Free MisplacedLessons by Mari Carr and Lexxie Couper Page B

Every time he caught a whiff of
her citrus-y perfume, he’d been forced to readjust his pants.
    Amy, the little minx, had known all about his pained
condition and went out of her way to make it worse by accidentally brushing against his dick with her ass or her hand no less than a dozen times.
She’d treated him to a healthy dose of his own medicine after lunch when he’d
suggested they cut the sightseeing short and catch the next train home. She’d
given him a wicked grin, pointing out that “anticipation makes the reward
sweeter”.
    Even now, she appeared to be in no hurry to move their party
to the bedroom. Instead, she walked straight toward the kitchen. He followed,
watching as she pulled a couple beers from the fridge.
    “Want one?” she asked, holding them up.
    He nodded. “Sure.”
    Uncapping the Bud Lights, she tapped her bottle against his
before taking a sip. She winced. “What the hell is this? Tastes like piss.”
    “Harper likes it. I prefer Blue Moon myself. Let’s see.
You’re an Aussie girl, so I’m guessing you’d prefer—”
    She held up her hand. “If you say Foster’s, I will grab my
suitcase and walk out of this house right now.”
    He rolled his eyes. “I was actually going to guess Carlton
Draught or maybe VB.”
    “Wow. Very good, Mr. Shaw. I’m a Toohey’s fan, but I’m
impressed with your knowledge of Australian beer.”
    He shrugged. “Like I said yesterday, I’ve been to your
continent three times thanks to work. I hope you won’t take this the wrong way.
It’s a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.”
    Her hands flew to her hips, defensively, angrily. There was
no doubt Amy was proud of her country. Last night he’d been treated to a
glimpse of her pajamas, a tank and panty set that sported the Australian flag.
    “What’s wrong with Australia?”
    He raised his hand, counting off on his fingers as he made
his list. “It was ungodly hot. Something tells me it would be cooler living on
the sun.”
    “It’s not always hot. The winters can get downright cold.
Not Australia’s fault you were a bloody dickhead who traveled there in the
summer. I think we already determined that your producers are a bunch of
tools.”
    “Fine.” He lifted a second finger. “The spiders there are
bigger than our goddamn cats.”
    She laughed. “Not a fan of spiders?”
    He faked a shudder. “Not at all.”
    “Good to know my American Superman has a Kryptonite. I’ll
have to remember that.” Amy claimed a seat at the kitchen table, so he joined
her.
    He took another sip of beer before continuing his list. “The
air is filled with the scent of eucalyptus. Reminded me of the nasty stuff my
mother used to rub on my chest when I had a head cold.”
    “Are you kidding? If I had to name the number one thing I’m
missing about home right now, it’s that smell.”
    “Guess you never have to worry about stuffy noses.”
    “I prefer the fresh, cool honey scent of eucalyptus to your
smoggy, sewage-y city smell.”
    “Hey now. Chicago doesn’t stink.”
    She crinkled her nose. “Maybe not to you.”
    “Fair enough,” he conceded. “It sounds like you and I are
just going to have to agree to disagree about whose country smells the best.”
    She picked at the label on her beer bottle. He noticed she
hadn’t taken another sip. He’d probably end up finishing his beer and hers.
“You know,” she said at last, “Oz is my home and I love it more than vegemite,
but I’d leave it in an instant to do a job like yours.”
    “You’d want to travel for a living?”
    She nodded. “There are so many places I’m dying to see. This
will probably sound weird, but when I was eleven, the number one thing on my
Christmas list was a subscription to a travel magazine. I started to catalog
all the cities and countries I wanted to travel to in year eight of school.”
    “I don’t think there’s anything strange about that. I have a
travel list of my own.”
    “At least