Page 69 of Stockman's Stowaway

He lurched again.

‘You keep lurching like that, and I’ll have no arm left.’ She rubbed at her shoulder.

The dog stopped and looked at her, finally giving her his attention.

What did she say?

She narrowed her eyes at the dog. ‘Lurch?’

He sat down with his ears cocked, head tilting and tail sweeping across the dusty paddock’s floor.

Mia crouched down before the dog. ‘Do you want to be called Lurch?’

The dog licked at her. She barely ducked away in time. But the big dog nuzzled into her, knocking her onto her back in the dirt, leaving her with no choice but to hug his furry body. ‘Hello, Lurch. Nice to meet you.’ Her laugh echoed in the surrounding air.

‘I’m guessing you found a name?’ Cap looked so sexy leaning against that pole, arms crossed, with his stockman’s hat shading his eyes.Dayum.

‘I did.’ Covered in dirt, she could barely contain the excitement as she rushed up with the dog. ‘His name is Lurch.’

The dog stopped drinking from the trough to wag his tail at Mia.

‘Good name.’ Cap patted the dog. ‘Was that because he was pulling on your arm? Or you have a thing for the Addams Family?’

‘You saw, huh?’ Dumb question, because every time she’d peered over her shoulder, Cap had been watching her. Or maybe he was just watching the cattle, the way a surf lifesaver watched a public beach to keep everyone safe.

‘Here. Remember to keep hydrated.’ He passed her the cool water bottle, their fingers brushing, to send a scurry of electricity along her fingers, up her arm, to then tingle over her scalp.

Judging by the way his Adam’s apple shifted as he swallowed hard, she wasn’t the only one reacting.

His tan throat and dark stubble moved against the collar of his blue work shirt, inspiring another strike of electricity to rush through her body. She found herself wanting those strong hands of his to get handsy with her, but he pulled his fingers away, leaving her holding the bottle.

‘Um, thanks.’ She drank thirstily from the water bottle to not only fill that awkward void, but to push down her desire to touch his warm skin and hard lines, while hoping that maybe, just maybe, Cap was feeling the same way she was. Or was she reading the signals all wrong?

Cap cleared his throat, his attention on the guardian dog. ‘While you were walking Lurch—’ It made them mirror their grins at Lurch thumping his tail on the ground. ‘I found a name for the female.’

‘Please tell me you didn’t call her Cousin It, to go with the Addams Family theme?’

‘Mamma Bear.’ The dog groaned as she happily rolled over to get her tummy tickled by Cap.

Cap gave her the sweetest smile. Small, but genuine. But it lit Mia up from the inside to smile right back at this man.

‘Welcome to the family, Lurch and Mamma Bear.’ But the way he said that, as he looked at her, it was as if Cap had just welcomed Mia to the family, too.

Twenty-four

‘Do you know the names of the stars?’ Mia asked Cap, as she lay back on her swag stretched across the cage roof of Cap’s Tojo. With only the stars for light, they had the best view over the calves getting to know the new guardian dogs in the small paddock below them.

‘Only the Southern Cross and the Milky Way.’ Cap pointed to the luminous river flowing from horizon to horizon, painting the night sky with a soft, silvery sheen. ‘You?’

‘No. Maybe I should learn. They’re so incredibly clear out here.’ So was his masculine outdoorsy aroma that wove around her like a spell.

‘You would’ve seen them on your father’s farm.’

‘Back then, I didn’t appreciate them like I do now. At the mines they have so much industrial light pollution it tainted the skies. But this…’ She sighed, admiring the outback’s vast landscape enveloped in a deep, inky blackness, where the night had settled a cool stillness over the sunburnt land.

Stars upon stars pierced the darkness, like a million tiny diamonds scattered over a velvet backdrop. In the distance, the escarpment’s ruggedly stark silhouette ran like a jagged line that separated the earth from the sky. To the east, a faint glow ran behind the edge of the escarpment, hinting at the moon’s arrival.

‘It’s a great way to end the day.’ Should she wish upon a star?

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