Page 21 of Tempting as Sin
Rafe realized that the waitress was there when she set down his meal, then Alan’s, glanced at him, then away again, and asked, “Can I bring you another coffee?” with an expression he didn’t have any trouble reading.Her,he could shock.
“No, thank you,” Alan said. “Excuse us.” When she’d left, with a look back over her shoulder, he told Rafe, “I need to know what it is.”
“No third parties,” Rafe said. “No drugs. And no BDSM, since we’re being exact. I’m not saying I’ve never done it, but not with her. She was too bloody fragile for anything like that, mate. Even if she’d wanted it, I wouldn’t have done it. That was the attraction, more fool me. And if she puts out a sex tape, I’m pressing charges.”
He’d lost the accent. He’d also lost the cool.
“Might not be a good look,” Alan said. “Might be better to ignore it. I’ll get the PR firm onto it. Also, I got the quinoa bowl. Did I ask for the quinoa bowl? I did not. I hate quinoa.”
“I don’t care.” Rafe stood up. “You can eat mine.”
“Sit down,” Alan said.
“No.” Rafe had stopped being apprehensive. Now, all he had going on was cold fury. “I’m leaving town anyway, learning to be a cowboy. Handle this.”
“The press will catch up with you,” Alan said. “They know about the Australian place, and they’ll find it. It’s a juicy story.”
“I’m not going there. Not many cowboys on an Aussie surf beach. If they do catch up,I’llhandlethat.But I don’t think so. I’m going to hide in plain sight.”
The conversation with Jace was shorter. Simpler, too.
“Bugger,” Jace said. “What can I do?” One hundred percent pure Jace.
“I was about to go to Colorado,” Rafe said. “The ranch idea, like I told you. Martin has it all sorted, starting in a couple weeks, but too many people know about it. There’s an equestrian center outside of Sinful, though. I checked. When I was there last year, the whole town—the wholestate—looked pretty sleepy.”
“You’re not wrong,” Jace said. “And my place could work. I’ve got it wired, alarms and all, because of what happened last year. But, you know…Do your training on a cattle station in South Australia instead, and she’ll be apples. It’ll be winter, too. Bonus. You won’t die of heatstroke, and no journo’s going to venture into the Outback to find you. They think it’s full of crocs or boxing kangaroos. Or kangaroos boxing crocs, possibly. Also that they’ll be bitten by a snake. It’s like they’ve never heard of boots, and they think South Australia’s the Northern Territory. Americans are bloody useless as geographers.”
“I’m working on being American, though,” Rafe said. “I’m a cowboy. Actually, a sheriff.”
“Bogan,” Jace suggested. “Redneck enough for anybody. You’ll find no shortage of those in the Outback.”
“Nah, mate,” Rafe said. “I’m not looking for missing teeth and bad tattoos. We’re going for chivalrous. Steely-eyed, deadly, and a man of few words. Code of the West.”
“Doesn’t exist.”
“I’m pretending. That’s the point. And if you don’t want me, say so.”
A long silence, then Jace said, “Go when you like. Stay as long as you like. You know that. But Lily will be your neighbor.”
“It’s the country,” Rafe said. “You can’t see anything from your house except mountains. She may as well not even be there. Anyway, I won’t go for a couple weeks.”
Of course Australia was a better idea. Even a one-eyed bat could have seen that, and Rafe could see it, too. But he wasn’t doing it. He’d had enough of arid landscapes shooting the film, maybe.
“Paige noticed,” Jace said slowly, “that there was no love lost between the two of you. The first time, when you were here, and when we were in Oz, too, for the engagement. Mum even said something. Don’t muck it up for Lily, mate. She’s had a hard time, whatever you’ve read. Paige was hoping for a turnaround when Lily met that bloke here, but that went pear-shaped as well. There’s somebody real under all those layers, but it’s a long way down.”
“No worries,” Rafe said. “She’s safe from me. I’m over women with layers and damage. Besides, I’m being reclusive. That’s the point. Looking into the distance, not across the room.”
“I told myself that,” Jace said. “Once. Problem was, there were these goats. And this blonde.”
“I’m not looking for a blonde,” Rafe said.
“Yeah, mate,” Jace said. “Told myself that, too.”
Lily was on her knees setting out tomato seedlings when the goats started making more noise than usual. Generally, that meant somebody was coming to visit.
Great. She didn’t want anybody to come to visit. Monday was her day off from the shop, her day off from talking, and her day off from makeup. It was seventy-five in the shade, and she wasn’t in the shade, but she still planned to be outside for exactly as much of the day as she possibly could. It was June. It was summer. It wasMonday.
She pulled the straw hat lower over her forehead, patted earth carefully around the tender seedlings, added some mulch, pulled the trowel from her pocket, and scooted backwards to start working on the peppers. Maybe if she pretended she hadn’t seen them…
