Page 31 of Road to Rosalee

‘I don’t like anyone. Now eff off and leave me the hell alone,’ Hasselhoof protested, adding a string of expletives beneath his breath still loud enough for them all to hear it.

‘Now, now, I know the whole world is out to get you somehow, but how about some manners at the dinner table, huh?’ Showbags was stirring that imaginary wooden spoon, and every man was holding back a grin. ‘We have female company, or hadn’t you noticed?’

‘Bloody hell, get stuffed, would ya?’ Hasselhoof threw back the last of his orange juice.

Showbags patted his belly. ‘I already am stuffed, thanks to Melody’s fine cooking.’

Glaring like a micky bull, Hasselhoof looked like he was about to detonate.

Slim and Tumbles glanced at each other, rolling their eyes and shrugging.

Zai cleared his throat. ‘Come on now, lads, calm your farms, would you?’ He tossed Melody an apologetic glance. ‘I’m sure Melody doesn’t want to listen to your bellyaching on her first night. Let her ease into it, would you?’

‘Yeah, I second that.’ Slim grinned. ‘Otherwise she might run for the bloody hills, and after a taste of her cooking, I wanna see more of where that came from.’ He tipped his head to the side. ‘Actually, I better be careful, or I might not fit into my suit for my big day.’

Huffing, Hasselhoof offered a glower worthy of killing every man at the table. Standing, he rinsed his plate off, thumped it into the dishwasher and stormed out without a goodnight to any of them, or a thank you to Melody.

‘Wow,’ Melody said, smirking. ‘Did he have a bad day?’

‘Every day is a bad day for Hasselhoof,’ Showbags said, standing and gathering the plates.

‘Yeah, don’t worry about them two, they do that all the time,’ Zai offered.

Melody shrugged. ‘I actually find it amusing.’

‘Yeah, so do we,’ Slim added, joining Showbags and Tumbles at the sink.

Melody went to stand, but Zai stopped her. ‘We always clean up, seeing as you cook.’

‘Oh, okay. Thank you,’ she said, eyeing them a little oddly, like she’d never seen a group of men clear up before.

Fifteen minutes later, Slim, Tumbles and Showbags had said their thanks and goodnights and wandered off to bed. Zai was finally alone with Melody, in the dark, with nothing but the call of the cattle around them as they wandered towards the homestead, old Harold hot on their heels. Stars scattered the velvety black, and the half-moon’s silvery light made her appear angelic – lord give him strength to resist his urges. It would be so easy right now to lean in and kiss her, to tell her how beautiful he found her, inside and out. It shocked him how comfortable he felt envisioning doing just that. The stockman lifestyle, footloose and fancy-free, had suited him down to the bone. He didn’t need to complicate things in his mind – he knew this was out of his control and that she was out of his league. Here was a woman who took life seriously, and it intrigued him and, in a very strange way, intimidated him. Intelligent, sassy, witty, independent, beautiful – she was an absolute catch. Not to mention that Matt would most probably skin him alive if he tried to lay a finger upon her silky-soft skin. And with his track record, he couldn’t blame his mate.

Not feeling a need to fill the silences, he quietly walked alongside her for a little while longer as she stared up at the night’s extravagance, a look of wonder on her face, seemingly lost in her thoughts. It was almost as if he wasn’t even there. He liked how she was so content in his company. The night couldn’t get much more magical than this. But then, as if right on cue, a shooting star burst across the sky, capturing their attention.

‘Oh my gosh!’ She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and turned to him, looking at him in a way that made him worry that his attraction to her was written all over his face. ‘That’s the very first shooting star I’ve ever seen.’

‘Get out, is not.’

‘Is too.’ Her eyes were wide.

‘Well, in that case, you’d better make a wish.’

For a few magical moments, she lit up even brighter. Then, her eyes fluttered closed. Her lips moved, but her words were quieter than a whisper. When she opened her eyes again, she flashed him a smile that almost sent him to his knees.

They continued on in a companionable silence. Now it was his turn to stare – down at his boots while they walked while he tried to rein in his racing heart. They reached the path that forked one way to the homestead and the other way to his cottage out back, and although he wanted to whisk her inside and send her to places he hoped she’d never been to with another man, he tucked his hands into his jeans pockets and bid her goodnight.

‘Catch you tomorrow then, miss.’

‘I reckon you will, Zai, given we both live round here.’

He chuckled. ‘Ha, yeah, good point.’

Their eyes met. He almost felt as if he were on the very first date of his life. But this wasn’t a date, and she wasn’t interested in him.

‘Night, Zai.’ Her sweet singsong voice rippled into the darkness.

He met her gaze. ‘Night, Melody. Sleep tight.’