Some Girls Do (Outback Heat Book 1) (10 page)

He nodded, but tension radiated from every line of his body. “I’ll drive back to Brisbane in the morning and sort a few things out at work.”

Lacey dared a smile. “Thank you.”

“Two weeks,” he reiterated.

She nodded. “Two weeks.”

A lot could happen in two weeks, right?

‡

C
oop’s jaw was
killing him when he woke to the first trickle of light pushing into the room through the high windows that sat above the kitchen. His fingers gently probed the slight swelling from the outside as his tongue ran along the inside. He should probably take something for it.

But he wouldn’t.

He didn’t believe in popping pills. He’d rarely taken anything for the terrible headaches that had plagued him for those first few months after his injury and occasionally still did. They made him tired and woozy and he felt tired enough after precious little sleep last night.

He lifted his head and looked down at himself, wincing as his jaw protested the movement. He was still laying on top of the bed covers, his clothes from yesterday staring back at him. He’d finally fallen asleep in them, sans shoes, at around two am.

He looked at his watch. Six o’clock.

Christ, he was tired.

He eased back down onto the pillow then rolled his head to the side to look at Lacey. She lay on her back on the far side of the double bed, her head turned away from him, hair splayed over the pillows and sheets and her torso, the blankets pushed down to her waist. It might be winter outside but it was toasty inside and her flannelette pajamas no doubt added to the heat in the bed.

He shut his eyes and turned his head away on an inward groan. Do
not
put heat and bed and Lacey in the same sentence.

This is going to be your view every morning for the next two weeks, buddy. Get used to it.

He almost wished she
was
pregnant for a moment. Maybe that would be the kind of cold bucket of water he needed to stop the wave of heat currently washing through his balls.

Carrying another man’s baby—unsexy and aggravating as hell.

He swung himself off the narrow single mattress, which had been remarkably comfortable.
It
hadn’t been the thing keeping him awake all night. It was the other mattress and its occupant that had been responsible for that.

Coop slipped his feet into his shoes and did them up. He’d kill for a shower and some caffeine to wake him up properly, but he planned on leaving with as little disruption as possible for Lacey. She’d insisted last night that he wake her before he left but there was a difference between a gentle nudge and a whispered good-bye to clomping around the place for twenty minutes.

He walked over to the coffee table, scooping up his wallet, car keys and his room key then walked back to her bed. Standing at the end, he contemplated leaving without the nudge she’d asked for. Leaving a note maybe?

Her breathing was deep and rhythmic and even though he couldn’t really see her face she looked peaceful. So peaceful he was tempted to crawl in beside her, wrap himself around her and go back to sleep.

Why she even wanted to be woken he had no idea. It wasn’t like they were a real couple. Why he’d agreed was also a mystery, although he suspected it was something to do with the fact she’d been curled up in her bed looking at him through sleepy lashes.

Come on, man
. Just do it already and get the hell out.

Coop stalked around to her side of the bed. He stood looking down at her for long moments. Her face was just peeping out from the fan of her hair and her hand rested low on her belly.

And he wanted her.

“Lacey?” he whispered. She didn’t answer so he crouched beside the bed, his hand on the mattress and tried again. “Lacey?”

“Mmm …” her eyelids fluttered open briefly before shutting again.

“I’m leaving now,” he said, still whispering. It seemed appropriate in the low light. “I’ll be back later on this afternoon.”

“K,” she half mumbled, half sighed, her lips curling up in a little half smile. “Drive safe.”

Coop swallowed. “I’ll lock you in.”

“Mmm,” she said again, rolling onto her side, her eyes still closed as her hand bumped against his, her mouth now dangerously close.

His gaze dropped to her lips. Soft and slack in sleep. So near, so tempting. He wanted to lean forward and kiss her on that mouth, wake her up properly. Wake her up
good
.

He wanted it
so
damn bad.

If this had been real, if they’d been
really l
iving together, if his baby had been
really
growing inside her, he could. He could just lean forward and kiss her. Push her hair back over her shoulder, run his fingers down her arm, onto her hip, her thigh. He could whisper how much he wanted her. How hard he was for her right now. How he wanted to be inside her.

Coop shut his eyes against the fire in his loins and the devil riding him hard. He had to be strong. Absence had always been the key to keeping this rampant attraction in check and now that was gone.

He needed to be stronger than ever before.

He stood. Took a breath and a step back. Took another breath and turned away. Headed for the door.

Did not look back.

Did not stop until he was leaning heavily against his car sucking in the frigid morning air down on the street.

Fuck.
Only fourteen more mornings to get through …

*     *     *

The day flew
by in Brisbane. His parents were surprised at the suddenness of it all but understood when Coop explained that Jumbuck Springs needed a temporary mechanic and he’d volunteered. They’d accepted his story and his mother had pulled out a huge container of pumpkin soup from the freezer to take with him.

He felt bad about lying to them, but his old man had long since recovered from his heart problems and the booming restoration part of the business, which Coop had started two years ago, would be fine in the capable hands of his second-in-charge. Gav was brilliant at his job and more than happy to step up when Coop asked him.

He stopped in at his apartment to pack some clothes. It didn’t take long. With a population of two thousand, Jumbuck Springs was hardly party central so he didn’t need anything fancy to wear and fancy wasn’t really his thing anyway. He threw in a bunch of jeans, a variety of shirts, a couple of hoodies to ward off the nippy mornings and nights and three pairs of work trousers and shirts.

On the way out of his room he opened his bedside table drawer to grab the true crime novel he’d been reading. There were going to be a lot of long nights with Lacey in that hotel room so anything that held his attention was worth packing. He stopped dead as a barely touched box of condoms stared back at him.

Temptation stalked him as he’d stood there and thought about sliding into Lacey. Kissing her mouth while he did so. Swallowing her throaty
yes
. Feeling her ankles locking around his butt.

He took a deep breath and shut the drawer.

Next stop was Lacey’s dorm to pick up her phone and bag. She’d rung him to let him know that Jeremy had delivered them to the dorm. He passed her Mini in the car park and made a mental note to get it transported to Jumbuck Springs. He doubted Lacey was going to need it, which gave him the perfect opportunity to finally do something with it.

The idea of a project appealed to him. It would be win/win. She’d get a restored working beauty and he’d have something to do, to take up his time, to distract him. Even if he was going to spend a lot of that time thinking about spreading her out on the hood of her newly renovated car and greasing her nipples.

He drove back into town around four and headed straight for Campbell’s Auto-repairs. It was similar to what his father’s place had been like before Coop had modernised a lot of the equipment. Two petrol pumps sat out front. A shop where spare parts, car care products and junk food could be bought was attached to the main garage area where a huge workshop area was secured behind two large roller doors.

Alec Campbell greeted him like a long-lost son and gave him a quick rundown on the business. They arranged for Coop to come in for a few hours tomorrow to see how things were done, then Alec would leave on Wednesday. Alec was keen to chat and Coop let the man ramble about the glory days before computers ran cars—anything to delay seeing Lacey again with that box of condoms still weighing on his mind.

It was five before Coop ventured down into the main bar area of The Stockman looking for Lacey, who wasn’t in their room. With her phone in his possession he had no way of contacting her, but he figured JJ would know.

“Here he is!”

Coop was surprised to find Lacey behind the bar with JJ. She was in jeans and a V-necked T-shirt, sporting that high ponytail of hers again. The one that made her look too young to be serving behind a bar.

Or shacked up with him.

“Oh. Hi. That was fast,” he said. Maybe this whole thing could be resolved much sooner than two weeks?

“It’s just temporary,” she said. “Covering for one of JJ’s part-timers who’s broken an ankle.”

Or maybe not. “I didn’t know you could pull a beer?”

“She can’t,” a guy in an ancient hat further down the bar said, raising his glass to inspect the rather large head atop the amber liquid.

“Hey,” JJ said. “She’s new, cut her some slack.”

Lacey grinned at him and Coop was glad there was a stool nearby because he couldn’t remember when he’d ever seen such a glow to her.

Sure, the night she’d lied about her age and seduced him, she’d been all smiles. But even back then he’d been aware of a brittleness to her smiles. Now though, her eyes shone.

“You wanna beer?”

“Don’t do it man,” hat guy muttered.

Coop laughed. “Sure, I’m game.”

Lacey’s eyes sparkled as she grabbed a glass and held it under the tap. The head was still large but what she lacked in skill she made up for with enthusiasm. JJ winced slightly when she saw it and apologised. Coop shrugged, picked it up and drank it.

There were worse things in life than a beer with too much head.

“So, how’d it go in Brissy?” Lacey asked.

“Fine,” he nodded, licking the froth off his upper lip. “Your phone is upstairs on charge.”

“Thank God, I’m having Facebook withdrawal,” she said. He rolled his eyes and she beamed at him. “What’d you tell your folks?”

“That my mechanical skills were required in Jumbuck Springs.”

Lacey laughed. “I bet that’s not something you thought you’d ever say.”

“Ah, no.” But then he’d done and said a lot of things since meeting Lacey he’d never thought he would. “How’d you go today? Get everything sorted with college?”

“Yes, I spoke with the dean at length about deferring. He was very understanding. He directed me to an online form to fill out, which is all sorted now.”

“You have been busy.”

“I needed to lock that stuff down so there aren’t any fall-back avenues for me.”

He nodded. “And have you seen any of your brothers today?”

She shook her head, her smile dimming a little. “Not yet.”

“Correction,” JJ said as she brushed past with a drink order, tipping her chin towards the door.

They both turned to watch Ethan stride in, a rather sombre-looking Connie by his side. Still in his navy police fatigues, he nodded at JJ and his sister and scowled at Coop.

Coop’s jaw twinged.

“Hey Connie,” Lacey frowned as Ethan boosted Connie up onto a stool. “What’s up?”

“Looks like whatever it is calls for one of these,” JJ said, plonking a red lemonade down on the bar.

Connie gave JJ a small smile as she ran her fingers up and down the frosty glass. “Mum was supposed to come to the Octopus’s Garden parade at school on Wednesday. She was bringing me a mermaid costume all the way from Sydney, but she can’t come now.”

JJ’s mouth tightened as Connie smiled stoically at them like it didn’t really matter. Ethan looked pretty damn grim too as he patted his daughter’s shoulder reassuringly. “She really did want to come, sweetie. But you know how Mum’s job can be.”