Outback Blaze (16 page)

Her heart quickened its pace and her tongue darted out to moisten her lips as a longing she hadn't felt in ages built up deep within her core. ‘Thank you,' she managed eventually.

‘You're welcome.' His voice was low and his gaze stayed glued on hers. Never in her life had she wanted anyone to kiss her as much as she did now. Her lips ached to feel his mouth upon them, to see if he held the power to awaken her.

‘Well, I suppose we'd better go,' he said. He stepped quickly out of the laundry and started towards the front of the house. Ruby's heart sank into her stomach. Had she imagined the electricity between them?

‘Yes, of course.' Squeezing her lips together to stop from whining, she hurried after him, turning off lights and closing the curtains as she went. By the time she stepped onto the veranda, the rain was bucketing down from vicious looking clouds and the wind was now howling all around them.

Drew had his jacket off and was holding it out to her. ‘Let's make a run for your car,' he said. ‘Hold this over your head and you shouldn't get too wet.'

‘No, I couldn't.' It was sweet of him to offer her his jacket but she couldn't leave him open to the elements. ‘Then you'll get soaked.'

‘Ruby.' His expression was seriously sexy as he looked down into her eyes again. ‘I'm going to get drenched riding back on my bike anyway. There's no point both of us getting wet.'

He all but threw the jacket at her and then launched himself down the steps and into the storm. Thankfully there were only about twenty metres between the house and her car and he was a good runner. Not wanting to leave him shivering in her car, Ruby positioned the jacket above her head and ran. She felt totally awkward and no doubt looked silly running with her arms above her, holding the jacket and her breasts bobbing beneath her jumper, but she couldn't deny it did the trick. Drew leaned across to the driver's side and opened her door just as she arrived at the car and when she slipped into her seat, only the bottom of her jeans and her boots were wet.

‘Thank you,' she said, passing the jacket back to him.

He was staring at her in the most disconcerting manner.

She opened her mouth to ask him what the matter was but before the words were out, he covered her mouth with his. Her body instantly lit up as fire rushed through her veins. Rain hammered down on the roof of her four-wheel drive as she leaned into him and melted. Drew's hand snuck up into her hair and massaged the tender skin at the nape of her neck, the sensations amplifying the intensity of his lips.

Had any man ever kissed her like this? Thoughts of Jonas threatened to intrude on the perfect moment – maybe if he'd kissed her like this she'd have done all the things he'd asked of her, but she pushed the thought aside, not wanting her ex to ruin this perfect moment.

Around them the windows steamed up, but despite needing air, she couldn't bring herself to tear her lips off his. As the urgency of their kisses increased, her breasts grew heavy and her nipples tight, not to mention the aching that erupted between her legs. Ruby's arousal was so strong that she would gladly give herself over to him right now in the front seat of her car.

But it was over all too soon. Drew pulled back, his breathing deep and heavy. ‘I'm sorry,' he said, looking away and running a hand through his hair. ‘I don't know what came over me.'

‘Whatever it was, you'll hear no complaints from me,' she replied, palming her hands against her thighs in an attempt to stop herself from yanking him by the ears and demanding he kiss her that exact same way again. It was unbelievably good to know she could still feel this way.

He chuckled. ‘Truth is I've been wanting to do that since I first set eyes on you.'

She grinned at his confession. He was such a solid, kind, respectable man. Noble like his name and she knew with absolute certainty that he would never ask her to do the things Jonas had. The fact he'd pulled back now when they were both getting hot and heavy seemed to be testament to that fact. In his presence she felt some of the barriers put up against the world, against men, crumbling and her ability to trust someone creeping back.

‘How are your parents today?' he asked, interrupting her thoughts. She recognised it as an attempt to return the mood to safer territory, but it confused her all the same. Did he want to kiss her or did he not? Disillusion tightened her chest at that thought that maybe he hadn't found the experience as bone-trembling as she had. Her face flushed with embarrassment at the thought.

‘As good as can be expected,' she replied, forcing her trembling hands to turn the keys in the ignition. ‘I think they'll all be glad when the paperwork for the fire is done and we can move on.'

‘Have they any idea how long it'll take to rebuild?' he asked, shifting slightly in his seat.

‘They're not going to rebuild.' The words were out before she could think better of them and she tightened her fingers around the steering wheel when she realised what she'd said. Her parents wanted to break that news to the town gently. The last thing they needed was for word to spread via bush telegraph.

‘Really?'

She should lie, tell Drew he'd misunderstood, but she'd always been a hopeless liar and something about him told her he'd see right through her. He was a cop and therefore probably suspicious by nature. Her parents had nothing to hide. ‘Yes.'

Of course it was too much to hope he'd leave it at that. ‘So they're going to take the insurance money and run?'

She snapped her head to face him, horrified at his accusing tone. ‘It's not what you think. My mum is sick. They don't want to waste months re-establishing a business they were going to sell anyway. They're devastated that the business burned down but are trying to make the most of their incredibly bad luck.'

His silence spoke volumes and she suddenly knew with absolute certainty that the reason he swore Jaxon and Brad were innocent was because he thought her parents responsible. Bile threatened to zoom up her oesophagus so she slammed her foot on the accelerator and tore across the gravel tracks faster than she would have done under normal circumstances. It was hard to believe only minutes ago this man had his tongue down her throat and she'd been contemplating doing things with him she'd wondered if she'd ever have the confidence to do with anyone again.

Now she just wanted him gone.

‘I'm sorry, Ruby,' he said when they arrived at his bike. ‘But you must admit it doesn't look good.'

‘It doesn't matter what it looks like,' she spat at him. ‘Two young boys have been charged for the fire, they've all but admitted they're guilty, why do you have to insist they're not?'

‘They didn't admit to any such thing.'

‘Oh come on, they're not angels and the fire began with a Molotov cocktail identical to the ones they've been making. No one saw them on the night of the fire, it doesn't take a genius to connect the dots.'

He shook his head. ‘You're wrong. This is way more serious than anything they've done before.'

She lifted one shoulder. ‘So they've taken things up a notch. I know you like them but you've got to let this go.'

‘And it suits you that two innocent boys have been framed because it takes the limelight off your parents, who have real motivation.'

‘Jaxon and Brad are about as innocent as Japan is in killing whales,' she seethed, feeling her blood pressure ramp up. ‘You met them because they were doing community service. Don't forget that.'

‘Ruby, I know you don't want to—'

‘That's enough! I don't want to because you're wrong,' she cut him off before he tried to fill her brain with any more nonsense. Why was he so insistent on bringing her parents down? How naive was she to think he actually liked her. It was no doubt all a ruse to get her talking, to try and trap her into dropping her parents in it. Had she learnt nothing from her experience with Jonas? Well, Drew could try all he liked but she was on to him now, and besides, her parents were innocent. Of that she was absolutely certain.

‘Ruby,' he tried again.

She didn't even look at him. ‘This conversation is over, Drew. I'd appreciate it if you got out of my car.'

Her heart stilled for a moment as she waited for his response. She wouldn't put it past him to refuse because he didn't seem the type to take orders, but he surprised her. ‘I'm going,' he said. Seconds later the passenger door clicked open, then slammed shut.

‘Well, thank God for that,' she muttered to herself as she loosened her grip on the steering wheel. Yet although her mind was happy to be rid of Drew's overwhelming presence, her heart and body wept. Just her luck the first man that her libido had paid any attention to since Jonas happened to be an arrogant arse intent on putting her parents in prison.

Unable to resist one final glare, she turned her head slightly to watch as he pulled his helmet over his head and mounted his bike. There was just something about a man on a bike. Especially when he had the black leather jacket and a dangerous smile to go with it.

Drew's job might be to serve and protect the community, but Ruby wasn't stupid enough to believe that made him safe. Where she was concerned he might just be the most dangerous man in Bunyip Bay.

Drew kept a low profile over the next week, sneakily working behind O'Leary's back hunting out information and evidence that would clear Jaxon and Brad. As he'd predicted, the investigators hadn't been able to find any prints on the fragments of the bottle the arsonist had used for the Molotov cocktail, nor were there any significant clues left at the scene. He'd spoken to the officer in charge of the case about the Joneses' possible motivation but like O'Leary he'd paid little attention to it. It appeared everyone was quite happy to throw two young boys to the dogs.

Yesterday he'd heard some people talking outside the post office about the Joneses. They'd told their employees about Lyn's illness and also the fact they'd decided not to rebuild their business and both snippets of information had spread through town quicker than a plague of locusts. Drew assumed the news would cause suspicion, if not an uproar, with at least some members of the community annoyed that people would have to travel to Geraldton for hardware and agricultural supplies, but all he'd heard were murmurings of support. Rural Australians were nothing if not understanding.

‘Dammit.' Drew screwed up a piece of scrap paper and tossed it into the wastepaper basket. Mike, who'd learnt all the important stuff from O'Leary, sat at the station computer playing a game and didn't even look up.

Shaking his head, Drew stood and grabbed his jacket off the hook by the door. ‘I'm going to get lunch,' he told his colleague. ‘You want anything from Frankie's?'

‘Yes, get us a Chiko Roll and a Coffee Chill, thanks.' Mike still didn't look up from the screen or offer any money so Drew guessed lunch was on him. He didn't mind, he just had to get out of the confinement of the station.

Just over a week had passed since the fire and crime around town had been at an all-time low. Not that Drew was complaining; he didn't
want
a crime wave but he, Mike and O'Leary had been practically chained to their desks doing paperwork and he was going stir-crazy. So different from Newcastle where he'd barely had time to do paperwork and often had to squeeze it in during the early hours of the morning. He'd even contemplated organising a Blue Light Disco – something he'd read about in a brochure in the station – for the local kids, which just showed how bad things had got.

It didn't help that he couldn't get Ruby Jones and the feel of her lips on his out of his mind. He hadn't kissed a woman in months, yet every time he thought about Sunday afternoon at Adam's farm he cringed. In all his years of being a cop, he'd never been so tactless about questioning a person of interest. Okay, he had, but that was usually well thought out tactlessness. His question to Ruby had been blunt and direct because he'd been too hung up with having just kissed her.

When she should have been begging him for more, instead she'd recoiled as if he'd just slapped her. Her mouth, still pink from his attention, those perfect lips had formed the perfect ‘O' and he'd felt like the muck on a pig farmer's shoe. But he'd had to do something to stop himself from pulling her across the seat and doing what he really wanted to do with her. It wouldn't be fair of him to lead her on when nothing could ever come of their attraction.

But damn, it had been hard to walk away. And knowing he'd done the right thing didn't make it any easier.

He couldn't ignore the possibility her parents had started the fire but those few times in Ruby's company he'd been happier than he had felt in a long time. Since she'd only recently returned to town and he was a newcomer, they had being an outsider in common, but it was more than that. Quite aside from the chemistry that arced like a live wire between them, he felt different around her. Being with Ruby was fun and easy, and he never thought he'd admit it, but he was lonely out here. It pained him that he'd gotten offside with the one person he could imagine becoming friends with.

Don't be ridiculous
. He wasn't here to make friends. He was simply biding time until he could go home and return to his real job. He shoved his hands into his pockets and picked up the pace as he thundered down the pathway to the café.

Thoughts of the Undies Run and the Bunyip Festival had kind of faded out of Ruby's focus but that didn't mean the rest of the town had forgotten. Although the locals supported the Joneses, the whole town would have to burn down before the annual festival was postponed. There were only five weeks until the major event of the Bunyip Bay calendar. Once Lyn Jones started telling people about her illness it took about twenty-four hours for the news to spread. Although everyone would understand if Ruby pulled out of organising the Run, she decided keeping busy might help take her mind off her parents' situation and also off that damn Drew Noble.