The Goodbye Girl (39 page)

Blushing again, she nevertheless
managed to look him right in the eyes while pointing at the doorway.  “Go.”

He sighed.

“If you’re a good boy now,” she bargained, “I’ll let you teach me to give a blow job.”

In a second his eyes went from lazy teasing to sexually carnal.

“Holy crap! 
Later!
”  She pointed at the doorway again.  “Go now and the lesson can be tonight.”

For a second she thought he was simply going to grab her - and boy, didn’t that make her start getting all hot and not responsible at all – but then he sucked in a deep breath, got visible control of himself, looked her in the eye
, rasped, “It’s a deal” and left the room.

Her knees actually felt a little weak.

Disregarding the whole idea of a hot drink, Bree raided the ‘fridge and made iced coffees.  She certainly needed cooling down, and whoo boy, Nick
definitely
needed to put the fire out.

Sitting at the
table, she unwrapped her salad roll and took a bite.  She managed to be eating quite calmly by the time he returned.  Taking the chair opposite her, he slouched back while pulling off the plastic wrap, watching her the whole time.

“Don’t try to unnerve me,” she said.

“Am I unnerving you?” he teased.

The light note was back in his tone, but she could tell from the glint in his eyes that he hadn’t forgotten their deal.

Neither had she.  Hell, she looked forward to tonight.  But first things first, she had Mrs Browning’s hair to perm.  Tonight was still hours off but when it came around… She grinned at Nick.

His returned grin was undeniably wolfish.

“You have no shame,” she said.

“Honey, I love having sex with you.  Down and dirty or sweet and gentle.  I especially love your willingness to experiment.  What’s to be ashamed of?”

“You’re a naughty boy, Nick.  I’m surprised Harly never warned me.”

“Harly never sees this side of me.  It’s all for you, baby.”  He took a big bite of salad roll, chewed, swallowed and repeated with supreme satisfaction, “All for you.”

And the thing was, he spoke the truth.  It made Bree feel supremely satisfied herself.  But there was one last thing to say.  “Oh, and you’re
never
to tell Alex and Harly we shagged on their kitchen table.”

“Sure.”  He shrugged.  “No problem.”

“Good.”  She took a mouthful of iced coffee.

“Mind you, when I look at this table, I’ll always see you bent over it with your pants around your knees.”

She choked on the iced coffee.

Leaning across the table, Nick kindly handed her a napkin.  When she finally managed to breath without choking, he added,  “Next time we christen your table.”

Going by the lustful glint in his eyes and the sexually charged smile that gave a flash of his white teeth, Bree was pretty sure the table wasn’t the only thing in danger of getting christened at her place.

Luckily, she was
more than willing.  Unluckily, she had to return to work.

Nick saw her back out to the van, lingered at the window as she started the engine.  With a tender smile, he reached in to flick her lightly on the tip of her nose.  “Have a good day at work, honey.”

“Sweetie,” she cooed back, “you just have your pecker all cleaned and polished and waiting for me tonight.”

She left him standing in the driveway with his mouth hanging open.

Bree grinned all the way back to town.

~*~

Swiping his arm across his forehead, Nick put the nail gun down and straightened to inspect his work.  The picket fence he’d placed not far from Bree’s house to contain the vegetable garden was sturdy, the ornate tops he’d carved on the ends adding a touch of flair.  He checked the swing gate, nodding his satisfaction as it swung easily.  The latch he’d screwed into it clipped it shut, and he’d added a hook and eye so that she could peg the gate back as needed.

Yep, it was a damned good job if he did say so himself.  And he’d loved every minute of it.  He’d certainly
rediscovered his love for handy work.

Packing
up the tools, he returned them to the shed before going to find Bree to inform her that the fence was finished.

By her squeal of delight, it sounded like she’d already seen it and was pleased.

Smiling, he walked around the side of the house to find Bree on the other side of the fence, her fingertips tracing the ornate ends of the picket fence.

“Oh, Nick!” 
Delighted awe filled her pretty face.  “Oh,
Nick
!”

“You like it?”  Arms folded, he watched in pleasure as she turned full circle in the fenced off area.

“It’s perfect.  It’s just – oh,
Nick
.”

He chuckled.  “Glad it meets with your approval.”

Swinging open the gate, Bree raced through it to throw herself into his waiting arms and press kisses across his face.  “It’s perfect!  It’s wonderful!  Oh, Nick, thank you!”

More than willing to hold her luscious body against his and accept those sweet kisses from her lush lips,
he hugged her.  “No worries, honey.  It was my pleasure.”

Arms
still around his neck, Bree looked over her shoulder.  “In the last two weeks you’ve managed to get the vegetable garden beds dug and bordered, put a picket fence around it, set up a sprinkler system, bordered off another garden in a wonderful circle for my roses and have a sprinkler system set up there, finished painting my window frames and put cat doors in the front and back doors with little locks so I can lock the cats in at night.  Oh, Nick!”

“Honey, this is your
house now.  I want to make sure it’s in the best possible state before I go back.”

He felt her arms hug him tighter at the reminder of the short time they had left together.
  Regret filled him, a sharp pang at the idea of parting from her, unable to see or hold her for who knew how many months.  Even five months was way too bloody long but it couldn’t be helped.  It was what it was, and Bree, God bless her, never pushed him for his decision, leaving it solely to him to work out.

Because she loved him.

He knew it, felt it in every touch, every burst of laughter, every merry twinkle of her eyes.  When he appeared, he saw the little spark that lit her eyes, the way she unconsciously leaned towards him when he drew near, the subtle shift of her body closer to him when he stood by her side.

God, he loved her so much.

Bree turned her face up to his, her eyes serious.  “Nick, this is your house, too.”

His heart contracted then swelled.  “Bree…”

“When you come home, it’ll be to here.  I’ll always be here waiting for you, your home will be waiting.  You’re not alone anymore.”

Jesus, could she fill him any further with her total love?  “Neither are you.”  Leaning down, he kissed her tenderly.  “Together, always.”

“Regardless of the miles, Nick, always together.”  She smiled a little tearily.  “I’ll even send you proper photos.”

“That’s my Goodbye Girl.”  His kiss was deeper, trying to pour his love into it, to let her know how much she meant to him.

“No more goodbyes,” she whispered right before kissing him back just as deeply.

~*~

Much, much later, replete from a bout of lovemaking that had been sweet and gentle, Nick lounged on the swing chair, Bast asleep beside him, Sheba screeching happily to him from where she perched on the railing.

Yeah, he could live like this.  He could imagine coming home from work in the late afternoons to Bree and these two miscreants.  The peace of the
countryside, the satisfaction of work well-done, and a home filled with love and laughter.

Sipping on the hot coffee that Bree had brought out for him along with a plate of
chocolate biscuits, he sighed in satisfaction.

Yeah, this was exactly what he wanted. 
Everything he wanted and needed was right here in Whicha.

Charlotte
’s old clanker of a car pulled into the driveway, and he watched in mild interest as she came barrelling out, her lined cheeks flushed with excitement.

“Nick!  Where’s Bree?” she demanded.

“Right here.”  Bree swung the door open, a cup of tea in her hand.  “What’s happened?”

“They’ve found weird footprints down near the creek!”

“Footprints?”

“Three-toed, large.  It has to be an-”

“Emu?” Nick suggested lazily.

“Those three-toed footprints have boot
treads underneath, young man, so no need to be flippant.”

“Sorry.” Grinning, he swallowed a mouthful of coffee.

Bree came to stand on the edge of the veranda.  That gave him a good view, and man, he liked it.  A lot.  All lush curves and sass, fun and delight, big bosom and a luscious backside he loved to grab.

“Who found these prints?”
She queried.  “And where do they go?”

“
I knew something was up when I saw that young Ken whispering to his friend Braden.  I tell you, I had to drag it out of him.  Boys wanted to keep it their secret, taking photos to send to the newspapers, but I sorted them out.”  Charlotte winked and tapped the side of her nose.

“
Ken and his friend,” Bree echoed.

Yep, Nick knew exactly what she was thinking.

Obvisuly so did Charlotte.  “Bree, I’m telling you, those boys tried to keep this a secret.  Dan is heading for the creek now for a look and so am I.  I want you to come.”

“I think Dan can handle it.”

“Come on, Bree.  This could be
it
, the
find
.”

Bree glanced at Nick, and he could see the curiosity in her eyes.

Amused, he stood and drained the last of his coffee.  “Sure, why not?”

“Are you sure?”
she queried.

Moving up beside her, he dropped a kiss on top of her head.  “Let’s go, honey.  We haven’t been on a hunt for awhile.  Besides, this should be interesting.”

A grin of delight crossed her face.

Charlotte
beamed.  “Follow me.”

Nick wasn’t so sure about following her, not with the way she drove.  He kept the Landcruiser well behind her, especially on the dusty track they turned down.

Bree laughed.  “Scared of a stone chipping the paint on your widdle car?”

“I’ll give you ‘widdle car’ in a minute.
  That woman drives like a bat out of hell.  I’m not surprised she ended up in a ditch.  I’m thinking she’s heading for another ditching very soon if she keeps driving like that.”

“Maybe you could bring home a tank for her.”

“Might be a bit big.”

“What about one of them Hummer things?”

“It’d never survive her driving.”  He winced as the old Holden sedan bounced over a bump in the road.  “Bugger me, I swear the back tyres left the road then.”

“You might need counselling after this.”

“She might need a body bag.”

“I think she has things under control,” Bree assured him, adding as they watched the old car skid on the
gravel as Charlotte manoeuvred it in a tight curve around the bend in the road, “Or maybe not.”

“We need drivers like her in
Afghanistan.”

They came out into a parking area, which already had a cop car,
Ted’s work ute, and another car with
SOW
  proudly stuck to the side.

Nick started laughing.

Bree winced.  “I tried to tell them.”

Pulling in behind the cop car, well away from where
Charlotte parked her car, Bree and Nick got out and followed her along the little track that wove down to the river bank and along it, meandering through trees.

The ground was a little treacherous and Nick finally placed himself between
Charlotte and Bree so that he could help either of them if they started sliding – or God forbid on Charlotte’s side – fall into the creek.

Voices sounded, became louder, and then a small clearing came into sight.  Dan, Ted,
David and Alfred looked up.

“Looks like we’ve got a real
mystery here, Charlotte,” Alfred called out.

Hurrying
across to him, she peered down at the tracks.  “Oh my, they
are
big.”

Dan raised one eyebrow at Bree and Nick.  “So, what’s the expert opinion?”

Nick looked at Bree.

Walking forward, she said, “I don’t have an opinion yet.”

“Well, look there.”  David pointed at the footprints.  “What about these?”

Nick had to agree they weren’t the kind of footprints that came from an emu, unless the emu had custom made boots.