Driving Her Crazy by Amy Andrews Page B

going to want my money back if you’re getting me up there under false pretences.’
    Kent saluted. ‘Money-back guarantee.’
    Sadie kicked off her ballet flats and felt the warmth of the engine heat her cool toes as she clamoured gingerly to her feet. She gave a slight bounce, testing the strength of the metal beneath, satisfied to feel absolutely no give whatsoever.
    She scrambled up the windscreen, hanging onto the sturdy metal rungs welded to the roof completely enclosing it. At least she wouldn’t roll off the roof in her sleep! She rather inelegantly hauled herself up over the top and crawled on her hands and knees towards Kent and her swag.
    She didn’t look at him as she climbed into her bedding and zipped it up to her chin. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, hoping that she could block him and their sleeping arrangement out altogether. She was immediately cocooned in fleecy warmth, tiredness injecting instant fatigue into her marrow. She moved around for a bit attempting to find a comfortable spot, thankful for the swag’s padded lining on the unforgiving metal rooftop.
    ‘Will you stop wriggling,’ Kent grumbled. He was actually feeling tired and there was something soothing about being outdoors. He planned on taking full advantage.
    Sadie stopped moving and opened her eyes as the illusion that she wasn’t on a car rooftop in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, with a virtual stranger was completely obliterated by his gruff command.
    And then a billion stars and a crescent moon took over and everything else melted away.
    They had stars in Sydney. She’d often been out on the harbour at night and had them twinkle down at her, but somehow they just hadn’t been able to compete with the ones twinkling from the buildings that made up Sydney’s iconic skyline.
    Not so tonight.
    Tonight a New Year’s Eve fireworks display would have paled in comparison.
    The inky blackness blazed and dazzled as the lights from billions of stars glowed seemingly just for her. They crowded each other out, a black and white kaleidoscope, and on the roof of the car in the vast nothingness of the outback night, where the line between heaven and earth didn’t exist, Sadie felt as if she could just reach up and pluck one from the cosmos.
    Looking up, she suddenly understood how Van Gogh must have felt when he’d painted his famous starry French sky.
    She breathed out. ‘Wow.’
    ‘Indeed,’ Kent agreed, staring into the inky dome with her. ‘You want your money back now?’
    Sadie shook her head slowly. ‘They’re like...diamonds or crystals or teardrops or...something... I don’t have the words.’
    Kent grimaced. Unfortunately he did. They were the diamanté on Sadie’s pink thong.
    All trillion of them.
    Winking down at him.
    ‘Wow,’ he murmured, trying to divert his thoughts from her underwear. ‘Sadie Bliss lost for words. Somebody call a doctor.’
    Sadie smiled as her gaze roamed the sky. ‘Shut up, Kent Nelson. You’re ruining the moment.’
    Kent chuckled. ‘I’ll make a camper out of you yet.’
    Sadie ignored him as a sudden revelation dawned. She might not be able to find the words but she knew exactly how she could express the swell of emotion swirling inside her. The urge to paint, to replicate what she saw on canvas, flowed through her on a surge of energy that fizzed and bubbled in her veins like a slug of Moët.
    She hadn’t felt it in a long time. Not since Leo had told her she’d only been awarded the scholarship to the London Art College because the director owed him a favour.
    ‘Don’t you want to take a picture of it?’ she said quietly, not wanting to disturb the preternatural hush of the sleeping outback.
    Kent glanced at her, surprised by the awe, the emotion in her voice. Her lips were slightly parted, the waning light from the crescent moon laid gentle fingers across the plush pillows.
    He nodded as he fixed his gaze firmly heavenward again. ‘Yes,’ he admitted.