Page 55 of The Mechanics of Lust

“What are you doing here?” I eyed him up and down like he was taking up too much space on this thirty-five thousand-acre station.

“Delivering guests. I saw you as I flew in.” He glanced up the hill. “That was pretty impressive, not to mention fascinating. Maybe you can explain it to me one day.”

“I’ll add it to the list of all the other things I don’t have time for.” I ignored his answering frown and watched as Jojo and Nina began circling his legs looking for attention, the traitors.

“Aw, now you’ve hurt my feelings.” Luke dropped both hands and began absently scratching their ears. Dammit, but he was a nice guy.

“I highly doubt that.” I passed through the gate and locked it, turning to find his heated gaze roaming my shirtless chest, all the way down to the old training jeans that hung off my hips. He looked up with a wolfish grin in place. “I hope you’ve got sun cream on.”

I rolled my eyes. “About a litre, give or take.” I pushed back the wide-brimmed cowboy-style hat that I favoured for training and took a long draught of water from the bottle sitting in the shade of the gatepost.

“Good. Gotta protect all that pale, beautiful Irish skin.” He ran a finger down the slope of my shoulder, drawing goosebumps. “Yes, very... slick.”

I arched an unimpressed brow and clumsily recapped the water bottle. The man had a way of unsettling me every goddammed time. “What do you want, Luke?” I leaned against the gate and his gaze licked fire down my body. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m busy.”

“So, I see.” Those blue eyes darkened. “And can I just say I love the hat? It’s very... cowboy.” He licked his lips. “Do you have any idea how fucking sexy you look right now?”

My heart banged in my throat and heat raced into my cheeks. I tugged off the offending hat and ran the back of the water bottle over my forehead before squinting at the sun and returning the hat reluctantly to my head. “Very fucking practical is what it is,” I countered, grabbing my blue-check shirt from the gate and slinging it over my shoulder. “And in case you missed it the first time, what do you want, Luke?” I gathered the dogs and started walking toward the kennels.

After a few seconds and a whistle of approval for my arse, which I absolutely did not smile or blush at, Luke ran to catch up. “What I don’t want is to upset you.”

And damn if that wasn’t the perfect thing to say.

“I waschecking in.” He ran in front of me and started walking backwards so we were face to face about a metre apart. “Remember? As per our agreement about finding ourselves geographically... available.” He added a lick of his lips that I absolutely did not pay any attention to as I tried to sidestep him and failed because he parried too well.

“You’re an idiot.” But it was hard not to smile, and Luke immediately grinned in return.

“Aw, come on. Tell me you’re not pleased to see me.” He slid back alongside and tipped my hat back to look into my eyes.

I jammed it back in place and muttered, “I’m not pleased to see you.” Shame about the smile.

Luke laughed and elbowed me gently. “You’re a godawful liar.”

Truth.

We wandered the rest of the way along the dusty track in a comfortable silence until Hellboy and Thor picked up our scent and started howling. They were the only two dogs left behind, while the others shifted the three hundred head of Angus the station ran alongside the merinos. Cattle were not on Hellboy or Thor’s favourites list, and the feeling was mutual. Sometimes it was easier to leave them behind, and Holden had clearly decided it was one of those days.

“Anyone else around?” Luke’s gaze swept the buildings and pens.

“No. They’re all out on the south field, except for Gil.”

“You’re not with them?” Luke enquired as the kennel roofs came into view and the barking intensified. Set back against the shelter belt, the tall trees offered day-long shade and wind protection, and the raised kennels allowed for good air circulation.

I shook my head. “I took the afternoon off so I could get some training done before muster. I’ve, um...” I hesitated about telling him and then kicked myself for thinking it mattered. “So, I might’ve entered a dog competition in a couple of months.” I started through the door of the shed housing the dog supplies, but Luke pulled me back around to face him.

“A competition?” He arched a brow.

I sighed. “Yes. Don’t make a big deal of it. I talked to Holden and he’s happy for me to squeeze in a few when I can. Said it’s good for the station’s rep as well.”

A slow smile spread over Luke’s face. “Wow. That’s great.”

I pulled free and went inside. “Yeah, well, you can take that smug look off your face. It’ll likely be a disaster. I haven’t competed for years.” I whistled for Hellboy and Thor to shut up and they obliged, kind of. Then I grabbed a few biscuits and headed back out to the kennels with Luke following like an annoying puppy.

“You won’t know until you try, right?” he said, and I almost jumped when his finger trailed down the bare skin of my back, goosebumps popping in its wake.

Jojo and Nina were already waiting inside their kennels. I threw them both a couple of biscuits and refilled their water before shutting them in. Then I chucked a biscuit each to the other two and turned to find Luke right there, leaning against the kennels, watching me.

“Maybe you’ll let me watch you compete one day.” His face was serious but the incredulity on mine must’ve been obvious because he winced. “But only if that’s okay. I wouldn’t want to upset your routine or anything. Maybe we couldallwatch?”

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