Taming Her Hollywood Playboy. Emily Forbes

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СКАЧАТЬ weekly occurrence and there was an expectation that everyone would attend, but Kat didn’t mind. She adored her family. Kat had moved back in with her father after her mother passed away, and her extended family—her aunt Rosa, Dean and Saskia, Roger and his wife, Maya, and their children—had dinner together every Sunday.

      ‘Family?’

      Kat nodded. ‘Dean is my cousin.’

      ‘Your cousin! Do you have other family here?’

      ‘Yes, of course. My whole family is here. This is where I grew up.’

      ‘Here?’

      ‘Yes. I told you that.’

      ‘No. You never said you grew up here. You told me you lived here. Those are two different things.’

      ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Kat said.

      ‘How can you know what I’m thinking?’

      ‘Because it’s what everyone who’s not from here thinks. You assumed I moved here for work because why would someone choose to live here?’

      ‘I guess I did think it was for your job,’ Oliver agreed. ‘But that’s partly because everyone I know moves where their job takes them.’

      ‘I’ve lived here my entire life, just about.’ Give or take a few years in Adelaide, but she tried not to think too much about those years. ‘I choose to live here because my family is here. And because I miss it when I’m not here.’

      ‘What do you miss?’

      ‘The community. The people. The beauty.’ She could see from his expression that he didn’t believe her. ‘I’ll show you. There’s more to the outback than dust and flies.’

      ‘It’s a date,’ Oliver said, smiling again, and Kat realised, just a fraction too late, that he’d played her and got just what he wanted.

      ‘It’s not a date,’ she protested.

      ‘You can call it whatever you like,’ he said with a smile, ‘but I’m going to call it a date.’

      He reached towards her and Kat thought he was going to pick up her empty glass, but his fingers reached for her hand. His thumb stroked the side of her wrist before he turned her hand over and ran his thumb over the sensitive skin on the underside. Kat’s insides turned liquid, she felt as though her bones were melting, and it took all her energy not to close her eyes and give in to the heat that flooded through her.

      She needed to leave. To get out from under the spell he was casting over her. She was feeling vulnerable and she knew she was in danger of falling for his charm. He created an energy around him, around her.

      ‘I should go,’ she said as she pulled her hand away, breaking the spell before she made a complete fool of herself.

      ‘I guess I’d better get to the gym,’ he said as he stood, ‘but I’ll walk you to your car first.’

      He kept a slight distance between them as they walked outside but even so she was aware of a field of attraction and desire surrounding them. Or at least surrounding her.

      She turned towards him as they stopped at her car.

      ‘I’ll see you at work,’ he said as he opened the door that she’d once again left unlocked. ‘And I’m looking forward to our date,’ he added, ‘but until then…’ he said as he bent his head and leant towards her.

      Kat didn’t intend to but she lifted her face, angling it up to him.

      Was he going to kiss her?

      Her eyelids drifted down, half-closed.

      She could feel his breath on her cheek and then his lips pressed against her cheek, just in front of her ear, briefly touching her. Too briefly.

      She opened her eyes.

      He’d kissed her but not how she’d expected him to. Not how she wanted him to.

      He was watching her and she knew he could read her mind. She’d wanted him to kiss her properly. She knew it and he knew it.

      She needed to get a grip, she thought as she slid into her car. She was sure he had the same effect on dozens, hundreds, of women. Just because she felt something didn’t mean he did. He probably didn’t notice it. It was probably something he did out of habit. George had warned her but she couldn’t ignore or deny the feelings he evoked in her. She shouldn’t be so fascinated but she hadn’t met anyone like him. Ever. It was as if he was from a different world.

      He scared her. Not in a frightening sense but in a sense that he would have seen far more than she ever had; she had no doubt he would have had his share of beautiful women around the world and she wasn’t worldly enough to compete. She didn’t want to compete. Not unless she knew she could win. And she suspected there would only be one winner if she let Oliver Harding get his way.

      She was certain he was not the man for her. Just as she knew she wasn’t the woman for him. She wasn’t going to be anyone’s conquest. But she couldn’t deny he was attractive. Charming. And sexy.

      She knew it would be almost impossible to deny her desire if he kept up his charm offensive, so she suspected the question wasn’t could she resist him, but rather how long could she resist him for?

      ‘Good morning! How was your date?’

      Kat jumped, spilling her coffee over the kitchen bench as Saskia’s voice interrupted her morning routine. ‘Jesus, Sas, you scared the life out of me.’

      ‘Daydreaming about a cute actor, were you?’

      ‘No,’ Kat fibbed. ‘And it wasn’t a date.’

      ‘Looked like one to me.’

      ‘I was just there to meet some of the cast and crew,’ she said as she mopped up the spilt coffee. But she couldn’t help the blush she could feel creeping across her cheeks as Saskia’s comment reminded her that she had promised Oliver a date. At least, in his words she had.

      Saskia raised one eyebrow but didn’t comment. She leant on the kitchen bench and sipped from her own mug that she’d brought in with her. Kat knew it would still be hot; Saskia hadn’t come far. She and Dean lived next door.

      Saskia and Dean, Roger and Maya, plus Kat’s aunt and uncle all lived in the same street, with their underground houses dug into the same hill. As their family had expanded they had simply dug more rooms and added new entrances so they all had their own front door. Kat’s own parents had dug a house in the same hill and she had moved back in with her father when she returned to Coober Pedy from Adelaide. She didn’t mind living close to her family—she enjoyed the feeling of belonging—but sometimes the proximity could be disconcerting.

      If the houses were viewed from outside, all that was obvious were the front doors and some windows. Gardens, or what passed for gardens in the arid country, were at the front, complete with barbecues or pizza ovens СКАЧАТЬ