Outback Blaze (31 page)

‘Sure. I haven't got guests booked in until the Bunyip Festival weekend now, so there's no rush to clean,' he paused a moment, then, ‘hey, are you okay?'

‘I'm fine.' It had to be the biggest lie that had ever left her lips but luckily he was a man and didn't press the issue.

She hung up the phone, went into the kitchen, made herself a peanut butter and jam sandwich, then curled up on the couch and succumbed to a jolly good cry.

The shift had to be the longest Drew had ever endured. The arson investigators hung around well into the night, swearing and carrying on. They hadn't uncovered anything incriminating while searching the Joneses' property but after discussions with the insurance company, who'd notified them about Robert and Lyn's intentions not to rebuild, they'd got it in their heads that one or both of them were the arsonists. Their disappearance only enhanced this suspicion.

O'Leary was in a foul mood. With officers more senior than him milling around he hadn't been near a computer game all day and was working overtime on the night his wife always cooked a lamb roast. On top of that, it looked like people he played golf with, people he considered friends, had committed a crime on his patch, making him look like a fool.

The station door opened more frequently than most days with people coming in to report petty crimes – obviously in the hope of hearing some scoop about the Joneses – and O'Leary made him deal with every one of them.

Simone came in early evening and he immediately recognised the expression of concern on her face as real.

‘I'm sorry to be a pain,' she said, leaning over the counter and speaking in an unusually subdued tone. ‘Hard not to hear what happened today, so I went round to check on Ruby. She's not answering her phone – home or mobile – and if she's there she's not answering the door either. I'm worried.'

You and me both
, thought Drew. Although he guessed Ruby was simply keeping a low profile, he couldn't help but worry and managed to send a message to her between dealing with members of the public.

Hope you're keeping your chin up. Feel like a visitor later?

His pulse slowed for the thirty seconds it took her to reply but he smiled when he looked down at his screen.

As long as you don't bring your friends this time
.

They're not my friends and as if I'd want to share you anyway
.

Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he spent the next couple of hours staring at the clock. By the time they closed up the station, he was beyond caring if anyone saw him go to Ruby. Although she'd joked with him via text message, he wanted to see for himself that she was okay. Hell, he just wanted to see her.

Drew didn't know what to expect when he arrived at Ruby's place, but when she opened the front door and handed him a beer, he was hit with an aroma that smelt alluringly like roast lamb, he quirked an eyebrow. It was almost ten-thirty at night.

She simply smiled, stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. He shoved his keys in his pocket, dumped the beer on the hallway side table and wrapped his arms around her, deciding if she needed him to help her forget about the day he'd happily oblige. Kicking the door shut behind them, he deepened the kiss, his exhausted body perking up under her spell. Just when he was thinking that whatever she'd cooked could wait, she pulled back, palming her hands against his chest, before creeping them up to play with his collar.

‘Hi Drew.'

‘Hi Ruby.' The smile he gave her felt goofy even to him but he couldn't help himself. ‘Are you okay?'

She nodded and took him by the hand. ‘Come into the kitchen, I'm hoping we haven't just burned the gravy.'

‘Hey, don't blame me.' He scooped up the beer and followed her. ‘I was ambushed.'

‘Not sure that excuse will hold up in a court of law but luckily I'm not judging you. Take a seat.'

He dragged out a chair and sat at the table, watching as she stirred something on the stovetop. It smelt as if she'd sprayed ‘Delicious Dinner' air freshener all around and the table, he noted, was set with a tablecloth, candles and two place settings at the end. The romantic display should have made him anxious, but it didn't. Somehow he understood Ruby didn't have any expectations, but that cooking and laying a pretty table were more about making herself feel good.

‘You're quiet tonight,' she said.

He blinked, dragging himself from his thoughts. ‘You've kind of surprised me,' he admitted.

She dipped her finger in the pan, coated the tip in gravy and popped it in her mouth. ‘How so?'

He smiled and shook his head. ‘After what you've been through this last week, then the search today…let's just say that most women in your position would be a wreck, yet here you are cooking dinner at nearly midnight like you don't have a care in the world.'

‘Have you eaten this evening?'

He shook his head.

She nodded once and satisfaction stretched across her face. ‘As I thought. There are a lot of things in my life I can't control at the moment but I
can
make sure you eat well, keep your strength up. Especially when I'm hoping to use and abuse that strength as soon as you're done.'

What could he say to that? ‘I like your logic. Understand it. I'm not opposed to being used and abused, not at all. But Simone popped into the station earlier. She said she'd tried to call, then visit, and got no response. She was worried about you. So was I.'

As she poured the gravy into a fancy sauce boat, a stricken look crossed Ruby's face. ‘I'm sorry about that. I'll call her tomorrow. I'm okay, really I am, I just needed a day alone, to work through things, but I'll be okay. I may not look it, but I'm tough.'

‘I know you are,' he said, tensing as he thought of all Jonas had put her through.

‘And I also happen to cook a mean lamb roast.' She thrust her hands into two big, ugly oven mitts and bent to open the oven. He lost himself for a moment, watching her curves as she pulled out a large roasting tray with a steaming chunk of meat on top. ‘I'm sorry.' He rushed to his feet. ‘What can I do to help?'

‘Sit. Please. I think we've established your talents are not to be found in the kitchen.' She laid the tray on top of the stove, next to the gravy and then proceeded to unload other little baking dishes from the mammoth oven.

‘I don't know…' Unable to help himself he crossed to her, pressed his body up against hers as he peered over her shoulder at the food and whispered, ‘I reckon I could be talented right here against the kitchen bench, or over there on the table, or even down there on the tiles.'

Her heard her intake of breath and felt her body tense against him. ‘And I very much like the sound of that, but let's eat first.'

‘Good idea, this smells too damn good to let it go cold.' Reluctantly he pulled back, and without being asked crossed to the wine rack and took out a new bottle. He unscrewed the lid, grabbed two glasses, filled them, then took them to the table and sat.

Not long after, she placed a plate overflowing with roasted goodness down in front of him. He inhaled, sighed a little and smiled at her as she sat to join him. ‘Thank you.'

‘You're welcome.' She held her glass out to him. He lifted his and they clinked.

He noticed she only picked at her food but he didn't say anything. He ate more than enough for both of them because he couldn't recall the last time anyone had cooked a roast for him. And frankly, the ones they served in restaurants just didn't hit the spot. Ruby's did. And her company and conversation worked for him also. They finished eating well after eleven o'clock, and although he'd have happily helped with the dishes, he was secretly pleased when she suggested they leave them till morning. And as much as the idea of taking her up against the kitchen bench or table or wall appealed, he was even happier when she took him by the hand and led him into her bedroom.

Like the woman herself, the room was gorgeous and immaculate. All vintage furniture – he thought the term might be shabby chic – and half a dozen plump cushions adorning the bed. Pretty paintings of bright flowers hung in white wooden frames amongst photos of horses on the walls. Soft light from a tall lamp in the corner fell across the room. It was neat but also homely and comfortable. Still, when she crossed the room, flicked back the quilt sending all the cushions onto the floor and then turned to face him, all thoughts of the interior design left his mind. He closed the distance between them and held his breath as her fingers sought out the buttons on his shirt.

‘I'll bet half the women in this town would be jealous of me if they knew what I was up to right now,' she whispered, her hot gaze meeting his. ‘You know what they say about men in uniform…'

He chuckled, sliding his hands up into her hair. He noticed the lack of her usual flower but didn't mention it. ‘And I reckon half the men in the world would be jealous if they knew just what I was about to do with you.'

‘Oh?' She licked her lips. ‘What's that?'

‘Well, I'm going to start with this.' Still holding her head in his hands, he drew her close and kissed her.

Later, a long while later, when he'd taken her every which way in what had to be the comfiest bed on the planet, she asked him to spend the night with her. And he said, ‘yes'.

The weekend had been about wallowing in self-pity and allowing herself the simplest pleasure known to man and woman in an aim to forget, but today was about moving on. The day alone with her thoughts had forced Ruby to think about her options and to make some harsh decisions about how to face what had been thrown at her. As tempting as the idea of holing herself up in the house and only sneaking out to visit her horses was, it wasn't practical. For one thing she liked eating and cooking and would need to trek down to the main street for supplies. Especially if she wanted to keep up with her mission to reform the eating habits of the very sexy cop lying next to her.

For another, she had at least one horse-riding student left in the form of Macy O'Neil and didn't want to let the sweet girl down. For the third thing, she'd pledged to help make this year's Undies Run bigger and better than all before and maybe this was one way she could show the town that whatever her parents had or hadn't done, she wanted to make this her home because Bunyip Bay mattered to her. Drew had helped her see that again.

‘A penny for them?'

Drew woke up and was smiling up at her as she stared down at him. His gorgeous dark hair was all ruffled and bed-squashed, his chest, with its light sprinkling of dark hair, bare and exposed because about five minutes earlier she'd peeled the blankets back to perve. She ran a finger over his stomach and his delicious six-pack flexed beneath her fingers.

‘Just thinking about what I should do today.'

‘Well,' he rolled onto his side and hefted himself up onto an elbow. ‘I think you should start with a little using and abusing of this poor cop again and then…maybe a shower, some bacon and eggs.'

Laughing, she leant over and kissed him. Morning sex seemed the perfect way to start the day and if the shower included him, she'd more than happily cook breakfast.

After all three of these activities, it was finally time for Drew to go.

‘Thanks so much for staying,' she said as they lingered in the front doorway. He'd surprised her by staying Saturday and Sunday nights, but she wasn't going to get all silly about reading things into the gesture. She'd needed him those nights and he'd come. That was all that mattered. ‘You don't know what you've done for me these last couple of days.'

‘I'm glad.' He dropped a quick kiss on her forehead and smiled as he stepped back. ‘I like sleeping with you and I'm hoping we can do it again.'

She couldn't help herself. ‘Same time, same place tonight?'

‘You got yourself a deal.' With one more quick but passionate kiss, he jogged down the steps and over to his bike. She watched as he climbed atop because it was quickly becoming one of her most favourite sights in the world. He pulled his helmet onto his head, revved the bike and turned to wave before cruising down the drive.

*

Ruby put the day in with a trip to town, hot chocolate with Frankie and Simone at the café, time spent with her horses, more entering of participants in the Undies Run, an encouraging riding lesson with Macy O'Neil and, the best part of all (excluding Drew arriving again late that night), a phone call from Faith. She'd spoken to her friend the day after the fire and emailed a couple of times since but it was good to hear her voice, to hear how she and Monty were making a good go of life on their own property down south. Faith chatted about the quiz night they'd been to in their new town and other bits and bobs, and then finally asked Ruby the question she'd called for. ‘How are you?'

On the tip of Ruby's tongue was a glib remark about being fine, but she and Faith had become close in the months before she'd moved in with Monty and if she could share her deepest darkest fears and secrets with anyone, it was Faith.

‘That's a complicated question,' she said, tucking her feet up under her legs as she got comfy on the couch.

‘I have all night,' Faith replied. ‘Monty has ventured into town to his first Apex meeting.'

‘Well, I might not have all night.' Ruby glanced at the clock on the wall and smiled at the thought of Drew knocking off in a couple of hours. She prayed no one would feel the urge to commit a crime until she'd had her wicked way.

‘I think I'm confused. Are we talking about the whole fire situation? Ryan said the townspeople haven't been very nice to you. Or are we talking about something else entirely?'

‘Something else.' Ruby grinned. She'd thought about her parents often throughout the day, checked her phone, email, the window as she was cooking in case they'd decided to return and were coming up the driveway, but it was hard to remain too glum when muscles all over her body ached pleasurably from Drew's sweet touch. He made this awful time survivable.