Book Extract: Her Outback Driver by Giulia Skye

A big welcome to Giulia Skye and the blog tour for her novel, Her Outback Driver. Giulia has shared an extract with us but first, here’s a little about the book… 

When former Olympic champion, Michael Adams—now Canada’s hottest reality TV star—insults his fake showbiz wife on social media, he jumps on the first flight to Australia to escape the ensuing scandal. Desperate to experience ordinary life again—if only for a few weeks—he becomes “Adam”; just another tourist exploring the dusty Outback trails in a beat up truck. But with a reward out for his safe return and his fame’s nasty habit of catching up with him when he least expects, Adam needs a better disguise… and he’s just found one.

Tired of lies and liars, British Backpacker Evie Blake is taking a year out of her busy London life, looking for adventure to heal her broken heart. So when the hot Canadian she meets at the campground offers to drive her through Western Australia’s wild Kimberley region, she grabs the chance, unaware he has the world out looking for him. He’s just a down-on-his-luck traveler, right?

But when hot days turn into even hotter nights, how long does Adam have before Evie discovers who he really is?

If you want my opinion, it sounds amazing. 

OK, so do you have a cup of tea… biscuits… a comfy chair? Excellent. Keep reading and enjoy. 

***** beginning of extract*****

Extract intro: Her Outback Driver:

“Adam” is a Canadian celebrity-sportsman on the run from scandal, pretending to be an ordinary tourist on the Australian backpacker trail. Evie is a British backpacker working as a cleaner at the campground she’s been staying at. Adam has just arrived at the campground, very hot and very dirty after a few days on the road…

EXTRACT:

He grabbed his gel and towel, and stepped out of the truck. Man, this heat was intense. The air thick and heavy like soup. He wiped the towel over his sweat-slicked face, desperate for cold water on his skin. But when he reached the shower block, a sign stood in his way.

Closed for cleaning.

No frickin’ way.

“Hello?” he called, but when no reply came back, he stepped inside, thinking what the hell? He stripped and stood under the shower, turning the dial full blast toward the blue arrow. He’d be thirty seconds, sixty tops—just long enough to feel something cold on his skin and wash away the three-day grime. By the time the cleaning guy returned, he’d be cooled off, semi-dressed and out.

Only the water wasn’t cold and the cleaning guy not a guy at all.

Adam wiped soapy water from his eyes and focused on the figure standing before him. The cleaning guy was a young woman with huge brown eyes and sun-streaked hair scraped back into a tight knot on the top of her head, just like his favorite aunt Florence used to wear. Except Aunt Flo’s hair was gray and looked like wire, and she’d never before stood outside his shower gawping at his naked penis—unlike this bug-eyed stranger.

“The showers are closed,” the woman said to his bare butt as he whipped around. Her accent was flat and clipped—British—like royalty, though looking over his shoulder he saw nothing regal about her. She was dressed in dark green shorts and a dirty light-blue vest, damp with patches of sweat or water, or both. White earphones dangled around her neck. He turned off the shower.

“Didn’t you notice the bright yellow sign? The cleaning bucket? The distinct lack of shower curtain?”

Well, he’d ignored the sign and bucket, obviously, and throughout his career, he’d been in plenty of changing rooms at top sporting venues around the world all boasting a distinct lack of shower curtain. Okay, they were all a lot nicer than this dump, but he’d never been in a place like this before so how would he know?

“If you’d be so kind as to pass me my towel, I’ll get out of your way.”

She handed it to him, finally lifting her gaze to his face. Her eyes narrowed. He narrowed his own back, already picturing the headlines.

EX-OLYMPIAN FOUND NAKED IN OUTBACK

“I’ve not seen you before,” she finally said. “Only paying clientele can use these showers. When did you check in?”

Close call. She hadn’t recognized him. Adam wrapped the towel around himself. “A few minutes ago.”

He waited for her to move to the side so he could step out of the cubicle, but she seemed too distracted by his chest to move. He watched, mildly amused, as her gaze trailed a slow journey south to where he’d tucked the towel low over his narrow hips. The corners of his mouth kicked up and he couldn’t help himself. He flexed his torso, bulging each of his intensely trained muscles.

“Like what you see, honey?”

“What? Oh, God! I’m so sorry.” Aunt Flo slapped both hands on her red cheeks and whirled round, and he couldn’t help but snicker.

“Yeah, funny guy,” she snapped in that dry tone only the British could pull off. “What would you do if you found a naked supermodel in the shower while you were trying to clean it?”

Actually, he’d had enough of supermodels, naked or clothed, and being compared to one himself, after the year he’d had, wiped the smile off his face. This body hadn’t come from vanity. It was the result of years of discipline, dedication, and hard, hard work. He snapped on his boxer shorts and stepped out of the cubicle. Aunt Flo faced him again, not looking so impressed now she no longer had a view of his penis.

Like most women, she barely reached his chest, but the lack of height didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest. She tilted her chin up as if this alone would make up the shortfall. “You ignored the sign.”

“So shoot me.”

“If I had a gun I would.” She grabbed the rest of his clothes off the bench and pushed them at his damp chest. “Now please leave so I can finish up here.” She then shooed him to the door and shut it in his face.

Huh.

Adam stared at the chipped and faded yellow paint inches from his nose. No one had ever shut a door in his face before.

A slow grin spread from ear to ear.

Normal people.

So this is how it feels to be like everyone else.

*****end of extract*****

About Giulia: 

Italian-born Giulia Skye writes page-turning romances with a lot of heart and sizzle. She describes her books as pure feel-good escapism! She lives in England with her Man and their two gorgeous sons, loves gardening and hates waste of any kind.

Her Outback Driver is her first novel and to celebrate being a Vivian® Contest Finalist, she is inviting readers to download her book for FREE by joining her mailing list. Click the link to claim your free copy today. 

Say hello to Giulia on her website, Twitter, Amazon Author Page, Goodreads and BookBub.

Click to view Her Outback Driver on books2read.

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.