In Bed With...Collection

“Yes. I promise you will be safe with me, Miranda. Is my word good enough for you?”

“Safe…from Bobby, you mean,” she said, trying to sort through her confusion.

“From me, as well…if that’s concerning you,” he said harshly.

She shook her head, knowing Nathan would not force himself upon her. But to go to such extreme measures…”I want to know what Bobby said. Why you’re doing this,” she cried.

“Later.” He gestured an impatient dismissal of these concerns. “Is there anything you need to organise for the guests tonight, before you leave?” he pressed, assuming her consent to his plans.

The realisation struck she had no choice in the matter. Nathan and Tommy had already made the decisions. “No,” she answered slowly, trying to adjust her mind to this entirely new set of circumstances. “Though I usually check that they’re happy with everything before they retire for the night.”

“You can do that before we leave. What about the morning? Breakfast? Activities?”

Her mind raced over possible problems and saw none. “It’s all been scheduled. It should run without a hitch. There’ll be a staff member on duty here.”

“Good! Then go and pack what you need. I’ll hold the party together. And don’t be long about it, Miranda.” His eyes flashed contempt. “I’ve had enough of the Hewsons to do me a lifetime.”

He hadn’t been enjoying himself…

Still in a state of shock over these new developments, Miranda went back inside to follow Nathan’s instructions. It took considerable effort to shake her mind free of the dark, tumultuous brooding that had possessed it since his arrival earlier this evening. However, one comforting fact did emerge. Nathan had come to stand by her, to protect her. And now he was taking her right out of the nightmare of having to cope with Bobby any longer.

Relief mixed with a sense of humiliation that it had come to this…taking her out…bringing in Tommy…all because of her history with a man she now despised, a past she had done everything to escape from.

Did anyone ever escape from their past? she wondered.

On the other hand, perhaps she was exaggerating her part in whatever was going on. Maybe there was some threat to the resort, competition planned by the Hewson/Parmentier hotel connection. Bobby’s request for her to show him how the resort worked might have another more devious motive than just getting her alone with him.

Assuring herself she’d find out soon enough from Nathan, and having reached her room, Miranda pushed herself into thinking of what clothes to take for a weekend at the station homestead. Except it wasn’t just a place to go to, a place of refuge from Bobby Hewson. She would be spending the weekend with Nathan…in his home.

Safe, he’d said, and his word could be trusted. Miranda didn’t doubt that. The problem was…could she trust herself to keep safe from him? She hated the distance she had put between them tonight. Maybe it was a sensible distance. Maybe he no longer wanted to cross it.

What had Bobby said about her?

Her heart quivered in trepidation. Her life didn’t feel her own any more. But she went through the motions of packing a bag. A weekend with Nathan should sort out something, she argued. Safe or not, it had to be better than staying here with Bobby Hewson.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#ud535c0fb-8216-5cc4-a273-7d8e9771b73f)

NATHAN had taken her chair at the head of the table, continuing his assumed role of host in her absence. Miranda noted he was still promoting a congenial mood amongst the guests, though keeping a physical distance from the Hewsons. She dropped her bag near the doors and crossed the lounge area to the split-level dining section, nervously wondering how he intended to direct their departure.

He rose from her chair, pushing it right back so he could gather her to his side, smiling at her as he slid his arm around her waist, deliberately coupling them to face the table guests together.

“All ready?” he asked, his eyes commanding her assent.

“Yes,” she murmured, acutely aware of his hand resting possessively on the curve of her hip.

He transferred his smile to the guests who were all watching this linking with speculative interest. “I must beg you to excuse us from the rest of this evening’s dinner party,” he said charmingly. “Duty calls me back to the station and this is Miranda’s weekend off. I’ve persuaded her to find out firsthand what the life of a cattleman is like.”

He turned an intimate grin to her and added, “I can’t, in all conscience, expect her to marry me until she knows what she’s committing herself to.”

Marry!

Miranda was too poleaxed to say a word. Somehow she managed to maintain the smile she’d pasted on her face.

One of the male guests laughingly remarked, “Well, that’s making your intentions clear, Nathan.”

“One of the things we learn in the outback is always seize the day,” he answered good-humouredly. “And when a woman like Miranda comes along, a man would be a fool not to.”

Heat bloomed in her cheeks. She rolled her eyes at Nathan, not knowing where else to look. It amused the guests who were obviously enjoying his very open confidences.

“My brother, Tommy, will be here in the morning to manage you through the rest of the weekend,” he went on. “Staff will be standing by to see you off on your activities tomorrow. Is there anything you need to check with Miranda before I sweep her away with me?”

The inquiry brought only jovial remarks.

“We’re all set. Best of luck to you, Nathan!”

“Yo! We’ve made a note of everything. Got to say you two look well-matched.”

“No problem for us. Don’t let him steam-roller you, Miranda.”

“Huh! Firsthand knowledge sounds good to me!”

“I would seize the night if I were you, Miranda,” Celine said archly.

Everyone laughed.

Except Bobby, who remained silent. Miranda didn’t look at him, but she was extremely conscious of his presence and his lack of response. This performance by Nathan was for his benefit. She hoped it was having the right effect, whatever that was supposed to be.

Marry!

Nathan couldn’t mean it. Why go so far? What had Bobby said to him?

“Then we’ll say goodnight to you. Enjoy yourselves.” Nathan rolled on, saluting them with one hand and digging the fingers of the other into her hip to prompt her into appropriate speech.

“Have a great time, all of you!” she rushed out. “And thank you for your good advice. It’s a bit hard to catch one’s breath around Nathan.”

It left them laughing.

They didn’t know how true it was.

All the way out to his Land Cruiser, Miranda was in a ferment over his words and actions. His arm remained lodged around her waist, and she could feel his determination to prevent any backward sliding from his stated plan. It wasn’t desire for her company driving him. He had taken control and was relentlessly pushing through what he considered had to be done.

He opened the front passenger door and half-lifted her into the high seat. Her bag was stowed on the bench seat behind her. There was no time wasted in putting himself behind the steering wheel and getting the Land Cruiser into motion. His face was grim as they sped away from the resort homestead, and Miranda had to take a very deep breath to combat the throat-strangling tension he emitted.

“What did Bobby Hewson say to you?”

Jaw-clenching silence.

Her heart cramped at this evidence of damage done, but she could not let the issue rest any longer. “This is later, Nathan. I’m entitled to know.”