I awoke the next morning beyond refreshed. The early day’s light filled the room with a lovely glow, the streaming sunbeams catching the small motes of dust that floated on the air. But what I was really interested in was right next to me. A big smile spread across my face as I laid eyes on Justin, his muscular chest rising and falling with each breath.

I thought back to our lovemaking the night before, remembering how good he felt inside of me. And as I lay there, taking in the sight of his lean, toned body, I realized just what I wanted for breakfast.

My eyes shut again, and I replayed the events of last night in my mind. I pictured Justin on top of me, his body wide and taut, his face in an expression of concentrated pleasure. I recalled looking down, watching him enter me over and over, all of those inches filling me up and making me feel so goddamn good. I remembered the taste of him in my mouth, musky and rich. My legs spread open with anticipation, and I knew that I needed to have him all over again.

“Good morning,” I said.

His eyes opened slowly, his blues even more brilliant with the sun catching them.

“Morning,” he said.

He looked around as though not entirely sure where he was.

“Oh no,” I said. “Please don’t tell me that you don’t remember what happened last night.”

“No, I remember,” he said.

But that was it. That little smile that so frequently tugged at his lips after he spoke wasn’t there, only an odd, blank expression. Not only that, his posture was stiff and straight, as if he’d woken up tense. I was more than willing to help him loosen up, however, if he were so inclined.

“Then,” I started, walking down his chest with my fingertips, hoping to stop where the rainbow ended, “I’m thinking a sequel is in order—if you’re in the mood?”

He didn’t react at all in the way that I was hoping, however. He watched my fingers make their journey, slipping below the border of the blanket that lay draped just below his hip bones. Justin reached down and placed his hand on mine, stopping my movement.

“Not now,” he said.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

“Not now?” I asked. “Why, you have somewhere better to be?”

“No,” he said, his voice cool and dispassionate. “I have somewhere that I need to be.”

“And where’s that?”

“I need to make the drive back to Alice Springs. I’m due for my work.”

“Ah, right,” I said, my stomach sinking with disappointment. “Logging business.”

“That’s right,” he said. “And I should get going.”

“No shower or anything first?”

He opened his mouth to speak, as though ready to shoot down the idea. But then he appeared to reconsider.

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind jumping in if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” I said. “I could join you. Maybe help you out with those hard-to-reach places…”

“I’ll pass,” he said. “I’m not planning on lounging in there. Just need to get in and out.”

I flicked my eyebrows up and down, mild frustration taking hold of me.

“Go ahead then,” I said. “Don’t let me slow you down.”

“Thanks,” he said.

With that, he hopped out of bed and started off toward the bathroom. I turned just in time to catch sight of his bare ass disappearing through the door.

I was frustrated, both sexually and otherwise. Justin was acting strange and cold, totally the opposite of the warm, charming man who I met last night. Some insecure part of me wondered if he’d regretted our fling, but I knew that trying to puzzle out the thoughts of a man I barely knew would be a pointless exercise.

More than that, I was frustrated with his totally transparent lies. I didn’t know much about Alice Springs, but there were about as many trees to be found there as there were in the rest of the outback—that is to say, none at all. I wasn’t sure what kind of industry kept that town afloat, but it sure as hell wasn’t logging. Justin was lying to me, and though he was just a one-night partner, I couldn’t help but feel miffed that he thought so little of me as to try to fool me like that.

Lying was one thing—especially since he was just a fling. But brushing me off, acting like I was some annoying girl who happened to crash in his room? That really rubbed me the wrong way. As I listened to the water running in the shower, I thought about what I could say to him to really give him a piece of my mind.

“You mind dropping me off at my hotel?” he asked. “It’s not too far from here.”

“Not feeling up for a walk?” I asked, part of me wanting to tell him to screw off.

“Normally, that’d be fine. But I’m really pressed for time.”

“Fine,” I said. “Let me jump in the shower and grab my things.”

I hurried up and got showered and dressed and was ready to go about ten minutes later. Frustration ran through me as I finished readying myself for the day ahead. I couldn’t believe that Justin would go from hot to cold so quickly. Wasn’t it common courtesy to at least wait until you’ve said goodbye to your one-night-stand before pretending like they didn’t exist?

“Ready?” I asked, stepping into the main room of the hotel suite and finding Justin seated at the small table, a tablet in his hands.

“Yep,” he said, turning his tablet off and tucking it into his bag, his voice just as terse as before.

As we left the room, I wanted to ask him if there was something wrong, if I’d said or done something that caused him to switch off like this. But the better part of me wanted to just put the whole thing behind me.

“Let me get that,” he said, grabbing my bag.

I was relieved to see that at least he was being a gentleman. Then again, it was the least he could do considering I was taking him back to his car.

The drive passed in silence, and I kept my eyes on the lonely road ahead that led through town. As I glanced about at the smattering of houses here and there and the endless outback landscape that stretched past them off into the horizon, I thought about how happy I was to put this tiny town behind me, to get back to something more approaching civilization. After all, if I hurried back to Alice Springs, I’d catch my flight and be back in Sydney before the day was out. By midnight tonight, I could be seated at a hotel bar, a martini in front of me, and maybe a warmer conversation partner at my side.

“It’s right up here,” said Justin, pointing ahead toward a parking lot in front of a squat motel. “The black one.”

I pulled in, coming to a stop next to a sleek, ink-black sports car.

“Nice ride,” I said.

“Just a rental,” he said, voice still cool, his eyes on the road.

“Well,” I said. “It was, uh, nice meeting you, Justin.”

“Yeah, same to you,” he said, his hand already on the door handle. “Have a good drive back.”

And just like that, he was out of the car. No hug, no kiss, no nothing. Don’t get me wrong—this wasn’t my first rodeo. But still, nothing made a girl felt like she’d been used and tossed aside quite like this sort of behavior.

I had more pressing matters to worry about, however, like getting on the road and making the drive back to Alice Springs. Pulling into one of the nearby spots, I took out my phone and went through my email, seeing that I’d gotten more than a few messages from Roger, all of them wondering what the hell had happened with the clients and me. As I typed up my reply, I considered how frustrating it was to have come all this way for nothing.

Right as I hit send, however, the dry sputtering of an engine struggling to start cut through the quiet air. I glanced behind me, back at Justin’s car. Sure enough, the sound was coming from him. The engine wheezed for a few moments, a metallic knocking noise joining it. Then, it’d go dead. A few moments would pass, and the process started again.

I sat in my car for a moment, watching him in my rearview mirror as he struggled to get his car started. Part of me wanted to leave him there, to give him a little payback for his cool treatment this morning. But instead, my considerate nature took over—it simply wouldn’t be right to leave him here alone, despite how much of a jerk he’d been.

“Having a little car trouble, huh?” I asked, walking up to the car with casual steps, a small smile on my face.

Justin shot me a miffed glance from his seat.

“It would appear that way,” he said.

I reached the car and leaned on the window frame, looking in toward the dashboard.

“Did you try giving it some gas? That usually helps. It’s the pedal down there by your foot.”

His expression changed to one that made it clear he didn’t find my little joke to be very funny.

“Did you come over here just to give me the business?” he asked. “Because this is pretty frustrating enough as it is.”

“This is a rental, right?”

“Yup.”

“Probably not going to be taking it back to Alice Springs, then.”

“I figured that one out on my own, but thanks for your expert opinion.”

“Well, I’m heading back there myself, you know. Maybe you oughta just hop in with me. That is unless you’re keen on spending the next couple of days in Longbridge while the rental company gets all of this figured out.”

He pursed his lips, making it very, very clear that this was about the least appealing idea imaginable.

“You’re leaving now?” he asked.

“Not unless you’re interested in staying and taking in some more of the local culture.”

“Not even a little,” he said.

“Then let’s ride, cowboy.”

Justin pulled the keys out of the ignition and shoved them into his pocket before getting out of the car. He didn’t have any luggage other than a medium-sized black duffel bag which he threw over his shoulder as we started back toward my car.

Once inside, I stuck the keys in the ignition. Before I turned them, however, I stopped.

“Something you want to say first?” I asked, a playful smile on my lips.

He furrowed his brow in concentration for a moment before it dawned on him what I meant.

“Thanks,” he said.

I gave him a nod of approval, and we were off.