‘Unless I get permission.’She jumped into the passenger seat.
‘Fine.You can babysit the eggs.’Stone carefully placed the cooler in her lap, then gave Julian a cheeky one-fingered salute, who finally got what he wanted—drama!
Four
Sitting in the passenger seat of Stone’s ute as it rattled over the road’s dusty corrugations, Romy gripped the fragile cargo to her chest.It was the only thing stopping her from completely losing her schtick.She’d just quit her job.
She’dquither job.
She hadno job.
All the while Stone steered them down a red dirt road, behind the tiny outback town of Elsie Creek.
‘Can you imagine the nerve of him, trying to fire me.’
‘You quit first.I’m a witness.’Stone casually rested one wrist on top of the steering wheel while leaning his elbow against the driver’s door.Considering where they’d been, he smelled good, too.
Yet her dilemma was clawing up her tight chest.‘But Julian can ruin me.My reputation as a documentary filmmaker will be toast.’
‘I don’t see how.Julian brought you here on false pretences.’
‘But…’ She wriggled in her seat.
His hazel eyes dropped to the cooler in her lap.‘Careful.Don’t roll them babies.’
‘I won’t.It’s like holding one of my mum’s cakes in her homemade cake boxes.Touch the sides and the icing gets squished, leaving me to wear guilt for a week.’
‘Birthday cakes?’
‘Anniversaries, christenings, family stuff.’
‘As a baker?’
‘No.It’s her hobby.Mum works with Dad in the shop.’
‘Cake shop?’
‘No.’Again, she sat higher.‘My parents own a picture-framing store.’She expected the guy to be bored, but he seemed genuinely interested.
‘For pictures.’He tossed a thumb back at her camera cases.
‘My family does high-end framing for museums, artists, photographers, and specific galleries and museum exhibitions.’Her parents had a great reputation that she was about to tarnish as the daughter who got fired by her director.
‘That’d be handy for your line of work.’
She sighed, hugging the cooler in her lap.‘Getting to meet all these famous photographers and artists, to see their amazing works while helping my parents, helped me find what I liked.’
‘Which is?’
‘Nature’s landscapes.Like today, seeing that crocodile lift her eyes so slowly, she was like this stealth submarine spying on you.It was priceless.’
Stone frowned at her.‘Are you saying you saw that croc before I did?’
‘I didn’t know what I was seeing until you told me.She was right there, and I didn’t even see her, when I was staring straight at the water that didn’t even ripple around her.It looked like a log to me.’
‘They do that.’
‘It was brilliant.’She smiled so widely her cheeks ached.‘I can’t wait to go back out there?’
