Outback Reunion (Bunyip Bay #6)

Chapter Seventeen

Gabriela twisted a strand of hair between her fingers. ‘It’s complicated.’

Mark snorted—this wasn’t a Facebook relationship status. ‘You must have had a reason.’

‘It’s hard to explain.’

‘Try me,’ he said, as they passed The Palace and headed down the main street of Bunyip Bay towards the highway.

Gabriela sighed. ‘I’m not even sure I understand it myself. It wasn’t exactly a conscious decision not to tell you I had a daughter; it’s just that sometimes compartmentalising my life is the only way to survive how I feel.’

It felt like Gabriela was speaking in riddles. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Occasionally, I like to pretend I’m a different person. That’s what I think I did that night we first met—I forgot about Dante and the circus and imagined another life. It was like I was the heroine in a novel, and you were the male lead, and... and it felt like the only way I could survive seeing you again was if I did the same thing. If I pretended I was someone else. Someone without responsibilities and complications. You and I... we’re never going to be more than what we are now. You, me and Luna are never going to be a family and so... I guess I didn’t see any point in telling you about her. I’m sorry.’

Mark felt strangely hurt by the conviction in her voice.

He thought about how she’d changed the topic when he’d asked whether she wanted to inherit the circus last night. ‘It doesn’t sound like you enjoy your life at the circus that much if you dream about being someone else.’

‘It’s not that I don’t enjoy it. I love performing and the circus is the only home I’ve ever known, so of course it’s important to me. And I love Eve and Lorenzo as much as I would if they were my real parents, but occasionally I can’t help imagining the kind of life I might have had if I didn’t grow up in the circus alongside Dante.’

‘What kind of life?’

She coughed out a laugh. ‘A normal one. You saw how small our caravan is—I guess I dream of having a house big enough for bookshelves and I fantasise about somewhere with a proper kitchen so I can try different recipes and bake. You don’t know the gift you gave me when you showed me how to make mug cakes. But it would be nice to be able to make a proper cake once in a while or cook something that needs more than two saucepans.’

He chuckled. ‘What would you cook first?’

‘Probably a roast with all the trimmings.’ She giggled as if this was silly. ‘That’s if I can. Who knows if I have any skills in that department? I’ve never had the chance to find out.’

‘That’s not a crazy dream,’ he said. ‘I love travelling, but I can’t imagine living my whole life on the road like you do.’

But Gabriela hadn’t finished yet. ‘And a garden. I’d love a garden. I’ve got a few indoor pot plants, but I’d love more. Room to plant some pretty flowers and maybe a veggie patch. And bees. I’ve always liked the idea of keeping bees.’

Everything she talked about were things he took for granted, but also things that he could give her. He felt a flutter in his stomach at the thought. ‘My mum keeps bees.’

Her lips shot into a smile. ‘Seriously?’

He nodded. ‘I’ll show you when we get to the farm if you want.’

Anything to keep her there longer with him. He knew they’d agreed to only one night but that had been cut short. He certainly hadn’t got her out of his system yet.

‘Thanks.’

‘Anything else you dream of?’

She shrugged a shoulder. ‘It’d be nice to make some friends and join a club or something.’

‘So why don’t you give it a try?’

She sighed—‘You make it sound so simple’—then turned towards the window.

Although he could no longer see her expression, her body language had changed. When she’d been talking about books and kitchens and gardens and bees, she’d been almost bouncing in the seat, but now her shoulders looked tense.

‘What’s stopping you?’

‘Let’s see... money, a place to live, my daughter !’

‘You don’t think Luna might like to try some of those things too?’

Gabriela shook her head. ‘I don’t know—she’s too young to know what she wants—but even if she did, I couldn’t abandon Lorenzo and Eve. They basically saved my life. Who knows what would have become of me if not for them. I owe them so much. And now that Dante’s gone, Luna and I are all they’ve got. Lorenzo had a heart attack last year and he needs us. He needs me to help him run the circus and Luna needs them.’

On the one hand, Mark understood where she was coming from—he’d always known the farm was his destiny. The difference was, Mark had moved away, and he’d had the chance to fulfil a dream of his own before coming home.

Everyone deserved that, surely?

‘I understand you wanting to be there for your in-laws after everything they’ve done for you, but what about your wants and needs? Have you ever put yourself first?’

His question lingered in the confined space of the cabin as they turned onto his farm track, and just when he thought she wasn’t going to provide an answer, she did.

‘Good mums don’t put themselves first.’

‘Not all the time, no, but you’re allowed to—’

‘Please, just leave it,’ she snapped. ‘You don’t know anything about being a parent.’

Ouch. She was right and it touched a nerve. Was that why he’d been disappointed when she’d told him Luna wasn’t his?

He was scared to risk his heart to another relationship, but he did want kids. If Gabriela told him Luna was his, he’d have been upset, maybe even angry about missing out on all these years, sure, but he’d have gotten over that.

Neither of them said another word as he parked the ute and she leapt out before he’d even removed the key, but the moment he got out she looked over to him—her deep brown eyes a pool of regret. ‘I’m sorry. That was cruel. I know you were only trying to help, but...’

‘But...’ He held up his hands and offered her a conciliatory smile. ‘It’s none of my business. I get it.’

Rookie barked from her crate on the verandah, and Mark had never been more grateful for the distraction.

The way Gabriela’s eyes lit up told him she felt the same. ‘Can I go let her out?’

‘Sure. If you’re game for a tongue bath, I reckon she’d love that.’

As she headed through the gate and up the garden path, Mark—forcing himself to tear his eyes from her butt—grabbed the new battery from the tray and went over to pop her bonnet. He might not be able to do anything about her dreams but at least he could fix her car.

‘Good morning, gorgeous girl,’ he heard Gabriela cooing as she let Rookie out of her crate. ‘It’s lovely to see you too.’

He looked over to see Rookie in her arms, bestowing sloppy wet puppy kisses all over her face, and couldn’t help but smile. Moments later, she put the dog down and Rookie shot out the gate and over to him, jumping up at his legs as if he’d been gone for days, not barely an hour.

‘Down, you stupid thing,’ he said, fighting a chuckle as he shook her off and bent back over the car.

‘How much do I owe you for the battery?’ Gabriela asked.

Mark shook his head. ‘Don’t worry about it. I went to school with the mechanic and got it for mate’s rates.’

‘Please. I want to pay for it.’

He glanced sideways at her. Man, she was hot. Some very naughty thoughts landed in his head. ‘Then how about you agree to going on another date with me?’

‘The first one wasn’t a date, remember. It was just two old friends catching up over drinks.’ She bit her lip, clearly stifling a smile. ‘Anyway, I can’t go on a date with you. I’ve got Luna.’

‘She can come with us.’

‘Sounds very romantic,’ Gabriela said wryly as she picked up a stick and threw it for Rookie. The dog immediately rushed after it. ‘I thought you said she couldn’t be trained.’

Mark shoved down his disappointment that she’d rejected him. ‘Try to get her to give it back so you can throw it again.’

Rookie bounded back with the stick between her teeth but when Gabriela reached out her hand to take it, the dog jumped back like a total tease.

Mark chuckled. ‘Told ya. I keep telling her I can’t throw balls and sticks if she doesn’t give them back to me, but she just doesn’t listen.’

Gabriela gave up as Rookie saw a pink and grey galah land a few metres away and darted after it.

Mark went back to work, deliberately letting his t-shirt ride up his back as he leaned over the bonnet. He may not train as hard as he once did—okay, not at all—and he may have let his nutrition slide since he’d left Melbourne, but he still had a body he knew plenty of women drooled over and he couldn’t resist trying to use it.

Stooped over, he couldn’t see Gabriela’s face, but he sensed from the way she cleared her throat then made a tiny mewling noise that she wasn’t entirely unaffected.

And when he slammed the bonnet shut and turned around, she was staring at him as if he was a thirst trap.

‘That should do the trick,’ he said. ‘Do you want to test it?’

She nodded but took a few long seconds to make a move and when she stepped past him, his hand shot out to grab her wrist.

‘I would have stood by you,’ he said. ‘After I woke up and you were gone, I looked for you for months. I went to clubs all over Melbourne, to musicals and other shows. I looked all over social media but there’s a surprising number of Gabrielas around. Anyway, I never stopped thinking about you, so yes. I would have stood by you. If you’d come back to me, I’d have welcomed you with open arms, whether Luna was mine or not.’

Gabriela blinked as if fighting tears. ‘You don’t know that. We barely knew each other. We barely know each other.’

‘Really?’ He quirked an eyebrow. ‘Is that how you feel? Because I feel like I know you almost as well as I know myself. Didn’t we agree we must have met in the past?’

It sounded insane but it was true.

‘Argh!’ She startled him with the exclamation. ‘You make me crazy!’

And before he could reply, she dragged his face to hers and kissed him.

Liquid heat flooded his body as his muscles relaxed and pleasure replaced the doubts that she wasn’t as attracted to him as he was to her.

She wouldn’t kiss him like this if she wasn’t. There was no hiding the desire in this kiss. God, she tasted better than beer, better than chocolate cake, better than any other woman he’d ever been with.

Their hands and mouths moved with a desperate urgency, as if neither of them could get enough.

‘We shouldn’t do this,’ she all but moaned as he moved his mouth down to taste the soft skin at the nape of her neck. The hickey he’d given her last night was still there and he had an intense urge to brand her again, to put his mark over every inch of her skin.

‘Why not? We’re both single, consenting adults, aren’t we?’

She nodded, her expression halfway between torture and pleasure. ‘Yes. But... I should be getting back to Luna.’

‘I can be fast,’ he promised, sneaking his hand beneath her t-shirt.

‘God, Mark.’ She moaned again as he cupped her breast.

Feeling her melting beneath his touch, he put his other hand on her back to draw her closer. Her body fitted perfectly to his as if they were two parts of a whole.

As he played at her nipple with his fingers through her bra, she pressed her hips closer to him, teasing his already hard erection. It was then he remembered that he didn’t have a condom.

Fuck! Why hadn’t he picked up a box while he’d been in town buying the battery? Talk about a rookie mistake. ‘I still don’t have any protection,’ he apologised.

‘It’s okay,’ she whispered, sliding her hand between their bodies to his groin. ‘I’m safe. Are you?’

All he could do was nod as she wrestled with the buckle of his belt. Once he was free, he hitched her up onto the bonnet of her car and then yanked her shorts and underwear down her legs.

‘God, you’re a treat,’ he said as he spread her thighs.

He dipped a finger inside her just to be certain she was ready and when she cried out in bliss, her head falling back, he drew her legs around him, and as her heels dug into his back, he thrust inside her.

‘Mark!’ She gripped his shoulders, clinging to him as they moved together.

Maggie squawked off in the distance and Rookie stared up at them, wondering what the heck was happening, but neither of them noticed any of it as they came together as if they’d invented sex.

‘Wow.’ Mark felt like a rag doll but held Gabriela close as she collapsed against his chest.

‘That’s exactly what I was thinking,’ she muttered.

He put his finger on her chin and lifted her face to look at him. ‘This can’t be the last time. I know neither of us are looking for another relationship right now, but even if our lives aren’t compatible, by God, we are!’

‘Yeah. I know.’ She panted, her chest still heaving in time with his own racing pulse.

They were silent a few long moments, simply holding each other, as they contemplated the impossible.

‘What if we just take it one day—or rather night—at a time?’ she suggested eventually.

‘You mean we keep doing this until you leave?’

‘Exactly. It’s probably a stupid idea, but as you said, we’re both single, consenting adults. We both know the deal. Nothing more than a fling.’

‘What about Luna?’

Gabriela pursed her lips. ‘She’s going to make things harder, but if you’re prepared to wait until she’s asleep at night, then I can sneak out for a few hours. Once she’s out, she’s out for the count. Although not tonight. After the last few nights, I need a good night’s sleep to get my energy back.’

He laughed. ‘Fair enough, although I’ll miss you.’

She smiled. ‘Does that mean you’re accepting my illicit proposal?’

As if there was any answer but yes.

They sealed the deal with another kiss.

As Mark watched Gabriela’s car fade into the distance he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. Then his phone buzzed, and he reached into his shorts and scowled when the name of his ex flashed on the screen.

What the hell did she want?

Although they had to wait until they’d been separated officially for a year before they could apply for a divorce, she’d already moved in with Alex, which made it more than a done deal in his mind.

Rejecting the call, he shoved the phone back in his pocket. After the magical twenty-four hours he’d just shared with Gabriela, the last thing he wanted to do was ruin it all by talking to Tahlia.

Any further contact could be done through their lawyers.