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Raising her brows, she shook her head. “Nope.”
“Are you sure?” He tried his trademark smile with a wink and her own smile faltered.
“Don’t, Xander. It’s not fair.”
“To tempt you?”
“It’s not real, whatever you might be trying to put across for the reporter.”
“It could be real.”
She pulled right away, standing beside the bed, hands on hips. “For a couple of weeks. After the concert it will beout of sight out of mind.”
“It never is.”
She hesitated as she moved toward the door of the wardrobe. “Is what?”
“Never out of mind.” Sometimes he wished she would fade into the past. It made life awkward when he was supposed to be this hot country music star with women at his beck and call and he could only think of the one that got away. Like a damn country music cliché.
Her fingers fidgeted with her belt tie. “I suppose we’ve been friends for a long time. Most of our lives.”
“Next you’ll be saying we’re a family. I haven’t got a sister, but I’m pretty sure if I did have one, I wouldn’t want to sleep with her.”
A reluctant smile curved her lush mouth. “No. I don’t feel sisterly about you, either.”
Which begged the question; exactly what did she feel about him?
Not a question he was going to get answered any time soon. Watching her pull her clothes from the wardrobe, he enjoyed the natural grace of her movements. He could watch her all day and find pleasure in the smallest things. Not a good idea to be a creepy stalker. He was pleased with his progress, but Bonnie wasn’t the type of person who responded to being pushed. It only triggered her instinct to push back. He was going to have to be subtle. Not his usual style.
He slid off the side of the bed. “I might as well go and have a shower too. See you downstairs.”
She watched him head for the door and he tugged at his shirt, undoing the buttons, conscious of her eyes on his exposed chest. Yeah, she was interested. His musician’s ear heard the shift in her breathing. Maybe not so subtle. He closed her door behind him and stood for a moment. Maybe this plan wasn’t the best idea. For Bonnie. She’d survived perfectly well without him for four years.
Whether what he had to offer would be good for her, he couldn’t say. Not honestly. He had money and fame, for what it was worth. He was supposedly attractive. Heading along the hallway, he chuckled. It was all relative. He’d been outshone at the performance by Zac Hart. The man was a legend. Not a problem for him personally. Bonnie showed no inclination to rush off and fangirl the rock star.
Yet when he started to look at himself, Xander couldn’t help wondering what he had to offer, once money and fame were stripped away. He’d been more responsible in recent years, looking after his grandparents and cleaning up Tinker’s mess. He preferred not to focus on the tough stuff. It only pulled you down.
The hot shower was good, clearing away the fog in his brain. The past wasn’t important. The future was where he needed to focus. A future here in Australia. Preferably with Bonnie. If he could persuade her in the next few weeks not to head back to Canada. She’d be looking at visas and flights any time now if she wanted to be ready to fly out in time for the ski season in the northern hemisphere. It was frighteningly close and once she made her bookings, it would be too late. He needed to give his grandparents a nudge. They didn’t want to impose on Bonnie, especially after she’d come over to help out already. He wasn’t so considerate. Not when he was desperate.
The date shone brightly on his smartphone. Deadlines sucked big time.
Chapter Six
The Spotted Cowwas fairly busy, but it usually was early in the week. Most of the restaurants were shut on Monday and Tuesday, giving them a break after the weekend when the tourists tended to swamp the town. Max was behind the bar, joking with a group perched at one end.
Bonnie passed Millie from the solicitor’s office and a bunch of her friends. They were leaning forward while Millie held forth, so Bonnie didn’t feel obliged to acknowledge them. There was a friendlier reaction from Darby and her family at a table on the other side of the room, a wave and a smile before they turned back to their conversation. No love lost between the two girls, so the distance wasn’t surprising, especially given the nuisance Millie had been over Darby’s brother.
Bonnie’s friends were in a booth near the back. A couple of her friends from school had cancelled, which was probably less intimidating for Tamara on her first night. Trudie Weiss shifted to make room on the bench seat, tucking her long skirts onto her lap. She usually hung around with some friends her own age, a few years older than Bonnie, but something had gone wrong and Bonnie had seen quite a bit of her lately. Her own skirt was shorter, a sarong style she’d picked up in Fiji on her way home. It went well with the white cotton blouse she wore untucked to camouflage the pump in her pocket.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” Trudie said with a grimace.
“I had some cleaning up to do. A couple of guests like to eat in, especially when there’s not much going on in town.”
Seated on the other side of the table, Moira O’Brien chuckled. “You could have brought them along. If they were young and handsome.”
Bonnie thought of vampire guy in the bucolic environment of the Spotted Cow. “Not their kind of place.”
“Too posh?”
