Page 59 of The Orchard at Rosevale
‘I can’t hear anything,’ he said, belatedly realising he had his volume off. Once he tapped the sound icon, he heard a low moan, and the hairs on the back of his neck snapped to attention. He’d already heard that moan: when he’d been going down on El.
It got worse from there, as she articulated in detail what she’d like to do to him and how appealing she found him, including his package.
Hell.
‘How many people have seen this?’ Cruz glared at Kyle, who shrugged and looked away.
‘Check the figure at the bottom of the reel,’ Kyle said.
Cruz’s heart stopped when he saw that 1.5 million people had seen him undress and heard El’s excruciating commentary.
‘Son of a bitch,’ he muttered, flinging his phone onto the benchtop and dragging his other hand through his hair. ‘How fucking embarrassing. What the hell was she thinking?’
‘Hey, on the bright side, she’s probably put this place on the map.’
‘At my expense!’ he yelled, and Kyle grimaced.
‘I really do have work to do,’ Kyle said. ‘I’m interviewing pickers this morning.’
‘Fine,’ Cruz muttered through gritted teeth. ‘Sorry for taking my frustration out on you.’
‘Not a problem.’
‘By the way, Bindi will be moving into the studio today.’
‘Why?’
‘I’ve hired her to help me set up the restaurant. There’s a shitload of work, so it made sense for her to stay on the property.’
‘Okay,’ Kyle murmured, but, by his pained expression, it wasn’t, not by a long shot.
Cruz didn’t want to betray Bindi’s confidence, but he had to say something. He liked Kyle and if he had true feelings for Bindi, better he knew now to give her space rather than be shot down.
‘I had a good chat with her last night and she’s looking forward to working here,’ Cruz said, trying to come up with the right words to protect both his friends. ‘I get the feeling she’s had a rough time and is hoping to regroup and get her life back on track.’
Kyle sighed. ‘If that’s your way of telling me not to tell her how I feel, I hear you. She has no idea about my feelings. She didn’t know back in high school and is still clueless.’
Kyle had loved Bindi that long?
Cruz’s shock must’ve shown on his face because Kyle said, ‘Yeah, I know, pathetic, huh?’
‘There’s nothing pathetic in knowing what you want, and it’s none of my business what you do in your personal life, but for what it’s worth, I reckon take things slow with Bindi.’
Kyle nodded. ‘Shall do. Thanks for the advice.’
‘No worries.’
‘What are you going to do about the video?’
‘Leave it with me,’ Cruz said, knowing exactly what he had to do, and dreading it.
CHAPTER
32
Elora stared at her phone in disbelief. Overnight, the views on her reel had escalated at a rapid rate and now stood at 1.6 million.
She would be ecstatic, if the comments that weren’t praising her for her honesty or drooling over Cruz weren’t so mortifying. She should’ve turned off commenting last night but had thought the more views, the better, so that when she admitted what she’d done to Cruz, he would see the funny side and be thankful to her for raising the farm’s profile. Kinstead Avocados had quadrupled their followers overnight and that could only be a good thing.
