Outback Blaze (2 page)

‘Don't rush, sweetheart,' said her father, Robert.

‘Enjoy yourself,' added her mum, Lyn.

Ruby frowned as she left the house – neither of them had been acting themselves lately. Not remembering her birthday was the latest in a long line of strange behaviours. She wondered if something was bothering them and wished, not for the first time, that they shared more of their business issues with her. Since returning to Bunyip Bay earlier in the year, she'd tried to prove to them (and herself) that she was well on the way to recovery, but they still tip-toed around her like something they might say or do would upset her. While she felt as if she were emerging from the hell her life had been, they seemed intent on sheltering her. And it was getting worse. What they didn't understand was that she wanted to move on. She had been a naïve girl when she'd fallen in love with Jonas and the one positive thing he'd done for her was to help her grow up.

It amazed her that no one else in town had asked about her sudden return. Surely they'd known she'd been engaged, but no one had mentioned it and even though she'd made good friends with Faith, Monty, Adam and Ryan over the last few months, they hadn't pried or asked questions.

If Faith and Monty were still around they'd likely have taken her out to the pub for her birthday and celebrated long and hard, but it was no use getting all maudlin about the fact they were gone. Their romance had given her faith that such relationships were possible and she couldn't be happier for them.

Somehow, while turning all these thoughts over, she'd arrived at the town hall for the photoshoot, barely noticing getting in the car and driving. Ruby parked alongside the historic building, which sat in the middle of the main street of the town. A few older women from the Bunyip Bay committee were already there – they wouldn't have much involvement with the Run, it was her baby now, but they didn't like to relinquish control completely. Ruby guessed the fact that the evening was all about taking shots of half-naked men for publicity had a lot to do with the extra faces as well.

As she headed inside and approached the women, she heard hurried footsteps behind her. ‘Sorry I'm late. Kids.'

Ruby turned to smile at Simone, who entered the hall like a hurricane whirling through the door. She'd only recently become friends with Simone after helping their mutual friend Faith organise a Barking Ball to raise funds for Dogs for Autism. Frankie – Simone's sister, who also happened to own the local café – followed behind carrying a couple of trays of cupcakes. She rolled her eyes at Ruby and smiled.

‘Hi Frankie. Hi Simone. Can I help you carry anything?'

‘No, no, I'm fine.' A large camera swung like chunky jewellery around Simone's neck and she carried a tripod and some sort of backdrop as well. ‘I swear, I don't know why I had them sometimes. Nothing but trouble. No matter how many times I tell Harriet she can't go out on a school night, she keeps on at me, hoping I'll give in.'

Ruby guessed Simone was referring to her daughters. She'd been widowed long before Ruby met her and although she was a great mum, doing it on her own often took its toll. Frankie took the cupcakes into the kitchen and Ruby followed Simone across to the front of the hall, where she started unloading equipment onto the stage. ‘Are you sure there's nothing I can help with?'

Simone sighed. ‘You could run down to the Bottle'O and get me a drink.'

‘I appreciate you doing this,' Ruby said, hoping she didn't have to rush off and buy Simone alcohol. She wanted to be here when her poster subjects arrived. ‘Promise I'll shout you a drink at the pub after. Deal?'

‘Deal.' Simone grinned, rested her hands on her hips and turned to survey the hall. ‘I think we'll set up on the stage.'

‘Okay, then, let me know if you need anything.'

‘Will do.'

Ruby went into the kitchen to check that the older ladies and Frankie had supper under control. When she'd come up with the idea to photograph a number of local guys in their undies to use as promotion across the state – hopefully garnering more attention for the event – they'd been more enthusiastic than she could have imagined. She soon learned that's because they expected to be fed after parading about in their undies and she'd had no shortage of volunteers for that job either.

‘So, who are we getting to perve on tonight?' Frankie asked, while plating up her cupcakes.

The three older ladies moved closer to Ruby, their eyes sparkling with excitement. ‘Yes, do tell,' one of them asked.

‘Well,' Ruby didn't need to consult her list. ‘There's Adam and Ryan covering the farming contingent, Liam from the pub and Sergeant O'Leary for the services.'

The smiling faces dropped at the mention of Sergeant O'Leary. No one wanted to see his beer gut wobbling over the top of Y-fronts, but he'd been helping out with the Undies Run for years and Ruby felt it would be wrong not to ask him. She shrugged a shoulder. ‘He represents the older generation.'

One of the committee ladies snorted. ‘We've got enough floppy penises at home; we want eye candy for the poster.'

‘Amen,' Frankie muttered. ‘Seeing O'Leary bare-chested will be enough to put people off my cakes.'

Ruby fought back a smile. These women were only speaking the truth, but she hadn't wanted to hurt the old policeman and had expected him to turn her down. ‘Just focus on the others,' she told them. No one could deny Adam and Ryan, her friend Faith's brother, would paint a pretty picture in boxer briefs and although a little older, Liam wasn't too bad to look at either.

‘Speaking of which,' Frankie pointed through the serving hatch out into the hall, ‘I think our first suckers have arrived.'

Ruby's head ticked with the beginnings of a headache. She'd taken plenty of photos of horses when she worked at Vanderbrek's but this was the first time she'd had to wrangle half-naked men into submission like this. Taking a deep breath, she went out to greet them.

‘Hey Rubes.' Adam grinned the smile that had apparently once upon a time made him a finalist in
Cleo
magazine's Bachelor of the Year and gave her a quick hug. He didn't seem nervous at all.

Ryan, who was perhaps even better looking than Adam but acted more aloof, nodded his greeting. ‘Are you taking the shots?'

She shook her head and gestured behind to where Simone was taking practice shots with a tatty teddy bear. ‘She is. And thanks for doing this. I hope you don't feel too exposed.'

Ryan raised an eyebrow. ‘Ruby, you're asking us to pose in our jocks. You don't get much more exposed than that.'

‘Oh, I don't know.' Frankie appeared beside them. ‘We could ask you to go the full Monty.'

Ruby shot her a warning glare. The last thing she needed was to scare off the models. Publicity had been hard to come by for the event until she'd come up with this scheme. Now she had newspapers all across the state promising to run an article. Subject to the photos, of course.

Liam arrived next. Ruby welcomed him and then left Frankie to chat while she went to check if Simone was ready. Her palms were already clammy and she wasn't the one having to undress, so she didn't want to prolong this in case any of her boys backed out. She'd almost reached Simone when the door to the hall clanged shut and all eyes turned to the latecomer. Ruby tripped over her own feet and her body temperature skyrocketed.

Drew Noble. The newest cop in town.

What was he doing here?
Not that she was complaining. No woman in her right mind would.

With his sexy British accent, dark curly hair and sparkling eyes of the same colour, he'd caused quite a stir on arriving in the town. He was tall, well-built and had the kind of grin that gave the impression he could charm the pants off anyone if he put his mind to it. Despite his unruly hair and the motorbike which was his preferred form of transport, he didn't seem as rough around the edges as many of the local lads, but he wore his masculinity as well as, if not better than, any local farmer. Ruby wasn't ashamed to admit she was one of the more seriously affected. This was weird, all things considering. She'd been guilty of lying in bed plotting ways to attract his attention – speeding, shoplifting, littering on the main street were high contenders on the list but the truth was she'd never so much as had a parking fine. She should probably harbour some guilt over the thoughts she'd had about him, but that was hard when she was pleased to be finally feeling
something
towards a man again. Still, she'd never expected to see him here tonight.

Suddenly her birthday had got a whole lot more exciting.

She hung back while Frankie and the older women rushed over to fuss over their new recruit. He smiled at them but Ruby noted the look of bemusement in his dark eyes.

‘You didn't tell me he was one of the models,' Simone whispered.

‘I…I'm…I don't know if he is. I was expecting O'Leary.' She licked her lips, her mouth parched. Her gaze lingered on the way his jeans hung low on his hips and an intense awareness tingled down her spine in a way it hadn't done in a long, long time.

‘The gods are smiling on us. This one will take much better photos. Come on, I can't wait to get started.' Simone started towards the group of men.

Ruby, remembering she was supposed to be in charge here, followed. Although now Simone had put the thought of Drew in undies into her head she'd be lucky to be able to concoct another sensible sentence all night.

‘Where's O'Leary?' she asked, the moment she arrived next to Drew. It wasn't the most polite of greetings but it beat fawning all over him.

He shrugged – and when he shrugged, his T-shirt lifted as all his muscles clenched.
Oh yeah
. The gods were definitely smiling on them if they were going to get a peek at what was underneath his clothing. ‘I think he thought this would be a good opportunity for me to get involved in the community. You don't mind, do you?'

‘Hell no,' Simone wiped her hand across her brow. ‘Welcome.' She tossed Ruby a look as if to ask what the hell she was playing at. Truth was no one would rather the lazy old sergeant over this guy.

‘Of course, we don't mind.' Ruby tucked her hair behind her ears, adjusted her flower clip, and smiled, all the while telling her body to get a grip. ‘We're happy to have you. And now that you're here, we might as well get started. Simone, over to you.'

Simone wiggled her eyebrows at the row of men, half of whom stood with their arms folded across their chest as if nerves had suddenly descended on them. A few Adam's apples swallowed as the men stood rigid under Simone's gaze. ‘Right. I'm hoping to get individual shots tonight and we might do them first to get you all accustomed to the camera. And then we'll go for the group shots. Time to get your gear off, guys.'

While the men began to shrug out of their winter jackets, Drew spoke. ‘Hang on a sec!' He looked sideways to where Ryan was already tugging down his jeans. ‘What the hell kind of meeting is this?'

‘Meeting?' Simone's brow furrowed.

Ruby stepped forward. ‘Didn't Sergeant O'Leary tell you? Tonight we're taking publicity photos for the Undies Run. We want this year to be bigger and better than ever, with more entrants from outside the town. So, we're making a poster of five local entrants – you lot,' she gestured to the men in front of her, in various states of undress, ‘in your undies for publicity.'

While heat flared in her cheeks at the thought of Drew near naked, his eyebrows shot up to ram into his hairline. ‘In our what?'

Frankie, who sounded like she was fighting giggles, joined the discussion. ‘Your underwear, Constable Noble. That's why it's called an
Undies
Run.'

‘Is there a problem, officer?' Dammit, Ruby hadn't meant to call him that.

‘I'm sorry Ruby, but while I'm happy to help with the event, I draw the line at publicity.'

‘You're not scared us Aussies will show you up?' Ryan asked, obviously amused.

Drew glared at him. ‘It's got nothing to do with that.'

‘Oh come on, Drew, it's for charity.' Simone held up her camera. ‘And I promise I'll be very gentle.'

He smiled cynically. ‘I'm sure you would be, but the answer is still no.'

While Ruby couldn't understand why Drew could be self-conscious about getting his gear off, she hated confrontation and didn't want him to feel uneasy or pushed into anything. ‘It's fine, Drew. We appreciate you coming along, but it sounds like you were lured here without full knowledge. I'm sorry we wasted your time.'

‘I'm sorry too,' he said, nodding once as he looked only at her. His dark gaze made her bones go weak. ‘I'll do anything else I can to help with the organisation of the run, I promise. It sounds like a great event for a great cause.'

Before anything else could be said on the matter, Simone's mobile phone started blaring. Groaning, she dragged it out of her pocket, looked at the screen and then cursed ‘kids' before answering. She turned and walked a few steps towards the stage. Everyone waited, eavesdropping on her heated conversation. Finally, she clicked off, sighed loudly and turned around.

‘Sorry folks, looks like I'll have to pop out for a moment.' She shoved her phone in her pocket. ‘Harriet has gone AWOL and Grace is stressing that some psycho will break into the house and murder her if she's alone.'

Drew raised his eyebrows and Simone rushed to placate him. ‘It's okay, they're both old enough to be left alone. Although when I find Harriet I'll skin her alive. I didn't give her permission to go out. I promise I won't be more than five minutes.'

‘I can go and check on your daughter,' Drew offered.

‘Ya sure? I only live two streets away and I'm sure Grace will feel much better if you have a quick look around and tell her the house is safe.'