have been conscious of her at all. As it was, he was terrified of her getting hurt. It wasn’t as though he was going to drop Bonne or let anyone run into them. And he doubted it was the first time she’d been on the back of a bike. She knew how to move with him, leaning into the corners. But she was barely dressed, and now he’d accepted her as a passenger, she was his responsibility. She should’ve been with her band mates and her brother or a security goon, but she was flying with him on the back of Bonne, her hands flattened over his ribs, trusting him totally.
If he smiled any harder he’d be picking bugs out of his teeth for weeks.
The traffic was light, and the air was warm. With twilight held off by daylight savings, it was a perfect night for a ride. Jake headed out towards Henley Beach, but Rielle didn’t want to stop amongst the restaurants or the families fishing from the pier. He drove through West Beach and on to Glenelg and again she wasn’t keen to stop. At Brighton Beach, he pulled over under a stand of massive Norfolk Pines and killed the engine.
“Thank you,” she breathed in his ear, no longer holding on to him, and with the helmet in one hand. She climbed off, finger combed her hair. “They suit you.”
It took him a few seconds to work out she was talking about the sunglasses. “Ah.” He took them off, holding them out to her. “Thanks. Saved me from bug blindness.”
He went to wipe the lenses on his shirt, but she said, “Hang on to them. Is it okay if I go for a walk?”
“Sure.” The beach was deserted, but he was damn sure he wasn’t supposed to let her wander off alone. “Want some company?”
“No. If that’s all right, I’d like to be alone for a while.”
He nodded. “No problem.” It was her life. Hijacking him in the first place was out of the rule book. And Rand knew what she was up to. If she wanted to go walkabout on a quiet beach who was he to stop her.
Rielle unlaced her boots, leaving them with her socks, wallet and miniature mobile phone tucked inside, on the ground beside the bike. Jake watched her walk over the soft white sand and down to the water’s edge. She looked small and vulnerable with the broad expanse of blue sea in front of her and wide empty beach behind. He wondered what she was thinking. He wondered how often she got to be alone. Seeing her today, as she worked and played with the other band members, he’d figured her natural environment was with her pack. But watching her now, he wondered how much lone wolf she had in her. Hadn’t she joked with Rand she was raised by wolves?
Rielle walked into the ocean letting the low waves break against her knees. The sound of the sea and gulls wheeling above flowed through her body. She felt her shoulders relax, but her stomach was still churning. The sick feeling that had been with her on and off all day was back, same as always before a big gig. Worse than ever this time, because it was home.
She’d never been to Adelaide before. Never stood on this beach with her feet in this sand and looked at this horizon, but she couldn’t convince herself it was somewhere that didn’t matter. Every minute that passed was a minute she’d be closer to Sydney.
She bent forward, put her hands on her knees and threw up. She hadn’t eaten much during the day but still, breakfast and bile splattered the white foam, churned under, slapped the sand bed and washed back out to sea. She hoped Jake hadn’t seen that. She rinsed her mouth with salt water, which almost made her sick again and breathed the briny air, letting the surge and drag of the small waves bury her feet to the ankles in heavy wet sand. Now she felt suddenly anchored to the world in a way that recalled her childhood, when she and Rand built sandcastles and squabbled over buckets and Paddle Pop sticks on endless summer days, with both parents watching lazily from towels further up the beach.
She shook her head to clear that image, a stupid thing to remember. Ben and Maggie, both long gone. She took one huge breath of sea air, imagined it cleaning out junk thoughts and