Page 25 of In Full Bloom

But there’s no use whinging about something I can’t change, and that I brought upon myself.

“But if you’d taken the job I wouldn’t have to deal with him,” I mutter, gesturing towards where Dallas is deep in conversation with Olivia.

“Who? Dallas?” Flynn looks confused. “What’s wrong with him? He’s a great boss and a nice guy.”

I really, really wish people would stop telling me what a great guy he is. It’s hard to keep hating him, especially when he backs up their comments by genuinely being nice, even if it is only on the odd occasion around me.

“Well, mostly to me he’s been a condescending jerk, who doesn’t think I can do the job and am only here because Olivia loves me.”

“I mean, that is the reason you’re here, isn’t it?” Flynn grins at me again. The little smart-ass.

I narrow my eyes at him and he backtracks. “We all know you can do the job, Katie Kat. But he doesn’t know you from a bar of soap. Give him a chance.” He looks thoughtful for a moment. “He was asking me about you before. He mentioned you saw Max today.”

Immediately my mood darkens. I hate that man.

Before I can quiz Flynn further about what the heck Dallas was asking about, Flynn climbs down the fence. “Better skedaddle,” he says. “Don’t want the boss on my case, especiallyconsidering I only just got back.” He grins up at me. He’s being a smart-ass again, mocking me for my dislike of Dallas. It’s his default setting, I shouldn’t be surprised. I roll my eyes. “We should catch up later,” Flynn continues. “We can go into town, grab a drink and celebrate your long-awaited homecoming.”

“Yeah, sure,” I say, absolutely not meaning it. As much as I’d love to hang out with Flynn over a couple of drinks, I do not want to be doing it in Kauri Creek. I sigh. I guess this is my life now. At least I’ll have plenty of time to catch up with Flynn when we’re working together.

He walks backwards away from me. “I mean it,” he says. “I’m sure Hunter would love to see you too.”

I laugh at that. “I don’t think Hunter loves to see anyone.”

Hunter is Flynn’s older brother. He’s moody and unimpressed by everyone and everything, especially when it has to do with his irresponsible little brother and his friends.

In Hunter’s defence, from what I’ve heard, the guy hasn’t had it easy and when their parents died when Hunter was eighteen, he had to stay at home and look after Flynn instead of adventuring off into the big wide world with his best friend, Olivia’s older sister, Willow.

“Only Willow,” he says, with a wink and I burst out laughing, drawing the attention of Dallas and Olivia. “Catch you later, Katie Kat,” he calls to me, then turns to Dallas and Olivia. “We’re going out tonight. No is not an acceptable response.” Before either of them have a chance to answer, he’s already asking what they need him to do this afternoon.

The three of them appear ready to walk away and leave me here, so I assume I’m just working with the horse this afternoon.

Olivia had told me about her on the short drive over from the function venue after my meltdown. A young mare that was picked up by a welfare organisation and was looking for a home that would be able to rehabilitate her. Olivia reached out immediately and arranged for Flynn to pick up the horse on his way back from his surf break.

She wasn’t sure what condition the horse would be in, and it’s not a pretty sight. But I know with a little time and attention, this horse is going to be stunning. Hopefully she has a personality to match.

Olivia waves at me and Flynn shoots me some finger guns, before they turn and head back to their utes. My eyes land on Dallas, who’s already watching me, then he turns and begins to walk away too.

“Hey, cowboy,” I call out and am gratified when he raises his head and looks back at me. I gesture for him to come closer. He lets out a sigh big enough that I can see it from this distance, but turns and strides back towards me.

“You’re free to work with the horse this afternoon,” he says, as he reaches me. “Olivia wants you to spend time with her every day if you can. It’s part of the job.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t confused about that.”

“What, then?” He looks wary, like he’s not sure what I’m going to come out with next. He’s probably worried I’m going to bring up my dead boyfriend or him pushing me way too far about what happened with Max.

“What was rule number one?” I ask, my voice so low and he has to lean in to hear me properly.

“Rule number one?”

I raise my eyebrows at him. He can’t have forgotten. Or maybe he has, and it’s just me that lies awake at night, replaying the feeling of his hands trailing across my skin, my hair tangled in his fingers, the press of his mouth on mine, and in other places.

His eyes darken and I know. I absolutely, one hundred percent know. He hasn’t forgotten. His posture shifts and he leans even closer. “Tell no one,” he breathes into my ear.

“And?” My voice wavers on that one simple, tiny word and I fight to retain control of my body, that just wants to lean back into him and feel his touch again. I shouldn’t want that. I’m trying to tell the guy off, not get back into bed with him.

“Don’t talk to people about you,” he murmurs. “I only mentioned to Olivia that I was worried about you,” he says, the look in his eye something very similar to the one he gets when he’s talking about Sadie. One that looks an awful lot like he cares about more than how good my jeans fit my ass. “Because I was.”

“I wasn’t talking about Olivia,” I snap, fighting all my instincts to lean in. “You asked Flynn about me and Max.”

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