Page 97 of The Vet from Snowy River
‘It didn’t end there. He told the manager of the facility about the camera, and they decided to prosecute. That’s what I’m facing in court, a charge for installing a surveillance device which is, apparently, illegal.’
She sucked in a breath. Best to get this part out all in one go. ‘So, I was jobless, my aunt’s bed at the facility was suddenly no longer available, and my resumé turned out to be worse than useless, because no-one would give me a job. I sold my apartment to pay my legal bills and Jill’s care costs.’
‘Vera, I’m so sorry.’
She took a sip of the wine and let the cool of it slide down her throat. ‘So, that’s what I’m currently fighting in court.’
Josh picked up her hand from where it lay on the couch. He ran calloused fingers over hers. ‘What are your chances of fighting the charges?’
She sucked in a breath. ‘When I’m feeling brave? Maybe I’d say I had a good chance. But mostly, I don’t feel so brave. When my, um, boss let me down—threw me under the bus, in fact—it took my confidence, Josh. I can’t trust my judgement anymore.’ It hurt to think it, but she’d thought of little else for months. ‘Maybe I reallydodeserve to go to prison.’
Silence ticked along in the room when she stopped talking, measured by the dull click of the hands of her old clock. What did he think about her now he knew the ugly truth? Did he regret being here?
God knows, if the gossip she’d heard over the cake slices was true, Josh had fielded enough drama of his own in his day. Why would he want to rock his newfound peace by being associated with her?
‘I’m sorry you’re having to go through this, Vera.’
He hadn’t drawn his hand away from hers. Instead, he’d curved his upwards, so his fingers curled over hers.
‘You aren’t … horrified?’
His mouth quirked. ‘Sweetheart, I used to work construction in Sydney. I’ve seen more vice than you’ve served pots of tea.’
She felt a little bud of hope uncurl within her breast. ‘I was so worried that you’d think—’
‘I’d think what?’
She bit her lip. ‘That I was too much trouble. That you’d had enough of being the subject of gossip.’
He smiled then, and there was more wicked in it than sweetness. ‘I love a little trouble now and then.’
CHAPTER
30
He’d had women in his life. Too many, his sister would have said, especially back in high school. His affair with Beth had survived a baby and the crash-and-burn of his university scholarship, but then waned over time into friendship; and he’d gone out in Sydney every now and then, but never with any real intent. Never with his heart in a flutter and his thoughts all torn up like confetti, like they were now.
Never with a woman whose inhibitions were so at odds with how she kissed.
Maybe he’d got it wrong that day on the trail. Maybe he’d imagined her response to suit himself, because he needed her to want him as much as he wanted her. But she was looking at him now with need in her eyes and he wanted—hereallywanted—to believe it was him that she needed.
He tucked a curl of her hair behind her ear, letting his hand linger on the soft velvet of the skin he found there. Only one way to find out, and here, in the soft light of the fringed lamp, with nothing but the low purr of a sleeping cat to disturb them, was the perfect time.
He slid his hand down to her shoulder and nudged her towards him. ‘Speaking of trouble, you want to kiss me?’
‘I shouldn’t.’
He leaned in until he was a breath away. ‘Because you’re not sure how you feel about me?’
He knew damn well what he was feeling: weak-kneed, starry-eyed … with visions of him and Vera building somethingrealtogether. Something that looked like a family, with his daughter, and a cavalcade of pets, and lazy Sundays holding hands.
She breathed in, a long shuddering breath that sucked a piece of his soul in with it. ‘I’m feeling plenty. And that’s exactly why I shouldn’t kiss you. My life’s a mess, Josh. The sort of mess that could end up in prison.’
‘When bad stuff happens, we get through it, Vera. Day by day.’
She smiled, a sad little curl of her lips that made him want to gather her into a hug and hold her until all that sadness faded away.
He touched his lips to hers, lingered there until the warmth built. ‘I can hope with you. I can worry with you. I can mind your cat while you make licence plates in Old Wentworth Gaol.’
