Page 43 of Secrets of Riverside

‘Ahh, no, thanks.’ He shot from his barstool and it tumbled backwards. ‘I’ll pass.’ He caught sight of her group of friends, watching from the sidelines. ‘How about you go back to your friends and enjoy the rest of your night.’

But to his disbelief, she didn’t back off. She just smiled a little smugly and brought a fingertip to trace the scar on his cheek. ‘How did you get this?’

The memory of the broken glass catching his flesh as he climbed out the window to escape the fire, with Amelia Price wrapped in his arms, jarred him, but he covered it well. ‘A bull got me.’ That’ll do … He took her wrist and carefully, respectfully, pushed her arm back to her side. ‘Now please, go back to your friends before this gets any more uncomfortable.’ He made sure his expression displayed his distaste for her unprovoked, and now very unwanted, attention.

‘Really? Whatever, your loss.’ None too pleased, the blonde tossed her ponytail over her shoulder, glared at him, then stamped off.

Relieved, he looked to the only woman in the room he had eyes for. ‘I’m so sorry, Mills.’

‘Don’t worry about it.’ She shook her head and laughed it off. ‘It’s bound to happen.’ Her little shrug of nonchalance was just another quality to adore. ‘Now, come on, stop sweating the small stuff and let’s get out of here.’ Grabbing his hand, she dragged him through the crowd, out the front door.

‘Where are you taking me?’ He chuckled at her determination to drag him away. ‘You know the LandCruiser is thatta way.’ He gestured in the opposite direction with a tip of his head.

But she didn’t respond, just kept tugging him forwards. It was only when they’d reached the quiet solitude of the bushland surrounding them that she finally spoke. ‘Who are you?’ Her hands had let go of his and were now planted on her hips.

His heartbeat ground to a halt. ‘Pardon?’

Shit! What does she know?

‘I said.’ She considered him with shrewd eyes as she folded her arms. ‘Who. Are. You?’

He fought to keep his cool as he pulled a ridiculous, baffled face. ‘I’m Jarrah King, who are you?’

‘Come on.’ Her head tipped to the side. ‘Now’s your chance to be completely honest with me.’

‘I am being honest.’ He huffed a breath, more to try and steady his voice. ‘What’s gotten into you?’

One breath, two breaths, three … they just stared at each other, wordless, motionless.

Shit!

‘Sorry, don’t mind me.’ She sighed and looked to the starry night sky. ‘I think I’ve just had too much to drink.’

‘All good, I reckon we’ve both had our fair share, and then some.’ Relief flooding him, Jarrah reached out and took her hand. ‘Come on, you can crash in the back of my LandCruiser, and in the morning, when I’ve sobered up, I’ll drive us home, yeah?’

She was blinking fast now, and her bottom lip was clamped between her teeth.

‘Millie?’

Her forehead puckered. ‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea.’

He wasn’t going to leave her alone. ‘You got a better one?’

Her shoulders lifted ever so slightly. ‘Not really.’

‘Right then, it’s settled, you’re sleeping with me.’

A little smile surfaced on her yummy lips. ‘You might want to word that a little differently, King.’

His brows shot up when he realised what he’d just said. ‘Oh crap, yeah, true.’

‘Don’t worry, I knew what you meant.’ She hooked her arm into his. ‘Okay, cowboy, take me to bed so I can sleep off this alcohol and wake up with a hangover.’

CHAPTER

14

The hum of the roadhouse carried into the commercial kitchen as Tommy shoved through the door, piles of dirty plates in his hands. After dumping them into the sink, he retraced his steps, leaving his air of tetchiness trailing behind him. Used to his moodiness, and now somewhat unaffected by it, Millie did her best to ignore it. She had bigger fish to fry than worrying about a moody teenager. With the temperature feeling off the charts, she plonked the tray of blueberry muffins down and fanned her flushed face with her hands. A quick check of the air conditioner confirmed it was on, as was the overhead fan. Deep down, she knew her body’s furnace wasn’t due to the humid weather. Every nerve in her was heightened, and her heart felt as if it had been skipping beats for the past forty-eight hours. Even now, the lingering heat fuelled by mind-blowing desire still flushed through her body.

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