Free New Boss New Year Bride by Lucy Clark Page B

appear to be in a good mood at all, and she guiltily hoped she hadn’t kept him awake last night with all her to-ing and fro-ing around the apartment due to her restless excitement.
    Melissa looked around her. ‘Where’s Dex?’
    ‘Sleeping.’ Joss stowed her bag beneath the tarp before checking everything was secure once more. Then, much to Melissa’s horror, he opened the driver’s door and climbed in behind the wheel. Her eyes widened as she opened the passenger door.
    ‘What are you doing?’
    He looked across at her as though she were thick. ‘Getting ready to drive.’
    ‘But…but…where’s Dex? Why is he sleeping? You can’t…You’re not doing…’ She stopped, her brain working overtime to cope with this change. Joss was doing the house-calls? She took a breath and tried to get herself under control. ‘I thought I was doing house-calls with Dex.’
    ‘Something came up.’
    ‘He’s not coming!’ Didn’t Dex want to be with her? Spend time with her? Was this her brother’s way of telling her to stay away? That she could work here but she had to keep her distance as far as trying to have a relationship with him was concerned? Pain, hurt and rejection rose up within her.
    ‘That’s right. So if you get in we can get this day over and done with. And the sooner, the better.’ He mumbled the last bit to himself, but Melissa had excellent hearing.
    Melissa tried to swallow back the tears. Apparently neither of her colleagues wanted to spend time with her. Anger welled up inside. ‘You don’t want to do house-calls with me?’ She stood outside the ute, stubbornly refusing to get in. ‘Well, that’s just fine. I can go out with Dex next week, and you can spare yourself from having to endure my company all day long. And if Dex doesn’t want to go out with me next week, then write me a list of what I need to do and I’ll figure it out on my own. Honestly, I’d heard all about Outback hospitality and how everyone here would make me feel welcome—well, between you and Dex I’m feeling about as welcome as a squashed bug on a windshield.’
    Melissa shut the door and started walking away. Joss closed his eyes for a second, then hit the steering wheel. He climbed from the ute and hurried after her. It wasn’t her fault Dex had changed the plan, and he felt like a heel. He’d let his unwanted attraction for her get in the way of his professionalism and now he’d made her feel bad. Joss knew what he had to do. He had sisters and he knew how temperamental women could be.
    ‘Lis.’ He reached out a hand to stop her, but she shrugged away his touch.
    ‘You know, I just don’t get you. One minute you’re nice, and the next you’re all Mr Tortured Soul and clamming up tighter than a…than a clam.’ She turned to face him and pointed to the ute. ‘It’s a shame Dex doesn’t want to do the house-calls with me, but you know what? That’s OK. I can live with that. But this is part of my job and, quite frankly, I’d appreciate just a bit more professionalism on your part.’
    Joss nodded. ‘You’re absolutely right, and I apologise for my behaviour.’ He shifted his feet and shoved his hands into the pockets of his khaki shorts. ‘Dex has to stay here and monitor a family who are coming to town. Two of their kids have CF and he’s the expert in that field.’
    ‘Oh.’ So it wasn’t just the fact that he hadn’t wanted to spend time alone with her. Melissa started to feel bad about her outburst. This would have meant that Joss would have had to do some pretty fancy footwork in rearranging schedules. Still, one of them could have let her know about the change.
    She could feel her anger draining and tried to hold on to it. When she was angry with Joss she didn’t have to worry about fighting the attraction she felt for him. She wasn’t particularly looking forward to spending all day with him in the close confines of the ute. They could hardly cope within the close confines of the