Love In The Highcountry

6. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

There’d been talk about a young woman in town asking about locations she could photograph. When he found a blue rental car from the local dealership parked outside the Magnolia Inn and splattered with mud, Adam knew he’d found his suspect.

There’d been no talk about how beautiful she was.

Fine-boned and petite, her hair was styled in one of those short spiky haircuts that highlighted delicate features. She had a pair of shapely legs that dark jeans and a large jacket didn’t hide. When she’d opened the boot of her car and piled numerous cases and bags into her arms, he’d glimpsed a firm, rounded derriere that moulded her jeans in all the right places.

That was all he’d time to see before she closed the boot with an elbow and staggered up the steps to the inn. He swung his leg from his motorbike and jogged across the road. Time for a face to face.

Logically, she’d been the first person he’d thought of when the burst of light only a camera flash could produce lit the shadowy bush just above the water hole. Word about newcomers, especially ones who look like the woman clambering through the Magnolia Inn’s front door, gets around pretty fast in a country town’s local pub.

While he was swimming, he’d had that prickle at the back of his neck, that sixth sense that’d never let him down, that someone was watching him. It was a skill he’d honed and now trusted. It had saved his hide countless times.

Indeed, someone had watched him. She had. And photographed him. Proven by the camera flash that had lit the mountainside like a bolt of lightning. The question was, how long had she been watching? For what reason? Why him? And why her?

It was paramount he find out about her. Who she was, what she did, and what in hell she was doing in the middle of the bush spying on him. Which meant his cover was blown. Or she was just an innocent fool to have chanced upon him deep in the bush on a rain-soaked afternoon. Either way, he needed to know.

She was having trouble opening the B&B door. She’d tossed several straps over a slender shoulder and had her hands full with bags. A camera was clasped in one long-fingered hand. She managed to open the door a little and stopped it shutting with the toe of a mud-covered boot. She pushed her leg through the door opening and was trying to slip through when a bag strap became stuck on the handle. She faltered and the camera fell.

Adam’s reflexes jerked into instant action. He propelled himself forward and caught the camera centimetres from the ground. He stood and in an instant was enveloped in velvety chocolate brown eyes filled with softness and warmth with a hint of naiveté and wonder. Eyes that could capture your soul. Eyes you could lose yourself in. He’d not seen innocence like that in a long time. Was surprised that he’d even recognized it.

‘Need a hand?’ He opened the door.

‘Oh.’ The sound was a breathless sigh. She blinked, gathered herself and untangled her foot from the door. She stood self-consciously. Nervously. She seemed even daintier now he was so close to her. The number of bags she’d packed onto her shoulders only served to make her look more diminutive.

He gestured. ‘After you.’

As she turned to go through the door, he snagged a couple of bags from her back, and held them off her shoulder.

‘That’s okay. I’ve got them,’ she said, pulling the straps back down.

‘I insist.’

She grabbed the straps, struggling to keep them on her shoulder while he tried his best to rid her of them. The push-me–pull-you game lasted a moment or two before annoyance entered her eyes and he stopped. She resettled the straps, walked through the door and into the reception area, placed her bags on a nearby sofa and turned.

‘Thanks for your help. I can take it from here.’

He wasn’t going to accept the brush off. He pretended to study the camera on one of the straps. ‘Looks new. How do you find it works?’

She narrowed her eyes, searched his face. ‘Do I know you?’

She hadn’t recognised him. Yet. Then again, he looked a lot different when he wore clothes. ‘You look as though you’ve been on a field trip?’

She placed her hand over her camera. A protective gesture. She frowned. He needed to get her to trust him. Fast.

‘The mud? On your jeans?’ he suggested.

She flicked a glance at her legs. ‘Oh. Yes. Well, I have to go …’

This wasn’t going well. Charm wasn’t one of his strong points and his activities of late had him way out of practice. His bikie gear, not the mention the thick leather jacket he wore was out of place in this neat little reception area. He wasn’t exactly dressed as your typical boy next door. He smiled and changed his stance to something a little less invasive. She wasn’t the type of woman he was used to dealing with. ‘I’m into photography too. The reason I asked about your camera is that I’m thinking of buying one just like it and I wanted to know how you’re finding it.’

‘Oh.’ Her eyes lost some of their guard, replaced by an enthusiastic spark. ‘I’ve just bought it myself. I couldn’t go past the Canon EOS 1D Mark Three. It’s extremely fast: ten megapixel continuous shooting. You can customise it to your settings. I use it with an eighteen- to two hundred-millimetre lens, but I’ve got a three hundred-millimetre telephoto lens that I used this afternoon.’

‘Did it go well?’

She narrowed her eyes and spoke slowly. ‘I’m not sure. I haven’t taken a look through my photos yet.’

He needed to know what she was doing taking photographs of him this afternoon. He needed to find a c***k in her just-out-there-taking-photographs story. ‘There’s a few great places around here that people go and photograph all the time. Excellent views.’

Her sleek brows rose fractionally. He noticed her face was heart shaped: broad at the forehead, tapering to a dainty pointed chin. Her features were as delicate as the rest of her. Her straight nose was slightly upturned at the end and was set above full, pink lips. But it was her eyes that drew him. Soulful and deep, they were fringed with long lashes that cast fine shadows over her cheeks.

He hadn’t seen an honest vitality like hers for a lifetime.

She was pale also, like fine bone china. Her dark clothing did nothing to put colour in her face. She obviously didn’t see the outdoors much.

‘I could take you to some places only locals know about.’

She frowned. Opened her mouth, hesitated. He’d found her soft spot. He’d baited the hook and she was about to bite, but she said, ‘I don’t think …’

Just a little more teasing in, a press in the right direction and she would capitulate. He’d make it too good to refuse. ‘Let’s call it a barter. I’ll show you where the local places are, you give me a camera lesson. You’ll have photos of things other people just don’t get to see.’

She chewed her perfect bottom lip. Her teeth were even and white. Others had succumbed far easier. If she was sent here to watch him, she wasn’t doing a very good job. She was taking things a bit too far, playing the game a little too well. Maybe she was innocent and this afternoon was a freak accident. If he could just confirm that, then he’d be on his way.

‘I don’t want to pressure you. Could I just see your photos, see how well the camera works?’

She tucked the camera behind her back. She gasped, staring, dawning horror widening her magnificent eyes. ‘It’s you!’