DumbAtHeart.epub (2 page)

She assessed the back of the broad shoulders and lean waist presented to her.

“Cass?”

“Yeah?”

“’Ever been with a man?”

She blushed wildly. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Just take hold of me and stop acting like a scared virgin.”

“I am not.” She reached out towards his waist. It was then that the horse, aptly

named ‘Dodgy’ decided to buck wildly. This had her grabbing Evan low around the

waist, her hands sliding down over his crotch. The fullness she found there surprised

her more than the bucking horse. It took her a couple of beats to let go.

Cass looked down at him. “How do I get off?”

“Swing one leg over and slide off.”

Yeah right. Easy for you to say.
“What if—”

“I will catch you.”

“But—”

“City chicks,” he mumbled under his breath before holding out his arms to her. “I

have lifted heifers out of the mud and pulled bogged tractors out of paddocks.

Catching you will be no different.”

Heifer or a tractor. Charming comparisons
. “Have you ever been with a woman?” Yeah, she was overweight. What woman worth her salt didn’t have boobs,

hips and an ass?

“What do you think?” He dropped his arms.

“Probably not a real one.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because no woman in her right mind would have sex with someone who likens

her to a farm animal or a piece of farm machinery.”

Evan smiled at that. “Fine. You’re a misty, blue feather floating in a summer

breeze. When your body touches mine it will be like the lightest caress of baby’s

breath and I will sigh because it’ll feel like heaven’s kiss when you touch me.” He

raised his arms once more. “Now slide the fuck down before I yank you down and

you fall in a heap with your skirt over your head.”

For a moment, she wanted to smile but Cass didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. She had endured enough of smart ass males. “Fine. You break your back

catching me and it’s your fault.” She lifted one leg over, held her breath and dropped

down.

He caught her easily. “Not quite a misty blue feather but then I never did like the

lightweight types.”

Cass’s breasts were mashed up against his chest. Her heart was beating madly as

she savored the heated muscle against hers. “You married?” She asked breathlessly,

moving her lips closer to his as her hands rose up to flatten against his chest.

“Nope,” Evan’s mouth moved towards hers.

“Figures,” she said, giving a hard shove back from him.

Evan Bates smiled at that. Damn.
This one I like
. When Jo and Flo, the couple

who ran McNally’s, asked him to pick up the new girl, Evan hadn’t anticipated Cass

Kelly. The redhead was everything he liked in a woman. Generously curved and

mouthy. Maybe other men didn’t care for a full-figured woman with attitude but Evan

did. He liked his women to be women. Skin and bones prissy city girls were not his

style. Finding Cass at the airport had been a surprise.

“Why are you smiling?”

“You’re cute when you’re mad.” He tied the horse up against a nearby post.

She stamped her foot in response. “I’m not mad. I’m hot.”

Yeah, she was. His eyes dropped down to her breasts. The thin summer fabric

was sticking to them in the heat. It was an area he would enjoy exploring.

“What?” She snapped.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing, my ass.”

Yeah, I want to look at that too
. Evan watched as she looked around her. What

would she think of Mundabucka? There wasn’t much to it. Like a lot of outback

towns, its fortunes had been linked with the busts and booms of the mining industry.

Currently they were riding the crest of new found mineral deposits that had brought

big money into the town. Not that you would know it. The main street still looked the

same as it always did. Bitumen with a wonky white stripe painted down the middle by

Phil, who not only was the airport controller but the handyman for the town council.

Along with his other shortcomings, his eyesight wasn’t the best so anything he painted was always off kilter. Not that anyone much cared in Mundabucka. It was a

peaceful town with one hotel, one pub, a high steepled church, sundry stores, an old

railway museum with the most ornate doors and a police station, that at one time or

the other, had seen pretty much all the sixty-seven, permanent inhabitants pass through its doors either to sleep it off or to bail someone out.

“Where’s McNally’s?” Cass asked, looking around her.

“At the end of the street.” It was a Federation style, cream colored, two storey,

timber building bedecked with the original, fancy lace wrought ironwork front verandah, popular at the start of the last century. Evan watched as she turned from

him and started walking. “It’s the other end of the street.” He grinned as he saw her

back stiffen.
Yeah, she’s gonna be fun.

Cass swung around and marched past him. A waft of the perfume washed over

Evan. When they had been riding into town, that scent had tantalized him. It was

light, yet sultry or was that just the natural scent of this woman? He was looking

forward to finding out.

“What do you know about Flo and Jo?” Evan fell in step beside her.

“Why are you following me?”

“I’m walking beside you. A gentleman escorts a lady.” He liked how her eyebrow

arched at that.

“Uh-huh.” She glanced at him. “As for Flo and Jo? They’re a couple running a

hotel. From their emails they seem nice.”

“They’re gay.”

“Well, so are you, but I don’t hold that against you.”

Cass smiled as she passed by the man who stopped dead in his tracks at her

words.
Good. Smart ass.
As for Flo and Jo? It was no business of hers what or who

they were. They were people and employers. Part of her did understand why Evan

told her. She might have been a prude. But she wasn’t. As for Evan being gay? She

strongly doubted it but it was fun to say it.

“Cass.”

“Yes, Evan?” She asked as she passed by shop fronts that looked like they hadn’t

changed in decades. Butcher. Tailor. General store. Hardware. Post office. She was

waiting to see a Blacksmith. Cass smiled when she did. Two horses and one cow

stood patiently tied up out the front on one shop.
A cow?

He caught up with her. “I’m not gay.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Sure. If you say so then I believe it.”

“Are you still upset about the heifer thing?”

She glanced at him. Tall, dark and handsome.
Down girl
. “As if, I as a woman,

would hold that against you for the rest of your life and remind you of it—much.”

Actually, Cass was over it but it was a bonus to play with his mind.

McNally’s Hotel came into view. “Wow.” She stopped in her tracks when she

saw the sign. “This is beautiful.” Gleaming creamy timber, heritage green lacework

and rust red gutters and downpipes gave the century old hotel a grandeur that she

hadn’t expected to see. Clearly the owners took pride in what they had and looked

after it. As Cass climbed the four well-worn, but gleaming oak stairs leading to the

entrance, she knew inside would be just as well maintained as the outer facade.

“Flo and Jo have done a lot of work to restore it.” Evan caught up to her and

stood at her side on the landing.

“I know you’re not gay.” She turned to face him and patted his cheek. Cass felt

the bristles under her palm.
Raw, rough man. Shame I’m over them
. “You’re not good

looking or sensitive enough to be so.”

The door opened before Evan could speak and two ladies appeared. One had very

short pink hair and the other’s was jet black and hanging down her back. If Cass had

to guess their ages, she would have said mid-fifties.

“Evan Bates, you look stunned,” replied the one with pink hair.

“I told him he wasn’t handsome or caring enough to be gay,” Cass said, holding

out her hand and introducing herself. “I’m Cass Kelly.”

Both ladies burst out laughing. “I like you already.” The pink haired lady took

Cass’s hand. “I’m Flo Kinneally and this is my partner Jo Dowd.”

Jo turned to Evan. “This one may be a harder nut to crack, young Evan.”

“Nothing to crack here, ladies.” Cass held up her hands. “I’ve sworn off men.”

“Us, too,” replied Jo with amusement dancing in her eyes.

“Evan’s quite the ladies man,” Flo said handing Cass another cup of tea.

Cass wasn’t a tea drinker but she took the fine bone china cup and saucer from

her hostess, knowing she would hunt down coffee later. It had been a long day what

with flights, chooks, hot men and now dainty cups of tea. “I can see that. He’s very

sexy and confident. But I’m over dealing with that type.” She reached for an oatmeal

cookie from the plate before her.

“You were in a bad relationship?”

She told them about Wade. It was good to let it out of her system. She’d been

bottling it up for too long. Mundabucka was a fresh start and the past need to be that.

Jo clapped her hands, her eyes lighting up with merriment. “Oh, my God! You’re

the ‘eat dirt and die’ girl from the
Cairns Post
. We loved that advertisement.”

Cass shrugged her shoulders. She wasn’t surprised they had seen it.
The Cairns

Post
would be the nearest big city paper in the region. “I was a tad drunk. I don’t

regret it. I just had to say it to move on.” She had received a very short, sharp text

message from Wade indicating she was ‘being childish.’ She responded to that with a

smiley face with its tongue stuck out. She had considered photographing her mooning

him but he lost the privilege of looking at her ass.

“Well, it was a great piece of writing.” Flo and Jo smiled at her.

They were nice. Despite her first thoughts at the salubrious Mundabucka

International Airport, Cass was glad she was there. Like minded souls made life

easier. “Thank you but I’ve decided no more men—not that I’m about to er—” She

hesitated, not wanting to sound rude or offensive to these two women.

“Bat for the other team?” Jo suggested.

Cass shrugged.
Exactly
. Everyone had their personal preferences and she knew

where she stood. She liked dick. Problem was dick could not always be trusted. “Well

yeah. I just want some peace and quiet.

“You’ll get it here. Mostly we get folks following the Gray nomad call, bus loads

of Chinese tourists looking for an outback adventure, Yankees looking for
Crocodile

Dundee
and fly in, fly out mine workers. Then we have Adele who works part-time at

the Hotel as a cleaner. Her family is quite rich in these parts,” Flo explained, taking a

sip of her tea.

“Let me guess. She’s working for experience? To see how the other half lives

before marrying a wealthy grazier.”

Jo smiled. “Something like that. Problem is there are no available rich, young

men out here that she deems suitable.”

“Ah, she’s snotty then.” Cass has met her type before. She wanted the wealth but

needed a man she could carry around like an expensive, good looking handbag.

Flo nodded. “Exactly. So she works here to make her Daddy happy. He’s a

throwback to a generation where women learned to cook and clean to look after their

man. Unfortunately, Adele is not great at either.”

“She goes out with Murdo, our cook,” explained Jo.

“Murdo?” What sort of name was that?

“He’s Evan’s cousin. He’s a great cook but he can be temperamental and wild.”

“Like all good cooks,” mused Cass, thinking about one chef she worked with at a

temp job. He yelled and swore and after a shift could often be found naked fondling

sides of beef in the cold room. The first time, it had surprised Cass. After that, she just

took the money and never ate the beef on her meal breaks. “So this Adele chick likes

a bit of rough?” She’d met her type before. Wade had got himself engaged to her

like.

“Yes, let’s just say there’s going to be a lot of whispering when she undoubtedly

marries.” Jo winked at Cass. “She’s been around.”

“And around and around. Basically she’s a slut,” added Flo. “They’re a weird

couple but love is blind.”

Jo snorted. “And deaf, dumb and stupid. They yell and shout at each other all the

time. His side of the family emigrated from Scotland and Adele’s Italian. It can get

pretty messy when they’re going at each other.”

“I’ll steer clear of them then.”

“We’ll also make sure Murdo knows your chooks are pets.”

“Good point, Flo. There was the issue with Mabel the goat and old Mrs. Grainger

never got over her pet being made into a slow cooked curry.”

“Mabel was delicious though,” conceded Flo.

“Right.” Cass hadn’t thought about temperamental chefs having culinary designs

on her birds. They had been let out of their cages and left to wander around the large

backyard adjoining the hotel.

“Now, to your room.” The two women exchanged glances.

“Problem?” Cass wondered what concerned them. She wasn’t expecting

something glamorous. A bed, a shower and somewhere to hang the few clothes she

had brought with her was all she required.