Single Dads Collection. Lynne Marshall

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СКАЧАТЬ they were a lie. She recalled all the resolutions she’d come out here with and hitched up her chin. ‘Actually, that’s not true.’ She thought about it. ‘I didn’t bother to learn because none of my friends were interested in learning with me.’ Horses made Diane shudder. ‘I was too spineless to learn on my own.’

      He didn’t say anything for a long moment. He shifted in his saddle. ‘And now?’

      ‘Oh, now I’m hooked. And now that I know what an idiot I’ve been …’ She frowned. ‘People do keep horses in the city, don’t they?’

      ‘Sure they do.’

      ‘I’m going to join a riding club.’ There’d be one in Melbourne somewhere. ‘I’m going to get my own horse.’ Excitement surged through her. ‘It’s going to be fabulous!’

      He grinned at her enthusiasm and life seemed suddenly so full of possibility she wanted to fly. ‘Can we canter?’ she breathed.

      In answer he tossed her a grin that made her heart thud against her ribs, before he urged Ben Hur into a canter. At the touch of Nicola’s heels, Scarlett surged after him, and Nicola gave herself up to the feel of the wind in her face and the exhilaration of the ride. Riding like this quietened all the voices in her head that told her she wasn’t good enough, that she’d never be good enough. It allowed her to concentrate instead on feeling at one with her horse. It flooded her with strength and peace and harmony.

      When Cade brought his horse to a halt, she pulled Scarlett to a halt beside him. ‘Magic,’ she breathed.

      And then her jaw dropped.

      Cade’s mouth kicked up at the corners. ‘This is the canyon.’ He shrugged. ‘In all honesty, it’s more a gorge, but we have delusions of grandeur so we call it the canyon.’

      ‘Wow!’

      ‘It’s something, isn’t it?’

      Something? Majestic, eternal, imposing were the words that came to mind.

      The land in front of them dropped away in a series of dramatic rock shelves. The rock was baked red but deep cream and yellow veins striped through it. Water glinted in the base of the canyon. Its other side rose in a sheer cliff. Three-quarters of the way up, it curved inwards as if eroded by thousands of years of wind and sand. It looked like a giant curling wave waiting to break on a stretch of deserted beach.

      The blue sky and the red rock formed a contrast that sang to her soul, though she couldn’t have said why. On the other side of the canyon, the land was dotted with saltbush and the dry brown grass that the cattle roamed far and wide to graze upon. From beneath the brim of her hat, she couldn’t see any cattle, but she did see a mob of kangaroo. There had to be at least twenty of them, most of them sprawled out in whatever shade they could find. A big buck stared across at them for a moment and then went back to grazing.

      ‘It’s beautiful.’ The words didn’t seem enough to capture the eternal grandeur of the landscape, but it was all she had to offer.

      He 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 СКАЧАТЬ