Page 32 of Outback Hearts

Footsteps on the scaffold behind her. She knew without looking it was Jake.

‘Thought I’d find you up here,’ he said, coming to stand beside her. ‘You do your best thinking at height, don’t you?’

‘Something about the perspective,’ Amelia said. ‘Everything seems clearer from up here.’

They stood in silence, watching the sun sink towards the horizon. She was acutely aware of his presence—close enough to touch, but maintaining that careful distance he always kept.

‘Amelia,’ Jake said finally. ‘I need to tell you something.’

Her heart stuttered. ‘Okay.’

He was quiet for a long moment, seeming to struggle with words. ‘This—working with you, teaching you—it’s becoming difficult. Not because you’re not good at it. You’re exceptional. But because—’

He stopped, shook his head.

‘Because what?’ Amelia prompted, barely breathing.

‘Because I’m finding it very hard to maintain professional boundaries when all I want to do is—’ He cut himself off again, frustrated. ‘This isn’t appropriate. You’re my employee. My student. There’s a power dynamic. I shouldn’t be saying any of this.’

‘But you are saying it,’ Amelia pointed out, her voice soft.

‘I am,’ Jake agreed. ‘Because you deserve to know that if the circumstances were different, if we’d met in any other context—’

‘We’d be more than friends already,’ Amelia finished.

Jake turned to face her fully, and the intensity in his eyes made her breath catch. ‘Yes. We would.’

They stood there, inches apart, the air between them electric. Amelia could see him fighting with himself, professionalism warring with wanting.

Finally, he stepped back, breaking the spell.

‘But circumstances aren’t different,’ he said, his voice rough. ‘So we wait. We do this properly. And when the project’s finished, and there’s no question of power dynamics—’

‘Then what?’ Amelia asked.

Jake smiled, slow and devastating. ‘Then we see what happens. If you still want to.’

‘I’ll still want to,’ she said with certainty.

‘Good,’ Jake said. ‘That’s—good. Now we should probably get down before we do something we’ll regret.’

Or something we won’t regret, Amelia thought, but didn’t say.

As they climbed down the scaffold, Jake paused on the ladder below her.

‘See you tomorrow, Amelia.’

‘See you tomorrow, Jake.’

And despite the frustration, despite the waiting, despite everything—Amelia was smiling.

They had time. Months of it. And when those months were over, when the project was complete—

Then everything would change.

She couldn’t wait.

Chapter Seven