Call On Me Read online

  Call on Me

  By Angela Verdenius

  (The Mackay Sisters book 1)

  (BBW Romance)

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2013 Angela Verdenius

  Cover image courtesy of b-d-s & istock.com

  Cover by Joleene Naylor

  Smashwords License Statement

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Table of Contents

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Bio

  Other Books by this Author

  FOREWORD

  I found that some overseas readers were having difficulty with the Australian slang, so I thought a list of the slang I’ve used will help while reading the following story. If I’ve forgotten any, I do apologise! Also, you’ll find some of our Aussie words have different spelling to the US.

  * please note that sizes in the US and Australia differ, so when reading of a set dress size, check the conversion on-line if you want!

  Cheers,

  Angela

  Australian Terms/Slang

  Arvo - afternoon

  Barbie - BBQ

  Beaut - beautiful, awesome, great, wonderful

  Biccies - biscuits. The same as cookies

  Bikie - biker, person who rides motorcycles.

  Bloke/s - man/men

  Bloody - a swear word ‘no bloody good’, in place of ‘no damned good’

  Boofhead - idiot, simpleton, etc. It’s an insult, though sometimes we use it as a term of affection. It depends on how it is said and meant.

  Boot (of a car) - trunk

  Budgie smugglers - men’s bathers, small, brief and tight-fitting

  Buggered - many Aussie use it as a slang word for ‘broken’ (it’s buggered), ‘tired (I’m buggered), and ‘no way’ (I’m buggered if I’m going to do that). Just some examples

  Bung/Bunging - as in ‘bunging onto something’, putting on something (bung veggies on a plate, putting veggies on a plate), usually in a careless or ‘easy’ manner.

  Chemist - pharmacy

  Chips - in Australia we have cold crunchy chips from a packet, or hot chips known in some countries as French Fries

  Crash cart - resuscitation trolley in a hospital or medical setting - used for life threatening situations such as cardiac arrest

  Dander – temper

  Dill - silly, idiot

  Doona - like a padded quilt that fits inside a cover and lies on the bed. Can have the warmth of two, three or four blankets, etc.

  Donger - penis. Also another meaning is a place people sometimes sleep in, such as ‘dongers’ on mine sites.

  Dunny - toilet. When used in the terms ‘built like a brick dunny’, it refers to something built solid, unmoveable.

  Giggle-box - TV, television

  Got his/her/their goat – annoyed him/her/them

  Hoon/s - person/people who indulge in antisocial behaviour. Great explanation in Wikipedia

  Iced coffee/chocolate - a milk drink flavoured with chocolate or coffee

  Joggers - jogging shoes, sneakers

  Lolly - sweetie, candy

  Loo - toilet

  Lug - face

  Milo - chocolate malt drink. Can have it hot or cold. Yummy!

  Moosh - slang for face/mouth

  Mobile phone - cell phone

  Nong - idiot

  Nooky - sex

  Panadol - paracetamol, similar to Tylenol in the US

  Panel van - Holden brand. Similar to a ute in the front, it has an empty, fully enclosed area at the back easily accessible from the front seat. Unfortunately, these vans, so commonly seen in the past, are now by special order.

  Pav/s - Pavlova/Pavlovas - best dessert ever!

  PCYC - Police and Citizens Youth Club

  Pedal Pushers - three quarter pants/knickerbockers

  Porking - having sex

  Primapore - sticky patch with a pad in it, a medical dressing

  Pub - hotel

  RAC - Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia. Covers insurance, holidays, loans, etc

  Rubbers - condoms

  Servo - service station

  Shag - sex

  Shag wagon - panel van

  Sheila - female

  Snaggers - sausages

  Soft drink - soda, fizzy drink

  Tea - some people call the evening meal dinner. In my family, we’ve always called it tea, as in breaky, dinner and tea, or breaky, lunch and tea.

  Thongs - worn on the feet, same as ‘flip flops’

  Tickled pink - delighted

  Tim Tams - a brand of Arnott’s Biscuits. Yummy!

  TLC - Tender Loving Care

  Torch - flashlight

  Tucker - food

  Ute - small truck

  Vegemite - most Aussies find this spread yummy, many non-Aussies find it too salty. Here’s the hint - if you ever have Vegemite, use it spread thinly, never thickly!

  Yamaha & Suzuki - ‘brands’ of motorcycles.

  You wally - silly

  Wanger - penis

  Waterworks - crying

  Whopper - a lie

  Driving - In Australia, you cannot get a driver’s licence to drive a car until you are 17 years old. You get your Learner’s Permit (which requires you to drive only in the company of a qualified driver), then at 18 you can go for your Probationary licence (you can drive on your own but at restricted speed limits), and then finally you are a fully qualified driver.

  Chapter 1

  “Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it.” Ali glared at the disappearing taillights of the car.

  Great, she was stuck out here in the middle of nowhere. Glancing around, she took in the dark bushes and trees that lined the equally dark roadside. There were no street lights out on the highway and she was stuck out here with no transport.

  Mainly because her mode of transport had vanished with her disgruntled date. Ex-date. Whatever. Jerk more suited him.

  Heaving a sigh, she hefted her little clutch in her hand and started walking back towards town. It wouldn’t take long, surely, it wasn’t as though they’d travelled far out and - crap. The sign she drew level with plainly stated twenty kms to town.

  Hells bells, she’d be still walking when the sun came up.

  Unless someone stopped to pick her up. Ali chewed her thumb nail as she trudged past the sign. Of course, whoever stopped might not be a friendly face from town, it could be a menacing stranger who’d murder her and dump her body in the bushes.

  Geez.

  Rustling came from some nearby bushes and she shivered, her heart doing a little jump in her chest. Anything could be in the dense bush - owl, fox, feral cat, a snake as big her arm with sharp fangs, an axe murderer, a vengeful ghost…

  Really, she had to stop reading her friend’s books.

  Squaring her shoulders, she continued walking at a faster pace. There was nothing to be afraid of, absolutely nothing. It was just some animal keeping her company, going about its business, in fact. Doing its thing, just like she was doing her thing.

  Namely going home alone, again. Another stupid date gone wrong, this time because she wouldn’t put out for him, and really, did Brian think she would when he’d said he’d never screwed a �
��chubby bubby’ and could she please flip her skirt up for him so he could inspect her thighs?

  He definitely couldn’t say that he’d never been slapped silly by a chubby bubby. She’d near on knocked his lights out. Even now her hand still stung a little. His cheek would be bright red for a week.

  Of course, that had resulted in her being out here all alone, in the dark, on a deserted highway, walking home in high heels. All alone. In the dark.

  Turning, she cast a longing glance down the dim road. No headlights. Swinging around, she sighed and continued walking.

  If she had a mobile phone she could ring for a taxi. Unfortunately, the mobile phone wouldn’t fit in her sweet little clutch and convinced that Brian was the real deal, an honourable man, Ali had blithely left it on the dressing table.

  Big mistake. In hindsight, everything was a big mistake.

  Within ten minutes her feet were killing her. High heels weren’t made for long walks, never mind bitumen roads, and the combination of both had her longing to take them off. Unfortunately, the undersides of her feet were tender as she always wore shoes or sandals, never liking to go around in bare feet, so she was stuck with the blister-inducing high heels.

  Damn, what she wouldn’t give for a pair of flats right now, or thongs. Hell, even her slippers.

  Plodding onwards, she felt her spirits start to droop. The road stretched out in a long black ribbon into the darkness and now she was afraid that someone would stop and turn out to be a maniac, or that some nice person wouldn’t stop thinking she was a maniac and that she’d still be here come the sunrise. Her sister had the all-night shift at the local twenty four hour service station and wouldn’t notice her missing until she got home at seven in the morning.

  It was going to be a bloody long, scary, painful walk home unless a friendly face showed up behind the wheel of a car heading into town.

  Hopefully a friendly face and not an axe murderer.

  No sooner had that thought again crossed her mind unpleasantly than headlights flickered behind her. Moving to the verge of the road, Ali stood and chewed her lip as the lights shone beyond the bend before coming around fully. Shading her eyes from the glare of the headlights, she watched as the high beam switched to low beam, the car slowed down, indicated, and pulled to a halt beside her.

  A dark blue panel van. Thank God, a friendly face.

  And a lecture, but that came with the territory.

  Folding her arms, she waited for the inevitable.

  The window rolled down and a deep voice asked, “Dumped again?”

  “Whatever gave you that idea?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. The dark, you, no one else?”

  “I could just be going for a walk, enjoying the night.”

  “Dressed up in high heels and a fancy dress?”

  “I’ve heard of weirder.”

  “Honey, no one is weirder than you. Get in.”

  She didn’t need to be asked twice. Grabbing the handle, she opened the door and sat down in the van. Immediately the fresh pine scent hit her. “Cripes, Ghost, how many of these things do you go through a week?”

  In the dim light of the dashboard, he simply looked at her.

  Leaning forward, she plucked the air freshener tree from the radio dial and waggled it. “Three? Four?”

  Silence.

  Replacing it, she heaved a sigh and buckled up the seat belt. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

  The van rocked a little as he moved, his arm going up, and then the cabin flooded with soft light. Keeping his hand near the switch on the roof, he looked her over.

  Ali returned the scrutiny with a raised eyebrow. Ghost was dressed in his usual old jeans that hugged his muscled thighs and the long-sleeved flannel shirt with the arms rolled up to just below his elbows, showing off his muscled forearms. It hung open to reveal the white t-shirt he wore beneath, the soft material hugging all those luscious muscles.

  Yep, Ghost was all muscle. You wouldn’t expect that from a bloke who spent a lot of his time pecking away on a keyboard for a living, but she also knew he hit the gym often. Oh, he wasn’t muscle-bound, looking like a weight lifter, but he had muscles to go with his height that made for a very mouth-watering body which had many a woman’s eyes following him.

  Ghost’s dark brown eyes studied her closely. Blonde hair ruffled across his brow and a long strand escaped the ponytail fastened at his nape to fall across one broad shoulder. The square jaw was firm as usual, but a muscle jumped at the corner of his full, yet masculine, lips. He drew in a deep breath, the nostrils of his straight nose flaring slightly in disapproval.

  Disapproval. Great.

  “Oh, come on.” She sighed. “Hit me with it.”

  “I’d hit you with something, but it wouldn’t be what you expect.”

  “Oh yadda yadda yadda.” Propping her elbow on the windowsill frame, she dropped her chin in one hand.

  The muscle at the corner of his mouth gave another tic.

  She looked away. Now that she was safe, disappointment in the evening’s events flooded her. “Go on. You can’t make it any worse.”

  Unclipping the seatbelt with one hand, Ghost rocked the van a little as he leaned toward her, his hand coming out to cup her chin and turn her face to him. She could swear his eyes were like x-rays as they scanned her face once more, but his tone was a little gentler when he asked, “Did you get hurt?”

  “No, but you could ask him that.”

  “Let me guess, he’s sporting your handprint on his cheek.”

  “Yep.”

  His gaze swept down her body once again before shifting back up to meet hers. “Did he try to force you?”

  “Let’s just say his suggestion wasn’t met with my approval.”

  “Did he touch you, Ali?” Ghost demanded firmly.

  “No, he didn’t. As if I’d let him, the rude…” As Ghost’s eyes went flinty, Ali said hurriedly, “No, he didn’t touch me. He suggested I show him something and he got his face slapped. That’s all.”

  “And left you here on the side of the road.”

  “Well, yes.”

  Releasing her chin, Ghost sat back, one big hand on the steering wheel, the other hand resting on his thigh. “Did you get out or did he kick you out?”

  “A little of both,” she hedged.

  His thick brows came down in a frown.

  Years of knowing the man watching her so closely had her sighing again. Ghost wouldn’t stop demanding answers until he had them all. Besides, it wasn’t as if it was going to be a secret for long, not knowing Brian’s loud mouth, and he’d likely embellish it a little. A lot.

  “Okay.” Ali ran her hand through her hair, dislodging the clip that held it back from her face. A thick hank fell over her cheek and she tucked it behind her ears. “He wasn’t really inclined to be friendly after that.”

  Ghost’s eyes narrowed.

  Actually, to be fair, Brian had said she’d be lucky for any desperate man to touch her and now he certainly wouldn’t with a ten foot pole. Not that she was going to tell Ghost that, hell, he’d hunt the man down and force him to apologise, not to mention she didn’t want to have to bear the humiliation of repeating the words. Those she’d save to tell her sister.

  “And,” Ali added, “I refused to drive home with him.”

  Ghost just continued watching her with those all-knowing eyes.

  Pursing her lips, she looked out the side window into the darkness beyond. Unfortunately, the cabin light reflected his face in the window. Those eyes continued to bore holes into her head.

  The silence lengthened.

  “I’d really like to go home,” she said primly, folding her hands on top of the little purse in her lap.

  Silence.

  “I’m tired.”

  Silence.

  That silence stretched. She cast a sideways glance at him. Yep, he was just watching her. “What?”

  “Did you get out or did he kick you out?”

  “Are
we still on this?” At his continued silence, she heaved an exaggerated sigh and folded her arms across her chest. “I got out, okay? I told him where he could stick his suggestion and got out, slammed his door and flipped him the bird.”

  “And he drove off and left you there.”

  “Yes.”

  Without another word, Ghost switched the light off and turned back to the steering wheel. Checking the road was clear, he indicated and pulled out, commencing the drive back to town in silence.

  Unable to resist it, Ali looked at him to see a faint smile curving his lips. “Something funny?”

  “You flipped him the bird.”

  “So? I do that to you all the time.”

  “Yeah, but I expect it.”

  Leaning back against the seat, Ali closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Safe and sound, cocooned in Ghost’s car, his presence beside her strong and calming, she could finally relax.

  “That was a dumb move, Ali.”

  Her eyes popped open.

  “Getting out of a car in the middle of nowhere.”

  Here it came, the big lecture she expected.

  “You date losers, honey. What’s wrong with you?”

  “Nothing.” She rolled her eyes.

  “How many times are you going to end up in the shit before you start thinking about who you’re dating?”

  “I know who I’m dating.”

  “Losers. There are men out there a million times better than those you insist on picking up.”

  God knows, she’d tried. Still was trying, in fact. “You make me sound like a tart.”

  She could hear the breath he inhaled deeply. It was familiar and she waited, doing a mental countdown. Five…four…three…two…one…

  “You’re better than they are, why aren’t you pickier about who you choose?”

  She didn’t bother to reply. They’d had this conversation many times before over the years.

  “Ever since high school you’ve fallen for the wrong blokes, Ali.” Ghost drew in another breath, his hand tightening on the steering wheel. “You’re lucky you haven’t gotten seriously hurt. I’m telling you, one day you’ll go out with a man you can’t handle and you’ll be sorry. You need to grow up and stop taking up with any idiot that crosses your path. Not every handsome face is an indication of a decent bloke.”