‘Verysmall scale,’ he agreed with a wry grin. ‘To be fair, if someone has the decency to check at the farmhouse before nicking off with a lamb, ninety-nine per cent of the time we’re going to be glad to be shot of it—orphans are too costly to raise, with a poor chance of success. The issue is losing the weaners, the older lambs. When you’re talking over a hundred dollars a head at the market, the damage adds up quickly.’ He tied the drink bottle back onto the ute and patted the dog. ‘A couple of years back they had more than two million dollars’ worth of sheep nicked over the border.’
‘I had no idea it was such a widespread issue. Or so costly.’ Which meant there’d be a decent return on any legal action, she thought with renewed interest. Hamish was proving to be more than the simple country guy she’d originally pegged him as.
‘Guess that’s the cross we have to bear in return for getting to make a living by wandering paddocks,’ he said with a grin.
While his tendency to shoot off on a tangent didn’t equate to the mental gymnastics required from her in court, he’d verbally bested her on several occasions now. And somehow the constant challenge of their interactions was … exhilarating.
‘Jump in.’ He pointed to the passenger side of the vehicle. He slid behind the wheel, then reached across the cab to push a sketchpad and a couple of pencils from her seat as she hovered in the doorway. ‘Sorry, there’s a bit of charcoal on your seat,’ he said, giving the fabric a good thump. ‘I probably should swap to using graphite.’
Any telltale black dust was lost in the general grime of the mottled fabric and the faint cloud that rose from his attack.‘Family heirloom?’ She nodded at the cracked dashboard as she sank into the flattened springs of the seat.
‘Not yet. Unless you’re offering to help out with the necessaries for that?’ He waited a beat, then continued smoothly, ‘Picked it up off a mate who needed some cash in a hurry.’
‘Altruism at its finest, I’m sure.’ The emphysemic old ute would have no value, so the fact that he’d paid anything made no sense.
‘Can always use a good workhorse. Speaking of work …’ He shot a glance at her, then refocused on the dirt road. He was only steering with the fingertips of one hand, his elbow hanging out of the window. ‘Did you sort out someone to go to this thing on Saturday with you?’
Her mouth tightened. ‘The necessity is all in Pierce’s head.’
‘And in Sam’s, apparently.’
‘Sam has her own reasons for being overly concerned.’
‘I’m aware,’ Hamish said. ‘And I’d say her reasons are valid.’
‘My situation is quite different.’ Jemma was no small-town girl tolerating years of abuse from her husband. ‘I’ve filed a report with the authorities, so the stalker—if you can even call them that—will no doubt be running scared by now.’ Though Nonna had complained that the only uniformed officer she’d seen had come in for a takeaway tiramisu during the lunchtime service.
‘Regardless, it doesn’t cost anything to be careful,’ Hamish insisted. ‘Even if only to reassure your dad. Do you have a friend you can drag along?’
As an adult, she made friends easily, but not particularly well. Other than Tien, none of them seemed to stick—and that suited her perfectly. She was no longer an insecure child who conflated ability with popularity and longed fora mother who fitted the ‘normal’ mould. Now she was too invested in her career to make time for cultivating unwanted relationships. That was why Kain, with his total lack of expectations, had worked so well for so long. ‘I’d be up for at least half-a-dozen drinks, plus dinner,’ she said, rather than answer his question. ‘So there goes your theory on it not costing anything.’
‘Half-a-dozen? Your crowd are big drinkers.’
‘Goes with the job.’ No one outside the profession understood the dual pressures of needing a stress release and networking while being time-poor.
‘I have physio in the city on Saturday, so, if you need company … ?’ He lifted his left hand fractionally from the wheel and she recalled that it was the arm with the scar from his vehicle accident a year or so ago. Ongoing physio over such a period of time could mean a potentially decent claim if he chose to sue the other party, so she made a mental note to return to the subject later. If she picked up some lucrative work for GB&A, it’d help defuse any issues over her absence from the office.
‘You’re volunteering to be my handbag?’ she crowed.
Hamish rested his gaze on her for a moment too long: long enough for her to become acutely, uncomfortably aware of his …maleness.
Her heart kicked up a notch.
She might claim she wanted a handbag, but every so often, her repressed human needs clamoured for attention, and the ache for something real, somethingmore, became hard to ignore.
‘A trophy boyfriend, I think you mean,’ Hamish corrected, lifting one brow.
‘Tickets on yourself much?’ she scoffed, looking out of her window to buy a few seconds to get her unsteady breathingunder control. Hamish was so much more substantial than Kain had ever been: more mature, more grounded. And the way he challenged her mind—that was a level of stimulation she’d never experienced outside the courtroom.
‘Simply setting boundaries.’
She was suddenly tempted to take him up on the offer. But Hamish wasn’t the type to remain pretty but silent, like Kain. He had too many opinions. And there was a chance she might actually be interested in them. Yet she couldn’t risk giving Rohan the smallest opportunity to question her professionalism. Hamish as an official partner was out of the question. But a fling way out in the country? That was a different matter altogether.
‘Boundaries are mandatory,’ she said, turning back to face him. Hamish was smart enough to read the implied permission. ‘But how about we simplytellPierce and Sam you’re coming? That way they’re happy, but you’re off the hook. Then we can meet in the city after the function.’
Hamish stared at her as though she was speaking a foreign language. ‘Lie to them, you mean?’
She shrugged. ‘More being creative with the truth.’
