Need You Tonight, page 8
Daemon’s hand swept over her naked hip, lips on her shoulder, his fingertips brushing over sensitised skin and down, down …
The honk of a horn outside brought her abruptly out of her dream.
Lexi rolled over with a groan. She felt so … so … unfulfilled? No, that wasn’t quite right. She felt empty, her body full of unwanted flutters and twitchy nerves. She wanted …
Daemon.
She sat up abruptly, curled fists pressed into her stomach. No! She didn’t want him. That was just something her mind had conjured up because of how he’d made her feel when he played her music.
Damn him! Damn her stupid mind, making something of nothing, making her all hot and bothered and feeling how she’d felt as a teenager with a stupid crush on Matthew Wilson.
It took a moment to register the slant of the sun on the end of her bed that hadn’t been there when she’d woken earlier. She grabbed her phone.
‘Eight o’clock! Shit!’ She could have sworn she’d only pressed the ‘sleep’ function, which should have given her another fifteen minutes, not an hour and a half.
She pushed the covers back, scrambling out of bed.
Why hadn’t Billy come up to check on her?
Fifteen minutes later, dressed in jeans, boots and a flannelette shirt over an old, soft t-shirt, she raced downstairs to the kitchen to ask Bev where Cat and Billy were.
‘He and Gavin took her for a walk in the walled garden before they had to leave.’
‘Thanks.’ She grabbed an apple from the bowl on the bench and turned to run to the door.
‘Ah-ah! No skipping breakfast,’ Bev said, brandishing a plate with thick slices of fresh sourdough slathered with butter and Vegemite. Lexi grabbed a piece—Bev’s freshly made sourdough and Vegemite was too good to pass on.
‘Take a jacket and some gloves and a beanie,’ Bev said as she yanked the door open. ‘It’s cold out. Karl thinks another storm is coming. They’re expecting snow to three hundred metres.’
‘The resort owners on Buller must be thrilled to have so much snow this late in the season,’ Lexi said. She held the sourdough between her teeth as she put her jacket on, shoved a beanie on her head and her gloves into the pocket of her jacket.
‘It’s good for everyone in the area—although we could do without the river flooding and destroying that fence line again.’
‘Cross our fingers that won’t happen.’
‘Have fun.’
Lexi waggled her fingers at Bev before running outside to the walled garden, swallowing the last of her breakfast on the way.
Her breath puffed on the air as she headed past Bev’s vegetable garden. The nip of cold was enough to have her dragging the beanie down over her ears and pulling on her gloves once she finished her breakfast. Despite the fact it was mid-September and they were expecting more snow in the alps, there were signs of spring all around. Some of the roses around the house and in Bev’s cottage garden were already budding, their scent brushing past her. And the wattle was in full bloom, the yellow a burst of golden sunshine under the lowering darkness of the clouds. A bird chirruped overhead as she made her way beneath the blossoming boughs of apple and plum trees in the small orchard between the house and the walled garden—according to Bev they should have a bumper crop of fruit this year. Smiling at the thought of all the apple pies and plum jam Bev would make, she entered the garden through a mossy gate in the grey, pockmarked wall.
Her feet crunched on the gravel, the sound of the fountain in the middle of the garden greeting her from where it tinkled away beyond the thick arches of the tree boughs and hedges that hid it at the garden’s centre. She paused, wondering which way, then heard Billy’s voice.
‘Look, Cat. Can you see the two rosellas there on the branch?’
‘Is she actually looking at them?’ asked a soft, feminine voice with a southern twang that she recognised as Melissa’s.
‘I haven’t seen her do that before.’ Gavin’s light tenor echoed through the trees.
‘It’s the first time she’s noticed anything in days.’ Billy’s voice was filled with quiet, happy relief. ‘Although it shouldn’t surprise me. She used to call them rainbow birds when we were younger. She thought they were that colour because they’d flown through a rainbow. She was disappointed when she found out that wasn’t true.’
‘I like the rainbow story,’ Melissa said, laughing.
‘You were always a softy for a pretty story.’ The quiet rumble of Phil’s voice always reminded Lexi of the deep bass of the drums he played so well.
‘Cat always had a great way of looking at the world,’ Lexi commented as she turned the last bend in the path to see both Melissa and Phil standing with Billy, Gavin and Cat next to the sunken fountain that was the centre point of the garden.
‘Good morning, sleepyhead,’ Billy said.
‘Cat’s watching the birds.’ Gavin’s voice was filled with quiet excitement, his light brown eyes alight with pleasure. They were so lucky to have found him.
‘I can see.’ She took Cat’s hand, chafing her cold fingers, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. See? Not so hard to act normal. She could do this. ‘Good morning, Kitty-Cat.’
Cat kept watching the birds. Her disappointment must have shown because Billy touched her arm and said quietly, ‘She hasn’t acknowledged anyone this morning.’
‘A fact I would know if you’d not let me sleep in,’ she said, her voice a harsh whisper aimed for his ears only.
She was aware of Billy’s assessing gaze and was ready to ignore him except he apparently wasn’t ready to be ignored.
‘Excuse us for a moment,’ Billy said as he gripped Lexi’s hand and pulled her a few paces away, leaving Gavin to look after Cat and chat to Melissa and Phil.
When they were on the other side of the fountain, he said in a low voice, ‘Don’t get snarky with me. I was only trying to let you catch up on some sleep.’
‘What makes you think I needed a catch up?’
‘The ten tonne bags under your eyes for starters,’ he said with a withering look. ‘Your snarkiness is also a giveaway. What’s wrong?’
‘I’m fine.’
‘No, you’re not. Are you going to tell me about it?’
She shook her head. She couldn’t tell him she’d dreamed about Daemon. Or about the nightmares that still troubled her sleep that were a leftover gift from her letter-writing stalker. Or about that strange creeping sensation she’d had a few times like she was being watched—like the feeling she had now. She turned and looked behind her. Nobody was there. See, she was being stupid. Just leftover stalker paranoia. ‘It’s nothing.’
‘You can’t shut out those who love you, Lexi.’
‘I’m not.’ She sighed, exasperated. ‘I need a friend, Billy, not a mum. Can you just be my friend and trust me when I say I’m fine?’
He touched the darkened smudge of skin under her eye. ‘I just wish you’d talk to me.’
A twig snapped behind them.
Lexi gasped and jumped around, hands raising a little. She almost collapsed in relief when she saw Daemon and Craig coming towards them.
‘Are you okay?’ Billy whispered, his hand on her arm steadying her.
‘I’m fine.’ She pulled away and walked back to join the others.
‘Was there a meeting and why wasn’t I invited?’ Craig asked, a smile splitting his face.
‘As if you need an invitation,’ Melissa said, giving them both pecks on the cheek. ‘We were just exploring this wonderful hidden garden and bumped into Billy, Gavin and Cat.’
‘So, what were you all doing?’
Lexi became uncomfortably aware that Daemon’s gaze had returned to her, flickered to Billy then back to her. His friendly smile was replaced with a frown. What the hell was that about?
‘Now that I’ve finished getting us all moved in and everything the way the boys like it in the Barn House, I was hoping to go out for a ride,’ Melissa said. ‘Anyone want to join me?’
‘Mel, I don’t think—’ Phil began, but Melissa waved her hand at him.
‘Oh, stop fussing, you worrywart. I’m a Texan. We give birth in the saddle.’
Lexi couldn’t help laughing. She really liked the other woman. ‘I’m happy to head down with you and introduce you to Karl. I don’t think you met him the other day when you went to the stables?’ Melissa shook her head. ‘He’ll help get you kitted up.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your morning.’
‘It’s not a problem. Cat loves it down there.’
‘We’ll come too,’ Craig said, slapping Daemon on the shoulder. ‘To stop Melissa from killing Phil if he gets between her and the horse she wants to ride.’
Daemon nodded as everyone else laughed, his gaze on Lexi. He watched her with such an intense expression it made her remember the way he’d looked at her in her dream.
Heated. Filled with want.
Hastily turning away, she hooked her arm through Cat’s and looked up at Billy. ‘Don’t you and Gavin have to go?’ She looked expectantly at Gavin.
‘I don’t start until ten,’ Gavin said. ‘We’ve got time to come down to the stables. Besides, Billy was telling me about the horse therapy he’s thinking of implementing, so it would be good to go and see what’s what so I can help with that too when I’m here.’
‘Okay. Sounds great.’
They all set off in a little group, Phil and Melissa in front, Cat between Lexi and Billy with Gavin beside him chatting about the horse therapy, and Daemon and Craig following behind.
As they walked, Lexi was aware of Daemon’s gaze burrowing into her. Maybe it was him watching her that she’d been aware of since they’d started working together. Although, the way she felt when he looked at her was very different to the cold prickle she’d felt on those other occasions. When his eyes were on her, there was a heated awareness that just didn’t seem to want to go away, no matter how much she tried to ignore it. It had been there from the very first moment they’d met but had gotten so much worse after he’d played her music the other night, opening some locked away part of her.
Now you’re being fanciful! He’d played her music and she had to get over how intimate it had seemed. How uncomfortable it had made her. How she couldn’t get him out of her dreams. It wasn’t like he hadn’t played her music many times in the last few days—they’d been working on one of the songs she’d written for him—for them—and that hadn’t made her go all funny inside.
Straightening her shoulders, she tried to ignore him as they entered the stables. She breathed in the comforting smells of hay and horse and felt mildly more settled. She introduced Melissa to Karl and involved herself in the discussion about the best horse for the pregnant woman to ride, with Karl wanting to check her knowledge and her seat before he let her go off to ride across the paddocks. Phil smiled and nodded at the other man like he’d just made an ally and best friend while his fingers played a counterpoint rhythm to the conversation on his leg.
Her gaze followed Billy, Gavin and Cat as they ambled over to Kelsey, the horse she’d bought for her twin. Cat lifted a hand to stroke Kelsey’s nose. Bittersweet pain filled Lexi’s chest at another sign Cat was responding to things other than her. She pushed it aside and wandered over to them. ‘Don’t you have to go?’
Billy glanced at his watch. ‘Yeah.’
‘I’ll just go get my bag. See you all later in the week,’ Gavin said as he waved goodbye and headed out of the stables.
Billy bent and kissed Cat’s cheek. ‘I’ll be back later this afternoon. Be good for your sister while I’m gone.’ Cat didn’t indicate she’d heard him at all, but as he moved away, waving goodbye to the others, Lexi thought her sister’s gaze followed him.
‘Cat?’ Cat’s gaze dulled and she stared at the floor. Lexi sighed.
‘Well—’ Melissa clapped her hands together, bringing Lexi’s attention back to the others, ‘—let’s get this sorted, y’all. I’d really love to go out for a ride now.’
‘There’s a storm coming but you’ve got maybe an hour or so before it rolls in.’
‘Oh, I don’t care about a little rain.’
‘We don’t get little rains here,’ Karl said, smiling. ‘There might even be a touch of snow on the hills around us. There’s Driza-Bones in the cupboard there—they’ll mostly keep you dry if the rain does catch you. Find a helmet on the shelf there that fits, then I’ll check your form. Once you’re set, I’ll get Stan to go out with you and show you around. He’s my right-hand man and will take care of you all.’ He called out to his ex-army buddy who he’d brought onboard right from the start. Stan came out of the office. ‘What’s up, boss?’
Phil, obviously having given up the impossible task of dissuading his wife, hovered around her as their horses were saddled. Craig decided to go with them, laughingly telling Phil he was doing it to save the drummer’s neck, seeing as his hovering was obviously driving Melissa insane. Melissa’s gentle smile of contentment gave the lie to his statement, but she said, ‘The more the merrier. Are you going to come?’ she asked Daemon.
‘You ride?’ Lexi asked.
Daemon nodded. ‘When I was eleven I went to live with my da in a small country town in Ireland. There wasn’t much else to do but ride.’ He looked her up and down. ‘Are you riding?’
‘Not right now. I need to get Cat into the gym.’
‘Do you need help with that?’
Taken aback by his offer, she stuttered, ‘N-no. We’ll be fine. You go out for a ride.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m sure.’
He looked at her, considering, before nodding. ‘A ride sounds good.’
She stayed long enough to wave them off, aware how Daemon kept looking at her as if he was trying to figure something out.
That look—it made her throat go dry and her hands shake.
She was relieved when they were finally gone, riding down the road that led to the bush by the river. She took Cat’s hand and led her, resisting, out of the stables and up to the gym.
She spent the next hour trying to get Cat to do the exercises Billy got her to do every day. Cat resisted everything. How did Billy, Bev and Gavin get her to do this?
When the storm broke with a loud crash of thunder that echoed across the fields, wind whistling around the eaves, rattling the windows, she glanced outside, hoping Stan had got the band back before the rain had come down. Then she turned back to Cat, trying to get her to do the last of the exercises, but Cat wasn’t budging. With an exasperated sigh, she gave up. ‘Fine, you win. Let’s go upstairs and I’ll run you a nice bath.’ Maybe some soothing, warm water would be just the thing.’
But that appeared to be a bad idea, too, because Cat wouldn’t lift her limbs to help Lexi get her out of her workout gear. A snarling headache pressed around her temple and on the fifth attempt to get Cat’s leggings off, Lexi ran out of patience.
‘Are you being difficult to torment me? You can’t blame me forever, you know, so just bloody well stand up!’ She winced as the unfair words rang around her.
Leaning her head against her sister’s knee, she whispered, ‘I’m sorry, Cat. But please. I can’t do this without some help from you.’ She looked up, but there wasn’t so much as a flicker in Cat’s eyes. ‘Please, Cat. I need your help.’ She was no longer talking about the leggings.
Cat’s expression remained blank. No, not blank. There was a little furrow between her brows and she seemed to be pointedly staring at something over Lexi’s shoulder. She looked behind her at the unicorn sitting on the bookshelf.
It was in the wrong place. She suddenly remembered it always sat on the bedside table in Cat’s old bedroom. Oh god, what else had she got wrong? No wonder Cat didn’t feel comfortable. She got up to move it and tripped over the shoe she’d thrown behind her, stumbling and stubbing her toe against the bed-end. ‘Shit!’ Toe throbbing, she began to hop around, rubbing at her foot. ‘Idiot!’
‘Do you need any help, love?’
She turned to see Bev standing in the doorway and lowered her foot, feeling foolish. ‘The unicorn’s in the wrong place and who knows what else which is probably why she is being so uncooperative for me because I couldn’t even remember how she liked her things to be. And I should have. Who else would know but me? I meant to make her feel safe and comfortable and like this was home and I can’t … I can’t …’
‘What are you talking about? The room is perfect. You’ve done a marvellous job. She’s at home here.’
‘Then why does she do things for everyone else but not for me?’ Swallowing rising hysteria, she tried to lift Cat’s foot again, pulled, lost her grip and fell back with a jarring thud.
‘Are you okay?’ Bev ran to her side.
Cheeks aflame, she let her aching head drop into her hands. She was exhausted. So exhausted. ‘No, I’m not.’
‘Hey.’ Bev smoothed her hand over Lexi’s hair. ‘What’s going on?’
Lexi sniffed. ‘You, Billy, even Gavin, can deal with Cat better than me. I’m pathetic.’
‘No, you’re not, love. She can be difficult at times. And it’s so much more draining on you than us.’
Lexi looked up at her. ‘Why do you say that?’
‘Because she’s your sister. Your twin. The fact she’s like this, the loss of her, affects you more deeply than anyone. Especially given you’ve never gotten over the guilt that she was taken instead of you.’
Lexi’s chin wobbled and she blinked hard, horribly afraid she was about to burst into tears. Bev was one of the few people she’d shared the truth with, but she hadn’t thought she’d told her about how guilty she felt. Was she that transparent?
‘Now, now. Let’s get you off the floor and see what the damage is.’ She took Bev’s hand and allowed the older woman to help her up. ‘Anything hurt?’
