Cloud Riders (Lord of the Planets) (42 page)

The guide ignored her with an almost impatient huff as he continued the tour. ‘Over this side we have the Australian landscape by John Glover who painted it on his property at Patterdale in 1835.’

Further on she tuned in again, becoming a little more interested.

‘Here we have
The Arbour
by Emanuel Phillip Fox which was a lovely garden setting of a family enjoying the outdoors, set in the early Victorian era.’ The guide moved them on. ‘Last but not least is the Ned Kelly series by Sidney Robert Nolan who found painting the legendary character was a way of painting the Australian landscape in a completely new way.’

Cassie knew art would never be her thing; however, she left with an appreciation for the artists who had worked hard to create masterpieces that would last for many generations to come.

Leaving the gallery, they walked the couple of blocks to get to the Mint. It was located in the historic precinct of

Macquarie Street

and when they arrived the tour guide told them it was the oldest classically detailed building in Australia.

Cassie was bored looking around and hoped this would be over quickly. She loved to learn but couldn’t for the life of her work out why anyone would be interested in gawking at money. ‘Man,’ she sighed, tapping her foot, impatient to get it underway.

She felt a pat on her shoulder as the guide, seeing her lack of interest, was motioning for her to follow while he continued to talk.

‘In the earlier days, money was originally printed on a cotton-based paper that burnt easily when disposed of.’ She heard him direct it at her.

Feeling guilty, Cassie made eye contact, grinned and followed the group as the funny little guide with glasses far too big for his head, continued.

‘That all changed in the 1960s when Australia was hit by a major forger of the ten dollar note.’ The guide nodded at her, looking pleased he had her attention. ‘They then came up with the polymer note, now used Australia-wide, which is harder to print but deters criminals from copying them. The other advantage to the notes is that humidity and microbe activity doesn’t deteriorate the polymer. It is twice the cost, however last four times longer.’

Okay now he had her attention.
This is kind of interesting.
‘Then if it is a plastic, how is it destroyed when it ages?’ Cassie asked.

‘Polymer does have its drawbacks, I admit. The black smoke when burnt causes air pollution. The mint gets around this by shredding the old damaged notes into tiny pieces and sending them off to a plastic recycling plant.’

The guide clicked his tongue that made a funny sound at the back of his throat. Cassie turned to hide her grin. The guide hadn’t noticed his weird habit and thinking he had lost her attention again, raised his voice. This had Cassie going again and her infectious mood filtered through the group, making them all nudge each other as they too noticed the louder he got the more he made the weird sound.

‘The disadvantage of the banknotes—
click click
—was that they found solvents and ultraviolet light—
click click
—deteriorates them but the advantage of it not being easy to forge well outweighs—
click click
—the few negative issues.’

Kayden held himself, shaking the man’s hand and staying chatting for a minute while the rest of his team ditched him and split, chuckling and hitting each other as they made there way back to the cars.

Back at the motel, Kayden punished them for being a bad influence on his woman and told them all to get lost for a while. ‘We’ll catch up with you at the airport the next morning.’ He let them know in no uncertain terms they would be on their own until then.

Cassie cuddled into Kayden. ‘Yes it was all their fault, honey.’

He smiled lovingly. He was no push over and knew exactly who started it but it was a great excuse to get some time alone with his new wife. ‘Sure, sweetheart!’ He hugged her back, loving that she put up no protest and wanted to be with just him as well.

United Amusement—Day Four

They arrived at MargaretRiver just before lunch the next day in plenty of time for Cassie to organise a special someone to meet them at the local pub.

‘Let’s stretch our legs and walk,’ Jason suggested. Cassie grinned, knowing if he knew what she had planned he’d have practically run there. However, the walk to the township was not as far as she thought and the lodge being nestled among towering Karri trees made the walk along the pathway, pleasurable.

Seated and noticing that Jason was busy going over the lunchtime menu, Cassie excused herself when she saw Sonia McMasters arrive. She looked more grownup and stylish in the lilac fitted sundress she wore, than when Cassie first saw her on the beach. The thin straps of the dress over her tanned shoulders highlighted a small butterfly tattoo on the side of her neck. This was accentuated by her light-coloured hair that she had simply swept up into a braided pigtail. Her makeup was sparing, maybe just a bit of lip-gloss and eye makeup; her olive skin needed very little.

She spotted Cassie and pulled her sunglasses up on her head and with her three-inch heels she looked taller than Cassie remembered. Her outfit did her figure justice and combined with her overall appearance and stunning smile, she looked very eye-catching.

Cassie could now see how Jason had seen her. He had looked past the bikini and sea-drenched hair to the woman she now saw.
Men have such an unusual way of being able to see us women—so different from the way we view each other.
Cassie gave her a welcoming hug and they stood chatting as if they’d known each other for years. Cassie felt that it was refreshing to have a female-to-female conversation for a change. Oh sure, Ella had begun to thaw where Cassie was concerned, but Ella was not a girly-girl. Sonia on the other hand was the opposite and didn’t stop for a breath and had Cassie giggling at her fun sense of humour. Walking to the table, Cassie noticed that Jason was so busy taking to Ethan about the pub grub he never noticed she had disappeared for a while. He had a little surprised expression as she introduced Sonia around the table and when Cassie got to Jason, she smiled and joked, ‘I’m not sure if you’d remember Jason.’ Jason grinned as he walked around to Sonia, took her hand, and after greeting her with a kiss on the cheek, he guided her over to sit with him, not once letting her hand go. It was kind of cute and yet so Jason, to be comfortable with a woman he barely knew. She giggled sweetly and Jason smiled so brightly that even Cassie’s heart melted at the look he gave her.

They had a nice lunch although the sparks flying next to Cassie were hard to ignore. Jason was charming and entertaining and Sonia enjoyed every minute of him. They decided to go for a walk after lunch.

Turning, Jason winked at Kayden. ‘Don’t hold up the winery tour, guys, I’m busy.’

Kayden threw him the keys to the hire car. ‘Better be there to pick us up at Driftwood Winery, Jase. The rest of the boys look like they’ve already started to settle in for the day and that’s our last stop.’

‘Jeez, K, can’t you control your damned team for one day? I might have plans.’

‘No! And you better not ditch us, buddy.’

Jase snatched the keys and flipping them all off, turned to Sonia. ‘Come on, sweetness, we have better things to do than hang out with this riff raff.’

Kayden laughter had him take one last sideways glance, before hustling Sonia out.

‘Payback’s a bitch!’ Woody grinned as Kayden kicked back in his chair, pleased with his plan to irritate Jason, now that he too had found someone he wanted to spend time with had worked.

The rest of them drove to Sandalford Winery first. The boys went over the top and bought cases of the wines they liked, having them delivered direct to their ranch up north. Then they were off to Driftwood Winery and sitting up at the old comfortable bar, their journey ended for the day. The atmosphere was enchanting and the bar staff kept them entertained to a point where staying for dinner was just a given, seeing as none of them had any intentions of leaving just yet.

Designated Driver

Arriving at Driftwood Winery, Jason could hear the rowdy voices of the team as soon as he opened the car door for Sonia.
Man, I could get used to having this babe by my side.
He had nearly had to perform an operation to sever his lips from hers to bring her out for some dinner. He waited as she replaced the gloss he’d kept kissing off her mouth and he promised this time that he would leave her alone.
But hell, I lied.

He pulled her back into his arms and leaning her up against the car, claimed her mouth just one more time. He pressed up against her, his hardness ready to explode at any moment. The little tease moved gently against him, making him groan and then she giggled. He slapped her backside playfully for stirring him up further but he loved whatever the hell she was doing to him. God! If she was going to feel as good down there as she did while he explored her mouth, there is no way he wanted to make it a quickie.
Hell, no!
He already wanted to spend the rest of his life just kissing her mouth, never mind thinking any further just yet.

He let her go and saw she was just as aroused as he was. Jason smiled at her lovely glowing face. ‘I promise I’ll leave you alone until after dinner. I have to do this with the team. We only have a couple of nights left of our holiday together and then I am all yours. Okay?’

She grinned all cheeky-like and wrapped her arm around his neck like a child you have just said no to who wants to change your mind. She felt so delightful that he moved her back against the car where he could control it. ‘I want you too, sugar, you have no idea how badly I do, but not here and not like this, okay? You mean too much to me to treat you like that. Let me take you to dinner and do it right.’

She sighed and gave him the sweetest smile: the kind of melt-your-heart smile that you want to work for eternity to keep on the face of the angel giving it to you. She lifted her purse and taking out her lip-gloss, applied it perfectly while watching his face. He still had her firmly in his arms and melted into her as he watched her slide it delicately over her lips. ‘God, you’re so sexy, babe!’ he groaned as he ached with desire. He closed his eyes for a minute, feeling her for the last time and then looking back down at her he took her hand, taking her into the winery. For the first time in a very long time, Jason was sober and walked into what he was normally the instigator of. Cassie and Kayden were singing a love song that was playing; Kayden had moved to get her up and waltz to it. They floated around the table, so much in love that there were emitting a magical glow around them. Jason looked to see if the waiters had noticed but they were too busy fussing over the others to even glance at them.

Conor and Ethan had dumped the girls again and were canoodling up to a couple of female guests who had joined their group. There were also a few males who had joined them and one had Ethan’s girl up on the dance floor.
Knowing my brother the way I do though, it won’t worry him one bit. He likes what he likes until he gets bored. Yep, and tonight he is bored of her and off after another
. Woody also had Ella on the dance floor and Jason had to admit she had really cooled her spiteful nature and tonight they actually looked happy together. Would she fit in? Well, only time would tell but to have the man happy?
Hell, I am willing to give her another go.

She waved and Woody stopped dancing so they could come over to greet them. ‘Sonia,’ he smiled and greeted her with a hug as did Ella, making Sonia feel comfortable to be there.

The team noticed that they had arrived and his Sonia, taken from him, passed from one to the next, getting hugs and kisses from the team.
I know they’re just making her feel welcome but man do I have a case of the green-eyed monster.
He wanted to just snatch her off them and have her back at his side so bad that he was clenching his fists.

Kayden came up and slapped him on the back. ‘Feels like shit, hey?’

Jason swung around at him and when he saw the understanding look, he took in a deep breath and calmed down, knowing this was what they had put Kayden though since he met Cassie.

He put his arm around Jason’s shoulder. ‘Come have a drink, J man. They’ll let her come back to you quicker if they see it doesn’t bother you.’

Jason shook his head and grinned. ‘Ah shit. What the hell! I know you’re right. I’ve done it to you enough.’ He laughed and Kayden for once, laughed with him.

‘I know, you were the worst and now I get to enjoy watching some score settling.’

United Amusement—Day Five

Cassie wasn’t sure when or how Kayden and she made it to their room but somehow they got into bed and woke up snuggled up to each other. After a hot shower, they felt reasonably good to go. They were being picked up at mid-morning by ‘The Wines for Dudes tour’ which would take them to three wineries, a brewery, a chocolate factory, a cheese factory and somewhere in the middle, lunch at the Voyager Estate.

Sonia had stayed the night with Jason and after joining them for coffee, he took her home so she could change and join them. He was always a happy little soul but this morning you couldn’t wipe the perky happy grin from his face. He was a wee bit besotted!

This was Kayden and Cassie’s last day with the team and they intended to enjoy it. Their plane flew out that night and that would get them home well after midnight where they would make their way up to Aquarius to spend the next two magical days together with Aqua and Aldebaran.

Jason had decided he would stay on a couple of extra days with Sonia and her parents.

Woody, Ethan, Conor and their girls were going to drive to Perth. There they were going to spend a couple of days at the casino so that the girls could do a bit of shopping. As Kayden said there was no reason for them all to rush back when they still had two more days.

The tour was a great finish to their holiday. Driving through the prettiest green paddocks with mostly black and white cows was a complete change to the brown and black cows up north. She wondered if these magnificent beasts were the producers of the wholesome milk, used in making the very tasty full range of MargaretRiver cheeses they had just eaten. The creamy or sharp explosions in her mouth as the samples hit her tastebuds made for an unusual and very pleasant experience. Bumping along the road, they came to the chocolate factory. Cassie was expecting a
Willy Wonka
-like experience and was only slightly disappointed until they had sat down, ordered coffee and the first delicious treat popped into her mouth. That was the end of her then! She was in seventh heaven. Conor and Ethan dipped their chocolates in their coffee and made a disgusting mess; however it gave them all a good laugh. Arming themselves with one of their flavoured ice creams and bags of the divine mouth-watering chocolates, they hopped back on the bus.