Twenty-four
‘Do you know the names of the stars?’ Mia asked Cap, as she lay back on her swag stretched across the cage roof of Cap’s Tojo. With only the stars for light, they had the best view over the calves getting to know the new guardian dogs in the small paddock below them.
‘Only the Southern Cross and the Milky Way.’ Cap pointed to the luminous river flowing from horizon to horizon, painting the night sky with a soft, silvery sheen. ‘You?’
‘No. Maybe I should learn. They’re so incredibly clear out here.’ So was his masculine outdoorsy aroma that wove around her like a spell.
‘You would’ve seen them on your father’s farm.’
‘Back then, I didn’t appreciate them like I do now. At the mines they have so much industrial light pollution it tainted the skies. But this…’ She sighed, admiring the outback’s vast landscape enveloped in a deep, inky blackness, where the night had settled a cool stillness over the sunburnt land.
Stars upon stars pierced the darkness, like a million tiny diamonds scattered over a velvet backdrop. In the distance, the escarpment’s ruggedly stark silhouette ran like a jagged line that separated the earth from the sky. To the east, a faint glow ran behind the edge of the escarpment, hinting at the moon’s arrival.
‘It’s a great way to end the day.’ Should she wish upon a star?
‘I agree. Bree’s idea of the extended deck will give us the same effect. But I’ll invest in a decent set of outdoor chairs.’ He lay back against his swag, his silhouette perfect against the skyline of stars that draped around him as if he were a gift from heaven itself.
‘How long are you planning on doing these nightly visits?’ Mia asked Cap, who was playing guardian angel to the new maremma sheepdogs, Lurch and Momma Bear, who were playing guardians over the small herd of calves, and this was night three.
‘I think by the end of the week they’ll have settled in nicely.’
‘The same time my new room will be ready. If not sooner. And your deck, too.’
‘It’s all happening, isn’t it?’ His smile was delicious, with a rare dimple making an appearance.
She was excited for him. ‘Can I ask you something?’
‘Sure.’ Leaning on his elbow, he stretched out his body, so lean and muscular it made her mind go blank that she could only focus on the sight of Cap. He was so beautiful that it hurt to look at him, like she was staring at a masculine angel with his hair tousled and messy from running his hands through it too many times.
Before she could turn away, he looked up. Their gazes fused, creating a thrill that rushed down her body to suddenly become a taut bundle of fire and electricity.
She forced herself to look away, her eyes landing on the ute, now remembering her question. ‘I get the collection of trucker caps you keep across the dashboard of your Tojo. They’re like the way you’d collect stickers of places.’
‘Most were given to me.’
‘So the nickname Cap is for caps?’
‘It’s not from hats.’
‘What then?’
His grin was wide, as if reliving some fond memory, and he sat up, crossing his legs. ‘When I was a young kid, I saw this visiting farmer use the side of Dad’s workbench to pop the cap off his longneck bottle of home-brewed beer. To me, it was like magic.’ His grin was boyish and surprisingly contagious; she grinned back. ‘From there, it was an obsession to use everything but a bottle opener to pop the caps off my brothers’ sodas, Dad’s beers, to opening jars for Mum in the kitchen. I’d use the bottom of cigarette lighters, metal rulers, metal spoons, even the latches in car doors.’
‘I’ve seen your brothers pass you their beers to pop their caps.’
‘It’s a habit for all of us in the Riggs family. One of my sisters posts me a bottle cap opener every year for my birthday. And the other one would send me a collection of bottle caps she’d find in her travels.’
‘Where are those bottle caps now?’ She liked making art out of bottle caps. What was the coincidence of that!
‘They’re in a box somewhere. Dex said we could use them for a home bar, or a special bourbon room for Ryder. Maybe I’ll get you to build a display. Some are pretty special.’
She shrugged meekly, unsure about doing another project like that. Was it too soon, after the debacle with Gavin to settle down with someone else. Even though planting the wildlife corridors was a job, committing to a craft display might be getting too comfortable. Yet, when it came to Cap, he made her feel at ease within herself.
‘So, what is your name?’
‘It’s Caleb.’
‘Oh…’ She sat taller, not expecting that at all. ‘Do you like being called Caleb?’
‘I’m so used to Cap that when I’m called Caleb, it’s for something serious, like bills.’
‘I get it.’
‘Any more questions?’
She shifted her legs into a cross-legged position to mirror him. ‘Why do you have that red dog collar hanging from the Tojo’s rear-view mirror? The old leather one that rattles and has that faded tag.’
‘Hmmm…’ He sighed heavily, peering out to the field.
‘I didn’t mean to pry.’
‘It’s okay. No one has asked me that one before.’ He sniffed heavily as if to draw strength from the crisp night air. ‘The collar belonged to my first muster dog, Dodge. A blue heeler cross. We went through a lot together until old age caught up with him. But I kept the dog collar.’
‘Why?’
‘So that whenever the Tojo runs over the corrugations, I hear the rattle of Dodge’s collar to remind me to keep going, especially through the tough times, to know I’ll find paradise on the other side.’
‘Was Dodge, um…’ She peered down into the Tojo’s cage where Willow was sleeping on a blanket Bree had given her, which she shared with Atlas and Fern, while the rest of the muster dogs were tucked up safe in their kennels. ‘… dumped, like Willow?’
‘Worse. I saved him from a bullet. I nearly swallowed that lead myself.’
‘Seriously?’
‘I was only a young station hand then, when I realised what was happening. I’d sprinted from the sheds, slid across the dust to drop to my knees and put myself directly in front of that shotgun, keeping Dodge to my back, where he’d been chained to a tree.’
She gasped. ‘Why?’
‘That prick called Dodge a mutt and said he was no good as a muster dog, and wouldn’t listen to him.’ He scowled at the sky. ‘That farmer was so wrong. Dodge taught me so much, he helped me train the other dogs, like Atlas does now.’ He sighed and looked at Mia with such sorrow in his eyes. ‘Dodge would’ve loved this place.’
‘You’re lucky to call this place home.’ She nodded at the expansive sleeping landscape that stretched in all directions beyond the hidden horizon. Even with the other dramas unfolding in the background, it was like sitting in paradise.
‘It’s taken a long time to get here. Without my brothers, Ryder especially, none of this would have been possible. I mean, I never pictured living in a house the way Bree did, but I can now.’ His voice was deep and raspy, prompting images of sultry summer nights, soft sheets and nothing but skin on skin.
It wasn’t fair.
No, it was worse, especially when his malt-whisky eyes drank her in like she was sunshine on a rainy day, and he was desperate for the rays.
‘The many dreams I thought would’ve taken decades to achieve, I can actually reach out and touch them now, because of you.’
‘The revegetation?’
He nodded. ‘Your input has been invaluable.’
And that meant he only saw her as an employee, nothing more. She hugged her knees, desperate to squash her inner emotions playing havoc with her mind—she had a job to do. He was the boss, and she was the contractor.
She looked up to find Cap still staring at her.
He then leaned over and gently brushed the hair from her forehead and tucked it behind one ear as the blood whooshed through her. With the moon rising behind him, it cast an ethereal, magical glow around him. ‘Thank you for everything, Mia.’
She sighed at the sound of her name crossing his lips. ‘I should thank you.’ When she really wanted to kiss him. Wouldn’t that be the best way to properly thank the man who’d been her hero from the second he’d helped her out of the back of the Tojo, giving her a place to stay, and her dream job?
But his intense gaze had her pinned as he stared at her for so long that the demons that haunted her vaporised, and all she saw, smelt, heard, and needed to feel was Caleb ‘Cap’ Riggs.
She leaned in closer to kiss him, but he pulled back, and she gasped. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘No, I’m sorry.’ He sat back higher in his swag as if to get away from her.
‘I shouldn’t have done that.’ She hid her face in her hands where the heat radiated through her fingers. What was she thinking? Cap wouldn’t touch her, not when he’d seen her at her worst.
‘Hey…’ He tenderly stroked her hair. ‘Were you going to kiss me?’
She couldn’t look at him, barely nodding. ‘I got my wires crossed and read the signals wrong.’ Cap was just being kind to her, like he was with all the other strays he rescued. ‘I should go.’ She went to pack up, but he held her wrist.
‘Mia, look at me.’
It took a while to find the courage to meet his eyes. She was expecting to see disgust and disappointment, but what she saw was unexpected.
Cap leaned in so close, his breath warm, his eyes blazing with hunger for her, but it also came with a whole new level of tenderness. With the tip of his finger, he traced along her bottom lip, then her chin, to cup her cheek while his eyes roamed over her face.
‘It’s the bruises.’ She pulled back, hating them.
‘You’ve been through a lot. I don’t think you’re ready for anything.’
‘I’m trying to forget.’
Cap sat up, tenderly taking hold of her hands. ‘Mia, I’m quite prepared to wait. I just don’t want to be your rebound guy.’
‘My what?’
‘You barely broke up with—’
‘Please don’t say his name and ruin the mood.’ Too late, it was already ruined. Her bottom lip dropped into a sulk, with the need to hug her pillow and hide under the covers.
Cap dipped his head closer, enough for her to once again admire his earthy fragrance in the outback’s crisp night air.
He swallowed hard, his voice like gravel. ‘I do want to kiss you, Mia. Very much.’
She blinked at him, a surge of hope and desire flaring through her body. ‘I want you to. You have my permission, if that’s what you’re looking for.’
‘I-I don’t want this to be something casual. I’m not built like that.’
‘Can’t we just take it day by day?’ She wasn’t ready for the full commitment phase either.
But as the air between them grew heavier she couldn’t stop herself from closing the distance to melt into his soft lips and his warm chest. And when her arms wrapped around his shoulders there was a groan, as he swept his tongue across her lower lip, begging her to open for him.
With a tiny sigh, she happily complied and slid her tongue against his, while her fingers dived through his hair, to hold him closer in a kiss that felt like pure heaven.
Her body sang out for him on some primal level. Despite what it’d been through, it was hungry. She was alive. And she was desperate to be loved by him.
‘We’ll take this slow, Mia.’ His raspy voice sent a tremble of pure fiery lust to lick down her spine and around to her lower belly.
‘What if I don’t want you to take it slow?’
Once more he smiled that delicious smile. And she finally got to stroke the dimple that had been teasing her.
‘We have all the time in the world.’
‘Well, excuse me if I want to be a little greedy.’ Her lips crashed into his, dragging him closer as their kiss deepened.
‘Are you sure?’ He mumbled against her lips, pulling her away.
Oh, great, now she was being all needy. She frowned. ‘Don’t reject me.’ The heat coming out of her heart for him, was unlike anything she’d felt before.
‘I wasn’t.’ He sat back.
‘This,’ she said, pointing at the gap between them. ‘This feels like a rejection to me.’
Cap wiped his hand over his face. ‘It’s not you, it’s me.’
‘Huh?’ Oh no, not the classic words— it’s not you, it’s me —before you got dumped by someone.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve been with anyone. Are you sure you want to be with me?’
Didn’t that make her smile. She didn’t hesitate to walk on her knees to straddle his thick thighs and sit on his lap. ‘Yes.’ She held his face in her two hands. ‘And I don’t want you to hold back.’
‘But—’
‘Stop.’ She placed her finger over his lips. ‘I’m not some fragile princess. I’m a girl who likes to get dirty. So why can’t we have some fun?’