Stockman’s Stormcloud (Stockmen #3)

Twenty-six

‘Mr Purrington, what do you think you’re doing?’ The large ginger cat was meowing at the front door of Sophie’s tiny one-room apartment, as she sat at her small table, editing photos on her laptop. ‘Are you seriously saying you want to go outside? And walk?’ Not when the cat usually got dragged on its stomach with legs splayed out like it was body surfing the hospital corridors while trying to get the furry beast to walk.

Then someone knocked on her front door.

Dressed in her sloppy T-shirt and shorts, she opened the door.

‘Dex?’ Her heart hammered in her chest as her blood spiked with heat.

The lord of dusty lust, in jeans, boots, a killer tight T-shirt, and his sexy black hat, stood in her doorway. Dex was the last person she expected to see—so of course she looked like she’d crawled out from under the bed after playing with the dust bunnies.

‘I thought I heard you.’ Mr Purrington wrapped around his ankles. ‘I believe Miss Sophie Pendleton was telling you off, cat.’ He scooped the orange fur ball into his arms. ‘Hello, trouble.’

The lucky cat purred loudly, rubbing against Dex’s large fingers.

‘So, this is where you live, eh?’ Dex brushed past her, his scent spicy and manly, like the man he was. ‘Big bed.’

His presence took up the entire room, which wasn’t hard when her bedroom, living room, and kitchenette were in the same space. It was the size of a motel room. At least it was big enough to swing an orange lump of a fluffy cat around.

‘It’s pretty small,’ said Dex.

‘It’s bigger than my car, so I’m not complaining.’ She pushed down the lid of her laptop, hiding her photos. She wasn’t ready to show the world what she’d taken, and she didn’t need to let Dex see how many photos she’d taken of him. Stalker much. ‘Why are you here?’

‘I went to that appointment you made me.’

That she’d made for him five days ago. ‘How’d you go?’

‘Good. The doctor gave me the all clear.’

‘That’s great news. I can see you look fine.’ Oh, so damned fine!

Her photos didn’t do justice to the flesh, bone, and chiselled features that made up this magnificent male. Only made worse when he gave that smirk, making her toes curl in the carpet.

‘So you decided to come and annoy me, huh?’ She crossed her arms to at least appear cool and collected.

Which was nearly impossible when he tilted his head and his eyes caught the light. ‘Well, I remembered you telling me you lived out the back.’

‘It’s just a room.’ Now she felt embarrassed about her living space. It was tiny, compared to the guy who lived on a station.

‘I lived in a tent in my place.’

‘And look at it now. Bree must be pleased.’ Her tone was loaded with sarcasm.

‘I haven’t seen Bree in days.’

‘Why? Did Ryder kick her out?’ She arched an eyebrow at him, and at the cat getting all the attention.

‘No. Bree’s husband showed up.’

She blinked furiously, as if her eyes had some grit. ‘I’m sorry. What did you say?’

‘That you have no reason to be jealous.’ He chuckled, amused at her idiotic emotions.

The prick.

But he was right. Forcing a lick of shame to warm her ears.

‘So, why are you here?’ In her room, like one of her many daydreams, that involved no clothes, no conversation, and that bed.

‘Besides my doctor’s appointment, I was in town to deliver our cattle to the train station, and I bought the last of the quiche and cheesecake.’

Just the thought of her favourite foods had her mouth salivating, along with her stomach echoing with emptiness. ‘What flavour?’

He shrugged. ‘All sorts, and a whole banana cheesecake.’

Yum! ‘And where is this food?’ Because he was empty-handed, except for the cat.

‘In the truck.’

‘You did that because…?’

‘I was hungry. And I was in town and knew I’d miss dinner at the farmhouse. Not that I cared too much—Harper is cooking tonight, and she can’t cook.’ He even playfully shuddered, getting a smile out of her. ‘So, after cleaning the trailers, I saw Lucy packing up her food van at the train station and I stocked up, hoping to share dinner with you as we watch the sunset over the stockyards, now that I’m officially no longer your patient.’ He pointed to her large window that showed the brick wall of the hospital. ‘Bring your camera.’

‘Are you asking me on a date?’

He frowned. And there was the Dex she remembered.

‘Are you going to torture me with this, Sophie? I’m here. I bought food. And it’s the stockyard.’ He shrugged. ‘I could take the cat out and leave you home instead.’

‘No. I’m coming, I’m coming. Gimme five.’ She rushed for the bathroom, hoping for a five-minute miracle makeover, brushing her teeth and hair, slapping on some make-up while trying to pick out something to wear.

What did a girl wear on a date to the stockyards? Even if it sounded like a cheesy pick-up line used by many other stockmen in the past, it was her first date in such a place. With Dex.

When she came out of the bathroom resembling a human being again, she found Dex, all long and lean, lying across her bed, patting her cat. Her belly did flips because her fantasy was real.

‘Wow. I’ve only seen you in your nurse uniform, but this…’ He got up, patting his hand over his heart, with his eyes slowly taking her in with pure admiration.

Who was this man? Certainly not the grouch who’d argue with his brothers.

His intense attention made her smile, the kind of smile that grew from the inside, sending a warm glow to spread across her skin. How did he do that? She’d never reacted like this to anyone.

‘Sorry, cat, you’re staying put.’ He shifted Mr Purrington, who seemed satisfied to paw at the doona and nestle down to sleep where Dex had just been.

‘Let’s go.’ Dex opened the door and held out his elbow,

It had her giggling and skipping on her toes, holding onto his elbow like the first time they’d strolled the hospital corridors together. Only this time it was to the staff car park, and she wasn’t on shift or in her uniform, and Dex wasn’t dragging an oxygen canister with him, as he led her to a large truck.

She craned her neck back at the sheer size of the metallic beast. ‘This is my first time riding in a truck.’ It sounded so silly.

‘Well, I like playing with virgins.’ Dex winked at her as he opened the door of a whopping big semi. Dex even held his hand out like a gentleman to help her climb in. ‘It’s not just a truck, Soph, this is a road train.’

‘That you’re driving around like a car?’ The tyres had to be bigger than her car.

‘I like big toys. Get in, I’m hungry.’

She couldn’t hide her smile and was so glad she’d worn jeans as she climbed into the truck’s cab. ‘This view is brilliant.’

‘Not scared of heights, then?’ He drove it so effortlessly, commanding this massive metallic beast onto the road.

‘Nope.’ She sat high in the cab as Dex steered them past the hospital, making a quick trip down Elsie Creek’s main street. The shops lined up on the right, with the pub towering over the town on the corner, where Dex turned left at the main intersection that didn’t even need traffic lights.

The empty trailer on the back rattled as they crossed the railway line. They turned left to cross the cattle grid and entered the train station. Past the passenger terminal with its lush, trimmed lawn and playground that held a vintage train, then through to a massive area of railed yards and ramps just like the station’s drafting yards.

‘This should be far enough away from the cattle smell,’ he said, as the truck hissed to a stop.

Through the lens of her camera, she took in the sharp contrast of the metallic rails that made up the empty cattle yards and the long railway line that disappeared on the horizon where the sun was setting. The show was about to begin, and she had front row seats.

‘Is there any way to clean the windscreen?’ It was bug splattered, with an arch of dust along the edges where the windscreen wipers had pushed it aside.

‘I’ll do you one better.’ Dex pulled out a cooler from the back bunk. ‘Come on. This way.’ His fingers beckoned to her.

‘Over your seat?’

‘It’s a tough seat. I’m sure it can take it.’

She adored this playful side of Dex, it had her grinning as she crawled over the driver’s seat. Out the driver’s door, she found Dex standing on a metal ladder that made up part of the back trailer. ‘Up we go.’

‘No way.’ The trailer seemed so much taller than the truck’s cab.

‘You said you’re not scared of heights.’

‘I’m not.’ Sophie slid her camera strap over her neck. ‘Are you right to climb—’

‘I’m already up, Sophie.’ He leaned down, holding out his hand. ‘Your turn.’

‘I’m coming.’ The ladder’s small rails were cold under her hands as she climbed to the top of the trailer, where Dex helped her up to the roof. ‘I feel like I’m on top of the world.’ It was an amazing view of the stockyards, with the tiny outback town of Elsie Creek partially hidden behind a row of large gum trees.

But stretched out before them was an uninterrupted view of the outback that disappeared on the horizon where that great big ball of fire slowly descended, colouring the sky in a vast display of orange and reds to clash with the blues and mauves of the fast-approaching night.

They sat on the top boards that formed a central strip of the roof over the cattle trailer to watch the show, Sophie taking photos as Dex spread out paper bags of food like an impromptu picnic.

‘If I’d thought about it, I would’ve picked up a bottle of wine for you.’

‘You don’t drink wine?’

‘Nope, beer and bourbon.’

‘But you have all those bottles of gin in your fridge.’

‘Bree said that’s for you.’ He chuckled. ‘It’s so she didn’t owe me any favours.’

She frowned ever so slightly.

‘Hey, stop that.’ He grabbed her hand. ‘You have no reason to be jealous of Bree.’

‘But you’re close.’

‘Sure, like siblings, but that’s it. Ask Bree, she’ll tell you our friendship is purely platonic. And if Bree were a bloke, you wouldn’t be jealous.’

‘I’m sorry.’ And she felt foolish too. ‘I just…’

‘Your ex, huh?’

‘I find it hard to trust, you know.’

‘I do.’ Dex adjusted his hat to glance at the vast sunset. ‘My ex was a drug addict, who got busted for stealing. She was given the choice of going to prison or rehab. I bet you can guess which one she took.’ He then tugged on her fingers that he lifted to his lips and tenderly kissed them.

It was the most romantic gesture any man had done for her.

‘I like you, Sophie, and I get why you have trust issues with what you’ve been through. It must have been recent for you?’

‘Almost a year. You?’

He snorted briefly, as he lifted the cardboard lid of the cake box where the aroma of baked cheesecake, fresh air, and Dex tempted her tastebuds. ‘Twelve years ago.’

‘Really?’ Her eyebrows knitted together. He must have been so devastated to be single that long. ‘Are you saying that you’ve never wanted to be with another female? In all that time?’

‘I’ve been with women, sure.’

And she hated every single one of them.

‘But after seeing Bree kissing her husband—which was flipping hot,’ said Dex, tugging on his shirt, ‘it made me realise what I was missing out on.’

‘So Bree’s married?’ She’d seen no wedding ring on Bree’s fingers, and there were no wedding photos in the cottage, except Charlie’s. There was nothing hinting that Bree was married.

‘Apparently so.’

Didn’t that make her feel like such a fool for thinking so badly of Bree. ‘Where’s he been?’

‘No idea. But I do know that Charlie doesn’t like the guy, he’s staying at the pub to avoid the bloke, who he calls the devil.’

‘So you’re in town to see Charlie?’

‘Sure, I could go see Charlie, but...’ He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘I’m here because Bree gave me this lecture that night.’

‘The night you were together until two—'

‘Stop. It’s not what you think.’ He narrowed his eyes at her, so close their noses could touch, where that stare of his was hypnotic. ‘I can’t tell you, because it’s Bree’s secret. In fact, that redhead lectured me that same night, and I hated her for it.’

‘What about?’

‘Wasting all these chances of doing something good for myself. Bree made me realise I was torturing myself, the fights, the dump I lived in—’

‘That now looks amazing.’ Was Bree a hero in all of this? Had she misjudged the woman so badly?

‘You know, I still pinch myself in the mornings when I wake up in bed.’ His open vulnerability had her heart melting for him. ‘Because of what she’s done to my place, and her harsh lecture, Bree has made me realise I deserve the good stuff. She told me that I might be missing out on something wonderful because I didn’t want to risk being involved with someone—like you. Honestly, I’ve never been attracted to anyone like I am with you, Miss Sophie Pendleton.’

His formality at times like this, made it impossible for her not to gush over this guy.

‘I thought, well, this is me taking that chance…’ He shrugged, pointing to their dinner and the view. ‘Am I making sense?’

It felt like she was dreaming.

Her stomach spun, with her adrenaline so high it started to perpetually hum in her veins. She leaned towards him, where his penetrating gaze remained steady on her. She nodded. Hell yeah, she understood what he was saying.

And then, his lips curved with a wicked promise. ‘We can take this slowly. And then you can explain to me what to do when dating someone. It’s been a while.’

‘Well, I know one thing that happens on a first date, it’s this…’ She gripped his shirt, dragging him closer until her lips clashed with his. He tasted heavenly.

But then Dex shifted, dragging her onto his lap, to almost savagely take control in kissing her, trapping her in a world that only breathed, blended, and magically weaved of nothing but the pure essence of Dex. It was her kind of heaven. His tongue was hot and demanding, as his strong fingers slid into her hair, tugging her ponytail loose.

Then he pulled back.

Behind him the outback’s sunset flooded the sky in a vast technicolour display of warm golds to rich purples, highlighting the train station’s windmill that slowly turned like her heart, tripping so hard against her ribs she was worried it’d break her bones, and her mind.

‘How about we eat, huh? It’s dangerous getting all hot and sweaty up here.’

Dex was dangerous. But with all his smouldering layers of male, she wanted to get sweaty now. Except that they were sitting on a narrow board, on the roof of an empty trailer, almost five metres in the air.

‘I get it. I’m hungry too.’ Even with her stomach rumbling for her favourite foods, it wasn’t the only part of her body that was hungry, but she knew what she wanted for dessert.