AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, God.” She moved to sit on the other chair, and dropped her head into her hands. “I can’t believe I almost…” She looked up and stared directly into his eyes. “I can’t have sex with you, Warwick.”
He knew that. Of course he did. Well, his head knew it. His body, however, was a completely different thing. She was leaving in a few days. He was staying. A tiny voice asked if perhaps they could use that to their advantage. Have sex for sex’s sake. But Kee wasn’t that sort of woman. She had a daughter to consider. And while he might have been that sort of guy once or twice, this wasn’t one of those times.
“There’s all sorts of things we could do that don’t include actual sex,” he said in a half-suggestive tone. But he knew she wasn’t going to be drawn in. Not this time.
“We’re not going there,” she said, her face regaining a patina of cool composure. “Not least of all because my daughter is sleeping in the next room.” She indicated the window to their left and Wazza’s guts gave a guilty heave. He hadn’t forgotten about Benni, not exactly.
“You’re right,” he sighed, and shifted uncomfortably in the chair, willing the remains of his erection to disappear. “Of course.”
To give his brain something else to think about, other than running his hands over her body, he cleared his throat, and went back to their previous conversation. “Before you interrupted me with that kiss…” He looked down at his shirt, which was now missing more than one button, and then up at her, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. She gave a mortified grimace and had the grace to flush a light pink. “I was going to tell you that Daniella has spoken to a lawyer about your predicament.”
“What?” Kee was half out of her chair, a frown marring her beautiful face.
Before she could get herself worked up again, he held up a hand and said, “I know you didn’t want anyone getting involved—”
“That’s right, this family has done enough for me. When I’m ready to seek the assistance of a lawyer, I’ll do it. Not a second earlier.”
Wazza had doubts about the reasons Kee was so loath to contact a lawyer. He suspected that money—or her lack of it—had a lot to do with it.
“I know that, and so does Daniella. This is their family lawyer, and she’s been through a lot with them over the years. Daniella trusts her implicitly to keep her confidence. And she was very careful with what she said. Everything was made up as a hypothetical scenario.”
“Oh, okay.” Kee regained her seat, lifting a glass of water from the small table nest to her and taking a large gulp.
Wazza took that as a sign for him to continue. He drew in a breath. Kee wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “The lawyer said that she couldn’t answer specific questions because she doesn’t practice family law, but she did say that the only way the courts would take a mother seriously in a custody case, was if she turned herself and her child in.”
He watched her face, looking for clues as to how this news affected her.
“It’s what I thought all along,” Kee said. Still, it must be a blow to have it confirmed by a legal practitioner and must be disappointing on some level. “I know I’m probably only strengthening Jakovs parent’s claims that I’m an unfit mother by taking off like I did. But I had no other choice. I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for a court date, which could take years, I’ve been told, while Benni was kept a prisoner by that family. I wouldn’t have survived.”
“I know,” he soothed. “I’m not debating that. Daniella just wanted to see what your options were, that was all.”
“My only option is to take Benni and disappear off the face of the earth,” she said quietly.
Wazza was starting to believe that. He needed to know whether her plans had changed at all in the past few days. “I know you were heading for the Northern Territory border when I found you.”
She took another sip of water, and watched him over the rim of her glass.
“Have you come up with anything more concrete as to what you might do after that?”
“Not really.” She shrugged, her bare shoulders glowing gently in the lamplight. “I’ve heard Darwin is a bit of a frontier town. Full of misfits and hippies, cowboys and jocks. Maybe I can hide out there for a while. And I’m hoping the cops won’t be looking for me all the way up there.”
Wazza had heard something similar about the quirky capital city. But he didn’t like to think of Kee and Benni alone and struggling to make ends meet in such a town. And he wasn’t sure that just by crossing the border, the police would miraculously stop looking for her. While most arrest warrants were issued by state, he’d knew that states shared their information, and if the Northern Territory cops found her, they’d most likely extradite her back to New South Wales to face charges.
“Anyway, it’s not really your problem. I’ll sort something out,” she said quietly, but there was a finality to her tone. She was pushing him away. The tilt of her chin left him in no doubt of her resolute, strong will; she was going to be stubborn about this.
Her comment stung. While technically it was true, she wasn’t his problem, and the second she drove away in her car, he could wash his hands of her. If that’s what he wanted. He wanted anything but. He needed to know she was safe. That Benni was safe. That she never allowed Bruno to find her. Aggravation at her complete disregard for his feelings swirled in his guts. But he didn’t allow any of his thoughts to show on his face.
He should get up, grab his hat from the table, and walk off to his dorm room. That’s what he felt like doing. That’s the way he normally handled these kinds of situations. She was right, it was her life, and he should stop trying to interfere. Except he was already neck deep involved.
So, he did something that surprised even himself. Instead of allowing her to push him away, he took a deep breath and said, “You’re wrong. It is my problem, and I want to help you, if only you’d let me. I know you need to go, and I wouldn’t dream of trying to stop you. But even if you let me pore over a map with you to find the best route to take, the least roads travelled, so you can avoid Bruno. I can tell you where the best roadhouses are to refuel. Find the most out of the way campsites, where you’ll be safe to spend a night or two.”
It wasn’t much, but it was all he could offer. If only he could go with her, protect her, and make sure she got to wherever she needed to go safely. But that wasn’t an option. He had a job to do at Stormcloud, and he knew without even having to ask that Kee wouldn’t consider taking him as an option, not in a thousand years. She would never want to feel that indebted.
Kee considered him for many long moments, dark eyes glistening in the starlight. “Thank you, Wazza. You’re a good man. And I would love your help to work out my next move.”
He leaned forward on his elbows and studied her across the space between them. Her face was open and guileless, and he decided she actually meant what she said. A part of him liked that she’d called him a good man. And at least she’d given him this concession, albeit a small one. He’d take whatever he could get right now.
“I’d better head off to bed.” He didn’t add that secretly he longed to be in her bed. “I’ve got a long day ahead tomorrow.” He got to his feet.
