by Tania Joyce
Grabbing the second towel off the basin, he handed it to her. She rubbed her hair dry, then twisted the towel around up on top of her head.
Before she could argue, he grabbed her up in his arms, carried her down the short hallway and into his bedroom. Placing her down gently on his bed, he ensured she was comfortable and placed a pillow under her foot to prop it up. Then he walked over to his drawers, opened one up and started rummaging around.
“Here. Will this do?” He held up a red shirt and a black pair of drawstring sports shorts for her approval.
“They’ll be fine.” She took the clothes from him, discarded her towels and slipped the shirt on over her head.
Seeing her lying in his bed and wearing his clothes was playing with his head. “I’ll go and grab that first-aid kit so I can bandage your foot.”
“Okay,” she whispered as he dashed out of the room.
***
Kelleigh’s eyes had not been able to divert from Troy as he started to head out of his bedroom. He briefly stopped at his drawers, grabbed out a pair of boxer shorts and let his towel fall away before he slipped them on.
When he disappeared out of sight, she adjusted herself to get more comfortable, wincing from the pain that shot through her foot. Once it subsided, she opened her eyes and took in her surrounds. Troy’s cottage. It was the first time she’d been in here. Lying in his king-sized bed in the center of the room, she ran her fingertips over the top of his green and navy blue tartan quilt. The pillows beneath her head smelt divinely of him. Around the room it was adorned by the basics. Dark wooden bedside tables, matching drawers, a wardrobe and a few faded paintings of mountains were hung up on the walls.
The rain continued to fall relentlessly outside, pummeling against the tin roof, overflowing the gutters and the tank she could see outside his window. Staring at the rain falling, the shock and reality of what had happened kicked in. Draping her arm over her eyes, tears swelled in her eyes. She was lucky to be alive.
She pulled herself together and sat up against the headboard when she heard Troy’s loud footsteps on the wooden floor and he returned with a first-aid kit.
“Let’s get this all fixed up,” he said as he sat on the edge of the bed next to her foot and examined it closely. “It’s going to be sore and swollen for a couple of days.” Taking out some ointment, he squished it over the bad grazes and scratches. She flinched as the cream stung her skin, like she’d walked through a field of nettles. “All the creeks are flooded and the roads into town are cut off. I can’t get you to the doctor’s until the water drops. Looks like you’re stuck here for the time being.”
Minutes later, he had her injured foot all bandaged up and the antiseptic cream had started to numb the pain. “All done.” He packed away the kit and threw it on top of his drawers.
Unable to keep her tears at bay, they started trickling down her cheeks.
Troy rushed to her side, and sat. “What’s wrong?”
“I was so scared I was going to die.”
“Shh.” He drew her into a hug. “It’s all over now. Everything’s going to be fine. Get some rest and you’ll feel a whole lot better.”
He kissed her on her forehead and was about to stand, but she reached out to stop him from leaving.
“Please don’t go. Would you lie here next to me until I fall asleep?”
He glanced down at her hand resting on his arm. “Sure, I can do that.”
He walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled on to the mattress next to her. She was only expecting him to lie with her, but he drew her into his arms and held her close to his chest. He stroked her damp hair as she listened to the soft thudding sound of his heart.
Running her hands over his firm pecs, she watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he took each breath. Closing her eyes, she leaned into him and kissed him softly on the side of his neck. Feeling his warmth and savoring his embrace.
Having his hot skin beneath her fingertips tempted her more and she started to explore. Tickling across his stomach, stroking up and down along his arms and trailing back across his chest. With every inch she covered, her pulse went up a notch.
She edged closer to him, kissing him lightly and blowing her warm breath into his ear. At the same time, her hand snaked toward the top edge of his boxer shorts.
His hand grasped on to hers and stopped her from going any further. He turned to face her. “What are you doing?” His sapphire eyes were dark with desire, like the storm clouds outside, high up in the skies above.
“Making sure I’m alive.”
“You’ve just had a traumatic experience. You need to rest.”
“I can’t. Not yet.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “I need to feel alive. Can’t you tell how much I want you right now?”
“If it’s half as bad as I want you, then you’re in trouble,” he whispered into her ear, sending goose bumps down her arm.
Troy threaded his hand up through her hair and kissed her. Kissed her so hard it took her breath away as he rolled her on to her back. Sitting up, he discarded their clothes before returning naked to her side.
He took one of her nipples in his mouth. He sucked it, licked it and tasted it as he fondled the other. Hearing him moan softly as he touched her with his tongue sent shivers to the end of every nerve.
Tousling her fingers through his hair, she giggled. No one had ever seemed to enjoy her body as much as he did. She loved his touch. Loved him feeling her. Tickling her. Tasting her.
But she wanted him inside her. Wanted to feel his weight press down on top of her. Wanted his skin flush against hers.
She tugged on his hair and drew him back to her lips. She let his weight fall across her and wrapped her good leg around his.
She gasped as he slipped his rock-hard penis inside her, sending electric shocks up along the length of her spine. She curled her toes as he started to thrust. She clenched her teeth to prevent herself from calling out in pain from hurting her bad foot, not because of any wrongdoing from Troy.
As their bodies connected, her hips pulsed against his. Every inch of his shaft penetrated her deeply as they moved together. His hot breath danced across her skin. His lips seared against hers and his gaze scorched itself into her memory forever.
Her breath quickened, her hands gripped onto his hips and his thighs tensed between her legs as he plunged harder and deeper into her. Closing her eyes, she laughed, she cried and called out his name as he sent her over the edge. He thrust into her again, releasing himself inside. The smile that inched across his face filled her heart with … what?
Oh yes, she was glad to be alive.
Troy had done more for her in four weeks than any other man had done for her throughout her entire life. He’d helped her, stood up for her, showed her respect, made love to her, and now saved her life. She owed him everything, but had nothing to give. As she felt his breath on her neck she fought back the tears in her eyes. She’d fallen in love with him. Head over heels in love. How was she going to stop her heart from breaking when she left here, when the floodwaters receded?
As he rolled beside her and drew her into his arms, he kissed her lips tenderly. Then her cheeks. Then her forehead. Then her lips again. He smiled as he entwined his fingers with hers in front of his heart.
“I’m quite convinced you’re alive.” He grinned. “But it’s getting late, how about I go and cook you some dinner before you go to sleep.”
She nodded. “That sounds nice.”
“Would you like to stay here or come out and watch TV?”
“TV. There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep after what we just did.”
With a sparkle in his eye, he crawled out of bed. After they both re-dressed, he picked her up in his arms and took her out to the couch and handed her the TV remote.
“Is there anything you don’t eat? How do lamb chops and vegies sound?”
A man who liked his meat and veg … nice! She wouldn’t have expected anything
less.
“I eat nearly anything except peas,” she said, screwing up her nose.
He chuckled. “I have to agree with you wholeheartedly. Those little things should be banned. You won’t ever find them in my house.” He kissed her on the forehead before he scuttled off into the kitchen. The sound of cupboards opening and shutting, cutlery clinking and pots and pans clanking brought a smile to her face as she hugged her arms around herself. It had been weeks since she’d had a home-cooked meal. The smells starting to come from the kitchen were promising something good.
As she clicked on the TV, her eyes wandered about the tiny room. She was sure that his quaint tongue and groove worker’s cottage was smaller than her apartment in Melbourne. The sofas she sat on nearly filled the majority of the living room. With her foot propped up on the coffee table in front of her, she was sure that if she could flex her toe, she’d be able to hit the power button on the front of the small flat screen TV. Folded newspapers and wine magazines were stacked into a pile, six-inches high next to her foot. On one wall of the room, a bookshelf towered up high, half full of books and half full of trinkets—a trophy, some photos, a dozen wine glasses of mismatched sizes and bottles of liquor.
The tiny kitchen lay through a small doorway to her right, the entrance was behind her and the bathroom and two bedrooms were down the short hallway.
Muddy footprints and mess left marks on the dark timber floor from Troy carrying her in before. After dinner she’d help him clean up. With the aging pale-blue walls surrounding her, the tin roof above keeping her dry and the ancient light fittings hanging from the ceiling, Kelleigh fell in love with the old cottage. But it definitely lacked a female’s touch. There were no cushions on the couch. No decorative pictures on the wall. No flowers. No bright colors. The simplicity of it all was calming and peaceful. Just Troy.
Seeing this part of him completed the memories she would be able to treasure when she went back to home.
It had been a long, emotional day. After dinner she melted into Troy’s side as he sat with his arm around her shoulders and watched the news. It was just shy of eight o’clock when her eyelids grew heavy. The rhythmic sound of the rain on the roof was lulling her toward sleep. The last thing she remembered was Troy scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to bed.
Chapter 24
Troy opened his eyes and blinked a few times to focus on the vision before him. Kelleigh lay on her side next to him, sound asleep, with her golden hair fanned out across the pillow. Her long eyelashes brushed softly against her skin and he wondered what she was dreaming about. He’d had a restless night. Too many dreams and nightmares kept filtering through his mind.
The good dreams involved waking up next to her like this every morning, seeing her smile when she opened her eyes and making love to her as the sun snuck in through the curtains. Seeing her laugh, hugging her, kissing her and spending endless days together. But the nightmares jerked him from his slumber. Reliving the close call of her nearly drowning, seeing the terrified look on her face and risking his own life to save her.
He rolled on to his back and stared at the fan on the ceiling. Being with Kelleigh had stirred up so many long-forgotten feelings within such a short span of time. She’d inched her way into his heart and had him questioning everything. How had he let this happen? But it didn’t matter. In a day or two, once the rain stopped, she’d be gone. He’d get over her. With a sigh, he wiped his hand over his face and rubbed his eyes. It was time to face the day. Not wanting to disturb her sleep, he slipped carefully out from under the bedsheet, headed to the kitchen and put the kettle on.
After putting Kelleigh to bed last night, he’d washed the dishes and put everything away. He did a load of washing of all their muddy clothes and put them in the dryer. He’d mopped up all the dirty wet footprints that led through the house and made the place look tidy and respectable. While he hadn’t been expecting company, having Kelleigh stay was a good excuse to do the housework. Even after all that, he’d stayed up to one o’clock in the morning going through some new ideas for Gumtrees and making financial calculations. With a cup of coffee in hand and fresh eyes, he reviewed his figures once more. Everything looked good. Now he needed to talk to Nick.
He took a long gulp to finish his coffee and nearly choked on it when he saw Kelleigh appear in the kitchen doorway. He quickly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “What are you doing out of bed? You should have called out for me to come and help you get up. I was going to bring you some breakfast, but I didn’t know what you liked to eat. I don’t have much—toast and Weet-Bix is about it, or I could cook up some bacon and eggs.”
She smiled as she hobbled over to an empty chair at the table and plonked herself down on the seat. Her hair was all messy and full of knots, her eyes were sleepy, but a gorgeous smile was drawn across her perfect lips.
“I’d love a coffee.”
Troy stood up and made his way over to the kettle and poured her a cup, placing it down in front of her. “Can I get you something to eat?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. Coffee first.”
“Not a morning person, hey?”
Troy jumped when Kelleigh took a mouthful of coffee and grimaced. “I’m sorry,” she looked embarrassed. “What is this? Are you trying to poison me or something?”
Mortified, Troy didn’t know what was going on. Did he make the coffee too strong for her? “No. It’s just coffee.”
“That,” Kelleigh pointed to the cup now sitting on the table that she had pushed away from her, “is not coffee. I don’t mean to be rude, but instant coffee should be illegal.” She tried not to laugh as she flapped her hands in front of her mouth with her tongue hanging out. Troy felt the corner of his eyes crinkle as he tried not to laugh along with her. “Quick. I need water. Something. Anything to get rid of the taste.”
He leaped up and got her a fresh glass of water, followed by a juice from the fridge.
“It’s all I have. We can go over to the restaurant and get a proper coffee if you like. We can have breakfast there too. Sound good?”
Her eyes pleaded. “For coffee, that would be great. If you’re still offering, I’d love some Vegemite toast.”
Troy nodded. “Done.”
The air quickly filled with the delicious smell of toasted bread, melted butter and Vegemite. Within a few minutes, he placed a plate full of food in front of Kelleigh, who eagerly hooked in.
“I washed and dried your clothes for you last night. But otherwise I’ll see if Maria’s got something you can borrow to wear while you’re stranded out here. I’ll also grab you one of the toiletry packs we put in the cabins so you can have a toothbrush, a comb and some lotions.”
“Thanks, that’s very thoughtful of you. I’ll wear those shorts you gave me, but I’d be grateful for another shirt.” She said, nibbling on the corner of her toast. Damn, she looked so sexy.
“I’ll grab you one in a few minutes, if that’s all right. I’ve just got to finish off this before catching up with Nick today.”
“This another one of your projects?” She rolled her eyes as she sipped on her juice.
“Kind of. More of an investment into the future of Gumtrees.”
“So is this different to your new function room and cabins?”
“Yes, it is.”
“What’s this grand plan involve?”
“I want to buy Larry’s place.”
Kelleigh spluttered on her mouthful of juice. “You what? Can you afford to buy Larry’s?” She closed her eyes, shook her head and held up her hand. “Wait, you don’t have to answer that.”
After everything she’d been through with her ex and her boss, he could understand why she reacted this way when it came to talking about new ventures. He wanted her to see that he was not like them.
“Yes, Gumtrees can afford it, but I can’t do it without Nick and Maria’s approval. We’ve increased our production capacity and have had significant growth in our accommodation, restaura
nt and wedding business. We also have a new five-year supply agreement with Somers Hotel.” Thanks to his meeting with Nate. “We’re very comfortable financially. Buying Larry’s makes good sense. Maintaining it as a farm provides us with instant revenue; it can supply our business with all its produce, which lowers our costs, and some of the land is ideal for growing grapes. Being able to keep it as prime farmland is what we wanted to achieve.”
Her brow furrowed deeply. Here he was rattling on and getting excited about his future when she had some struggles ahead. He wished he could help her and take her worries away. He sifted through his mind; he knew many people in his line of work, but none would have the requirement to employ an engineer or project leader and none were located in Melbourne.
She reached forward and grabbed one of the pieces of paper he’d jotted down notes on. “Don’t you love this stage of a project? I do. When you start trying to turn all the facts and figures and ideas from a dream into reality. All the planning and coordinating and coming up with designs. Working out in the field and developing something from scratch is so rewarding. But to be honest, after all this drama with JLR and stresses I’ve had with previous employers, I don’t think I want to do engineering any more. Maybe it’s time for a career change after all, I just have no idea what I want to do.”
Troy jerked his head back. “Are you serious? I haven’t known you long, but what I’ve seen of your work … your presentations, your manner, your ability to manage a team, your attention to detail and trusting your instincts are all a credit to you. You have great time management skills and go beyond what is necessary for your role. You’ll be an asset to anyone.”
He stared at his hands on the table for a moment. Shit. He needed someone like Kelleigh at Gumtrees. Nick and Maria were so busy with growing business; they needed someone to help them out in coordinating all their functions. Yes, a functions manager is what they needed. He looked at Kelleigh and wondered. Nah. It was pointless; not even worth mentioning. It would be too much of a radical change, she wouldn’t be interested and wanted to head on home.
