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She followed Dale through the maze of hallways, to the kitchen where he dropped the plates, jam, and cream on the counter with a cheeky wink in Skylar’s direction, ignoring her glare. Then he led her down some more hallways until they emerged at the other end of the enormous lodge. Her eyes traced the line of his shoulders as she followed him, the way his jeans sat snug and low on his lean waist. How those same jeans moulded nicely to a muscular, taught butt. Mmm hmm, he was the full package. Even if he was completely off limits, she could look, couldn’t she?
“Sorry, we’ve been meaning to get this walkway between the lodge and the staff quarters covered, but at the moment we’re gonna get wet,” Dale gave her an enigmatic smile.
Daisy poked her head out the door. Sheesh, it was still raining; the water coming down in sheets now, instead of droplets. Normally at this stage in the late afternoon, there’d be bright sunshine, the sun hovering well above the edge of the horizon. Instead, it was more like a heavy twilight out there. So dark that Dale flicked a switch, illuminating two outdoor spotlights to help her see across the flooded, muddy space in between. If this rain kept up, she was going to need waders just to get between the two buildings.
How would River be coping back at their little camp? She had to assume that they built the place on high enough ground that floods wouldn’t affect it. It was going to be the main residence for a short while, so surely, they’d taken that into consideration.
They sprinted through the rain, then Daisy followed Dale into the building. Down a long hallway, passing doorways on the left and right that she could see led to single bedrooms when she peeked into one on the way past.
“We’ve got five full-time staff on right now, so this place is pretty full,” Dale spoke to her over his shoulder. “Paula left a few months ago. She followed a man down to Brisbane.” Dale gave a quiet snort, telling her exactly what he thought of that plan. “She left in a hurry and we haven’t found anyone to replace her yet. This is her room.” Dale paused outside the last door on the left, pushing the door ajar. “Paula left a few things in her closet; said she wouldn’t need them in the big smoke. I’m hoping she was about the same size as you, but even if they’re not quiet right, at least her clothes will be dry.” His gaze flicked up her legs and over her waist, then rose to take in her breasts and she felt a lick of heat spread through her at his perusal. He might well have just been sizing her up to make sure that Paula’s clothes would fit her, but it felt a lot like he was undressing her with his eyes.
Dale glanced down at his own clothes. “I may as well stay in these, I’m going to get soaked again, anyway.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “The bathroom is at the end of the hallway. There are fresh towels on a shelf in there.” Dale pointed to the door right at the end, and she forced her gaze away from his face to glance at where he was pointing.
“Thank you.” She looked him in the eye as she spoke. “I mean it. I’m sorry if I didn’t sound all that grateful when you rescued me out of the creek. I was…” She had no words to describe how she’d been feeling then.
“No probs.” He gave a slight shrug, but then that smile was back, his dimples lighting up the dark hallway. It had her wishing he smiled like that all the time. “It’s not every day I get to play Sir Lancelot.” He locked his brown eyes with hers, and she winced as she remembered how she’d accused him of having a big ego. “I’d better skedaddle before Steve tries to move those horses all on his own. Dinner will be around seven. Do you want me to call past and get you when it’s ready?”
“Yes, please.”
He paused for a heartbeat. “Will you be okay here by yourself?”
“Perfectly fine,” she replied. Privacy was exactly what she was craving right now.
“Cool. See you in an hour or so.” Then he was gone, striding down the hallway onto the sodden earth beyond.
Daisy turned around to survey her room. The place was clean, with an air of simple elegance. It seemed as much care and thought had been put into the design of the staff quarters as had been into the lodge. A big, double bed took up one whole corner of the large room, flanked by a small side table and reading light, both made of local wood, by the looks of it. A cozy, winged chair was set next to the large window, and would make a delightful spot to sit and read—if she ever had the chance. Daisy opened the two double doors in the far wall to find a spacious closet. And just as Dale had promised, a pair of jeans, some shorts and a couple of button-up shirts hung on the rack.
She lowered herself slowly into the chair. Alone at last. Time to fret about River and what he was up to. Worry that he was safe.
And freak out over the comment Steve made about recognizing her.
She stared down at Dale’s phone in her palm.
He’d handed it to her without hesitation. As if he trusted her implicity. That kind of thing didn’t happen to her very often. Someone showing no hesitation, treating her as if she were an equal.
Daisy sat back and considered Dale. If she didn’t know better, she could stereotype him as one of those rich, country kids. Entitled, sanguine, supremely confident in who and what they were, who would one day inherit the family farm and keep up the burgeoning family name. But scratch the surface and Dale wasn’t any of those things. There was a shyness, a reserve about him, that spoke of how perhaps all of his cocky confidence might be a front. His smile, for one. He only brought that smile out when he was truly affected by something. That smile could be used as a lethal weapon, if he’d wanted to. But he hid it most of the time behind a more serious façade. Daisy wondered why. Was he unhappy here? Perhaps he’d been burned by a failed love affair. But no, he was too young to have been that affected. Wasn’t he? If she were to guess, Dale was a couple of years younger than her. Which put him at around twenty-three or twenty-four. She pursed her lips. She’d never been with a younger man. Not that a few years made a huge difference.
Troy was older than her by three years. Although you wouldn’t know it, the way he acted. She hadn’t contacted Troy once, not since she’d left Perth in such a hurry. And to tell the truth, she didn’t miss him one bit. Troy was a footy star, a key player for the West Coast Eagles. And didn’t he love to rub it in whenever he got the chance. His constant revolving door of supposed friends coming and going to his place had become maddening. And then there were the drugs. Troy didn’t even try to hide them anymore. Things between them had been on the downhill slide even before she left.
Troy had brown eyes, much like Dale. But Troy’s gaze had a hard edge to it. Unlike Dale’s, whose eyes had flecks of gold hiding in their depths, and seemed to glow with a compassion and kindness that Troy would never have. An image of Dale’s liquid-brown gaze swam across the viewfinder of her mind. She could definitely get lost in their depths. And she could also get lost in those powerful arms; she hadn’t failed to notice his tanned forearms, leading up to nicely bulging biceps.
She shook her head to rid it of all her silly fantasies.
Dale wasn’t stupid. His family weren’t stupid. She needed to put her game face on and keep her wits about her over the next twenty-four hours, or however long she was stuck here, if she were to keep her cover story in place. Keep River safe.
Thinking about her brother, a dart of doubt shot through her guts, but she squashed the uneasy feeling down. He was innocent, and she needed to protect him, that was her main aim in life right now.
In her mind, she flashed back to the conversation they’d had on the long, boring drive across the Nullarbor in the little white corolla after they’d fled Perth.
“I promise you, sis, I had nothing to do with the murder.”
It was probably the sixth or seventh time he’d said these words, and Daisy had finally snapped. “So you keep saying, but up until now, you haven’t told me anything else. It’s time I knew the full story, River. I’m putting my life on hold here—putting my life on the line—and you need to tell me the truth.” Daisy had taken her eyes off the endless stretch of tarmac in front and glared at her brother. “I deserve to know the whole truth,” she’d declared.
“Yes, you do,” he agreed, shifting around in the passenger seat as if he were uncomfortable.
Reading his mind, Daisy said, “Start at the beginning. Why were you in that alley in the first place? Who else was there?”
River cracked his knuckles—a most annoying habit—and stared out the window. She let him find the words in his own time. “I was over at Tommy’s place, we were just playing Battlegrounds, you know? Just chillin and passing the time.”
