Some Girls Do (Outback Heat Book 1) by Amy Andrews Page A

distract him. Even if he was going to spend a lot of that time thinking about spreading her out on the hood of her newly renovated car and greasing her nipples.
    He drove back into town around four and headed straight for Campbell’s Auto-repairs. It was similar to what his father’s place had been like before Coop had modernised a lot of the equipment. Two petrol pumps sat out front. A shop where spare parts, car care products and junk food could be bought was attached to the main garage area where a huge workshop area was secured behind two large roller doors.
    Alec Campbell greeted him like a long-lost son and gave him a quick rundown on the business. They arranged for Coop to come in for a few hours tomorrow to see how things were done, then Alec would leave on Wednesday. Alec was keen to chat and Coop let the man ramble about the glory days before computers ran cars—anything to delay seeing Lacey again with that box of condoms still weighing on his mind.
    It was five before Coop ventured down into the main bar area of The Stockman looking for Lacey, who wasn’t in their room. With her phone in his possession he had no way of contacting her, but he figured JJ would know.
    “Here he is!”
    Coop was surprised to find Lacey behind the bar with JJ. She was in jeans and a V-necked T-shirt, sporting that high ponytail of hers again. The one that made her look too young to be serving behind a bar.
    Or shacked up with him.
    “Oh. Hi. That was fast,” he said. Maybe this whole thing could be resolved much sooner than two weeks?
    “It’s just temporary,” she said. “Covering for one of JJ’s part-timers who’s broken an ankle.”
    Or maybe not. “I didn’t know you could pull a beer?”
    “She can’t,” a guy in an ancient hat further down the bar said, raising his glass to inspect the rather large head atop the amber liquid.
    “Hey,” JJ said. “She’s new, cut her some slack.”
    Lacey grinned at him and Coop was glad there was a stool nearby because he couldn’t remember when he’d ever seen such a glow to her.
    Sure, the night she’d lied about her age and seduced him, she’d been all smiles. But even back then he’d been aware of a brittleness to her smiles. Now though, her eyes shone.
    “You wanna beer?”
    “Don’t do it man,” hat guy muttered.
    Coop laughed. “Sure, I’m game.”
    Lacey’s eyes sparkled as she grabbed a glass and held it under the tap. The head was still large but what she lacked in skill she made up for with enthusiasm. JJ winced slightly when she saw it and apologised. Coop shrugged, picked it up and drank it.
    There were worse things in life than a beer with too much head.
    “So, how’d it go in Brissy?” Lacey asked.
    “Fine,” he nodded, licking the froth off his upper lip. “Your phone is upstairs on charge.”
    “Thank God, I’m having Facebook withdrawal,” she said. He rolled his eyes and she beamed at him. “What’d you tell your folks?”
    “That my mechanical skills were required in Jumbuck Springs.”
    Lacey laughed. “I bet that’s not something you thought you’d ever say.”
    “Ah, no.” But then he’d done and said a lot of things since meeting Lacey he’d never thought he would. “How’d you go today? Get everything sorted with college?”
    “Yes, I spoke with the dean at length about deferring. He was very understanding. He directed me to an online form to fill out, which is all sorted now.”
    “You have been busy.”
    “I needed to lock that stuff down so there aren’t any fall-back avenues for me.”
    He nodded. “And have you seen any of your brothers today?”
    She shook her head, her smile dimming a little. “Not yet.”
    “Correction,” JJ said as she brushed past with a drink order, tipping her chin towards the door.
    They both turned to watch Ethan stride in, a rather sombre-looking Connie by his side. Still in his navy police fatigues, he nodded at JJ and his sister and scowled at Coop.
    Coop’s jaw