“I…” She paused, as if she wasn’t sure how to answer him. “No. Of course not. If I were married, I’d be with my husband. I certainly wouldn’t be sleeping with you. How did you know about my wedding?”
“We have the Internet here, too.”
She took a moment, then shook her head. “You Googled me?”
“Yes. And a private investigator tracked you here,” he replied. “You used your credit card in Brisbane and he figured out where you were.”
She groaned, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “I knew I shouldn’t have used the card. I didn’t use it earlier for food. But I thought since I was flying right back to the station, it wouldn’t make a difference. They wouldn’t be able to find me even if they were watching the card.”
“Turns out Teague bought something at the same time and he used his card. They figured out you two were together.” He rubbed her forearms. “I think you should tell me what’s going on, Payton. Tell me about Sam Whitman.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and looked at him, her eyes wide. “You know about-But, how-”
“It doesn’t matter. Just tell me what happened.”
She drew a deep breath. “I ran out on the wedding before we got to the vows.” She took his hand. “I should have told you. But I wanted to leave that part of my life behind.”
“Why did you run?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just had this feeling that I was making a huge mistake. I honestly can’t say what it was. I’m not an impetuous person, but I had this-” She put her hand on her stomach.
“Gut feeling?”
“Yes,” she said, as if his explanation suddenly made perfect sense of her actions.
“So what does your gut tell you to do now?” Brody asked. “We can ride back to the house and you can talk to this guy. Or we can leave. Teague will fly us to Brisbane and from there we’ll catch a flight to Perth.”
“Perth?”
“I have an apartment in Fremantle, just across the river. We can hang out until the investigator leaves.”
She considered the offer for a long moment. “And then what?” she asked. “I can’t avoid my family forever.”
“Then we’ll go back to the station right now and you can call them.”
He waited as she weighed her options, hoping and praying that she’d choose to leave with him. He knew he’d have to let her go sooner or later, but he wasn’t ready. He’d take another day, another week, as much time as he could get.
“I don’t know what I want,” she said.
He’d asked her if she was married and he’d gotten the right answer. But the second question had gone unasked. Was she still in love with her fiance? The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he was afraid of what she might say. Right now, he’d rather not know.
He reached up and cupped her face in his hands. “Come with me to Fremantle,” he said. Leaning forward, he kissed her again, softly, a silent plea.
“All right,” she said. “For a little while. We’ll go to Fremantle.”
Brody released a tightly held breath and yanked her into his arms. He had a few more days, a week even. And this time, he wasn’t going to waste it. He’d savor every second he spent with her. They’d walk on the beach and make love all night and sleep until noon and then do it all over again the next day. And, maybe, she’d decide she never wanted to leave at all.
BY THE TIME they landed at the airport in Perth, Payton had filled in the details of her story, from her parents’ high expectations, to her belief that Sam was the man she was supposed to marry. And then she told him about her sudden decision to break free from the path that had been laid out for her. Until that moment, she’d simply deferred to her parents and her fiance.
It felt good to pick apart her life, to examine her motives and try to make sense of them. And it almost gave her enough courage to call her parents and apologize for everything that she’d put them through. But after a half day’s work on the station and two separate plane trips, she was exhausted. The thought of making that phone call twisted her stomach into knots.
“I know what you’re thinking.” She sighed, avoiding his gaze as they walked from the plane.
He held her hand, his fingers laced through hers. “No, you don’t,” Brody said.
“You think I’m…naive. Spineless. And maybe I am-or was. But I’m not that way anymore.”
He pulled her to a stop, forcing her to face him. “Are you under the impression that this has changed the way I feel about you?” Brody asked.
“It hasn’t?”
He shook his head. “No. Not at all.”
They took a cab from the airport to Brody’s apartment. Payton was curious about what she’d find on the other side of the front door. The building was luxurious, with its richly appointed lobby and thickly carpeted hallways. Brody hadn’t told her much about his life off the station. What she knew had come from Teague-a career in football, the accident that had ruined his knee and a retreat back to the station.
He reached for the front door, then paused. “I don’t remember what it looks like inside,” he said, forcing a smile. “It’s been a while since I’ve been home and I had to let my cleaning lady go.” He shoved the key into the lock. “Maybe I should just check it out.”
“It’s all right,” Payton said. “I’ve been working in a stable. Unless you have a dozen horses in there, nothing is going to freak me out.”
Brody chuckled. “All right.” The door swung open and he stepped aside to let her enter first. She walked inside slowly, taking in the details of the interior.
It was a beautiful apartment, sleek and modern. A wall of windows overlooked the water and filled the apartment with light. It was furnished sparsely yet fashionably.
Payton wandered over to the windows and took in the view of a wide river and the city on the other side. “It’s wonderful,” she said. “So different from the station.”
“One of the guys on the team gave me the name of his decorator. I didn’t pick this stuff out myself. I would have been content with a couch and telly and a bed.”
She stared up at a painting hanging on the wall above the sofa. “Very nice. So, is this what football buys?”
Brody smiled. “That’s what football bought. Footy doesn’t buy anything anymore.”
“It’s difficult to imagine you doing that. Dressed in all that gear.”
“Aussie rules is not like American football,” he said. “We don’t wear anything but a shirt, shorts and shoes. It’s more like rugby than what you think of as football.” He paused. “So you know how I found out about your wedding. How did you find out about my busted career?”
“Your brother Teague. He said you were good, but that your motorcycle accident ended your career.”
Brody nodded. “I was. I was the top scorer on our team. But that doesn’t really matter anymore. Now some other bloke is the top scorer on the team. And I’m just a guy who spends his time working a cattle station in Queensland.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” she said.
“It’s not the same as being famous.”
Payton ran her hands through her hair. “I’m still dirty from work. Can I take a shower?”
Brody took her bag off his shoulder. “The bathroom is through the bedroom,” he said, pointing to a door in the far wall. “I’ll show you.”
She followed him into the bedroom and he set her bag on the bed, then turned and helped her out of her jacket. He smoothed his hands over her shoulders and nuzzled his nose in her hair. “It’s nice to have you here,” he said. “All to myself.”
Payton leaned back against his chest and drew his arms around her. “It is funny how things work out. We’ve both lived such different lives, and then they touched for a moment in that jail cell. If you hadn’t drunk so much beer or I’d paid for my meal, we would never have met. Gemma thinks it was fate.”
“Maybe it was.”
Payton turned in his arms and then pushed up on her toes and kissed him. She slipped her arms around his neck and drew him more deeply into the kiss, loving the way he tasted, the way his mouth fit so perfectly with hers. Just a simple kiss was all it took to ignite her desire.
