Page 37 of Outback Reunion

‘On your marks, get set, go!’

The words had barely left her mouth when he felt the pressure against his arm and realised this wasn’t going to be quite as easy as he’d imagined. Although he’d known she was strong due to her job, he’d underestimated just how much strength she had.

Not to mention the fact that it was hard to concentrate when all his blood had rushed to his groin.

Focus, Mark.

Closing his eyes so her cleavage wasn’t right in his face, and pretending his opponent was some arrogant dude on the footy field—Alex, the guy Tahlia had chosen over him, for instance—he put his all into the contest. His jaw clenched, his arm muscles burned, and he let out an unappealing grunt, but it was working; he was regaining some control.

And then he made the fatal mistake of opening his eyes to find her staring right at him. There’d been something almost primal between them all those years ago and he could still feel it now. The air crackling between them, she licked her lips and her chest heaved with exertion. His pulse grew faster, and the breath was sucked from his lungs as his mind went right back to that night and the way she’d looked down at him when his hands were possessively caressing her breasts as she rode him like a cowgirl.

It was suddenly all he could do not to come right there in his jeans.

‘Yes!’ Gabriela shrieked in victory as she slammed his fist into the table.

‘Dammit.’ He couldn’t believe it. Having a cock could be such a disadvantage sometimes. He might have succeeded in setting her at ease, but he was even more riled up than ever. Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to let go of her hand. ‘Congratulations.’

Mark heard a cackle from over at the bar and turned to glare at Henrietta Forward. Just his luck that the only person in town who’d ever managed to beat him in a running race—granted he was recovering from pneumonia that day—had witnessed his embarrassing loss.

‘Girl power!’ she shrieked, pretending to give Gabriela a high five across the room.

Gabriela laughed. ‘I really like her.’

‘You do realise I’m never going to live this down,’ he whispered. ‘It’ll be all around town tomorrow morning that Mark Morgan, ex pro-footballer, lost an arm wrestle to a girl.’

She had the good grace to look sheepish. ‘Do you want a rematch?’

‘Hell no! Are you insane? I’m not as stupid as I look. I lose to you once, everyone will think I was just being chivalrous; I lose to you twice and my reputation will truly be in tatters.’

Gabriela extracted her hand from his and picked up her wine again. ‘We wouldn’t want that.’

He took a much-needed gulp of his beer, then said, ‘Despite you making me question my masculinity, I’m glad you agreed to meet me, especially when you must be exhausted after performing all night.’

‘I think your masculinity’s just fine,’ she said, smiling at him in a way that sent his thoughts whirling wickedly.

He hadn’t met with her tonight expecting anything to happen between them. He’d just wanted to talk to her and hear an explanation for her disappearing act years ago, but now he’d touched her again, he wondered if that was going to be nearly enough.

It felt like a betrayal to Tahlia even thinking such things, but then he reminded himself that she’d already rejected him. Whether he liked it or not, he was a free agent.

‘And sometimes it’s nice to get away from the circus.’

Mark blinked. He had no idea what Gabriela had just said. ‘I’m sorry, what was that?’

‘I said I’m glad you asked me to come here. Sometimes it’s nice to get away from the circus, although this place is not exactly what I imagined a country pub looking like.’

‘It used to be exactly what you probably imagined,’ he said, leaning back in his seat. ‘Stained walls, ratty old carpets from the seventies, bad smells and terrible music. Dad used to bring us here for my mum’s birthday and Mother’s Day, because aside from the bowling club, it was the only place to get dinner in town.’

‘That must have been nice,’ Gabriela said, twirling her wine glass between her fingers.

‘Don’t think Mum would agree. Eventually she told him if he forced her to eat here one more time, she’d file for divorce.’

‘Oh no. Are they still together?’

‘Yep—he’d be lost without her,’ he said. ‘After that we drove the half-hour to the Chinese restaurant in Geraldton whenever we had something to celebrate.’

She smiled. ‘Does your mum still take care of injured wildlife?’

He nodded. ‘You have a pretty good memory too.’

---