by Lucy Clark
Before she could, Dex surprised her further as she noticed that his hands were full of a stack of dirty glasses and within another moment he’d slipped behind the bar, put the dirties down and started pulling beers.
‘What’s Dex doing behind the bar?’ she asked Melissa.
‘Oh, he does that from time to time. He worked in a pub when he was in medical school so he knows what he’s doing.’
Iris shook her head. The man became more and more intriguing with every passing moment.
‘I’ll get some drinks, you see if you can grab us a table,’ Melissa said, and headed off before Iris could reply. She found a table and sat down, being joined within a few minutes by some locals, wanting to chat. Melissa returned with their drinks, Joss came and claimed most of his fiancée’s attention, people talked, laughed and exchanged news, and all the while Iris kept glancing across to where Dex continued to work behind the bar.
He chatted with everyone. Men and women of all ages. The two blondes he’d been talking to when she’d first arrived were now talking to some of the miners. Dex didn’t seem bothered at all. In fact, Iris was sure he didn’t even give them a second glance. It didn’t add up. If he was a playboy, wouldn’t he be wanting to…do whatever it was he did? Instead, he was behind the bar, helping out.
Only when they were about ready to head to Stiggie’s did Dex come on over.
Iris felt her heart pound at his nearness. Tried not to close her eyes as she breathed in his scent. Forced herself to stop staring at his lips as though she wanted nothing more than to have them back on hers.
‘Ready?’ Joss stood and helped Melissa to her feet.
‘Dinner?’ Iris asked, and wondered why her voice sounded deeper and huskier than usual. She cleared her throat, hoping no one would notice over the din. She glanced at Dex. Had he noticed? She was surprised to find him looking at her and his smile was wide and sexy.
‘I’m starved,’ he announced, not bothering to take his eyes from hers. Iris could feel her heart rate picking up speed as it had the other night. Now that she had a frame of reference, now that he’d held her in his arms, had pressed his mouth to hers, had caressed her face—every time she looked at him all she could concentrate on was finding a way to get him to repeat what they’d shared. It had been powerful. Mind-numbing. Heart-wrenching.
As they left the pub, walking down the road to the restaurant, Iris made sure she walked as far away from him as she could. It was insane how strong the attraction was between them but after the other night she should have realised it would intensify.
*
Dex had been well aware of Iris watching him as he’d worked behind the bar, feeling her gaze upon him, making his skin prickle with repressed excitement. They hadn’t spoken about the other night, about how they’d felt so right in each other’s arms. It had been an odd realisation and one Dex hadn’t felt in an incredibly long time.
The feelings he had towards Iris were real. That knowledge alone had stunned him completely. He’d sat in his apartment the past few nights coming to terms with such a sensation. Iris, in his arms. Iris, touching his body. Iris, with her mouth wreaking havoc on all his senses. Good heavens. He wanted her now. He wanted her in his arms, the two of them, holding each other, their hearts pounding as one.
When Joss had suggested dinner, Dex had jumped at the chance. He’d tried to keep his distance from Iris around the clinic these past few days but now he felt like a man who had been crawling through a desert, circling an oasis. He needed to drink. He needed Iris as close as possible to him. If dinner with Joss and Lis was all he could get, he’d take it.
As they were seated by Stig himself, Dex was delighted to find himself sitting opposite Iris. Looking across at her was something he found very pleasing, and as they ordered, he could see her visibly start to relax. Had she thought Lis and Joss might find an excuse to leave? Had she been concerned she might be left all alone to dine with him?
They placed their orders and settled into easy conversation, as the evening progressed, Iris began to relax even more. The food was fantastic, the company was relaxing and Dex was pleased he’d made her laugh on more than one occasion. Iris was relaxed…at least she was until just before dessert when Joss stood.
‘Thanks for dinner.’ He held out his hand to Melissa. ‘Sorry to eat and run but we have to get going.’
‘Why?’ Melissa stood, voicing the question which was on Iris’s lips.
‘Because I have a special surprise set up for the two of us,’ Joss remarked as he placed his arm around Melissa. ‘Thanks for dinner. Have a nice dessert.’
Once again the two lovebirds swept out of the place in such a whirlwind that Iris glared open-mouthed at Dex. ‘What just happened?’ she asked.
‘They left,’ Dex replied. ‘And left me to foot the bill.’ He shook his head.
‘I can pay for my meal,’ she offered, and received a dazzling smile from Dex. ‘What?’ Iris asked, feeling highly self-conscious when he simply kept looking at her like that.
‘Your independence.’
‘What about it?’
‘It reminds me of the first day we met. When I tried to buy you a hat.’
‘One with corks.’
Dex chuckled and the deep sound washed over her. Iris closed her eyes, trying to pull herself together. She was sitting in a restaurant, a lit candle on the table between them, trying to ignore the pounding of her heart as the town’s leading bachelor created havoc with her system.
‘You would have looked good with corks all around. Would have made kissing you nigh impossible but—’
Her eyes snapped open. ‘I knew I should have bought it,’ she interrupted, anger rising at the way he was charming her. Good. She liked anger. When she was angry with Dex, she was better able to hide her own emotions.
‘Come on. Was kissing me so bad?’ He raised an eyebrow as he leaned back in his chair to look at her.
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ Iris started fumbling in her purse for some money and stood, throwing some bills onto the table, not caring if it was accurate or not. ‘I have to go.’
‘Wait. Iris.’ Dex copied her action, leaving money for Stig before rushing out after her. ‘Iris.’ He caught up to her in a few easy strides. ‘I take it you don’t want dessert?’
‘No. Thank you.’ Especially if he was on the menu. She needed to get as far away from him as possible because even through her anger she could feel the desperate need rising to have his mouth over hers once more. Why was his hold over her so powerful? Why couldn’t she fight it?
They passed the pub and the rowdy noise still coming from it.
‘And what was with you tonight in the pub?’ she questioned hotly, the words tumbling out without much thought. That was also a problem. When she was around him and feeling that unmistakable pull, all her good sense and reason seemed to disappear into thin air.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘You were clearing glasses and pulling beers and mixing drinks.’
‘I know how.’ He shrugged as though it was no big deal. ‘I help out quite frequently, especially when it’s so stinking hot every man and his dog comes in for a drink.’
‘But you weren’t chatting up any of your usual beauty queens. Trying out your lines. Keeping yourself fresh and available for the ladies.’
‘Oh.’ He drawled the word slowly. His own temper started to rise but he kept it in check. ‘So that’s what this is about. Other women.’ They’d arrived at the apartments now and Iris fished inside her bag for her keys but her hands were fumbling so badly she stopped for a moment, hoping to regain some control over her faculties.
‘You’re a playboy, Dex. It’s what you do. All I’m saying is I was surprised tonight not to see you doing it.’
‘No. What you’re really saying, Iris, is that now that I’ve kissed you, I should be moving on to my next conquest. You want to see me with other women so you can point the finger and tell me how right you were, that y
our judgement of me was correct. That I am a dyed-in-the-wool playboy.
‘Well, you’re wrong, sweetheart. There is more to me than meets the eye, only you’re too blind to see it. You’re too busy worrying about your scars to see that other people have their own problems. We’ve all had bad relationships. We’ve all had deep emotional trauma and we all deal with it in completely different ways. If I choose to lose myself in the smile of a pretty woman, that’s my prerogative. If I choose to help out behind a bar, making life easier for one of my mates, that’s my prerogative.’
He stepped closer, so their bodies were almost touching. ‘If I choose to haul you into my arms…’ As he spoke, he acted out the words, making Iris’s heart hammer wildly in her chest, her mouth dry, her mind blank save for how he made her feel. ‘And kiss you so deeply we both forget the pain of our pasts, then—’
He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Iris urged his head down, their mouths melding and fusing together with such intensity it shocked them both.
The heat, the passion, the power of what they wanted, what they were giving and taking, was filled with pure mutual need. She had never been kissed like this before. Even the other night he’d started out slowly and then after a while the need had overwhelmed both of them.
This time, however, there was nothing but a basic animalistic force driving them both forward, pushing them beyond their boundaries. His arms were wrapped around her tightly, holding her as close to his body as he could get, whilst her hands wound around his neck, her fingers in his hair as she made sure he didn’t, for any reason whatsoever, stop this incredible torture he was subjecting her to.
Heat. Passion. Power.
They were on fire, unable to get enough and desperate for more. Nothing mattered any more. Not the hurtful words they’d said to each other, not the logic dictating they were all wrong for each other and not the scars on her body which had previously kept them from each other.
This was right. The rest of the world was wrong. Time stood still and raw hunger grew.
‘Iris.’ Her name was on his mouth as he tore it from hers, both of them sucking in air. ‘You are…incredible.’
She pulled his mouth back to hers, not wanting to hear the words. The actions of his attraction were far more easy to believe than his words telling her she was beautiful when she knew quite clearly she was not. Besides, when his mouth was on hers like this, she couldn’t think. Didn’t want to think. Simply wanted to absorb. Simply wanted to forget about her past, her scars and focus on the way Dex made her feel. Hot, sexy and powerful. It was all wrong yet it felt so right.
Talking was out of the question. That much she’d made clear and at the moment Dex wasn’t one to argue. He’d tried to tell her before that she was different from other women and he most certainly hadn’t been talking about her scars. The way she made him feel was different from other women. He hadn’t wanted to talk to any of those women in the bar tonight because none of them were Iris. That was the truth of the matter and in turn it only brought a larger succession of thoughts to plague him.
It was clear that Iris was as attracted to him as he was to her. What they were doing right now was evidence of that, but was she only using him? She’d marked him as a playboy and, therefore, perhaps she thought she could wipe away thoughts of her husband, thoughts of her past by losing herself in him? The thought left him feeling hollow and as though he was competing against a ghost, which was ridiculous.
If he pursued this attraction, if they let it take its course, there was no telling where they’d end up. Iris was relationship material and he didn’t do that. He’d been crushed by Catherine all those years ago but right now Iris had more power to hurt him and he didn’t like that thought at all. He didn’t do relationships simply because he knew he’d fail. He knew at some point he’d let her down, hurt her, and he couldn’t. She was too special for that.
‘Iris.’ He edged back again, sucking in oxygen from the warm evening air, the summer sun now almost set. ‘Iris. We need to talk.’
Her answer was to urge his head back to hers. Dex kissed her again but this time managed to pull superhuman strength from somewhere and temper his need. His mouth wasn’t as hard on hers as before yet hers was, urging him forward, wanting him back where they’d both just been.
‘Iris.’ This time when he spoke her name she stopped and pulled herself from his arms, her breathing as erratic as his.
‘Talk. Right. We…uh…need to talk.’ Her words came out in gasps as she desperately tried to get herself under control.
‘We do.’ He indicated the door behind her. ‘Do you want to go inside?’
‘To talk?’ She looked at him as though he’d just grown an extra head. ‘After that kiss?’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, Dex. Besides, you obviously have something to say, so I think you should come right out and say it.’
‘It’s not that I…want to say…’ He stopped and raked a hand through his hair, his body still on fire from the best kiss of his life. ‘I just think we need to talk about what’s going on between us. That’s all.’
‘Why? Because you don’t want it?’ She shook her head. ‘You don’t have to worry about that because I don’t want it, either. I’m only in Didja until the middle of the year and then I leave. I have another job lined up, remember?’
‘I remember. Listen, it’s not that I don’t find—’
‘It’s clear we have an attraction but we’re also mature enough not to let it rule us…as it did just now. We’ll be stronger. Better able to be around each other at work and avoid each other everywhere else. Deal?’ Iris had collected her bag which had dropped unnoticed to the ground when she’d been unable to control the urge to kiss Dex. Now she had her keys in her hand and inserted the key into the lock, pleased her hands weren’t trembling as much as the rest of her body.
‘Iris—’
‘Good,’ she said, answering her own question, and without giving him the opportunity to respond any further she opened her door and slipped inside.
Dex was once more left standing outside her apartment, looking at the closed door, knowing it was for the best but for some reason not liking it one little bit.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THREE days later, Iris had just finished up her Friday clinic and was getting ready to lock up her consulting room when the phone rang. She automatically picked it up.
‘Dr Tennant.’
‘Is that Dr Iris Tennant?’ It was a woman’s voice on the other end of the line and one Iris didn’t recognise.
‘Yes.’
‘I’m calling from Missionary World Aid. I’m afraid I have some rather bad news.’
Iris’s mouth went dry and she sank down into her chair as she listened to what the woman had to say. Her friends Nigel and Francie, who had been working as missionaries in Tarparnii, had been killed in a car accident. Their eight-month-old daughter, Anya, however, was fine as she hadn’t been in the car with them.
‘As the registered guardian for little Anya, we were wanting to arrange a meeting to sign the necessary documents.’
Guardian? Documents? Iris’s mind went completely blank for a second before she snapped back into professional mode. ‘Where is Anya?’
‘She’s currently at a foster-home in Perth.’
Iris took notes. Wrote things down but was completely numb. When she replaced the phone, she sat there, looking out into nothingness. When a knock came at her door, she didn’t flinch, she didn’t say a thing. A moment later, the door opened and Dex stuck his head around.
‘You are in here. Good. Do you have David Toonamon’s notes?’ Dex walked further into the room and frowned. ‘Iris?’ The look on her face was one of shocked incredulity mixed with a healthy portion of pain. He knew the look well because he was sure he’d had an identical one on his face when he’d first discovered he was adopted. It didn’t matter what was or wasn’t happening between them. Iris needed a friend and he still prided himself on being that.
‘Iris, what’s happened?’
‘They’re dead.’
It wasn’t what he’d expected her to say. He walked around her desk and swivelled her chair so she was facing him. Melissa and Joss were out doing house calls again and a strange dark sensation started curling in the pit of his stomach. They were due back any minute and Dex held his breath as he looked intently into her green eyes. ‘Who? Iris? Tell me who?’
‘Francie and Nigel.’
Dex slowly released the air which had built up in his lungs. Not Melissa and Joss. Now he could step back and help Iris. ‘Friends of yours?’
‘Yes. Missionaries. Tarparnii.’ She was looking straight ahead, unable to focus properly. She was in shock even though her brain was probably ticking over too fast to process everything clearly.
‘What happened?’
‘Car accident. Both dead. No foul play. Both dead.’ She shook her head. ‘Why does this happen to me? The people I love, the people I care about.’ Iris swallowed, waiting for the tears to fall, but they didn’t come.
Dex remembered her mentioning these people before. Not their names but on her first day here, at the fair, she’d mentioned her missionary friends. She also said they had a small baby. ‘What about their baby?’
The look she gave him was one of blankness. ‘The baby?’
‘Didn’t they have a child? A young baby? You bought a present for her. A soft toy. Remember?’
Iris slowly closed her eyes as though the pain was just too much to bear. ‘Anya. She wasn’t in the car. She’s in Perth.’ Iris opened her eyes and Dex saw fear reflected there. ‘They want me to go and get her, Dex.’
‘Why?’
‘I’m her guardian.’
‘You’re her…’ He stopped and stood back, breathing out slowly.
‘Guardian. I have guardianship of a baby.’ Her eyes were wild. ‘What am I supposed to do, Dex?’
‘You’re her…’ Even he was having trouble saying the words.
‘Guardian.’ Iris shook her head, her breathing starting to become uneven. ‘I can’t look after a child. I’m not qualified for that.’
