Page 97 of Where the Wattles Bloom

Keeping his smile firmly in place, Lachlan asked, ‘Is that a bad thing?’ Was he too old school, too country for her hip, modern, city-girl outlook?

Rowena shook her head. ‘No.’ Her gaze held his. ‘I like it.’ She paused for a beat or two before continuing. ‘I like it a lot. I like you a lot.’

Her admission was wildly thrilling. Perhaps way more than it should have been but, in that moment, Lachlan allowed himself a glimpse at a future with Rowena. He’d been trying not to go there but it popped into his brain anyway.

Them. Together. Them … alright.

He didn’t know how they’d get from here to there, he only knew it was possible. And that he wanted it.

‘Anyway,’ she said, rolling her head back to a central position and inspecting the roof again like she was afraid she’d said too much. ‘As a midwife I can tell you, anecdotally, the horny stage often doesn’t last long.’

Also staring at the roof, Lachlan murmured, ‘Then we should definitely take advantage.’

‘You think, huh?’

He grinned at the amusement in her voice. ‘I’m prepared to work very hard.’

She didn’t laugh as he’d hoped. There was a pause, followed by a long, slow exhale. It was an ominous noise. ‘I’m not sure we should …’

Lachlan glanced across at her profile. ‘Should?’

‘I’m worried about … I don’t think we should have sex. I mean, like, penetration.’ She winced. ‘Ugh, sorry, that’s so clinical.’ She met his gaze and he could see her doubt and hesitation. Her concern. ‘I know I’m being paranoid but I just don’t want to do anything that could potentially, no matter how infinitesimally …’

She drifted off, a note of anguish suspended between them. But she didn’t need to finish—Lachlan picked up what she was putting down. Rowena didn’t want him in there banging around.

Just in case.

Rolling on his side again, he inspected her profile. ‘Did you, by any chance, start thinking about that when we were in the middle of … making out?’

Because he could have sworn everything was on track for them before the wheels had fallen off.

‘No.’ She shook her head emphatically. ‘No,’ she repeated but with less conviction. She rolled on her side again. ‘Maybe? Deep down?’

Lachlan reached across and interlinked his fingers with hers. ‘I’m pretty sure you know this already, but I’m going to say it just in case. I don’t need penetration—’

He gave a quick eyebrow waggle and she laughed.

‘To be sexually satisfied. And I am more than happy to engage in whatever making out you’re comfortable with if you continue to be super horny and want to go there again. But I’m also fine with not going there as well. Okay?’

She nodded. ‘Okay,’ came her tremulous reply.

Without any thought, Lachlan leaned across and placed a gentle kiss against her mouth. He held it for the briefest of seconds before pulling away. It hadn’t been much more than a whisper really, yet his pulse raced as if it had just run the four-minute mile.

‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

Twenty-Three

Despite what Rowena had told Lachlan at the drive-in, a couple of weeks later she was still feeling horny AF. She should be asleep—she had an early shift tomorrow—but here she was, lying in bed at ten o’clock at night, her skin crawling with a feverish kind of desire that made even the brush of her sloppy t-shirt against her skin a sensuous kind of agony.

It reminded her of the early days of puberty all those years ago when she’d first discovered masturbation. Which made sense, she supposed. Her body was, after all, undergoing a similar onslaught of hormones.

She lay in the dark, her hand on her belly, contemplating some self-soothing. And, if she knew it would work, she’d have gone for it, but the thought of failing and adding to her frustration made it a no-go.

Not to mention that the French doors, open onto the veranda on this still night, would carry any noise into the vast outback abyss. Including Lachlan’s room next door.

Although he was probably deeply asleep. The man worked hard at a very physical job. Very. Physical. Shouldering the bodily load without complaint, engineering things so Reggie and Albert were spared the heavier duties of farm life.

Rowena was pretty sure they were aware of Lachlan’s machinations, but they didn’t push back. She thought they probably understood his need to look out for them, as they had looked out for him when he’d first arrived.