‘Don’t you go getting all mushy on me,’ Lou warned her amiably. ‘When you reach my age you understand what a waste of time regret and guilt are. You also realise any pain is bearable, as long as you don’t have to suffer it alone. Which leads me to ... ’ A small crease formed between her brows and she screwed up her lips, as if worried she’d said too much.
‘Go on,’ Gemma urged, curious.
‘Harry and I have been ... seeing each other for, well, quite a while now, and, um, last night we, er ... we’ve decided to move in together.’ The last words emerged in a rush, and through the steam rising around them Lou grinned at her for all she was worth.
‘Good for you! Harry seems like a great guy. I’m happy for you both.’ Gemma wrapped her arms around her friend and received a wetly enthusiastic hug in return. ‘So when will this be happening?’
‘Ah, that’s the issue. Harry wants to wait for the right time to tell Jamie. You know how close they are. Do you think he’ll be okay with it?’ She sounded dubious.
Good question. Jamie obviously liked Lou. And he’d want the best for Harry. But what would that mean for his plan to repay his dad? She knew how vitally important it was to him to do so, now that he’d confided in her. Would he resent Lou throwing a spanner in the works?
As she struggled for the right reply the two-way radio in the four-wheel-drive parked nearby crackled into life. ‘Duty calls,’ Lou said resignedly, clambering out of the pool.
She was back in a few minutes. ‘Minor accident in town. Rosie, the other nurse, is caught up at the clinic. Stay here if you feel up to it and I’ll come pick you up when I’m done. I shouldn’t be too long.’
‘Sounds good.’
Gemma lay her head back against the edge of the pool and let the blissful heat envelop her. Every muscle in her body lay limp with pleasure, and time-out beckoned with enticing fingers, but she had a lot to think about. Driven by the fear that they might not survive the desperate situation in the mine, she’d come close to confessing to Jamie that he was Drew’s father. Her need to share with him had been so great it overshadowed the fact that she’d vowed never to let the secret out; if they were going to die he had a right to know.
But now, the idea of disclosing the truth with its manifestly far-reaching implications seemed less than wise. The dream of Jamie accepting Drew as his child and automatically loving him as much as she did, and of Roger taking the news stoically, was just that—a dream—and she’d long ago given up believing in dreams. For the emotional wellbeing of both herself and her son, she had to play it safe, at least until she felt sure of her own feelings for Jamie. Better not to tell him just yet.
The heat was making her drowsy. She stretched out her arms, yawning, and her thoughts drifted off into nothingness. Sleep came with a gradual relaxation of mind and muscle and it was some time later that a movement in the water brought awareness back. She opened her eyes to find Slade beside her in the pool. Startled, she reared away.
‘Didn’t mean to scare you. Feelin’ sore?’
She quickly regained her composure. ‘Yeah. Yeah, I am, actually.’
‘Me too. Got caught by the blast at my end. Diggin’ you two out was pretty frantic as well.’
‘I should ... thank you for that.’ Doubts about his motives in being so friendly when he and Jamie obviously despised one another made her suspicious.
‘Nah, I should apologise to you. The cave-in was my fault. I’m just glad you’re okay.’ He sounded genuinely sincere.
Steady gaze fixed on her face, he offered her a smile. ‘The name’s Brett.’
He put out a wet hand and, not wanting to appear rude, she shook it, all the while studying him through the rising steam. Cleaned up and sober he was actually quite nice-looking, and surprisingly well mannered. Could she have misjudged him, basing her own estimation purely on Jamie’s dislike for the man? Her initial tension at his sudden appearance began to dissipate.
‘I’m Gemma.’
He scanned the area. ‘How’d you get out here? Where’s Coltrane?’
‘Lou brought me. She’ll be back soon to pick me up. Jamie’s at the motel.’ Her fingers carved quotation marks in the air. ‘Things needed doing.’
‘Can’t say I’m sorry he’s not here.’ He gave her a wry sideways grin. ‘We’re not exactly best buddies, as you’d be aware. He’s probably gettin’ his opals sorted for sale. Opal dealer arrives in the next few days.’
Her heart leapt into her throat as the ground dropped out from underneath her. The dealer was arriving that soon? Why hadn’t Jamie mentioned it? Despite the heat a sudden cold chill shivered through her. Was he back at the motel dismantling Gracie right now?
‘Word around the traps is your boyfriend’s made a major find. That right?’
When the question finally penetrated the dullness of her brain, a reflex ‘yes’ almost slipped past her lips before she caught it. What made Slade ask that? Supposedly no one else knew about the fossil. Finally, she forced a laugh. ‘He’s not my boyfriend.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ His smile turned to a smirk. ‘But you didn’t answer my question.’
Her mind raced as she struggled for a reasonable comeback. ‘I’m sure you’ll be among the first to know if he has.’
‘Playin’ games with me, huh?’ he said with a cynical twist to his mouth.
Unease prickled the back of her neck. She tried to avoid his pale, measuring eyes but could feel them on her. Releasing a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding, she tilted her chin to look up at him. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’
Another response too long in the making; he stared at her, unblinking, clearly not believing her. ‘Right.’
The discomfort building inside wasn’t caused solely by the heat. She searched for something to steer the discussion in another direction. ‘Have you lived in Rainbow Cliffs long?’
‘Long enough to hear stuff on the local grapevine. Everybody shares everyone else’s business in a small town.’
‘I wouldn’t know about that.’
‘I heard you work for some fancy museum in the city and you’re here to buy somethin’ special. Somethin’ like maybe an opalised skeleton?’
What the hell? How could he know all that? She’d better monitor every word from here on in.
Her pulse was beating so fast in her throat he had to be able to see it; she lowered herself up to her chin in the water. ‘Can’t believe every bit of gossip you hear.’ Her fake smile was nearly killing her.
Head cocked to one side, he gave a stifled grunt, his narrow-eyed gaze appraising her. He couldn’t know these things for sure, otherwise, why ask her? The idea that he might be using her to confirm mere speculation was ugly but quite possible. Hopefully she hadn’t given anything away.
She stared defiantly back at him. On second thoughts, he really wasn’t that good-looking. Or well mannered. In fact, she really should’ve trusted Jamie’s assessment of the guy all along.
With the life and death situation they’d faced together earlier, hadn’t her first love proved himself more than worthy of her belief in him? Everything stilled as she realised the truth.
Yes, he had.
Her heart tattooed a rapid staccato in her ears and the fingers of one hand flew to cover the growing smile that insisted on taking over her face. What a funny thing trust was. No such thing as only half-trusting someone; it was either all or nothing. The enormity of that realisation momentarily robbed her of breath.
In the aftermath of her train wreck of a marriage it hadn’t been hard to reach the decision to never believe in anyone again. To risk placing her faith in Jamie now was a huge turnaround. Massive. But after everything that had happened today, she’d ... changed. She understood something that had eluded her for too long: if she allowed her heart instead of her head to dictate her emotions, she could trust Jamie. Implicitly.
She dragged in a deep breath. It might be irrational, illogical for it to happen just like that, but there it was—just som
ething she knew, like she knew how to breathe without having to analyse it. Suddenly the need to let him know she trusted him was imperative. So what if he hadn’t mentioned the opal dealer’s imminent arrival—there’d be some rational explanation.
She just needed to be with Jamie.
‘Any chance of a lift back to town?’ she asked Slade in a voice considerably calmer than she felt.
* * *
From inside the front door of the motel Jamie saw Slade’s dust-covered ute pull to a halt outside. What was that prick up to now? Unconsciously his fingers reached for the key to Gracie’s room. There it was, as always, attached by a ring to his belt.
More than a little surprised, he watched Gem climb from the vehicle and say something to Slade through the open passenger-side door. What the hell was she doing with him? A pang speared through his gut.
Jealousy? He caught in a breath. Yep, and for good reason.
She positively glowed. Wet T-shirt over wet bikini was a sensational look on her. The blue of her swimmers showed through where her full breasts strained against the close fit. Her legs were bare and golden-brown and her damp hair hung free around her shoulders, provocatively dishevelled. She wore no makeup, but a flush of natural colour high on her cheeks gave her an almost ethereal radiance. There was a lot to be jealous over.
When she pushed open the door he was leaning against the foyer wall, determinedly casual, hoping she couldn’t see just how much her arriving back with Slade affected him. The power of the smile when she caught sight of him struck like a hammer blow. His heartbeat accelerated wildly in a sudden surge of desire.
She flew across the room into his arms, a sulphur-scented bundle of warm flesh and damp fabric, and began explaining something into his chest. Her words were muffled and he lifted a hand to halt her. When she looked up, eyes piercing blue and filled with emotion, he couldn’t take it anymore. In that instant all the passion he’d ever felt for her swept over him, awakening his body hungrily. She started to say something more, something about trust, and he stopped her the only way possible, by kissing her. A kiss with no turning back.
Her intoxicating nearness and the effect it was having on his body, the intensity of the closeness they’d reached while trapped in the mine, the unexpected jolt of jealousy at seeing her with Slade, all combined to fill him with a reckless need to have this woman.
Now.
No matter that the issue of Gracie lay unresolved. No matter that he’d told her he wouldn’t make love with her until he knew it was for the right reasons. She groaned against his lips and he was lost. He bundled her up in his arms and headed for her room.
Inside, he flicked on the wall lights and kicked closed the door. Depositing her on her feet, he moved to pull away but her hands remained locked about his neck, her eyes searching his, as if seeking a hidden answer to an unvoiced question.
He knew what she needed to hear. ‘I know there are still things we need to sort out but we’ve wasted so m—’
She let go of his neck and pressed the tips of her fingers to his mouth. ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’
Chapter 12
They stood close. So close he was breathing her in, so aware of her his body pulsed with need.
‘What is it?’ Jamie asked. What could Gem have to own up to that was so important?
The small smile she offered, which may have been meant to reassure him, wavered around the edges. She pulled away from him, although he could feel her reluctance in the prolonged withdrawal. The hairs on the back of his neck lifted. He sensed a change; something in her was different.
‘Go on,’ he insisted.
Her solemn eyes fixed with unsettling intensity on his, ensuring his undivided attention. ‘I’ve ... made mistakes in my life. Big ones.’
Was this about her relationship with her ex, or her relationship with him?
‘Since the separation, I’ve been trying to piece my life back together by focusing on my son and refusing to believe in anything—or anyone—again. Put your faith in someone and you risk another betrayal.’
‘I would never—’
‘Just let me finish.’ The look she flashed him came direct from the old days, a warning she needed to get this out without interruption. ‘See, I’ve realised I didn’t pay as much attention to my instincts as I should have during my marriage.’ Momentarily, her voice wobbled but she managed to level it. ‘If I had, I would have taken Drew and left Roger years earlier.’
Jamie nodded his understanding, all the while wondering where this was heading, and wanting only to fold her into the safety of his arms and soothe away the hurt she’d suffered.
She lowered her gaze. ‘The thing you need to know is, I ... ’ She glanced back up at him. Their eyes met and she smiled, her lovely face radiating sincerity. ‘I don’t know how we’re going to work this out, but I do trust you.’ Her hand crept into his. ‘And I have faith we’ll come up with ... something, some answer to this whole messy situation.’
Her tone was so genuine, so convincing, and he wanted desperately to believe she was right. He hadn’t understood how much he’d longed for her—the real Gem—until this moment and now he knew he never wanted to be without her again.
Heartbeat thundering in his chest, he closed his arms around her. The awareness only a flimsy t-shirt lay between his hands and her luscious body was arousing more than his emotions. Her bright-blue eyes sparkled with invitation; she was so beautiful his heart filled to overflowing and he could hardly bear to look at her without the need to have her sending every organ in his body into overdrive.
‘I love you, Gem,’ he whispered against her cheek, the truth of it making his voice hoarse. ‘I’ve never stopped loving you.’
* * *
The words took a moment to reach her, another moment to register. His words flowed around and through her, the most tender of caresses, stealing her breath and tangling her heartstrings; something inside her stirred, blossoming into life after the longest hibernation. Heart hammering out of control against her ribcage, Gemma searched his face from the sensual curve of his full lips to the glitter in his storm-blue eyes, drinking her in as though they could never get their fill.
His hand gently tilted her face. He took her mouth, his breath sweet, his lips firm but baby-skin soft against hers. Tentative at first, their mouths mingled and savoured, lingering over each other. Her heart thudded violently against her ribs. Or was it his heart? It wasn’t important—all that mattered was a continuation of the pure pleasure of it.
He let her go for a moment to tug her t-shirt up over her head before shrugging his own from his work-hardened body. The sight of his naked torso made her mouth go dry. He was strikingly handsome at any time but without a shirt, every sinew was perfectly outlined against his massive frame. Her gaze drifted over him, from the wide span of his square shoulders, down past the curls of black hair that covered his slab of a chest, to his well-defined stomach muscles and Levis that clung closely to his hips and thighs.
Her breath hitched. Oh, wow.
She found herself lowered to the bed, Jamie at full stretch beside her, pressing her to him as though she was the most precious thing in the entire world. ‘I want to make love with you more than I’ve wanted anything in my life,’ he murmured thickly, his gaze holding hers.
His hungry eyes held the truth of his words and, enclosed within the newly familiar intimacy of his embrace, she melted into the warm strength of his body. Despite the heat of their fused bodies, goose bumps erupted over every inch of skin as nerve endings leapt to life. So many sentiments, so many different sensations rippled through her that her insides ached with an agony so delectable she could have cried with the sweetness of it.
Jamie’s mouth once again sought hers and for a time they traded gentle kisses, Gem adrift in a universe of the senses. Her fingers roamed over the taut muscles of his back, then up to slide across the hardness of his bare shoulders, then up further still to bury into the thick hair at the nap
e of his neck. All the while he caressed her body with sure hands that left a trail of fire as they traced every curve, every plane, every hollow.
She tilted her head back, offering her throat, and he moved his lips down to kiss her there, to nuzzle at the wildly beating pulse at the base of her neck. Tingles spiralled through her body, everything washed from her mind but the touch of his mouth on her skin.
And then, inevitably, it wasn’t enough. The growing roughness of his breathing, her own soft sighs of helpless pleasure, had her arching into him, needing more. Though she’d been kissed by Jamie in the last couple of days, for the first time she found herself responding as she really wanted to kiss and be kissed by him—hungrily, deeply, to the point of drowning—and their breathing turned to a fevered rush of mutual longing.
With their legs entwined, even with the constraints of their clothing she was aware of his readiness, of the powerful muscles of his thighs throbbing against her. His hand massaged the swollen tips of her breasts that strained against the thin material of her bikini top and she gasped.
He pushed up on one elbow to look down at her, his dark eyes heavy-lidded with desire. ‘Tell me you want this, too, Gem.’
‘More than you know,’ she said, her voice barely audible.
Jamie’s killer grin illuminated the room. Trembling fingers started on a slow incendiary path down across her bare stomach. ‘Show me.’
The muscles low in her belly quivered as he reached his destination. She pulled his face to hers, feasting on his beautiful mouth, all the old sensations revived as passion and memory merged into the deepest of desires palpitating through her.
Lost in the kiss, in the moment, in the man, the need for words was over. She let her body show him just how much she wanted him.
***
Drifting up from sleep, Gemma found herself draped over Jamie, her head pillowed on his bare chest, moving in time with its regular rise and fall. And as the steady rhythm of his heartbeat and the peace of the morning seeped into her senses, she knew everything was different now.
Falling In Love Again Page 14
