The Goodbye Girl (15 page)

“Then they were never brought up properly.  A man should always carry the load.”

“Wow, that’s rather old-fashioned.”

He levelled a steady gaze on her.  “It was the way I was brought up.  I feel comfortable doing it.”

“Duty, huh?”

“Sometimes its pleasure.”  He smiled slightly.  “Like now.”

Yes, that was a definite pink tinge in her cheeks,
and there was no denying the pleased sparkle in her eyes.  “Really?”

He could feel the warmth go through him.  “Really.”

She glanced away, glanced back.  God, she looked so cute when she was flustered, a state he doubted she felt very often.  Then she smiled, so soft and sweet, even a touch shy, and he felt it slam into him, right down deep.

In that second all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her, lower his head, take those sweet lips in a soft kiss and-

“Okay.  Thanks.”  Turning, she walked off.

It took Nick several seconds before he could clear his
head enough to follow instead of simply staring wistfully after her.  “Bree?”  He caught up to her easily.  “Is everything all right?”

“Sure.  Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Um…no reason.” 
Oh suave, very suave
.  With an inward sigh, he looked down to where her head bobbed just below shoulder level.  Not easy to read her expression now.

“Just be careful you don’t drop the backpack,”
she warned.  “It’s got a good camera in there.”

“As opposed to a bad one?” he joked.

“Every good hunter carries a good camera.”

“And every bad hunter carries a bad one?”

She looked up at him with a slight frown on her face.  “Are you mocking me?”

“
Maybe I’m just messing with your head?”

“
You’re messing with something,” she muttered, looking away again.

“Pardon?”

“I think I’m a bad influence on you.”  Stopping suddenly, she placed a hand on his arm.  “There’re the trees.”

The trees had never been cleared for farming,
so he wasn’t surprised to see that it had a lot of thick underbrush.  “Not much room for a spaceship, honey.”

“T
his is just the beginning.  Further in, we might see more.”

“
Might?”  He continued walking with her.  “Aren’t you sure?”

“
Nick, you can never be sure on a hunt.  People say things, see things.”

“
You
saw it.”

“Correction.  I saw a large glow and laser beams.  Was it a spaceship?  Maybe.  Was it aliens?  Maybe.”

Astonished, he stared down at her.  “But you believe in UFOs.  Why change your mind now?”

“I didn’
t.  I’m just pointing out that what I saw wasn’t proof it was a UFO.”

“So it wasn’t?”

“It also isn’t proof that it
wasn’t
a UFO.”

“So you’re telling me that you keep
an open mind on their existence?  You don’t completely believe?”

Reaching out, she patted his back.  “Poor baby.  You just don’t understand, do you?”

“I’m trying.  God knows, I’m trying.”

“Sweetie, I absolutely believe in UFOs.  Whether what I saw last night was one, I don’t know.  I saw lights and beams, nothing more.  That’s
why I’m out here.”

“To find proof.”

“Yes.  The hunt isn’t always for live aliens and spaceships, it’s also for proof.”

Nick blew out a long breath.  “Right.”

Laughing, she moved behind him, delving into the backpack to withdraw something before she started walking into the thick of trees.

The
underbrush was thick, and she had to push branches back to clear the way the further they moved into the forest.

Not happening on his watch.  Reaching forward, Nick grasped her wrist.  “Hang on.”

“What?”  She glanced around.  “You see something?  Hear something?”

Without answering, he
placed his hands on her waist, easing past her in the narrow gap so that he stood in front of her.  Removing his hands from her, he started forward, holding the branches back for her.

“Oh, really?”  She screwed her nose up.  “
Now as well?”

He simply looked back at her
over his shoulder.

With a sigh, she followed.

No way would Nick have let any civilian woman go ahead in the bushes, and certainly not Bree.  He cleared the way where needed, holding back branches and ensuring she got through unscathed.  He got a few scratches on his hands, but that wasn’t a concern.

Bree rolled her eyes at him several
times but he just looked at her with the desired effect.  She kept moving.

Interestingly
, she held some kind of machine in her hands.

“What’s that?
” he queried.

“It’s a
Single Axis EMF meter.”

“A what?”

“Electro Magnetic Field, used to measure fluctuations in electromagnetic fields.”

“Uh-huh.”

Unperturbed, she continued walking, the machine held up before her.  “Unfortunately, it isn’t picking up any fluctuations that may indicate extraterrestrial presence.”

“You don’t say,” he said dryly
, holding back a branch back for her.

“Have faith, sweetie.”  She patted his chest with one hand as she passed.
  “Any day, any time, could be
the
day or time.”

He felt that pat all the way down to his toes.  Shaking his head, he walked around her to continue clearing the way.

The hill neared and suddenly they stepped through into a small clearing near the base.  Immediately, Bree stopped, laying her hand on his arm.

Nick scanned the ground and surroundings.  “
The heavy rain last night would have washed away prints or burn marks.”

“I need the
Full Spectrum Digital Camera.”

Removing the backpack, he held it out to her.  “You see something?”

Bree opened the backpack and slid the EMF meter into it.  “You’re correct, the rain will have washed away almost everything.  But we still need to check things out, take photos of anything that looks out of place.  You never know what the camera will catch that the eye doesn’t.”

“Dust motes?”

“You into floating orbs, Nick?”  Taking out the camera, she fiddled with the scope.

Uh-oh
.  “Please tell me that you’re not.”

Holding the camera to
her eye, Bree turned in a slow circle.  “I’ve got some photos of orbs.”

Slipping the backpack over one shoulder, he couldn’t resist it.  “You know they’re just dust mites on the camera, right?”

“Nick, Nick, Nick.”  She laughed, trained the lens on something he couldn’t see.  “I can see I have a lot to teach you.”

“I can’t wait.”
  It would be entertaining.  “As long as I can return the education.”

“Sure.” 
Camera to her eye, she turned slowly.

A little fissure of heat went through him at the thought of what he’d like to teach her. 
His smile widened.  “Is that a promise?”

“Absolutely.  There’s always something new to learn.”

“You have no idea.”  His thoughts were decidedly darkly carnal when she bent over to touch the ground with the fingertips of one hand.  The motion had her slacks pulling taut across that curvy backside and his imagination going into overdrive.

To come up
behind her, pull those slacks do-

“You can teach me to fight.” She walked towards the far side of the clearing, studying the ground.  “Show me the dirty moves-”

Oh yeah.

“And I’ll show you the orb photos and a few other things that’ll blow your mind.”

“A case of you show me yours and I’ll show you mine?  I’m there, honey.  I am so there.”

Oops, had he said that last part aloud? 
Obviously so, going by the way she swung around to stare at him.  Nick smiled innocently at her, or he hoped it was innocent.  His blood was going through his veins a little faster, a little hotter, and definitely aiming in one direction - down to pool in his loins.

Bree looked at him for several long seconds before turning away.

Not having a clue what she was thinking, Nick tried to divert his attention from his dirty,
dirty
thoughts.  “So, found anything unusual yet?”

“You have no idea.”

Hmmm, she echoed his previous statement.  Stroking his chin musingly, he studied her.  Did that mean she suspected his thoughts weren’t entirely on the hunt?  Possibly.  But she hadn’t run from him, slapped his face, or fronted him up demanding an apology or explanation.  She hadn’t ripped his clothes off, either, but that was beside the point.  Apparently.

He had to be careful, though.  He didn’t want her to get her back up, think he was a pervert or something.  If he overstepped the line too far, she was likely to stop any further overtures of
friendship.

Even though he intended to have a lot more than friendship with her.  Jesus, he wanted her, no doubting that.  She dr
ew him like a moth to a flame.

Forcing himself to concentrate on the surroundings, Nick
inspected the ground as he walked slowly across it, looking for anything unusual.  “So when you come out to these places alone, what do you do for protection?”

“I carry a tin of repellent.”

“I don’t mean from the mozzies.”

“
Hair spray.”

He
couldn’t have heard correctly.  “What?”

“
Hair spray.”

Nick looked around to find that she’d moved out of sight.

Unacceptable.

He moved quickly across the clearing, following her voice.  She stood not far from the clearing, inspecting the trees. 
Relaxing at the sight of her, he repeated, “Hair spray?”

“
Yep.  It’s sticky.”

A thought struck him.  “Was that what you
sprayed me with back at your place?”

“Yeah.”

“It wouldn’t have stopped me hurting you if that had been my intention,” he pointed out.

“If it caught you unawares, it can buy me some time.”

Concern spiked through him.  “You did catch me unawares and it wouldn’t have stopped me.”

“You move fast, I give you that.”

Annoyance followed the concern.  “Jesus, Bree, that’s all you carry for protection?”

“I had a small bottle of perfume once.”

“Perfume?”

“Trust me, get that in your eyes and it stings like crazy.”

“
If
you get it into your assailant’s eyes.”  Nick scrubbed a hand through his hair.  “Damn it, Bree, that’s not protection.” He couldn’t believe it.

“Hey, I could always pretend to faint and fall on my assailant.  Squash him.” 
She laughed.

Nick glared at her.

“Come on, it’s funny.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Whatever.”  She shrugged, an unexpected bite in her tone as she swung away.  “Not like anyone would attack me anyway.”

His jaw dropped, then
slammed shut.  “What did you say?”

“
Nothing.”  Camera in one hand, she strode away.

Like hell.  Nick was on her in seconds, grabbing her by the shoulders and swinging her back around to face him.  “You did not just say what I thought you said.”

Chapter 5

Genuinely surprised
, she stared at up at Nick. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?”  Anger was definitely sparking in those brilliant green eyes.  “What’s
wrong
?”

“I asked first.”

“Did you just say that someone wouldn’t attack you anyway?”

“Well…”  Guiltily, she bit her lip.  “Yes.”

“How dare you?”  He gave her a little shake.

“Whoa, throttle back, Nick.”  She grabbed his upper arm, absent-mindedly noting the bulge of muscle beneath his sleeve. 
Nice.
  “I didn’t mean it.”

“Didn’t you?” 
Eyes narrowed, his gaze was disconcertingly direct.  “Because I’m sincerely hoping that was a bad joke.”

“Well, joke, not really, but…Look, forget it, okay?  It was a bad choice of words on my part.”  Really bad, obviously.

Unfortunately, that too-intense gaze was boring holes in her face, those yummy masculine lips firm and ungiving.  “Was that a crack at your size?”

Ouch
.  “Look, I-”

“Because I’ve seen women of all ages and sizes being abused in many ways.  Being attacked is nothing to joke about.”  A muscle in his jaw ticked.  “Ever.”

Oh shit, she’d forgotten the sights he must have seen, the places he’d travelled in the Army, the countries where women were treated as second-rate citizens.   “Nick, I-”

“I’ve seen it and not been allowed to interfere
in most because it wasn’t our culture.  I had to put up with it there, I don’t have to put up with it home here in Australia.  Do you understand?”

Wishing she hadn’t said anything no matter how his earlier reaction had annoyed her, she bit her lip.  “Yes.”

“You’re a pretty woman, Bree.  There are men out there who wouldn’t think twice about attacking you, hurting you.”  His fingers tightened a fraction, that muscle ticking in his jaw again.  “Never think you’ll be overlooked.  Never.”

“Okay.”  A little alarmed at the intensity in his gaze and grip,
she sought to reassure him.  “I will be careful.  I
am
careful.  I am, Nick, I promise.”

“What do you take for protection?”

“I’m thinking ‘the pill’ isn’t the correct answer right now.”  No sooner had the words left her mouth than she paled and stammered, “I didn’t - I wasn’t - Nick, I swear - oh shit.”  She hung her head and sighed.  “Ah, crap.  I can’t help what falls out of my mouth.  Please stop being so mad.”  Bree felt so low, so completely crestfallen, her shoulders slumping.

There was silence for a few seconds, then the hands on her
arms gentled, shifted, and before she knew it, Nick’s strong arms had encircled her and pulled her against his big, muscular body.

Surprised
, she stiffened.

“
Oh Bree,” he murmured.  “What am I going to do with you?”

His embrace was protective, his voice affectionate, and in relief she relaxed against him.  There was something so comforting about him, something that practically screamed ‘protector’, something that attracted her to him.  Something that made her trust him, and it went beyond the fact that he was a soldier, a man sworn to protect his country.

It was just Nick, with his sense of humour, his sense of honour, his protectiveness which, if she was honest, gave her a secret thrill.  No man had ever been protective of her, not even the blokes from the UFO Hunter Team.  Probably because if they had to run, it was often every man and woman for themselves.  Detection was not an option, so splitting up was the preferred form of retreat.

Nick would never leave her if they had to run.  That had her feeling safe, snuggling just a little closer, feeling his arms
tighten around her.  He smelled so good, all male, soap and winter chill, and-

“I looked forward to your letters.”

Bree’s eyes popped open.

“I’d wait for every delivery.”  Nick’s voice rumbled in her ear where she rested against his chest.
  “I’d rip the envelope open without waiting to get back to my bunk.  Bree, you know it’s me.”  His hands shifted,  fingers splaying out along her sides as he eased her back a little.  “Forget this pretence.”

Before she could even look up at him, snapping branches sounded and the voices of teenagers.

“I’m telling you, they went this way,” David’s voice said.

Nick looked in the direction of the voices then back down at Bree.  With a sigh, he set her back from him.  “We’ll continue this later.”

It said a lot for her state of mind that she missed his warmth and was still secretly thrilled when he placed himself partially in front of her, one of his hands coming back to rest across the front of her hip, fingers splaying out to hook around the curve of her hip.  A protective gesture that not only had her thrilled, but just a little breathless with it.

Stupid woman.
  Rolling her eyes at her emotions, Bree stepped back from Nick, moving to the side when he glanced over his shoulder and taking the few steps needed to bring her right up beside him.

Whoa, his hand came up to rest on the small of her back.  Possessive?  Protective?  It sure made her secret places get all warm and tingly.

God, when had she turned to a mushy woman?

Apparently, in this clearing.

Holding the camera in one hand, she watched as David and another boy around his age came bumbling into the clearing.  “Hi.”

David and the boy looked from Nick to her and back to Nick.

Huh.  So they were looking to him for answers.  How very male bonding of them.

Nick simply looked down at her, and the boys followed his gaze.

Look who was in charge.

Ignoring
the snide little thought, Bree arched one brow.  “Something wrong, David?”

“Just wondering
if you’d found any signs of the spaceship or aliens,” he replied.

The boy
beside him kept glancing around.

“Looking for something?” Nick queried.

“I kinda thought there’d be all kinds of paraphernalia around,” the boy answered.  “Detection equipment or something.”

“First rule of thumb.”  Bree pointed to her face with two fingers.  “Use your eyes.”

“Did you see anything?” David asked.

“Unfortunately not.  If anything was here, it’s been washed away.”

“But I did see lights.”

“Yes, but that’s not
proof.”

The teenager didn’t look impressed.  “So what could it have been?”

“Let’s see.  A spotlight and two hand laser beams, perhaps.  Couple of teens looking for a laugh.”  Bree smiled. “You wouldn’t have seen a couple of teens doing anything like that, would you?”

David glanced at
his friend then back at her.  “I thought you believed in UFOs?”

“I do.  I’m always looking for the truth. 
Heavy emphasis on
‘the truth’
, in case you didn’t get it.”  Holding out her hand, she looked levelly at David.  “Thanks for letting me know about the lights and things.  I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“You’re going?” 
He looked like he couldn’t believe his ears, even as he reached out and slowly took her hand.

Bree pumped it energetically.  “Yep.”

“But you didn’t find anything.”

“Oh, now, I never said that, did I?”  Smiling widely, she waggled the camera
before moving behind Nick to drop it safely into the backpack.  “I’ve got all I need right now.  See you around, boys.  Don’t let anything catch you at night.”  With that, she walked past them.

Nick moved quickly, determinedly, striding right past her to
lead the way out, holding back the branches to make the way easier for her.  He glanced over her head several times at the boys following close behind, muttering under their breaths, but he didn’t say a word until they’d cleared the forest and were out in the open field.

In a way
she was glad of the boys’ presence, as it prevented Nick from saying anything to her about the letters and gave her time to think.  So, Nick had outed himself, as it were, letting her know that he knew that she knew that he - forget it.  That they both knew each other.  So now what?  She certainly had nothing to hide, and obviously he didn’t.  So what was the next step?  She’d never met any of the soldiers she’d written to, she hadn’t actually dreamed that any of them would
want
to meet her.

But that was okay, she assured herself.  This was a first, and first things were always interesting.  It was e
asy.  Get to know each other.  Unless their little foray into the woods had convinced him she was a nut, which was generally okay by her as she didn’t really care what people thought of her, but if Nick thought she was a nut…okay, she didn’t really care about that either, but what she did care about was him walking
away
from her because he thought she was a nut.

That would hurt.  When had it reached that peak?
  And in such a short time.

Chewing her bottom lip as they entered
the field, she glanced up when Nick moved up beside her.

He met her gaze, his eyes crinkling at the corners
in amusement.  “So what did you think of the two aliens?”

Okay, he wasn’
t going to broach the subject just yet.  Right.  Okay.  She could follow his lead. 

She glanced behind her to see that the two teenage boys had peeled off to walk back to the house
, both of them looking decidedly dejected.  Turning her head back to watch the barns and her van come into view, she replied, “You noticed, huh?”

“Kind of hard to miss their eagerness.”

“I’m not saying there was nothing out there, I’m just admitting that I have a strong suspicion a spotlight and two hand lasers are at the bottom of all this.”

“And two teenage boys.”

“Ninety nine percent sure.”

“And the other one percent?”

“I’ll let you know when I view the footage I took today.”

“I’d be interested to see it.
”

“Really?”  Surprised, she looked up at him, only to blush a little when he glanced back down at her…and kept looking.

Slowly, his gaze swept over her face.  “I’m interested in getting to the bottom of a few things.”  Those brilliant green eyes locked onto hers.  “One in particular.”

Hoo boy.  Oh geez
.  Clearing her throat, Bree returned her gaze to the front.  “Oh look, Ted’s waiting for us.”

Nick didn’t answer, but she felt his hand brush along her back in a slow, almost soothing stroke before withdrawing, leaving her feeling like she wanted to purr and protest all at once.

Maybe there was some kind of weird alien residue in Whicha.

No, no, it was something
weird clinging to Nick.  It invaded her commonsense whenever he touched her.  Or looked at her.

Wiping his hands on a greasy rag, T
ed watched them walk up. “Find anything?”

“Not today,”
she replied.

“Not surprising.”  He
frowned at her.  “There’re no such things as UFOs, Bree.  But you’ve got people around here thinking about them, a couple of the crazier ones even believing along with you.”

“Ted, you’d be
surprised who believes,” she replied, unfazed.  “It only takes one believer to bring others out of the woodwork.’

“
And one crazy to bring out the other crazies.”

“That’s uncalled for.” Nick’s tone held a hint of steel.  “People have a right to believe what they want, Ted.
”

“Never said they didn’t.  I’m just saying we never had rumours until your girlfriend here came along.”

About to correct the ‘girlfriend’ bit, Bree was surprised when she felt Nick’s hand once more in the small of her back, just as she was gob-smacked when his fingers hooked around the side of her waist and gently but firmly eased her back.

And then damned if he didn’t again step partially in front of her, putting himself between her and Ted.

Good God, was he being protective? 
Again?

Before she could even start to step around him, his hand came back
to press full against her upper abdomen.  The only thing stopping her from jumping back was the fact that the heel of his hand was brushing the underside of her left breast.  That sent heat zinging to her secret places and blood rushing from her head.  Without thought she grabbed for his hand, fingers wrapping around his wrist.  Absentmindedly she realised just how thick his wrist was, how long his fingers, how big his hand, and it had her blinking up at his back, making her aware suddenly of how big Nick was, how tall, how muscular.

She’d know
n it, noted it before, but having him there in front of her, protecting her from anything unpleasant, was a startling eye-opener to how much Nick was used to protecting people, was trained to do it, was capable enough to do it, and was determined to do it to her.