He wouldn’t let it go. She knew it the way she knew gravity was a thing. It was amazing he hadn’t pushed her for answers sooner. The longer she kept him waiting, the bigger he’d assume the reason was.
“I didn’t expect to have anything to do with the pearls after Noah left. I’d sorted with my mom and pitched in when they needed help but I was still just a kid. And with the new people taking over, I figured it was better if I stayed out of the way. I even got a job at a clothing shop in the tourist district a couple of nights a week and on weekends.” She’d loved the pretty boutique, loved playing with the clothes and setting up the window displays. “One of the guys I recognized but didn’t really know started showing up at the house, asking for help in the sorting sheds. It made me uncomfortable.” There was that word again. Impotent for all the good the feeling did her.
Emerson’s jaw clenched, and she rested her fingertips on his wrist, willing him to relax with her touch so he didn’t jump to the wrong conclusion. It was the conclusion she’d jumped to too—that if she’d hung around, she’d end up being raped or worse, but she’d gotten out before anything happened.
“Nothing happened, but when I found out about Noah, I knew I had to get out.” Thinking about the day the AFP showed up on the porch to tell her Noah was gone still felt raw. They’d been so kind but there was no softening the blow of their words. When the officer offered to put her in touch with someone who could help her, she’d lied about still having family. She was old enough—barely—so they let it go. Destroyed her world and walked out of the house, and all she could think about was how badly she wanted to run away. To leave all the pain and loss and fear behind her. “There was a group of backpackers headed into Broome. I fell in with them and never looked back.”
The kids were seasonal workers who showed up every year to earn a little cash on their way to somewhere else. It was never the same group twice and when she’d needed to disappear, they seemed like a perfect fit. She hadn’t gone out of her way to hide from the guys working the oysters. With Noah gone there was nothing to tie her to the farm. There was no reason for anyone to expect she’d stay, but she was careful not to draw attention to herself. And she’d spent the next few weeks looking over her shoulder until she corralled enough from her mum’s savings and the little bit Noah left her to buy a one-way ticket to the States.
“And here I thought you were inexperienced.”
She watched him for a moment to see if he’d misunderstood her, but his earlier pity had been replaced with something that looked a little bit like respect. She’d take that over the other any day.
“Pretty much just about the one thing.” She tipped her head to the side, considering. “And you’ve taken decent care of helping me experience that.”
“Just decent, huh?”
That was the understatement of the century but she liked teasing him and she loved the way he leaned toward her, mischief lighting his hazel eyes. It was as if someone threw a switch and they’d gone from something she never wanted to talk about to something she couldn’t get enough of.
“I don’t have a frame of reference, mind you, but the sexy times seem more than passable. From what little I know.” She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, knowing without him saying a word that he’d rather be the one biting it. Just like that, the heat was back between them and desire bloomed inside her. It was a thousand times better than thinking about her past or the danger she was in. She was more than happy to limit her present—for the time being at least—to this room and the man in front of her.
“Surely, we can do better than passable.” He layered disapproval on the word and was still shaking his head when he got to his feet, seemingly willing to go along with the diversion.
Before she realized where he was headed, he’d bent at the waist, planting his shoulder in her soft stomach. She let out a whoosh as he stood. Holding her in a sexy fireman’s carry, his arm vised around the back of her thighs while his other hand cupped her bare ass.
“Passable,” he said, giving her butt a smack that made her yelp and pound ineffectively on his back. “I obviously need to up my game.”
