Page 77 of The Mechanics of Lust

I pocketed the phone and stared again at the photo. “Well, baby girl, I think maybe I’m ready to choose that next book with you now. A new adventure, right? Or maybe the second act of the same one I started with you. Who knows? I have a few ideas about the storyline, but I’m pretty sure I’m gonna need your help. The love interest is... reluctant at best.”

CHAPTERTWENTY

Seven days later

Luke

You’re avoiding me.I pushed send and slid my phone face down on the oak table.

Doug glanced at it, then back up at me, and his lips quirked. “So, how’re things going with our mutual friend?”

Sam shot us a curious glance, and I kicked Doug under the table. “Keep your voice down. And I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oops. Sorry.” His smile said he wasn’t.

I ignored him and reached for another slice of garlic bread. A cheer erupted from the other end of the huge table Miller Station had commandeered for their pre-muster party, and I glanced down to see Roz and his maître d’ sliding platters of steaming barbecued meat onto the table, along with grilled lettuce drizzled in a white herby dressing, fire-roasted corn, jalapeño poppers, jam-glazed and charred beetroot, and a few other things I didn’t recognise that smelled awesome.

The pre-muster party was usually little more than a beer or two at the Oakwood pub, but Gil had decided to fancy things up and make it a team event paid for by the station. We were instructed to bring a plus-one, and so I’d invited Doug. Sam had brought his brother. Charlie had turned up with a guy from Christchurch none of us had ever heard about. Tom ignored the edict and came alone—no surprise there. And Alek brought another recent Russian immigrant who was working on a dairy farm south of the Mackenzie. Extras included Spencer, the vet, and his colleague, Freddie; my boss Gary, and his wife; Emily and Harry; and then Jules who’d been invited by Zach.

No one needed their arms twisted to try Roz’s newly opened Barbecue Pit. It was still finding its feet, but locals were already giving it rave reviews. Siting a barbecue restaurant in the middle of sheep country, and on a prime tourist route, was inspired, and the huge sign on the main road was already drawing a trickle of visitors into town who would otherwise have passed right on by.

Doug helped himself to a plateful of lamb and barbecue ribs and then landed a sharp elbow into my ribs. “You can’t lie for shit. But if you want to play that game, then I’m talking about the green-eyed beauty at the other end of the table who keeps pretending he’s not looking this way every chance he gets. And just so you know, the green-eyed part has nothing to do with their colour, although fuck me, they’re gorgeous, and everything to do with the fact that if looks could kill, I’d have been a dead man the minute I sat down next to you.”

Leaving my decision about which corn cob to choose, my gaze shot down the table to where Zach sat between Holden and Tom.

Thankfully, he was too busy studying his phone—a frown notched between those pretty auburn brows—to notice me staring. He typed something, put his phone down, and mine buzzed almost immediately. He gave me a sideways glance and our gazes locked. His green eyes widened for a second, then he looked away.

Doug gave a soft snort of amusement. “I rest my case.”

“Shut up and eat,” I grumbled, sliding my phone to the edge of the table so I could take a peek.

Sorry. Been busy with muster prep. Only two days left.

On the surface, it seemed fair enough, but it made zero sense after what had happened between us only ten days before. Ten days that felt like a lifetime.

Since then, we’d met up only once, at my place, and I’d seen him in passing when I’d flown to Miller Station for their pre-muster reconnaissance flight. He’d been waiting with Gil and Holden at the station hangar and my heart had jumped at the thought that maybe he was coming along for the ride. Any time I got to spend with Zach was a bonus, even if I had to share him with the others. But he’d taken off in his ute before my skids had even hit the ground, and I was left frustrated and even a little hurt.

The get-together at my place hadn’t been any more satisfying. It had been a quick and dirty fuck—a million miles from the last time we’d been together—and Zach was there and gone in just over an hour. To be honest, it hadn’t felt like he was there at all, like he wasn’t even sure why he’d come, like he was holding back.

We’d talked a little, but he’d kept the conversation to the upcoming muster and his discussions with Holden about the training business and a couple of puppies Zach was sourcing for the station. All in all, it had been a wholly unsatisfactory experience, and an unwelcome reminder about how my feelings for Zach had changed so much since I’d arrived in Oakwood in January.

Back then, I’d have been fine with a quick hookup—any chance to get the sexy man in my bed. Since then? Not so much. Because now that I knew Zach, I wanted more. A lot more. I’d grown to love his quirky sense of humour and the way his eyes softened every time he looked at his dogs. I craved that bossy side of his nature that was hot as hell in bed, and I marvelled at his curious love of all things history and his preference for spending his evenings reading or watching a movie rather than going out. I loved watching him move about my kitchen like he belonged there, like I wanted him to. And I loved the extra toothbrush on my vanity, his shampoo in my shower, his favourite lube in my bedside drawer, the smell of him on my sheets, and the way his eyes seemed to light up whenever he saw me.

Or at least they had.

Then I’d fucked up and pushed too hard, too soon, taking him to the observatory that night, a date in everything but name, and then the whole domestic scene the next day. I’d scared him off, and I had no idea how to fix that or even if I could. But the ache in my heart and the need to be with him in every way I could was killing me.

Keeping quiet about my feelings was no longer an option.

Doug leaned closer. “Problems then, I take it?”

I loaded my fork with a piece of lamb and glanced his way. “Am I... arewethat obvious?”

Doug looked at me sideways. “Only to people who know the two of you have wanted to rip each other’s clothes off since day one.”

I huffed softly. “A slight exaggeration.”

“Is it?” He raised a brow. “Because I needed a shower just watching the two of you eye each other up that night in the bar whenwewere supposed to be on a date.”

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