Driving Her Crazy by Amy Andrews Page A

That’s their job, I guess.’
    Her mother had worried about her too. About how she’d tried so hard to be the boy her father wanted. Tried even harder to be the woman Leo wanted. She’d been especially concerned at Sadie’s obsession with her figure.
    Kent looked down at the pensive look on her face. She seemed to have gone somewhere far away, a little frown knitting her brows together, her teeth torturing that perfect bottom lip.
    ‘Come on,’ he said, stepping back from her. And her mouth. ‘We better get this show on the road if we want to get to Mt Isa before this day is over.’

    They got to Mt Isa at eleven that night after a couple of stops for photos. They’d passed the hours with minimal conversation despite Sadie’s best efforts.
    ‘How are you feeling?’ Kent asked as he pulled into a petrol station. ‘Tired?’
    Sadie shook her head. Strangely she wasn’t. Driving through the eerily flat landscape on a cloudless, practically moonless night had been weirdly energising. As if she were in a spaceship, floating through the cosmos.
    ‘You want to see if we can make the Northern Territory border? It’s another couple of hours but it’ll cut the trip down tomorrow. We can pull off to the side of the road and catch a few hours’ kip before moving on.’
    Sadie regarded him for a minute. ‘Pull over? And where do we sleep?’
    ‘I’ll take my swag up to the roof of the vehicle and sleep under the stars. You can doss down on the back seat if you like.’
    She pursed her lips. ‘Camping, huh?’
    Kent shot her a derisive look. ‘I’d hardly call it that. But it’s something you should try at least once in your life.’
    Sadie looked at him. At his mouth.
    Her, him and a billion stars.
    And his mouth.
    ‘Okay.’

FIVE
    ‘Are you coming up or not?’
    Sadie stood with her hands on the bull bar as an outback night stretched dark and mysterious like a lucky eight ball above her head.
    It was one a.m. and they were pulled over near the dust-encrusted sign that announced their entry into the Northern Territory. It was chilly and she shivered.
    ‘Are you sure it’s okay to walk on your car? Won’t it get dinged?’
    Kent shut his eyes, blocking out the pinpricks of light twinkling down at him. ‘If it was one of those modern four-wheel drives, sure. But this thing wasn’t built to crumple. It was built to deflect.’
    Sadie eyed the bonnet dubiously even though she knew how sturdy it was from the way it handled. Walking on a car just didn’t seem right.
    ‘By my reckoning I have you by a good twenty-five to thirty kilos, Sadie Bliss, and it didn’t buckle under my weight. Unless of course you want to stay on the ground there and fend off the spiders.’
    Sadie’s pulse spiked as she leapt onto the bull bar. Her gaze flicked from side to side. ‘There are spiders?’
    Kent opened his eyes and grinned at the strained note in her voice. ‘Probably a few scorpions too, I’d say.’
    Sadie shuddered. ‘Now, see, this is why I don’t camp. There aren’t any scorpions at five-star hotels,’ she griped.
    ‘There aren’t any up here either,’ he said, too tired for hysterics.
    Sadie flicked her gaze from the ground to the roof of the car where she could just make out the outline of Kent’s body encased in his swag. ‘Think I’ll just use the back seat,’ she said, even though the thought of having to put her foot to the ground was creeping her out.
    ‘Up to you. But, just so you know, you’re missing out on a truly spectacular experience.’ The celestial display was utterly dazzling and Kent wished he’d brought his camera up with him. ‘It’ll blow your mind, city girl.’
    Sadie rolled her eyes and muttered, ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s what they all say,’ under her breath. Except sound travelled exceptionally well through a still outback night and she blushed when she heard Kent chuckle.
    ‘Okay,’ she announced in a louder voice as she hauled herself onto the bonnet. ‘But I’m