Red Dirt Heart 3 Read Online Free PDF Page A

for business deals and proposals. Blake seemed like a fair man, but he was here to discuss business. I had no intention of bringing up his sex life, so why should I bring up mine?
    I changed subjects again, pointing off to the right, showing him a line of wild camels. He just shook his head in wonder. “So weird to see them out here.”
    I nodded. I guessed it was. “Been a pest out here since they built the railroad from Adelaide to Darwin. Afghans brought ’em here a hundred and fifty years ago. Couldn’t take ’em home, so they just left ’em, I guess.”
    “Pests, huh?” he said with a good-natured smile. “Kinda like your little wombat.”
    I snorted and shook my head. “First it was a kangaroo, now it’s a wombat. We’ll be a wildlife sanctuary before too long.”
    “I might be getting a little ahead of myself here,” he said, and his voice sounded hesitant in my ears through the chopper headset. “I can’t promise anything, and this ain’t no guarantee.”
    I waited for him to get the words right. Wishing and hoping he was about to say what I thought he was about to say.
    “Nothing’s for sure until our vets do an inspection for themselves,” he said. “I just want you to know that.”
    “Fair enough.”
    “But I was thinking…” he hedged nervously, “that, gee, my wife would love to see this place.”
    I barked out a laugh. “Anytime.”
    * * * *
    By the time I landed the chopper down on Sutton soil, it was getting on close to dinner time and my mind was frayed. It’d been a big day. Nothing physical, more mental, and spending that long in the chopper, concentrating and navigating, was draining.
    I was met by a grinning Travis, who brought with him a hundred questions about how it went. “Pretty good, I think” was about all I said. “Can we talk about it later? I’m beat.”
    No sooner was I inside than Nugget was shoved into my arms for a feed. At dinner, a full table of leftovers and fresh breads, I told everyone about my conversation with Blake and then fed the bloody wombat again, one more time before bed. I was yawning and my eyelids were heavy, so when Travis led me to our room, I didn’t protest.
    Not that I ever did.
    He held my face and kissed me, softly, soundly, sighing as he pulled his lips from mine.
    “I have three hours before I’m on feeding duty again,” I mumbled.
    Travis lifted my chin. He smiled, dark-eyed and husky-voiced. “I can think of plenty to do in three hours.”
    As he was peeling my shirt off, I asked, “Is sleep a part of that?”
    He shook his head and pulled at the button on my jeans, opening them. “Get on the bed, Charlie,” he murmured.
    I fell back on the soft, soft cloud-like doona, and Travis grinned as he grabbed my jeans at my ankles and pulled them off me. Then he proceeded to nudge his nose up every inch of my body, followed by a scruffy chin and soft lips. He made sure I didn’t miss a minute of the next three hours.
    * * * *
    After all the incessant thumping I could stand, I walked outside. Well, it was more like stomped outside, the slamming screen door punctuating my lack of sleep and patience perfectly. I looked up at where Travis was on the roof. “Could you bang any fucking louder?”
    Travis looked down at me and grinned. “Yep. Gimme a sec.” He held his hand out to Bacon. “Pass me the bigger hammer.”
    I grumbled. Or growled, or maybe a bit of both. He was re-sheeting the iron roof. Typical Travis, needed something to do and with the still cool weather, he must have figured now was as good a time as any. Of course he didn’t want my help. I had an assessment due and financial figures to look over, so he’d barred me from helping, and he had Bacon up there helping instead. They were both smiling now.
    “You’re not funny.”
    Travis laughed. “You want me to bang out a tune? What about ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’?”
    I glared at him. “What about ‘Shut the Fuck Up’? You heard that tune?”
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