Butterfly Hunter 01 by Julie Bozza Read Free Book Online

confide in the other man – but what he said
was, “You promised you wouldn’t flirt.”
    “ Not my fault you’re so gorgeous, not to mention
promising me spectacular nights.”
    “ Huh.” Dave
stepped away. So gorgeous, yes, he reflected sourly, when the only
person he’d ever wanted to hold such an opinion had proved it
untrue just over a year ago. And that was that. It hardly mattered
if some eccentric English earling had taken it into his head to
feel attracted. Dave muttered a few choice swear words under his
breath, and kicked disconsolately at the nearest shrub – which sat
there, sturdy and unmoved.
    “ David …”
Nicholas sounded infinitely compassionate, all sorrow and
grace.
    “ Leave it be,”
Dave insisted. Then he said, rather more reasonably, “Take your
time. There’s no hurry. I’ll wait with the Cruiser.”
    “ Of course.”
And Nicholas crouched to examine something at ground level, his
Bluegrass Green Akubra tilting to hide his face.
    Dave made as cool an exit as he
could.
    When Nicholas finally
returned to the Cruiser, Dave was deep into The Nutmeg of Consolation –
and he felt all the better for it. He lifted his head once Nicholas
had clambered back into the passenger seat, to find the man smiling
at him fondly.
    “ You’re a
reader,” Nicholas commented. “That actually explains a great
deal.”
    “ Not really.”
Dave shrugged.
    “ You like the
Aubrey–Maturin novels, though? That’s wonderful! And what
else?”
    “ There’s
twenty of them,” Dave explained. “Twenty–one if you count the last,
but it was only half done when he died. When I finish, I just go
back to the start again.”
    Nicholas laughed, though he
sounded more delighted than cruel.
    “ I’ve
read The Last of the
Mohicans . And Moby Dick . But mostly just
these. Denise is the serious reader. She loves George Eliot – who’s
a woman. And Tchaikovsky.”
    Nicholas took a breath, and
glanced at him askance, before deliberately not saying
anything.
    “ All right, so
I’ve got the name wrong again, don’t I?”
    “ Um …
Dostoyevsky?” Nicholas hazarded.
    “ That’s the
bloke,” Dave equably agreed. He didn’t pretend to be educated,
after all, but he did love these novels. “I think I’ll be reading
these all my life.”
    “ I can’t think
of anything better,” said Nicholas.
     
    They reached Charleville late
that afternoon, checked into the hotel, and then met half an hour
later in the lobby. Despite the fact that they had adjoining rooms
again, Dave had been very firm on the location for their
rendezvous, and he went down early, while he could still hear
Nicholas moving around next door, apparently taking his time
unpacking and freshening up.
    Once Nicholas joined him,
they headed off down the street to the pub that was Charlie’s
regular. The westering sun bathed them in gold as they walked along
side by side.
    “ Now,”
said Dave, breaking the silence in his best this is me setting the rules voice. “We need to be tactful here. We’re not gonna blunder
in where we’re not wanted, all right?”
    “ Yes,
David,” Nicholas replied with a fair crack at a this is me being the meek and obedient
client voice. The trouble being that it
was always undermined – always , Dave had learned this
already – by a happy little smirk loitering around the man’s
shapely pink lips.
    “ Charlie’s a
mate; we go back for years. We’ll say g’day and I’ll introduce you,
just as soon as it feels right. I mean, just like with anyone. He
might already be hanging out with his friends, or something. I
mean, his own people. In which case, we don’t interrupt unless it’s
clear we’re welcome.”
    Nicholas nodded, seriously.
Apparently now hanging upon every word.
    “ It’s not that
Charlie’s not completely comfortable in both cultures. But if he’s
hanging with his Aboriginal friends, then we don’t expect him to
switch over to our register right away.”
    “ No, of
course.”
    “ And