Page 84 of Resist

“I DID NOT!”

“Yeah, you did.”

“How?”

“You went the wrong way?”

I stopped in my tracks. “SO! Normal road rules don’t apply.”

Lucas brushed a tendril of hair from my face, his eyes studying my nose and mouth. “Do you feel old now?”

“N … no.” My smile faltered.

His eyes widened and he kept walking. “Funny that.”

“Did you bring me here to make a point?”

“Yes, and no.” He stopped and turned to face me. “I brought you here because this was my favourite place growing up, and I wanted to share it with you. But I also wanted you to see that when we’re together, no one and nothing else matters. Not time, and definitely not age. It’s not a barrier, Helena, so stop seeing it as that.”

I sucked in a breath and willed back the tears. He was just too sweet, too caring … too much.

“Now…” Lucas held out his hand to me. “I have one more thing to show you before we head back for the show.”

I placed my hand in his. “And what’s that?”

“The best triple chocolate, choc chip fudge ice cream sundae you’ll ever eat.”

Baz revved the bus’s engineas we pulled away from the Big Gumboot in Tully on our way to Cairns. “Listen to her purr.”

His reflection in the rearview mirror spoke nothing but love and adoration for the luxurious machine; he was truly smitten with her, and I couldn’t be happier. I also couldn’t be happier with Sandra, Bec, Sally, and Til’s reaction to the show the night before. They’d loved it, even if it meant they had to cover their eyes every now and again to avoid seeing Lucas’s bare arse. Overall, Townsville had been a success, and I felt good leaving there despite where we were now headed.

“Queensland has so many big things,” Cori said as she took her seat. She scrolled through her camera reel. “A big pineapple, big barrel, big bulls, a big ugly toad, that cool big gumboot, and next … a big Captain Cook.” She pouted. “But then I think that’s the end of my big things.”

Josh stood up to let her sit by the window. “There is no end to the big things I can show you, sweetheart.”

“Yeah, starting with that big head of yours,” Brad said.

He walked up the aisle of the bus, his focus on the text message he was typing. Josh stuck out his foot, and Brad tripped but recovered quickly.

“Good on ya, Dickhead.” He turned his phone around to face Josh. “I just sent Em a text that said ‘You make me hardhats’. It was supposed to say ‘hard’.”

Cori cracked up laughing. “Oh my God, please tell me what she writes back.”

Brad grumbled and took a seat farther up the bus, and not a minute later, his phone chimed, and he laughed.

“What’d she say?” Cori called out.

“Me Jane. You Tarzan. Me make you horny.”

I laughed. I had a feeling I’d like Em just as much as Cori if I met her. These guys needed strong, feisty women in their lives, women who weren’t afraid to put them in their place when needed.

Refocussing on my iPad, I scrolled to the website of the supplier who provided us with our costumes and props.

“What are you looking for?” Lucas asked.

“Your nerd/hot teacher outfit. Patsy said there were a few. She wanted me to run them by you before choosing which one.” I pointed to a model wearing black trousers, suspenders, a checkered shirt, and a large white lab coat. “I like this one. It kinda has everything.”

“Not sure about the checkered shirt.”