Free Her Knight in the Outback by Nikki Logan Page A

Christine?’
    No-man’s-land the last time they spoke, but they weren’t spending the night under the same roof then. They barely knew each other then.
    We barely know each other now!
a tiny voice reminded her.
    But they did. Maybe not a heap of details, but they knew each other’s names and interests and purpose. She’d seen him half naked striding out of the surf, and she’d pressed up against him a grand total of two times now and had a different kind of glimpse at the kind of man he was under all the leather and facial hair. He struck her as...safe.
    And sometimes safe was enough.
    But right now
safe
didn’t look entirely happy at her words. Though he still answered.
    â€˜Was,’ he clarified. ‘Christine was my girlfriend.’
    Clang.
The pan hit the stovetop at his use of the past tense. There was the answer to a question she didn’t know she’d been dying to ask. Unexpected butterflies took flight deep in her gut and she busied herself with a second go at moving the frying pan off the heat.
    â€˜Recent?’
    His strong lips pursed briefly as he considered answering. Or not answering. ‘Long time ago.’
    Yeah, the ink didn’t look new, come to think of it. Unlike the one she’d seen under his biceps.
    Which meant he could still be someone else’s hairy biker type. That she was having a quiet steak with. Under a gem-filled sky. Miles from anywhere. After a blood-thrilling and skin-tingling motorbike ride...
    She shook the thoughts free. ‘Childhood sweetheart?’
    Tension pumped off him. ‘Something like that.’
    And suddenly she disliked Christine intensely. ‘I’m sorry.’
    He shrugged. ‘Not your doing.’
    She studied the tight lines at the corner of his mouth. The mouth she’d not been able to stop looking at since he’d shaved and revealed it. Tonight was no different. ‘So...there’s no Christine now? I mean someone like Christine?’
    His eyes found hers. ‘You asking if I’m single?’
    â€˜Just making conversation. I figured not, since you were on a pilgrimage around the country.’
    â€˜It’s my job, Eve. Not everyone out here is on some kind of odyssey.’
    That stung as much as the sea salt she’d accidentally rubbed in her eye earlier. Because of the judgment those words contained. And the truth. And because they came from him.
    But he looked contrite the moment they fell off his lips.
    â€˜You don’t like talking about her, I take it?’ she murmured.
    He shook his head but it was no denial.
    â€˜Fair enough.’ Then she nodded at his arm. ‘You might want to get that altered though.’
    The tension left his face and a couple of tiny smile lines peeked out the corners of his eyes. ‘I couldn’t have picked someone with a shorter name, huh? Like Ann. Or Lucy.’
    Yep. Christine sure was a long word to tattoo over.
    â€˜It’s pretty florid, too. A dagger?’
    The smile turned into a laugh. ‘We were seventeen and in love. And I fancied myself for a bit of a tough guy. What can I say?’
    Eve threw some dressing on the salad and gave it a quick toss.
    â€˜She got a matching one I hope?’
    â€˜Hers just said
Amore
. Multi-purpose.’
    â€˜
Pfff.
Non-committal. That should have been your first warning.’
    She added a steak to each of their plates.
    â€˜With good reason, it turns out.’
    â€˜Christine sucked?’
    That earned her a chuckle. She loved the rich, warm sound because it came from so deep in his chest. ‘No, she didn’t. Or I wouldn’t have fallen for her.’
    â€˜That’s very charitable.’
    He waved his coffee mug. ‘I’m a generous guy.’
    â€˜So...I’m confused,’ she started. ‘You don’t want to talk about her, but you don’t hold it against her?’
    â€˜It’s not really about Christine,’ he