam makes sure I stop before I start getting too down in the dumps. He also encouraged me to go for a promotion when it came up at the tip, and now I get to boss people instead of the other way.’
‘That’s great,’ Henri said, glancing back towards the door, wondering what was taking Liam and Dylan so long.
Just when she was thinking that maybe she should call Drew, the fly strips parted and Liam, Sheila and Dylan stepped through.
‘Oh my God.’ Henri leapt from her stool at the sight of blood spilling from Liam’s lip. ‘Who did that to you?’
He shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter. I’m just gonna go clean up.’ Then he walked around the bar and into the kitchen behind.
Dylan looked at Henri. ‘Can you go help him? I’m not good with blood.’ When she hesitated, he added, ‘Or I can go upstairs and get Lara. It’s her night off but she’ll be awake binge-watching Schitt’s Creek.’
‘No, course not. I’ll help.’ Henri slid off the stool. Of course as the girlfriend she should be the one patching him up, but in all the drama she’d forgotten about their charade.
She walked around the bar and into the now-empty kitchen—last orders were hours ago, and Macca and the kitchen staff had left—to find Liam leaning against a counter, an icepack pressed against his lip, Sheila standing guard right beside him; she was such a good dog. Henri wasn’t sure what else she could do but offer commiserations.
‘Youch, that looks painful,’ she said.
He raised one eyebrow at her.
‘Sorry—stating the obvious. Bad habit of mine. It probably feels even worse than it looks. Do you need any help cleaning it up?’
He lowered the icepack and angled his face towards her. ‘Has it stopped bleeding?’
Henri stepped up close. ‘I think so,’ she murmured, resisting the urge to reach out and cup his cheek. ‘Are you gunna press charges?’
‘Nah, he didn’t mean it. And I was young once. I know what it’s like to get all worked up over a girl.’
‘You’re a lot more forgiving than I am,’ she said. ‘I didn’t even know Jaxon and Brad were old enough to drink.’
‘Only just. Jaxon celebrated his eighteenth here only a few weeks ago. Brad a couple of months before that. They’re good kids mostly. They’ll be in tomorrow to apologise, I’m sure.’
Liam washed his face and cleaned up, joking that Macca would kill him for messing up his kitchen. Then they switched off the lights and headed back out to the bar, which was now deserted.
‘Bet her touch was much better than mine,’ Dylan said as he finished sweeping the floor. He leaned the broom against the bar. ‘I’ve locked up and turned off the taps. Anything else you want me to do before I go?’
Liam shook his head. ‘Thanks, mate. See you tomorrow.’
When Dylan disappeared, he hit Henri with a now-crooked smile. ‘You ready for our late-night delivery?’
‘Are you sure you’re still up for it?’
‘I’m not going to let a little cut get me down, but if you’d rather not join me—’
‘I’m coming,’ she said firmly, then glanced down at Sheila. ‘She coming too?’
‘No, we’ll leave her here. Don’t want her to see a possum or something and start barking.’
Henri followed Liam out the back door and over to the workshop, where his red Hilux was parked. Light from a lone streetlight lit up their path and Henri felt a flicker of excitement as she realised this was the first time they’d been alone-alone. Most of the time they had an audience, or at least Sheila acting as chaperone.
Hopefully oblivious to the workings of her mind, Liam slid open the heavy door and flicked on a switch. She inhaled the scent of wood chips and varnish as light spilled over Dolce’s rocking chair, which was waiting just inside the door.
‘Wow,’ Henri gasped as she took a proper look at it. All polished and shiny, it looked like something you might pay hundreds of dollars for. ‘Dolce’s one lucky old bird.’
‘I hope she likes it.’ He bent down to lift one end. ‘You take the other side so you’re walking forward.’
Henri did as she was told, noticing that pieces of wood were laid out across his work bench.
‘What are you working on now?’ she asked as they shuffled outside and carefully heaved the chair onto the tray of the ute, which Liam had already lined with a heavy blanket to avoid damage.
‘Just fiddling with a few ideas.’ He gestured to a thick yellow cord on her side of the tray. ‘Do you mind passing me that rope?’
She picked it up and tossed it to him, then watched as he started to secure the chair, tying very impressive knots. Was there anything his hands couldn’t do?
Henri swallowed—don’t even go there—and focused on the job before them. ‘So, what’s the plan?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘How are we actually going to do this?’
As he finished what he was doing, he explained they’d drive the short distance to Dolce’s house on the other side of Bunyip Bay but park a few houses up in front of Rex’s house. ‘He’ll be out cold by now, so won’t notice a thing. Then we’ll walk to Dolce’s place and quietly make the switch.’
‘But why are we doing this in the dark at night? Won’t Dolce know it’s from you anyway?’
It wasn’t like there were dozens of people in town with the skillset to create anything as beautiful as this.
Liam shrugged as he yanked at the last knot to make sure it was tight. ‘I don’t like making a fuss. And I thought it’d be nice for her to walk out tomorrow morning and just find it there.’
‘Why not do it on Christmas Eve and make it like Santa delivered it?’
He raised an eyebrow, giving her a look that told her exactly what he thought of that idea.
‘Fair enough.’ Henri smiled. There was no point trying to understand the workings of a male mind and this sneaking around was kinda fun anyway. ‘Then let’s do this!’
Chapter Sixteen
Liam needed his head read. That’s what he decided as he drove out of the car park and turned into the main street towards Dolce’s end of town. The lights on all the shops made it feel as if they were driving through a silent disco and did not help the tension building in his head at all.
What had he been thinking agreeing to let Henri come with him? He didn’t need her help and last night had been torturous enough. Now in the closed confines of his ute, he was struggling to think, and struggling to keep his eyes on the road when her practically bare-naked legs were only centimetres from his. A fake relationship was proving to be all-consuming and just as infuriating as a real one could be, only without the benefit of sex. His fingers twitched around the steering wheel, but he resisted the urge to reach out and place his hand on her thigh. How many days were there until Christmas? How many days until the decorations and flashing lights all around them could be taken down? Till Henri would leave again and things could go back to normal? Liam honestly wasn’t sure how long he could keep it up. His thoughts about taking things further were getting stronger each moment they spent together. Right now, his cut lip wasn’t the only part of him throbbing.
You simply need to remember that this is all an act!
But the problem with fake was that sometimes it felt very damn real. And sometimes when she looked at him, he wasn’t so sure that she wasn’t harbouring the same illicit thoughts as him. She’d ordered Sex on the Beach for crying out loud!
Maybe he should just ask her? Come right out and lay his cards on the table. See if she wanted to turn their charade into a summer fling? But if she didn’t … how awkward would that make things between them? More to the point, why did he care?
Dammit, why was he losing his head over this? Until a week ago, he hadn’t even known she existed.
Usually, sexual attraction was simple. He met someone he thought was hot, made sure they felt the same about him and didn’t have lingering ties to anyone in town—then made his move. They enjoyed each other’s company for a night (two max) and then both moved on.
The problem with Henri was she did have ties in town, and he already felt like he knew her better than he ever allowed himself to know any of his liaisons.
He felt like maybe they were becoming friends.
Friends. Even in his head that word felt alien. He couldn’t say he’d had a proper one since leaving America. Sure, he still occasionally communicated with his childhood best friend Simon and his wife Holly, but it was mostly surface stuff. They emailed him pictures of their cute kids and liked the posts he put on the pub’s Facebook page. In the early years they’d made noises about coming to visit him, but it was a long way and they didn’t have the funds. He could have helped with that, but seeing them would have brought back too many memories of times when life was good. Watching Simon, Holly and their children together would only remind him of everything he’d lost.
‘Wow!’ Henri shrieked, jolting Liam from his thoughts as he turned into a residential street that was lit up even more than the main one, if that was possible.
He tried to ignore the tightness in his chest as he slowed the car. He should have waited a little longer until all the lights had been switched off, but as usual, with Henri around, he wasn’t thinking straight.
‘Everyone’s really gone to town this year,’ she added.
He could barely manage a nod as he surveyed either side of the road. The houses were overloaded with flashing coloured lights and front lawns littered with big blow-up decorations swaying a little in the sea breeze. The Bradys even had Santa, his sleigh and six white kangaroos on their roof. Eileen didn’t like to be outdone. Still, it was only a fraction of what you’d see this time of year in the States. And without the snow and the frost, it didn’t quite have the same effect. Thankfully.
As if reading his mind, Henri said, ‘Whenever I see lights like this, it always reminds me of the houses you see in Christmas movies. I remember watching Home Alone as a kid and being so jealous of the snow and sparkling lights and wishing we went to more effort down under, and now it seems we do. Did people go all out decorating their houses where you come from?’
‘Huh?’ He barely heard her question, the sound of his heart thumping too loud to register anything else. This was why he steered clear of Christmas decorations.
‘In Colorado, where you come from, are the houses all decked to the nines for Christmas?’
‘Yeah,’ he managed. ‘They are.’
‘So where is that?’
He glanced at her quickly and frowned. ‘Where is what?’
‘Where you come from?’ she said, her tone bemused. ‘What town?’
‘Ah … right.’ He’d never told anyone in Bunyip Bay the name of his hometown, well, almost no one. The old sergeant, O’Leary, had checked him out not long after he’d arrived because some people had apparently been asking questions. He could guess who they were. But aside from the cops, he didn’t want people to be able to google his name and the town and put two and two together, so he’d remained vague whenever anyone asked.
‘Are you all right?’ Henri touched his hand gently as he slowed the ute to a stop in front of Rex’s house.
As Liam had suspected, his most faithful patron’s house was one of the few that was not lit up like the Rockefeller Plaza at Christmas.
He switched off the engine and the headlights. ‘Silver Ridge … that’s where I come from.’
‘Sounds pretty.’
He could hear the smile in her voice as he turned to look at her.
‘It is.’ And she was too, he thought, as he met her gaze. So pretty. Vowing to focus on the task at hand, he cleared his throat. ‘Come on, let’s get this show on the road.’
They both climbed out and crept to the back of the ute. She kept watch while Liam untied all the knots.
