* * *
"Hey Stacey, wake up."
"Hmmm, go way." She brushed his hand from her shoulder and he smiled. Stacey looked so damned cute laying crookedly in her chair with the towel barely covering the tops of her thighs.
It would be so easy to lean down and run his tongue of her sun kissed shoulder working her up to another bout of sex in the wide open spaces. Sadly, Morgan conceded the lure of the work waiting for her back at the pub would put a dampener on his idea.
"It's time to go home."
Stacey rubbed her eyes and looked around. Then she lifted her watch up and swore. "Shit, I never meant to be away this long."
She scrambled to her feet and threw the towel on the chair oblivious to Morgan's eyes on her. Hastily pulling on her panties and bra, she pulled her shirt on and lastly tugged on her shorts.
When Morgan coughed behind his hand she looked up. "What?"
"Sorry, just watching you put your clothes on, well, um never mind." He picked up the chairs folding them down and tucked them under his arm. Turning from her he grabbed the picnic basket and headed back to the car.
"Sex crazed idiot, I have a frigging pub to run." Muttering under her breath Stacey slid her feet into the sandals and followed.
The ride back to town was quiet. When they pulled up she reached over and touched his shoulder, still warm from the sun. "Thanks. For today I mean, it was great to get away. I wish we could have stayed longer but this," she nodded her head at the old building, "needs some looking after. I really appreciate having today."
"Glad to be of help. I'm just sorry I had to wake you up." Morgan got out of the vehicle and took the chairs from the back and followed her into the pub. He left them in the entry way for Stacey to put away. "Listen I have some stuff to do too so I'll see you at dinner."
"Sure, thanks."
Stacey watched him run up the elegant old staircase to his room before moving into the kitchen to empty the basket. Deciding on chicken for dinner, she took a couple of breasts from the freezer and left them on the bench to defrost before heading into the office to catch up on the mass of filing she was sorting through for her grandfather.
That was where Morgan found her a few hours later. He leaned on the door frame and knocked on the wall scaring her half to death.
"Sheesh, I was miles away. What's happening?" She pushed closed the old filing cabinet and dusted off her hands. "I could use a cold beer, how about you?"
"Sounds great. I was going to offer to cook you dinner for a change if you were still busy." Morgan followed her into the kitchen and through to the bar.
Stacey took a couple of chilled beers from the fridge and popped the cap off handing one over to him. She held the bottle against her breast letting the condensation cool her skin. The lack of an air conditioner in the office was annoying but something that wasn't high on the priority list as far as improvements went.
"I'll be glad when this heat wave is over. Even though we should be into autumn we keep getting freak hot spells. The air is thick and heavy."
"I kind of like the weather out here. So different to the city where the heat makes you sweat. Out here it's nice and dry." He took a long drink of beer. "So, let me help do dinner tonight. It's just the two of us, right?"
"Yes. Just the two of us." She licked her lips and asked the question. "What time are you leaving tomorrow?"
"I need to be on the road before six am."
"Okay. Um, you should get a fair way by nightfall then." A tight knot was forming in her gut, sucking the air from her lungs.
"I hope so. Not looking forward to getting back into the office but I can't put it off any longer."
Stacey took a swig of her beer and choked when she tried to swallow too quickly. Leaning over, she coughed not caring about the beer that dribbled from her mouth down her shirt. A firm hand slapped her on the back, sending her flying against the bar. "Ouch, stop, I'm alright."
"You're choking for god's sake."
"No, I'm okay, it just went down the wrong way. What is it with you and me anyway? If you aren't trying to drown me, you're slapping the hell out of me." She looked at him, wishing she could send someone back in his place. It would be wonderful to keep him with her if only for another few days.
"I can manage dinner but thanks anyway." Stacey ignored the wet patches on her shirt and sculled the rest of the beer keeping in mind to swallow nicely. Slamming the empty bottle on the bar she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "That feels so much better. You sit here, I'll pass you another beer and start the dinner."
* * *
Morgan watched with mixed emotions as Stacey brought him another drink and disappeared into the kitchen. By the sound of the slamming pots and curses coming through the door, she wasn't happy.
He had never promised her anything, they both knew that. But he hadn't been ready for the connection that they had. Stacey was such an easy going girl without any ulterior motive to be with him. Bonus. He debated about telling her who he was and why he was here for all of five minutes.
It would be better to come back to town with a plan to help her and the community out rather than spill his guts now and have her hating him because of his business venture. That made much more sense. When he got back to the city he would look into
