Seven-Day Love Story

‘Relax, Jayne. He’s feeling your tension. The worst that can happen is that he’ll try to bite me, and if he does he and I will have a quick man-to-man conversation to figure out who’s boss.’

She shifted until her body was slightly between them.

Todd frowned. ‘I won’t hurt him, Jayne. Just like people, dogs like to know where they stand with others. He might appreciate the direct approach. Let’s just see how he goes.’

Human and dog ignored each other for a few moments, and then Todd took a step closer. Ollie looked up at him suspiciously.

‘This could take a few minutes,’ he said. ‘If he sees us being comfortable with each other he might relax.’

Comfortable. Right. Jayne forced her body into a parody of a relaxed pose, triggering another one of those killer smiles. Her mouth dried, just a little bit.

The smile graduated to a deep chuckle. ‘Even I’m not buying that. Plan B … how about just some normal conversation?’

It had been a while since she’d had any conversation that wasn’t via e-mail. Todd took a tiny step closer to Ollie. The dog stayed put. It was working. She sighed. ‘Okay. What would you like to talk about?’

Todd let his hand drop down to his side, close to Ollie’s head so he could sniff it, but his eyes stayed locked on her. ‘How about what you’re doing out here all by yourself? Seems unusual.’

She stiffened immediately, and Ollie pushed up onto his feet.

Todd broke in quickly ‘Or … we could talk about something else. Where did you grow up? That’s not a Queensland accent I hear.’

Jayne let out a big breath, and Ollie’s tail sank back towards the ground. ‘Hardly. I’m from Pennsylvania originally.’

‘Welcome to Australia.’

‘I’ve been here a couple of years, but thank you.’ She laughed.

Ollie looked up at her, as if surprised by the unfamiliar sound. Todd took the opportunity to slide his hand down and gently rest it on the dog’s black head. Ollie forgot to flinch. ‘Keep talking,’ he said quietly, and then slowly closed his fingers into a rub.

Jayne drew in a breath. This was the closest Ollie had been to another person since she’d found him skulking, half-starved, down near her back dam. ‘I moved here two years ago. I was looking for somewhere different to where I’m from.’

Blue eyes met hers. ‘Different?’

Safer. Further. ‘Somewhere new.’

Todd was fully squatting now, and Ollie glared at him guardedly. But he was prepared to tolerate it as long as the gentle rubbing continued. It did, and Jayne found herself transfixed by the sight of those strong fingers pushing through Ollie’s black fur.

‘This must be quite different to home,’ he said.

‘Not so much. Jim Thorpe is a small community in the valley of a mountain forest. This all feels quite familiar. The trees are different. But still beautiful.’ She smiled down at Ollie and added her gentle strokes to Todd’s.

‘You miss it?’

She lifted her eyes back to his but couldn’t hold his gaze. She glanced out at the towering forest circling her sanctuary. And then it hit her. She was making conversation. And her chest wasn’t imploding. ‘I miss parts of it. But everyone grows up, moves on.’

‘You didn’t want to stay close to your family?’

Oh, how she had—and her mother had cried and cried on hearing how far from home her only daughter was moving. But Jayne loved them too much to expose them to any further risk. Not that she’d told them about any of it.

‘We stay close. We talk via the internet. We e-mail.’

Ollie shifted, and Jayne cupped his ridged silken skull and stroked him reassuringly. Then warm, strong fingers accidentally tangled with hers. A heat-burst surged up to her palm and she only just managed to suppress a yelp as she leaped back, sending Ollie scampering for cover.

Her eyes flew to Todd’s. His were carefully schooled.

‘Sorry.’ The pointless apology tumbled off her lips.

Todd tipped his head to the side and stared at her—a burning, inscrutable regard—and shrugged. ‘It’s a start.’

Ollie. He was talking about Ollie.

‘I should get back to this enclosure,’ he said casually, as though the burst of static energy had been purely one-sided. Of course it had. He looked entirely unaffected.

She cleared her throat. ‘Yes. I should get back to work, too.’

Uh-huh. As if that was going to happen while her heart was racing and while she had something so delightfully ornamental to look at through the window. Jayne ducked her head and turned back for the house.

Oliver trotted happily after her, oblivious to the awkward human moment he’d just caused.

CHAPTER THREE

Sunday

JAYNE studied Todd through a crack in the drawn curtains of the back windows, unable to tear her gaze away from his broad shoulders and his patient, methodical construction methods. Now he was perched on a drum in her yard, oblivious to her surveillance, sharing his ham sandwich with an adoring Ollie.

Even the most mistrustful dog on the planet had a melting point, it seemed—approximately the same temperature that ham was cured at.

A man who dogs loved couldn’t be all bad, right? Her four-legged friends might be easily bought, but—given their damaged backgrounds—they were even more attuned to survival than she was, and all four would have kept their distance from someone with ulterior motives, she was sure.

Or was she just looking for excuses to like him?

Todd Blackwood was not like the men she’d used to know. Every part of him screamed higher education, yet he could whack together a holding pen as if he’d been doing it all his life. His casual discussion hinted at city origins but he was hanging around a small village digging up handyman work as though he were a drifter.

It should have made her more suspicious, but it didn’t. After all, people could draw all kinds of conclusions about Jayne Morrow—J.C. Moro to her gazillions of adoring fans. A top-of-the-list novelist, living a simple life in the Australian forest; what would people make of that? She had no doubt that people back home were reading things into her absence, making up what they didn’t know.

Prima donna. Marketing gimmick.

Only her agent and a small team of investigating officers assigned to her case knew the real story. She had a genuine excuse, maybe Todd did too? She definitely got the feeling there was a story to tell. There was one way to find out. Jayne’s heart kicked up a notch. It wasn’t unreasonable to ask a few questions of the man she was employing.

Right?

Nervous steps carried her out to the far end of her yard, where four dogs welcomed her with licks and welcome dances. Her heart hammered a protest. She silenced the frightened voice that urged her to go back inside.

This was the road to normal.

Todd looked up as she approached, then pushed himself politely to his feet. ‘Back to work time?’

Jayne frowned. ‘No. You’ve earned your breaks—take them.’ She examined the beginnings of the yards that would make such a difference to her injured animals. She might not yet have a wealth of rehabilitation skills, but she could at least accommodate the animals professionally and appropriately while they healed. ‘It’s looking great. Thank you.’

Todd nodded and sank back onto the half-drum, leaning forward, his tanned forearms resting on his thighs and strong fingers hanging loose between relaxed legs. It was a poster image for non-threatening body language, and it immediately took the edge off Jayne’s tension levels. Todd snagged up a soda can from the ground and took a long swig.

‘Can I ask you a question?’ No one would believe from her hesitant tone that she made her living communicating.

Todd took another swallow. ‘Shoot.’

‘What are you doing in Banjo’s Ridge? I assume you don’t live here?’

‘Why do you assume that?’

‘Your accent is different to the locals’. It’s Australian but … different.’

‘I’m from Western Australia originally.’

Five thousand kilometres away. ‘What brings you here?’

Blue eyes blinked slowly back at her. ‘The mountain lifestyle. The pace. It’s very tranquil here.’

And very hidden. Even the tourists often missed it on their bush pilgrimages. ‘What did you do for a living?’

His brows bunched, as if he was baffled at her sudden surge of curiosity. She sure was. ‘I was a biologist.’

Ah-ha! ‘Is that why you’re so good with Ollie?’

‘I specialised in flora, not canines.’ He laughed. ‘But I grew up with dogs. We get each other.’

Ollie showed her just how much by flopping down next to Todd’s work-worn boots.

‘So I see,’ she said. ‘I’ve never seen him more at ease.’

Todd used his boot tip to gently scratch Ollie’s belly. ‘I think he’s just a dog who’s had to make too many decisions. He was desperate for someone to take the responsibility from him.’

‘Responsibility for what?’

‘For survival. For leading the pack. For you. It’s been a lot for a damaged dog to carry.’

Two years of suspicion stiffened her spine. ‘Why would he feel responsible for me?’

Todd shrugged, meeting her eyes carefully. ‘Perhaps he thinks you need protecting?’

‘I protect him. I have since he came.’ The thumping in her chest had to be audible. Surely?

‘You feed him and love him. But trust me … He thinks you need him to be in charge. It’s all in his body language.’

She looked at Ollie’s enormous dark eyes, fixed adoringly on Todd. ‘So now that you’re here he’s handing over responsibility for all that to you? Is that it?’

‘Put simply.’

‘Including me?’ Wisely, Todd didn’t answer. He simply stared through those deep blue eyes. The tug-of-war between anger and attraction tightened her chest and forced her up straighter. ‘He’s going to be sorely disappointed when you disappear at the end of the week.’

Todd reached down and rubbed a big hand over Ollie’s scalp. The dog squeezed his eyes shut in bliss and Jayne understood exactly. Her skin remembered every brief moment of their fingers entangling the previous day. Gooseflesh rose in sympathy.

‘A week is a long time,’ he said, standing. ‘Let’s wait and see.’

They fell to silence. Jayne studied the shadowy angles of his face as he gathered up his tools to continue. They made a handsome combination.

Todd cleared his throat. ‘So, what kind of work lets you live out here?’

‘I’m an …’ She caught herself and corrected herself. Trusting him and trusting him were two different things. ‘I’m having a sabbatical. Of sorts.’

He nodded. ‘A long one, judging by the trouble you’re going to in getting these yards all set up.’

‘I’m hoping to get back to it more fully soon. And also that I can continue with the animals once I do.’

‘So, you’ll work from home?’

She cleared her thick throat and hedged. ‘My work goes with me wherever I do.’

Todd smiled, although this one didn’t quite dilute the disappointment in his eyes. Why was she hesitating? She should just tell him. He was unlikely to put two and two together.

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