Australia: In Bed with a King: The Cattle King's Mistress

“I’m sure Tommy will fill you in when he arrives this afternoon.” Nathan smiled at her, seeing a way to use her frustration. “You can grill him to your heart’s content,” he added casually.

It earned an exasperated glare. “I wanted another point of view.”

“Then why not ask Miranda over to dinner tonight, satisfy yourself about her? Satisfy Jared’s curiosity, too. You could ask Sam, as well. Get her opinion. Make a party of it.”

“Yes,” his mother snapped, looking at him as though she wanted to box his ears. “I shall do that, Nathan. I’ll get some answers for myself since I can’t count on either you or Tommy to be sensible about women.”

Her eyes glittered bitter disapproval.

He thought fleetingly of Susan, aware his mother had considered her a waste of his time. But mothers didn’t know everything. All the same, he was glad that door was shut now because another door had opened and it had a stronger lure than any he had ever known.

“Well, it’s lucky you can count on Jared to be sensible,” he tossed out, then slanted a teasing grin at his brother. “Been a good boy, have you?”

He laughed and they moved onto a lighter vein of conversation, which suited Nathan just fine since he only had to give half his mind to it.

Tonight, he thought with deep satisfaction.

Tonight he would find out more about the woman he wanted.

As was her custom, Miranda was ready to welcome back the homestead guests as they returned from their day’s activities. She waited on the verandah, watching the fishing party unload themselves from the Jeep Sam always commandeered, and thinking they looked well satisfied with what they had chosen to do.

“Look at these great barramundi!” John Trumbell crowed, holding up his catch for her to admire as he led the others up the path.

Miranda laughed at his glee. “Biggest I’ve seen this season, John.”

Robyn, his wife, asked. “Can we give them to the chef to cook for our dinner tonight?”

“Of course. Should make a great feast for you.”

“It was a marvellous day,” Robyn enthused. “I’ve never gone fishing in a helicopter before.” She swung around to Sam who was trailing after them. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Couldn’t get you to that part of the river any other way,” Sam informed her.

Robyn sighed happily, turning to the other couple who had accompanied her and her husband. “Don’t you just love the outback? It was like fishing in a world of our own.”

The others made equally enthusiastic comments as they passed Miranda. Sam sidled up to her and remarked sotto voce, “Wonderful, when you’ve got money to burn.”

She grinned. It was true the guests who took home-stead suites never seemed to count the cost of anything. Nevertheless, in the month since the resort opened, she’d found that even the campers loved being here, just exploring the gorges, swimming in waterholes, enjoying the unique wildlife.

“So what’s on for tomorrow?” Sam asked, rolling her eyes.

“For them the Bungle Bungle Range.”

“Got Albert lined up to take them in after I’ve landed them?”

“Of course.”

Miranda’s mind flinched away from the memory of her morning with Nathan. It still haunted her, even after six weeks of seeing nothing of him. It seemed he had decided to respect her choice not to play. The problem was, in the lonely hours of the night, she was tormented by the question of what might have been if she’d chosen differently.

“Someone coming,” Sam remarked, squinting past Miranda at a Jeep, which was fast approaching. “Looks like Tommy. Must be coming from the station homestead. Are you expecting him?”

“No, I’m not.” She was puzzled by this unheralded visit. “He dropped in on Tuesday to check through everything with me.”

Sam gave her a crooked smile. “Well, it’s Saturday. Maybe he’s without a date tonight and hopes you’ll fill in.”

“Then he’ll be out of luck.”

Sam shook her head in bemusement. “It’s an education, watching you block him out. Mind if I stay to watch the fun?”

“As you like.”

She didn’t find Tommy’s flirtatiousness fun, and didn’t really see what fun Sam could get out of watching them together. Apparently it amused her, yet Miranda kept remembering what Nathan had said about Sam’s feelings for Tommy, and she couldn’t help thinking it was masochistic to want to watch. Or maybe it was a case of not being able to help herself. If he was like a magnet to her…

A convulsive little shiver ran down Miranda’s spine. It had certainly been easier, throwing herself into her job and getting on top of it with Nathan out of sight, if not completely out of mind. Tommy was not a problem to her. His irrepressible personality seemed to bounce around her personal sidesteps and he never pushed beyond the boundaries she set. Getting the business right came first with him and he wasn’t about to upset that applecart.

“How’s it going?” he called cheerily as he came up the path.

“Fine!” Miranda answered.

He stopped short of the verandah, looking up at them with a quizzical little smile. “Mum and Jared have flown in for the weekend. You are commanded to come to dinner at the station homestead tonight.”

She frowned. “Commanded?”

Her heart started skittering. Nathan had commanded?

“Invited,” Tommy corrected wryly. “But take it from me, there’s no ducking out of my mother’s invitations.”

His mother, not Nathan.

Her mind started skittering.

Did Tommy think she ducked out of his invitations? Why couldn’t he simply accept her disinterest? Was he behind this command? Was Nathan? Was it simply Elizabeth King dictating her own desire to check the situation at the resort?

Why couldn’t they simply let her be? She was doing a good job. Yet she felt an irresistible tug at the thought of meeting Nathan again…what it might mean…

It would be safe, she reasoned. Had to be safe with Elizabeth King there, and the other brother, Jared. It might even dispose of the wanton thoughts that plagued her lonely nights…show her beyond question how foolish any involvement with him would be.

“What about our guests here?” she prevaricated, feeling hopelessly at odds with a desire she knew could lead nowhere good.

“Spend Happy Hour with them,” Tommy promptly replied. “Settle them at the table, and leave them to their own devices. They know each other from last night, don’t they?”

He’d checked the bookings earlier in the week and all four couples in the homestead suites overlapped this weekend. “I won’t be able to leave here until after seven,” she pointed out.

“That’s understood. We’ll be dining at eight.” He slid Sam a teasing look. “Mum said for you to come, too, squirt. Balance the table.”

“Oh, sure! I can just hear Elizabeth saying that,” she scorned.

“Well, I told her you probably didn’t have a dress to wear.”