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‘Are you sure I don’t need my drone?’ Romy closed the passenger door of Stone’s ute, only to hesitate from moving.

‘Relax. It’s safe in this car park.’ Just in case, Stone double-checked the ute was locked.

‘Do I have to do this presentation?’ Romy dangled her daypack from one fingertip, as her shoulders slumped in exaggerated defeat, while whining like a kid trying to skip school.

‘Yes.’

But Romy still didn’t move from her spot.

‘What are you worried about?’

‘I don’t do presentations.’

‘You said that already.’

Romy shrugged, only to hold her shoulders high as if frozen, while pulling a face.

Well, hell. Now he understood why she’d found so many excuses to not do her own documentary. ‘Are you—the cameraman—camera shy?’

She shook her head in the most unconvincing way.

He chuckled.

‘It’s not funny.’

‘It’s cute.’ He playfully ruffled her hair.

Romy scrunched her face somewhere between a frown and a pout as she attempted to tidy up her hair. There were no loud complaints, or a desperate dive for the side mirror to check that each hair follicle was in place. Making it another tick in favour of the pretty little filmmaker.

But she still didn’t move.

Stone exhaled, hooking his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans, looking for a way to put her at ease. ‘Maybe, look at this presentation to the Stock Squad as an opportunity.’

‘For what?’

‘To gently ease into talking in front of people without your camera.’ He now realised she used it like a shield to not get involved. How was she ever going to pitch her films to distributors?

‘You seemed fine talking with Lenora and Jed yesterday, and the rest of the stock squad when you met them.’ She was strong and confident then, even though she didn’t have a camera. Yet she positively glowed when she finally did get her hands on the controls of her drone.

Except now she’d gone shy.

And she still wasn’t moving.

‘You talk.’

‘It’s your footage… How about I play the part as the assistant to this little gameshow?

I’m good-looking.’ Plonking his hand on his hip, he posed like a model on a runway that didn’t involve aircraft.

‘I’ll dazzle the crowd as I wave my hands over the screen like some infomercial god of the midnight hour. ’

And there it was, that sweet little smile creeping along the edges of her fine set of kissable lips.

‘What’s that saying of yours? Full-time…’

‘Sweetheart.’ He let the word hang in the air, which seemed to crackle with intensity just from the way she looked at him with those warm, brown eyes reflecting the world.

He couldn’t help but smooth over the hair he’d messed, gently tucking the soft strands behind one dainty ear as her soft and subtle scent of soap and lemongrass weaved a spell around him.

‘Don’t worry, shortcake, I’ll back you up.

You’ve got this. You have a talent you should be proud of.

’ He picked up her backpack and tugged on her wrist to lead her across the car park.

‘Welcome to the playpen.’ Stone gave a sweeping bow as the wide doors slid open, waiting for Romy to enter the air-conditioned reception area of the Elsie Creek Police Station.

‘And there’s my favourite officer, Tanisha, the queen of the front counter.’

‘With introductions like that, Stone, I’ll let you in.’ Tanisha, the robust Aboriginal woman in the police uniform, with an even bigger personality, pushed open the security door to let them into the inner sanctum, where he kissed her cheek in greeting. ‘Is this your new backpacker?’

‘Tanisha, meet the movie-making marvel, Romy Radford.’

Romy dropped her head, with that rose colour brushing her cheeks. She was adorable.

‘What happened to your skin, sweetie? The mozzies get you at Finley’s Pond?’

‘Hives. My fault.’ Stone was kicking himself for doing that to poor Romy. ‘Is the boss in?’

‘Yours is. Mine’s away.’ Tanisha gave the security door a firm push, the locks clicking into place with a solid clunk. ‘Marcus has gone on a book tour with his wife. And I got a signed advanced reader copy. I’ve read it twice already.’

‘Who’s in charge of the station, then?’

‘Technically Porter is Acting Sergeant. But we all know he’ll use Finn if need be.’

‘Talking about me again?’ Porter casually sauntered in through the back, his policeman’s belt hung over his shoulder with his uniform shirt loose and unbuttoned.

‘Policeman Porter.’

Porter’s police belt, loaded with handcuffs, torches, and other gadgets, landed with a heavy thud on the large table that rested between the front counter and the kitchen area, where a small TV stood on the fridge. ‘It’s detective—’

‘Whatever. We all know you cheated on that exam.’

Porter frowned as he buttoned up his shirt. ‘Don’t make me do a random drug test on you, Stone. Unless you want to be grounded for a while?’

‘Why? Is it going to be one of those days where I need my coffee strong enough to show up on one of your drug tests?’ Stone wasn’t worried, when it’d been a while since his last gummy bear session.

Although, he now had a fresh new batch of mushrooms saved for that special rainy day.

‘Hey, do you still go pig hunting with Bottle Shop Luke?’

‘Why? If you’ve got a pig problem, you should wipe your mouth more often when you eat.’

Stone laughed, patting Porter’s shoulder. ‘There’s a group of wild boars messing up one of my billabongs. They’re disturbing the breeding grounds for some of the exotic waterbirds.’ Pigs were a pest to his property. ‘I want them gone.’

‘I’ll speak to Luke later. He’s on shift at the fire station next door. Want us to save the hind legs for the boys?’

‘Always. You know where their freezer is. Usual fee?’

Porter nodded, buckling up his belt, then adjusting it to sit on his hips, only to narrow his eyes at Romy. ‘Are you okay, miss?’

‘Hives,’ said Tanisha. ‘I’ve got some cream for that, if they’re still a bother, sweetie?’

‘I’m good. Thanks.’ Romy dropped her head, lifting her shirt’s collar higher around her throat.

‘Did Stone try to poison you or something?’ Tanisha asked with a grin.

‘I didn’t do it on purpose.’ He hated what he’d done to Romy.

‘Oi!’ Porter stopped pouring out his coffee. ‘Are you serious?’

‘It was my fault,’ blurted out Romy, her little hand on Stone’s arm, as if ready to shield him from the big bad policeman.

Aww, shortcake.

‘I didn’t tell Stone I was allergic to shellfish.’

‘But I’ll know for next time.’ Stone patted her shoulder to put her at ease. But it did nothing to douse the guilt from gripping his guts for doing that to her.

‘Hey, I’m Porter.’ Porter wiped his hand on his shirt before holding it out to shake Romy’s. ‘You must be the new backpacker?’

‘So I keep getting told.’ Romy didn’t look happy about being labelled the backpacker.

But saying it kept her at arm’s length, reminding him she wasn’t here for long.

‘Stone!’ Finn stood in the hallway. ‘Stop annoying everyone and get your butt in here so we can begin.’

‘Yes, Bossman. Come on, Romy, it’s showtime.’