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Kee peered intently into the wooden structure, absently waving away the innumerable flies from her face. Her shoulder brushed against his as she got down lower so she could see the priming mechanism he was pointing out. The air between them went static, crackling with something unnamed, and he suddenly held his breath, wanting her to touch him again. He closed his eyes for the briefest of seconds. Did she feel that, too? Like a stroke of lightning against his skin. Her face was only inches from his, he could smell the heat emanating off her skin. Perspiration and something else…spicy and enticing. He turned to look at her, saw the shine of sweat on her top lip, mouth slightly parted as she returned his stare. Rosy and plump, her lips tempted him. She regarded him from beneath long, dark lashes. So long they seemed almost unreal, made her eyes look wide and unguarded for a second.
This was a bad time for him to get an erection. But the way his jeans tightened uncomfortably made him thankful he was crouching down, so hopefully his reaction to her was hidden. A crazy urge took him to lean in and take those lips. Would she moan, deep in her throat, at his touch? He inclined his head toward her.
Kee suddenly straightened and took a step back, breaking the spell. Leaving him blinking like an owl in a bright light. What had he been about to do?
“Right. So, have you got that?” He tried to go for an officious tone to cover the slight crack in his voice. Had she noticed? He straightened as well, keeping his body angled away from her.
“I’ll show you the water tank. It works on a pump system, which you need to keep an eye on.” He led the way around the back of the building, up the slight slope to where a large, green water tank sat on a concrete slab. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kee hesitate for a millisecond before following him. Oh yeah, she’d noticed, all right. Wazza hid a grimace. She was out of bounds, he just needed to keep reminding himself of that.
“Gosh, there’s so much to learn. So much to do out here. How do people cope?” She spoke to his back.
Wazza stopped and turned around. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Seems like there are a lot of things I need to get used to.” She snorted. “The heat, for one.”
“Yeah, well, no one really gets used to that. If you don’t need to be out, then it’s better to stay inside during the middle of the day when it’s hottest.”
“We already figured that one out the hard way,” she said with a wry grin, and he was reminded they’d just spent two days camping out in this interminable heat. “It’ll be nice to have somewhere cool to stay.”
She waved at more flies trying to settle on her face. “And these blasted little insects.”
He held in a laugh. Lots of city folks couldn’t believe how damn annoying and unceasing the flies were at this time of year. Some of them even resorted to wearing fly nets over their hats. But you got to the stage where you could almost ignore them. Almost.
It felt like they were back on solid ground again. She wasn’t going to hold his split second of insanity against him.
For the next ten minutes, Wazza led her around the outstation, showing her how the water pump worked, where the machinery shed was situated, if she needed any tools, or the like. It was only when Kee’s gaze repeatedly slid toward the main building that he remembered Benni. She wanted to get back to her daughter. But there was one more thing he needed to give her. He headed back to where his vehicle was parked beneath the sparse shade of an acacia tree, he reached in and removed his sat phone from the dash.
“Say goodbye to Benni for me,” he said, handing her the phone. “My number is third on the list of buttons.” He pointed to the pre-programmed buttons on the handset. With one hand resting on the steering wheel, ready to step into his car, he added, “I really have to get going. But if there is anything else you need, you just call me, okay?”
She nodded, but he could see a question in her eyes. Her lips remained firmly together, however, as if she was afraid to ask.
“What?” he asked gently. “You can ask me anything, you know.”
“Do you have a spare one of those?” she asked, pointing to his hat, surprising him. Of course, why hadn’t he thought of that? Everyone needed protection from the sun and the flies.
“I’ll see what I can find.”
“For Benni, too?” The way she bit her lip and said she thought she might be asking too much of him. “She loves your hat.”
“For Benni, too,” he replied. That might be harder, finding an Akubra her size, but he’d certainly try. There might be an old one of Skylar’s or Julie’s still left at the back of the tack room, or perhaps in the shed where they kept all the old pairs of boots discarded by previous staff and family, and sometimes even left by guests.
“I’ll come back tomorrow and make sure you’re okay.” He wasn’t sure how he might work it into his schedule, but he knew he’d do it, somehow. “And fill you in on how your car is going.” He hopped into the four-wheel-drive and wound down his window.
“Thank you, Wazza,” she replied. Her obsidian gaze sought his. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”
“Don’t you worry about that.” Wazza waved a hand out the window and accelerated down the track. Glancing in the rear vision mirror, he saw the figure of Kee fading to a light blue blur in the dust from his tires. God, he hoped they’d be okay out here alone.
