MasterinMelbourne Read Free Page A

I invited him into my bed, didn’t I? Or practically
I did. What was I thinking? I have no tolerance for alcohol at all. She
used to have a glass of wine before the “scenes” she’d do with Stu. Especially
if he was in a foul mood. It helped stop her from screaming, and he punished
her more when she screamed.
    But it wasn’t just the alcohol. I haven’t had any sort of
sex since. And I miss it. I wanted some nice, safe vanilla sex, something to
take the edge off. Even kinky girls like vanilla sometimes.
    She laughed. “I could call him, I suppose. Hey, I’m awake,
wanna fuck?” Right. She’d die of embarrassment. Besides, all the usual reasons
for not letting someone get intimate applied. She preferred her sex with an
edge, and yet the very thought of submitting to someone again made her shudder,
and she didn’t want to top either. I’ll be damned if I let Stu ruin sex for
me forever, but right now, I can’t.
    Still. I should call that guy. Nick. She flipped over
the card, read the number on the other side and put it back down again. Not
quite yet, though. Maybe after her head settled, after she had a cup of
coffee. She started some brewing. Thank goodness the hotel got enough Americans
that they had a coffee machine. Although she supposed she could stand tea in
the morning, if she had to.
    She looked at the travel brochures. The Old Melbourne Gaol
was supposed to be fantastic, but she still had trouble envisioning it being
fun. The zoo—she should definitely hit the zoo, but she’d feel she had to paint
if she went, and the way her head felt, there was no way she was going to do
any of that. She knew she was reinforcing the block in her mind that stopped
her from being creative, but that would burst someday, hopefully. Hopefully
before she had to be back at her secretarial job in Fort Worth. The state
library was an important visit for the family history research, but the idea of
sitting in an old building staring at musty books made her head throb. She much
preferred walking around, like she did when she’d gone to Ballarat two days
earlier.
    Royal Botanic Gardens. That looked relaxing. And she’d bring
her watercolors and a block of watercolor paper, just in case. Flowers didn’t
move, which made them less stressful to paint. She smiled. A step forward. I
can do this.
    She sat down and sipped her coffee, looking over the brochure,
getting more excited about going the more she read. It sounded beautiful. She
enjoyed the bustle of the city, all steel and concrete and whatever they made
the slick black sidewalks out of. But green space was what she needed today.
    Nick’s card stared up at her. She picked up the hotel phone
and dialed. It was a shame her cell didn’t work in Australia, but maybe it was
a good thing too. No one from home could bother her. Especially Stu. There’d
been an email from him in her inbox every day, but she didn’t have to check
email if she didn’t want to.
    The phone rang twice before he picked up. “Hello.”
    His voice sent a shiver down her spine. Sexy, low voice. It
was a lot like Stu’s, and yet because of his accent, it was different enough
that she wasn’t sure whether the shiver was from fear or pleasure, or both.
“Uh, hello. This is Zoe. I just wanted to thank you for last night.”
    “You’re very welcome. It was my pleasure, really. How’s your
head this morning?”
    “Bearable. Sorry for falling asleep on you.”
    “No worries. You looked like you needed it.”
    Such a nice, sweet man. Some men would have taken
advantage of me in my drunken state. Possibly most men. He’s really nice. Or he
thinks I’m ugly.
    “Are you in the country long?”
    “Just a few days yet, why?”
    “I wanted to know what kind of date to ask you out on.”
    “Listen, I don’t normally drink. If you think—”
    “I’m responding to a hunch. Maybe I like girls who point out
that I’m not wearing a dinner jacket, first thing. Maybe I’m curious. And in
any case,