Rags To Riches Collection. Rebecca Winters

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СКАЧАТЬ nodded. ‘In times of flood the water roars through here. There’s a place to ford further downriver, which is handy when we’re mustering.’

      ‘Does it flood often?’ It’d be hard being stranded out here so far from civilisation in a flood.

      ‘There’ve been two decent ones in living memory, but the homestead is built on higher ground. We’ve never had to evacuate.’

      Still...it took a special kind of person to live out here, battling drought and flood and bushfire. Cade had a grit that she admired. A grit she was determined to cultivate for herself.

      ‘I owe you an apology.’

      She barely heard him. ‘Oh!’ She pointed. Her mouth opened and closed. ‘Emus,’ she gasped out.

      He chuckled. The sound was almost enough to make her drag her eyes from the five giant birds that streaked away until they were lost in the distance. She’d never seen an emu in the wild before. It shouldn’t have astonished her, she supposed, but...

      Lord, what a greenhorn she must seem. She turned to Cade to find him staring at her, an odd light in his eyes. Then she recalled his words. She moistened her lips. ‘An apology?’

      ‘Yeah.’

      Although he wore an Akubra, he squinted in the light. Or was it that he just didn’t want to meet her eye?

      His gaze speared hers as if she’d asked that out loud. ‘I’ve been acting like a jerk and I want to apologise.’

      ‘Um...’ She blinked. ‘Okay.’

      ‘The thing is...’ He went back to squinting. ‘I haven’t been with a woman since Fran left. I haven’t wanted to be with a woman.’

      She swallowed. ‘You’ve had your mind on other things. I mean, Fran’s leaving must’ve been an enormous shock to begin with, and then there was Ella and Holly’s welfare to consider. On top of all that, you’re running a cattle station. It’s not like you’ve had a lot of spare time on your hands, Cade.’

      She thought back to the way he’d kissed her, to the latent power of his body, to his impressive...um...virility. Sure, their clothes had stayed on, but she’d been just about as closely pressed up against him as a body could get. She’d felt the full might of his masculinity. The memory made her mouth dry and an ache start up between her legs.

      Actually, when she thought about it, Cade’s abstinence was surprising. Very surprising. But it was also understandable.

      His lips twisted. ‘The thing is...that all changed when you showed up.’

      ‘Liar.’ She adjusted her hat. She suspected he was trying to pump up her confidence. ‘There wasn’t a hint of anything between us when I first climbed out of the Cessna.’

      ‘Maybe not, but then you smiled at me.’

      She had?

      ‘I introduced you to Scarlett. You smiled...and I wanted you then and there. No preliminaries. No warning. It knocked me for six.’ He scowled. ‘I haven’t stopped wanting you since. Kissing you only made it worse.’

      Her jaw dropped.

      ‘Look, I’m not trying to excuse my behaviour. I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on you yesterday evening. I shouldn’t have pressured you to act against your better judgement. I acted like a horny teenager and I’m sorry, but I thought if you knew why I’d lost my head so completely you mightn’t look on me with such a harsh eye.’

      The embarrassed half-smile, half-grimace reminded her of Ella when she’d been caught out in some minor misdemeanour. It made her want to smile, but she bit the impulse back. She needed to check something before she could give into it. ‘So we’re back on the same page as far as...as far as sex is concerned?’

      ‘Yep.’ He nodded.

      The ache between her legs intensified. She forced herself to smile. ‘Okay, apology accepted.’

      ‘Nicola?’

      He forestalled her before she could turn Scarlett around and head back towards the homestead.

      ‘I’m hoping that we can be friends. Real friends.’

      Three weeks ago that word would’ve induced a shudder. Now?

      She leaned across and held out her hand. He shook it with that firm grip that made her want to swoon. ‘You have yourself a deal.’

      Beneath the brim of his hat, his eyes shone out blue for a moment. ‘Thank you.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

      ‘NIC?’

      ‘Yes, honey?’

      It was Christmas Eve, dinner was long over and all the children had quietened down after a rowdy game of Trouble. Ella was sitting next to Nicola on one of the sofas, her head resting against Nicola’s shoulder. The soft weight of the child and her absolute trust pierced straight into the centre of Nicola, making her wish...

      She pulled in a breath and pushed the thought away. She would not allow it to mar the mood of the evening. Contentment stretched through the living room, along with expectation and hope. The atmosphere as unique to Christmas as the scent of cinnamon and mince pies.

      She glanced down when Ella didn’t continue with her question. ‘What do you want to know, pumpkin?’

      Ella chewed her lip and then climbed right into Nicola’s lap. ‘What if Santa doesn’t come?’

      She suppressed a smile. ‘Why wouldn’t he come?’

      She shared a glance with Cade. He wore a pair of grey cargo shorts and a blue shirt that matched his eyes exactly. Holly had fallen asleep and he cradled her in his arms. The contrast between the big, tanned man—the broad shoulders and the long, strong legs—and the small child with her delicate pink-white skin and fine blonde hair, made her breath hitch and the pulse in her throat quicken. Everything about him ravished her senses. She forced her eyes back to Ella before he could see the desire that flashed in their depths.

      ‘Well...’ Ella drew out, ‘Waminda is a very, very, very long way from Brisbane.’ To her childish mind, Brisbane was the centre of the universe. ‘Maybe,’ she continued, ‘Santa doesn’t know we’re here.’

      ‘But we sent him a letter, remember?’

      ‘Do you think he got it?’

      ‘I’m sure of it.’

      The blue eyes, so like her father’s, brightened. Ella’s questions, her hope, reminded Nicola of the Christmases of her own childhood—the loneliness and inevitable disappointment. She understood Ella’s fear. ‘And don’t forget,’ she whispered to the child, ‘Santa is magic.’

      ‘So he’ll come?’

      ‘Uh-huh.’

      ‘You СКАЧАТЬ