New Boss New Year Bride (9 page)

The rain started about ten minutes after they left the second to last homestead, intent on making their way to the Etheringtons—their last port of call for the day. The problem with Outback rain was that when it started it really
started
. Melissa peered out of the windscreen, trying to see something…anything. The wipers were swishing so hard and fast she thought they might wipe themselves right off the car.

‘This is bad,’ Joss declared a moment later.

Melissa gave him a sidelong glance. Was he talking about the weather, or the tension which existed between them?

‘I can’t see a thing.’

They were now driving almost at a snail’s pace, and she had to agree that visibility was extremely poor. Joss shook his head and steered the car off to the side of the road.

‘Won’t we get bogged? I mean, it’s raining so hard the ground will turn into that mudslide Mindy mentioned.’

‘We’re in a hard shoulder truck rest-stop. It’s usually used for truckers to pull over and catch a few hours’ sleep before setting off on the next big drive.’

‘What? Even out here in the middle of nowhere?’

‘Trucks regularly drive along these roads. Remember—without trucks, Australia stops.’

Melissa couldn’t help grinning. ‘You sound like an advertising campaign.’

He frowned for a moment. ‘I do, don’t I?’ What had got into him? Why was he trying to make her laugh? Was he trying to impress her in some way? Perhaps it was that overheard conversation which was getting to him. He hadn’t liked it at all when she’d described him as a yo-yo, and it was as though he now needed to prove to her that she was wrong.

She’d sounded mortified at Mindy’s suggestion of having dinner with him, of going out on a date, and whilst he knew there was a physical attraction on his part—one he wasn’t doing too well at controlling right at this moment, given the confines of the ute—he could have sworn, after their shared New Year kiss, that she’d felt that attraction too.

And now he was stuck with the most incredibly beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and when she smiled at him, as she was now, he almost forgot his own name. The woman was driving him to distraction, and he wasn’t at all happy about their immediate turn of events.

He flicked on the radio, trying to find something to distract them, but the rain was interfering with the reception and all they managed to pick up was white noise. He turned it off with a final click, plunging them into silence. The engine was off, the radio was off, and all that could be heard was the rain outside. That…and Melissa’s breathing.

He tried not to listen, tried not to be aware of the way she breathed in and out. The way her body rose and fell with each breath. He tried not to be aware of the way her sweet, fresh scent was winding itself around him. He tried not to be aware of how stunning she was and how just sitting beside her, the windows fogging up due to their breathing, could make his body overheat. The one situation he’d been trying to avoid all day long had happened, and now he had to deal with it.

‘So…’ Melissa clicked her fingers. ‘What shall we talk about?’

‘Uh…’ Joss tried not to let the sultry sound of her voice affect him. His mind, which he prided himself on keeping as sharp as a tack, was now completely blank of any suggestions. How was it that this woman could have such an effect on him? A woman who had turned his world upside down and wrenched it inside out even though she didn’t know it.

‘Usually the weather is the first topic of discussion when making small talk,’ she ventured. ‘However, I think the weather is the one topic neither of us would like to discuss, given that it has us trapped and sitting in a car.’

‘In the middle of nowhere,’ he added.

‘Yes. So, any ideas? Hobbies? What sort of hobbies do you have?’

‘Hobbies?’ He pondered the thought for a moment.

‘Oh, come on, Joss. Surely you have a hobby—and drinking beer at the pub with your friends doesn’t qualify.’

He couldn’t help but smile at that. ‘Party-pooper.’ He thought for another moment, then sadly shook his head. ‘The clinic.’ He shrugged. ‘I guess the clinic is my hobby. It’s where I spend most of my free time.’

‘That’s sad, Josiah.’

‘I know. How about you? What are your hobbies?’

‘Searching for my brother.’

‘But you’ve found him.’

‘Hmm.’

‘That’s sad, Melissa.’

She looked at him and laughed. It was a mistake. A big mistake. Because in that one second their eyes locked and held.

‘You look radiant when you laugh like that.’ His words were soft and he shook his head slowly, as though he wished he hadn’t said what he had.

‘What’s going on, Joss?’

He didn’t pretend not to understand. ‘I don’t know.’

‘One minute you’re nice to me, the next you’re—’

‘Not so nice,’ he finished for her. ‘I know.’ He reached out and tucked a lock of hair which had come loose from her ponytail back behind her ear. ‘I doubt it would help if I said I was confused.’

‘I gathered that much.’

Her soft sweet tones only made the fog in his mind more dense. All he could do right now was watch the way her lips moved as she spoke. Those pink, luscious lips which had plagued his dreams. The taste of them, the pressure of them, the need to have them against his own once more. His pride at wanting to show her he wasn’t a yo-yo rose to the fore. He was a good man. A catch. One of the most eligible bachelors in town. She should be delighted to have dinner with him. He knew she felt the attraction which existed between them—that strong physical pull which had left them both stunned quite a few times since she’d arrived in town.

She swallowed, noting the intense way he was staring at her. It was as though he knew he was confused but right at the moment didn’t care at all. Confusion, right and wrong, the fact that they were colleagues—nothing seemed to matter right at that moment. Nothing except the way he was looking at her.

She told herself she didn’t want this—didn’t want these feelings she had for him. This wasn’t why she’d come to Didja. Then again she reminded herself that she’d vowed to live her life for herself, to put herself first for a while, and right now what she wanted most in the world was to feel Joss’s mouth on hers again. To really kiss him this time and not just be teased with the faint, feathering brush of his lips on hers.

‘Lis.’ He tucked her hair behind her ear again, this time allowing his hand to linger longer, to caress her cheek.

With her heart pounding wildly against her chest as she saw the look of desire in his eyes, as she watched the movement of his lips as he spoke her name, her lips parted, allowing the pent-up air to escape. She rested her hand on his arm, not sure whether to push him away or to draw him closer.

Indecision warred within each of them, both knowing what they wanted to do but unsure whether they should follow through. That was until she whispered his name and he could resist no longer.

Like lightning, he moved. His hand was at her neck, urging her closer as he leaned towards her. His mouth was crushing down on hers, and both of them were gasping with repressed delight.

T
HIS
was no soft peck. This was no featherlight brush of his lips on hers. No, this was an intense, fiery and passionate kiss between two people who had been controlling themselves for what seemed like an age rather than just a few days.

It was bizzare to be lip-locked with a man she hardly knew, yet somehow, deep down in her soul, she couldn’t deny the feelings he evoked. The heat, the animalistic pleasure, the heady combination of their pheromones mixing together and surging into something so wild and out of control she wondered whether they’d ever be able to tame it.

A guttural moan escaped from him as he tried to bring her as close to him as possible—which was a little difficult with the gearstick in the way. He needed her body pressed hard against his, to feel her soft flesh next to his, needed to feel everything she had to give. Her mouth was so sweet, so flavoursome, so perfect for his own. He focused on eliciting more of a response from her, needing her to be as out of control as he felt.

This was a passion which had been difficult to ignore, and whilst he’d done his best—whilst he’d kept his desire for her repressed, whilst he’d woken the past few mornings from dreams of her—this moment in time was definitely worth it. It was worth it because she made him
feel
.

It had been so long since he’d allowed himself to take such a powerful emotion from someone else, and she was definitely giving him all she had. There was no denying the attraction now. Both of them matched with startling equality the level of passion which flowed freely between them.

It was pleasure and pain. They both knew it was wrong, both knew they shouldn’t be doing what they were doing, but the desire had been too strong to ignore, and the look in her eyes and the way her lips had parted…as though they were making themselves ready for him…had all been too much and he’d snapped.

He’d had to have her, and now that he had, now that he knew how incredible it felt to have her mouth against his own, to feel her body against his, he wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen next. It had been so incredibly long since he’d held a woman like this, had kissed a woman in such a way, and she was kissing him right back with such abandon it was touching.

Joss loosened his hold on her, but only for a moment. Still it was enough time for her to shift her hands, so she could slide them up his strong firm arm, to feel the muscles beneath the softness of her fingertips. His shoulders were broad, and whilst she moved her mouth against his she traced those sculptured contours, loving the feel of him. When her fingers finally plunged into his hair, ensuring that his head stayed in place, ensuring that his mouth continued to create utter havoc with all of her senses, she moaned with pleasure.

Did he have any idea just how incredible he felt? Did he have any idea just how dynamic it was to have a man appreciate her in such a way? She knew it was only physical, but to be held in such a way, to be kissed in such a way…All of the fantasies she’d had about him honestly hadn’t done him justice.

Everything around them seemed to disappear into oblivion. It was the same as their New Year kiss, when the crowds had all but vanished into thin air, the focus on the two of them intense and mutual. There was no rain. There were no cracks of lightning brightening the sky for a split second. Nothing existed except the two of them, locked together in an embrace so desperate they both wondered if it would ever end.

Both had been hurt in the past. Both found it difficult to trust, to open themselves up again to the possibility of actually having a relationship. None of that mattered here and now, because the temporary emotions of need, of want, of taking, of receiving, of just
feeling
again were all that mattered.

Where she thought the intensity, the passion and the hunger would start to dissipate, after those electrifying first few moments, she found she was mistaken—for his mouth on hers was still demanding a powerful, no-holds-barred response, and she was more than eager to give it.

She was giving it her all, she was one hundred percent involved, and he had to confess he hadn’t expected such eagerness from his gorgeous new colleague—not that he was complaining. How could a man possibly complain when he was kissing such a full and sumptuous mouth? When she was driving him crazy with her hands in his hair, holding his head in place, letting him know she didn’t want this to end?

Still he needed more. More of her. More feeling. More…Melissa. He was utterly mesmerised by her, and whilst he didn’t want to be, at the moment he honestly didn’t think he had a choice. His need for her was far too great. Sliding his hand down from her neck, over her shoulder and down, down, to cup the soft underside of her breast, he wondered if he was pushing things just a little too far, too soon. His answer came a nanosecond later, when she moaned with delight and pushed herself further into his touch.

Oh, she was heaven. He hadn’t expected any of this, and he was overwhelmed with how she was making him feel. The woman was hypnotic, and he was definitely eager for so much more.

She broke from his mouth, moaning once more with delight, her breathing harsh and uneven. ‘Joss.’ She whispered his name with such a deep huskiness he was sure she had no idea just how powerful it sounded.

He looked down at her. What little light they had, due to the black clouds that were blocking the early afternoon sun, was shining onto her face. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted in anticipation of his return, her face turned up to him in wanton rapture.

She was beautiful.

At that thought his eyes widened, and he swallowed. What had he done? He jerked his hand back from where he’d been caressing her breast and put it behind his back. What had he
done
? Her eyelids slowly fluttered open and she looked up at him, her pupils large, her irises deep with delighted emotion. He straightened, pulling away from her.

What had he done?

With his next breath he’d opened the door and stepped from the vehicle into the pouring rain, leaving a shell-shocked, blinking Melissa stupefied.

What had just happened?

She sat staring out at the rain, unsure what had happened and what she was supposed to do about it. He’d just left her, preferring to be out in the rain getting soaked to the skin to being anywhere near her. One second she’d been in his arms, his hands on hers, his mouth on her, both of them caught up in the passion of the moment and the next—nothing.

Melissa crossed her arms over her chest, feeling cold and bereft. Feeling stupid and regretful. Feeling completely
insecure. Why had he left? Why had he stopped? Didn’t he want her? She shook her head and buried her face in her hands, humiliation washing over her as she recalled the wanton way she’d urged him on.

What was wrong with her? He obviously didn’t find her as attractive as she’d initially thought, and once again she was racked with confusion. She’d thought the pull between them had been pretty intense over the past few days, but now she wasn’t so sure. In reality, she had to keep reminding herself she knew next to nothing about Joss. He might behave this way with any woman who responded to him.

Then again she recalled Mindy, telling her that Joss didn’t date—in which case it could possibly mean that he was attracted to her but didn’t want to be. Her mind whirled as she tried to make some sort of sense out of the mess in which she presently found herself.

What the man said and what the man did were two completely different things, and that just made matters worse. She shook her head and pushed her hands through her hair, breathing deeply to stop herself from crying. She was too emotional. She’d become too close to him too quickly, and this was exactly what had happened in her last relationship. She’d misread the signals then and she was doing it again now.

Why had she let herself give in to him? Why hadn’t she been more cautious, more careful, more self-controlled?

She jumped fair out of her skin as the driver’s door was wrenched open and a dripping wet Joss climbed back into the car. He buckled his seat-belt and started the engine, the whirr of the windscreen wipers starting immediately.

‘It’s starting to settle down. Isn’t raining as hard as before.’ He didn’t look at her but instead fiddled with the ute’s controls, ensuring the windows were demisted. ‘Put your seat-belt on.’

Melissa did as he said, not sure whether she should question his decision to get them back on the road again or not. What about impassable roads? What about mudslides that ended up with the car smashing into a tree? What about keeping them safe?

She glanced over at him and saw that his jaw was firmly set. He was intent on driving them, and nothing she said or did was going to dissuade him. He was obviously a man with a mission to get them out of the middle of nowhere, to get them out of their secluded little environment to somewhere he didn’t need to be so close to her. That had to be it. Yo-yo Joss was back with a vengeance, and right now, given her lack of self-control where he was concerned, she was glad he was making the decisions.

Neither of them spoke as he continued to drive the car carefully along the road. Melissa wasn’t sure she agreed with him about the amount of rain currently being dumped upon them. It was really as though someone had turned on a tap and—whoosh—the rain came down. It also rammed home the point of how very different things were here in the Outback. Whilst Hobart saw its fair share of rain, being the coldest state in all of Australia, it was nothing compared to this. Out here it was either hot or not. Raining or not. Muggy or not. The four seasons didn’t seem to apply at all, and she was amazed that even though it was the same country she’d lived in for all of her life it was completely different from what she was used to.

Finally Joss pulled off the road into a graded gravel driveway which was flooded in certain parts. Again, Melissa was glad of the ute and its four-wheel-drive capabilities. When he brought the ute to a halt, he cut the engine, released his seat-belt and was once more out of the car like a shot.

Melissa shook her head, totally unsure of just how her life
had become so complicated so quickly. She stepped out into the cooling rain and headed up the front steps of the large brick homestead before her.

‘There you are,’ Gemma Etherington said in greeting as she walked towards Melissa.

There were children of various ages around the place, and a moment later, one of the older girls handed her a towel. Melissa looked over to where Joss was just coming in the door, medical bags in tow.

‘Hi!’ he greeted Gemma warmly, gladly accepting a towel and quickly drying himself off.

‘Just leave your wet shoes by the door and come on in,’ Gemma called. ‘They won’t take long to dry. Nothing does in this heat. It may be wet, but it’s still hot.’ She laughed. ‘We were expecting you quite a while ago.’

‘Uh…’ Joss snuck a sideways glance at Melissa before answering. ‘There was an emergency at Murphy’s Farm.’

‘Oh, we know about that. Mindy called through before the rains hit and told us. I guess you two must have got stuck out there. Are the roads very bad?’

Joss shrugged, making a point not to look at Melissa. He still couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to lose control like that. ‘Fair.’

‘Ron’s over at the neighbours’. I just hope he’s going to be able to get home through the dirt roads, otherwise it’ll take him a good hour to go around the perimeters on the main roads.’

‘He should be fine,’ Joss soothed.

Gemma rubbed a possessive hand over her baby bump. ‘I hope so. Anyway, come and have something to eat. You both must be starving. Peter,’ she said to her son, ‘set another two places at the table, please.’

‘Righto, Mum.’ Peter headed into the kitchen to do as he was asked.

‘I’m sorry we’re so late,’ Joss remarked as he picked up the young three-year-old and started tickling the child’s tummy. ‘I hope you didn’t delay lunch on our account.’

‘Not at all. I’ve been trying to get lunch organised for the past hour and a half, but things do tend to happen, and I learned long ago not to stress about it. We eat when we eat and that’s all there is to it.’

Joss smiled. ‘You sound like my mum.’

‘Well, she would know—having had a large brood of her own. Anyway, I’ve already had Yolanda make up the guest room, because I don’t think this rain is going to abate. We were expecting just Dex, but it’s fantastic to get to meet the new doctor.’ Gemma smiled widely at Melissa and took one of her hands in hers. ‘I didn’t think I’d get to meet you until this little one was due to arrive.’ She continued to rub her pregnant belly.

‘I’m delighted to be here—you have such a wonderful home.’ Melissa could really feel the warmth and welcome radiating from this harried mother.

‘It’s messy, dusty and noisy, but filled with love.’ Gemma let go of her hand as some of the other children started to bring mounds of sandwiches to the dining table. ‘All right!’ she hollered, clapping her hands to get the attention of her family. ‘Go and wash your hands and faces.’

Joss released the squirming three-year-old and held out a chair for Gemma. She sat down, breathing a sigh of relief at being off her feet. Melissa watched her carefully, noting the laboured breathing which took longer than normal to settle.

They were both enveloped into the Etherington household, glad to be able to focus on something other than fighting or ignoring what had happened back in the ute. She noted that Joss seemed relaxed, more so than she’d seen him in Didja, and the way he related to the entire family was quite interest
ing to see. It was as though this was the real him—the one he only let out on special occasions or in certain circumstances. That definitely intrigued her.

Melissa watched the noisy, happy Etheringtons with delight. All of them were welcoming, and she found no falseness—just genuine friendliness. It hammered home the realisation that this was what she’d been missing throughout her own childhood, this sort of hullabaloo, and it was…enchanting. Whilst she hadn’t been lonely as a child, the older she’d grown, the more she’d had the sense that something was missing in her life.