Outback Secrets by Rachael Johns

Chapter Twenty-nine

‘Talk about drama,’ Henri said to Sheila as she hobbled into Liam’s office, the dog following closely at her heels. Was the breaking of Stella’s waters God’s answer to their prayers? It was amazing how fast a woman going into labour had scattered the men. She laughed inwardly at the recollection of Sexy Rexy almost tripping over his own feet in his efforts to escape. The blokes Liam called his ‘Poker Pensioners’ hadn’t been far behind. Of course there’d been a few lingering busybodies, but he’d sent them packing.

He hadn’t asked Henri to leave, but she’d decided to make herself scarce anyway. Babies were cute enough, but she definitely didn’t need to see one born and she didn’t think Stella needed an audience either. She had Adam, Frankie and Ruby to support her. For Stella and the baby’s sake, she prayed the ambulance would arrive before things progressed too much further, but also so that she could finally be alone with Liam again. As much as she’d been enjoying hanging out with her old friends, there was really only one person she wanted to spend the evening with.

Leaning her crutches against the desk, she lowered herself carefully into the swivel chair behind it. It was the first time she’d actually been in the office and, like Liam’s apartment, it was clean and neatly ordered. He’d obviously made the desk, which looked as if it should be in some kind of art gallery rather than the back office of a country pub.

As she smoothed her fingers along the beautifully carved and polished wood in admiration, Sheila flopped at her feet. Henri pulled off her shoe and rubbed her good foot against the dog’s soft, warm fur. Not being able to have pretty things like this desk or a pet were definitely downsides to her itinerant lifestyle.

She saw how much Liam loved Sheila and the dog was never far from his side, whereas Henri couldn’t even get a bloody goldfish. Even if she could fit a small tank in Cecil, who’d look after it when she went to Canada?

‘I’ll just have to make the most of you for the next few days, won’t I?’

Sheila looked up briefly, made a sort of rumbly noise as if agreeing, and then dropped her head back down onto her paws.

‘Fuck off, Adam!’

The exclamation startled both of them and Sheila jumped to attention, her head cocked to her side as she stared at the open door. Henri grabbed her collar as Stella continued to scream.

‘It’s your fault I’m in this predicament. Where the hell is that ambulance? I don’t want to have this baby in a bloody pub!’

Sheila barked towards the door.

‘It’s all right,’ Henri said, trying to calm her, all the while wincing at the sound of Stella swearing and shouting. Not that she had anything against curse words—truth was she rather liked them—but sweet, serene Stella who she’d been chatting with on the beach only hours earlier, didn’t look like she had such language in her.

Which only made Henri wonder why any woman would do this to themselves. The sounds she could hear right now were enough to make her want to go and have a hysterectomy. Or, at the very least, a drink.

If only she hadn’t left that Guinness out on the bar—she could really do with it right about now.

She glanced around looking for something to distract her, but Liam’s office was annoyingly sparse. There wasn’t even a magazine lying around. In all the commotion, she’d left her bag and her phone at the bar, which meant she couldn’t even amuse herself playing Solitaire or scrolling Facebook. She could sneak out and get them, but her crutches made sneaking almost impossible.

Henri barely heard her own sigh over the sound of another ear-piercing scream, followed by more swearing and a deep, guttural moan. In desperation, she yanked open one of the desk drawers, looking for a book or something else that could distract her. She lifted a pile of catalogues, hoping to find a hip flask of whiskey or something, but her efforts were fruitless.

Argh. Did the man even drink? Now that she thought about it, she’d never seen him so much as take a sip of beer. What kind of pub owner was he?

In lieu of actual alcohol, Henri opened one of the catalogues and tried to lose herself in its pages instead. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than nothing.

Just as she was coming to the end of the first catalogue, she heard someone shout, ‘The ambulance is here.’

Well, hallelujah. She snapped the catalogue shut and opened the drawer to shove them all back in. She noticed two scraps of paper had fallen onto the floor: a yellow Post-it note, and what looked like a prescription. She plucked them up, respecting Liam’s privacy and not reading what the prescription was for, but briefly registering the words ‘JMC Office Supplies’ and ‘$3211’ scrawled across the Post-it as she put them both back into the desk drawer.

Fifteen minutes later, Liam appeared in the doorway of the office and Henri’s heart somersaulted in her chest. She couldn’t have been more delighted if it was one of the Hemsworth brothers.

‘Is Stella gone? Is the baby gunna be okay?’ she asked as Sheila got up to greet him.

‘Hopefully they’ll both be. Mandy and Karen have taken her to Geraldton; fingers crossed they don’t end up delivering in the ambulance.’

Henri made a face. ‘Better than in the pub, I guess.’

‘Hell yeah, I was worried there for a moment. Never a dull moment in the Bay, that’s for sure. You hightailed it out of there pretty fast.’

‘I’m not good with blood. Or babies.’ She shuddered. ‘Especially ones that are covered in blood and gunky birth stuff.’

‘Lucky you’re good at many other things then,’ he said with a smirk. ‘Are you ready to call it a night?’

‘You’re closing the pub?’

‘Yep. Everyone’s gone. Our prayers were answered.’

Henri grinned. ‘That’s the best news I’ve heard all night. Maybe we should send Stella a thank you note.’

‘Good idea,’ Liam agreed as he took one predatory step towards her. ‘But, right now, I have other priorities.’

‘Oh?’ Henri’s stomach flip-flopped at the heat in his gaze. ‘Like what?’

‘Like this,’ he said as he bent and plucked her out of the chair.

Her arms closed around his neck. ‘And this,’ she whispered, before pressing her mouth against his.

Their lips locked, Liam started towards the door but instead of walking through it, he slammed it shut with his foot. The sound reverberated through her body, making everything between her legs tingle in anticipation.

Seconds later, they were back at his desk.

It wasn’t quite like the movies where some dashing hero sweeps everything off in one fell swoop. Not that Liam wasn’t dashing, but he sat her carefully down on the edge of the desk and pushed his computer aside equally as carefully before he stepped back between her legs. Henri had no complaints. She appreciated his respect for his property. It showed a maturity that had been missing in most of the men she’d slept with.

To show said appreciation, she reached for the hem of his shirt and ripped it right over his head. He returned the favour, taking her tee and then her bra in much the same manner.

She said something indecipherable even to her own ears as she touched his hot, bare skin, her fingers skating down the ripples of his muscles. Liam pushed her back against the desk and smiled down at her, before dipping his head and sucking one nipple into his mouth, just the way she liked it. Henri briefly wondered if maybe his desk was so damn neat because he was in the habit of doing this with other women, but then another—more pressing—thought struck.

‘Have you got condoms down here?’

‘Shit.’ He lifted his head. ‘They’re upstairs.’

As infuriating as this news was—she wanted him right here, right now—it was also strangely comforting. If Liam made a habit of taking women on his desk, surely he’d be better prepared.

‘Then, let’s make getting up there a priority,’ she told him.

He plucked her T-shirt off the floor and yanked it over her head. She’d barely finished threading her arms through the holes before he’d scooped her up again.

They started towards the door and Henri reached out to turn the knob. ‘Did I hear that guy say he was Stella’s brother?’

‘Ah huh.’ Liam started for the stairs, Sheila padding behind them. Poor dog—neither of them had even spared at thought for her when they’d been getting hot and heavy in the office.

‘I wonder what the story is there? I didn’t even know she had a brother.’

‘They’re estranged,’ he explained, a tiny bead of sweat appearing on his forehead as he began the climb up to his apartment. ‘At least, she’s estranged with her parents—they disowned her when she decided to go ahead and have Heidi—and as he was quite young when that happened, they made it impossible for Stella to keep in touch with him as well.’

‘Wow. I can’t believe Mum never told me any of this.’

They reached the landing and Liam marched towards his door at the other end of the corridor.

‘I don’t think it’s common knowledge,’ he said.

‘How do you know?’

‘I’m a publican. People talk. They tell me things. I listen. It’s my job. Wanna get the key out of my pocket?’

‘Is that just an excuse to get me into your pants?’ she teased, her hand already sliding in.

‘Would it be a problem if it was?’

She pushed the key into the lock. ‘Truth is, you don’t actually need an excuse.’

‘Glad to hear it,’ he said, as he shoved open the door and carried her inside.

Sheila stalked past them towards the bed she only slept on when she was sulking or in trouble.

‘I think she’s pissed off with us.’

‘We’ll make it up to her later,’ Liam said as he headed for the bedroom.

He wasn’t quite as gentle as he had been downstairs as he virtually threw her on the bed, then rid himself of his clothes—shoes and all—in record time. Henri’s mouth went dry as he lay down beside her and she trailed a hand slowly down over his hard chest, then closed her fingers around his erection and gave a teasing squeeze. ‘Had Stella been looking for her brother?’

Liam groaned. ‘You really want to talk about Stella now?’

‘I’m just curious,’ she said, and began to move her hand up and down.

‘She’s been trying to get in contact with him for a while, but she wasn’t having any luck. Her parents moved not long after she had Heidi and she couldn’t find him on social media.’

‘So, you’re not the only one not on Facebook then,’ Henri said. ‘I seriously thought you were an anomaly.’

‘You looked for me on Facebook?’

‘Maybe.’

But Henri had the feeling he wasn’t really listening anymore as she swirled her thumb over the tip of his penis. Smiling, she took him into her mouth.

A little while later, he dragged her back up so they were face to face. ‘That was …’ He didn’t finish his sentence, crushing his mouth against hers and showing her his appreciation instead. As his tongue ravaged hers, he moved his hand back down between them, cupping first her breast, before sliding further. Another indecipherable word escaped her lips as his fingers snuck beneath the waistband of her shorts.

‘What did you say?’ Liam asked, amused, his finger gliding back and forth over the cotton of her knickers.

‘Tell me some secrets.’

He hesitated a moment. ‘You promise you won’t tell a soul?’

‘My lips are sealed. I’m like a vault.’

‘Tuck Brady likes to wear women’s clothes.’

She jerked her head to meet his gaze. ‘No way.’

‘Uh huh … and Eileen’s clothes are too big for him, so she steals them from the charity shop when it’s her day on roster.’

‘I’m scandalised! What else?’

He hooked one thick finger under the edge of her knickers, and she gasped.

‘Susan O’Neil and Frank Forrester are secretly seeing each other.’

‘Oh my God? Seriously?’ Surely Tilley would know if her mother-in-law was bonking the grouchy widow.

Liam nodded as he dipped his finger inside her. He barely even moved it, but pleasure ricocheted right through her body.

‘Frank confessed to me one night when he was wondering if it was too soon to take her on a dirty weekend away.’

‘Oh God. To Broome?’

‘That’s right.’

Henri remembered Tilley saying she had to water her motherin-law’s garden because she was meeting some old school friends up there for a ‘girls’ weekend. Was that a lie?

As hard as it was to concentrate while Liam’s hand took delicious liberties between her legs, this gossip was too thrilling to ignore. ‘Tell me something else.’

‘Well … you know how Logan pretends to be a respectable journalist, an upstanding member of the community?’

She nodded, terrified but also desperate to hear otherwise.

‘It’s all a front. He’s actually involved in an organised crime gang that traffics drugs.’

‘What?! Does Frankie know? How can you—’

Liam snorted and the penny dropped.

‘Oh my God.’ She thumped her hand against his chest. ‘Was anything you told me true?’

He pressed his lips against her cheek as he began to move his finger again. ‘As much as I like you, Henrietta, I too am a vault.’

‘Beast!’ She tried to ignore the warmth that flooded her at his confession that he liked her as she remembered the conversation on the beach this afternoon. ‘Just tell me one thing—do you know who the mysterious benefactor is?’

‘To be honest …’ Liam began. ‘I’m not really comfortable talking about other people while my fingers are deep inside you. Seems a little …’ He upped the pressure. ‘I don’t know … kinky?’

‘Sorry,’ Henri quipped, struggling to think straight herself now anyway. ‘I forget how bad men are at multitasking.’

‘Oh, I can multitask, Henrietta.’ He touched her in a spot that was almost impossible to ignore. ‘I just don’t want to.’

Then, in one swift move—for once forgetting to be gentle with her ankle—Liam yanked her shorts and knickers down her legs, positioned himself above her and thrust into her. Henri gasped and, in a matter of seconds, she could no longer remember what on earth they were talking about.

It was only once they were lying side by side, both staring at the ceiling, their chests heaving as they waited for their breath to return to normal, that they realised they’d forgotten the condom.

‘It’s okay,’ she assured him, ‘I’ll get the morning after pill.’