Marriage At Murraree

She felt guilty about that when she didn’t need to feel guilty. “Now that I do believe. Darcy carried the burden, I know. I had a peaceful life with Mum. Lots of love and understanding. But Darcy was the one our father wanted. Not me. He would have crushed the life out of me. Just as he did my mother.” Tears burned behind her eyes but she defied them to fall.

“I think not,” Adam answered firmly, turning his dark head. “There’s not much of you but I think you would have triumphed, Courtney. You have your own gutsy core.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.” There was a faint edge to her voice.

“Why not?” His finger lightly brushed one of her bright curls. “Haven’t I complimented you before?” He studied her enchanting profile.

He had kissed her, too. Rocking her to her foundations. “I’d better answer carefully, seeing you’re a lawyer. I believe you told me I looked beautiful at the polo ball.”

“Which you did. You wove magic. A trick women have.”

“Trick?” She risked a glance at him. Saw the glitter of his eyes. “Sometimes I think a woman hurt you badly. A woman who looked a bit like me.” What if he still loved that woman, Courtney thought. What if?

“Now you’ve caught me out,” Adam said smoothly. “I was going for a time with a blue-eyed blonde. An associate in another law firm. She was very bright and very attractive, but nowhere near as lovely as you.”

“So what happened?” His voice told her at one time this other girl had mattered.

“The usual thing. She cheated on me. I didn’t like that. Especially as she’d already moved in with me. She swore it hadn’t meant anything. A one night stand. She’d had a few drinks and one thing led to another. It was apparent she couldn’t be trusted. Maybe if I’d really loved her I’d have been prepared to forgive her. As it was, we broke up.”

“You mean you broke it up.” She could just see him doing it. Clinical, dispassionate, shutting the door on his true feelings.

“Don’t be so hard on me, Courtney,” he groaned. “I take fidelity seriously. Don’t you?”

“I’ve never actually lived with anyone,” she said. “How long were you together?” It was very unsettling, these fierce stabs of jealousy.

“Pray tell, what is this?” He turned her face towards him, a finger on her chin. “Jealous?”

He was so mocking. So arrogant. “I’d prefer to say making conversation.” Now her palm itched to hit him.

“Is that what it is?”

“Better to stick to conversation,” she said.

“When a beautiful woman is born to be kissed?” He drew her to her feet and confounded her by rocking her gently in his arms. “It’s been far too long, Courtney.”

Had he spoken those exact lines to that other woman? Had he turned her heart upside down? Of course he had, he had perfected the art. Then he had left her. Was he telling the truth about that affair or just avoiding the real reason because he thought she would buy it? “If that’s a prompt for a goodnight kiss, Adam, I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

His dark voice mocked. “But you know you won’t.”

He didn’t kiss her mouth at first, he kissed her eyelids. Then her cheek. Beneath her ear. She couldn’t summon up the strength to stop him. She was already in too deep.

“Why did I wait so long?”

She didn’t want him to wait. It was mad, perhaps ill advised, but she was wild for him.

His mouth found her own. His kiss, slow and very thorough. It robbed her of breath. She broke it with a little gasp but instead of releasing her he pulled her even closer, folding her petite body into his like a piece of origami. “You’re interfering with my work, Ms McIvor,” he said huskily.

“How is that?” Her own voice was ragged.

“It’s hard to get a grip on a client’s problem when you’re thinking of someone else.” He bent his head to her again. The tip of his tongue traced the outline of her tender mouth, then the soft inner cushion.

Her whole body, her entire network of nerves, was thrumming like high voltage electricity wires. “I can’t believe you think of me, Adam?” She fought from going under. In too short a time Adam Maynard had gained a real hold on her. There was an inherent danger in that.

“Why is that?” He continued to taste her mouth and her skin as though they were ambrosial.

“A certain way you look at me hasn’t changed.” She voiced her deep concern.

That gave him pause. “Explain.”

Tension began to vibrate like plucked strings. “The way we began. The lack of trust.”

“We’re not back to that,” he groaned. “I was just trying to do my job, Courtney.”

“Perhaps, but the fact is, the look’s still there. It slips out from time to time. It distresses me.”

Anger blazed up unexpectedly. “What else about me distresses you? Obviously not being in my arms. You let me kiss you like you couldn’t live without it.”

It was true. She opened up to him like a flower. But she wasn’t thinking. She was feeling. “How do I know you’re not on track to seduce me?” She had a sudden impulse to turn the tables. “It would be worth your while. I’m sure you make a lot of money as a full partner in your firm, but I’m an heiress, aren’t I?” Immediately as she said it she was ashamed of the ploy. It was unworthy. A last ditch attempt to regain a little control. Adam wasn’t a dishonourable man.

“Don’t say any more, Courtney,” he said tightly. “You’ve gone far enough.” Never had a woman got to him so hard and fast. Never had a woman so insulted him.

It was a blow at his manhood. He hauled her back into his arms. Held her captive. This time the kiss punished.

Next morning Adam left on his journey back to Brisbane, leaving them both estranged.

It was 8:40 before Casey woke with brilliant sunlight streaming in from the verandah. For a few disoriented moments she couldn’t think where she was. She’d never slept in such a beautiful room in her life. Never slept between crisp white sheets that puffed up an exquisite aroma as she moved. It wasn’t any fragrance she knew. Not the usual lavender, gardenia or rose. She would have to ask what it was.

She swung her long legs out of the bed, curling her toes on the pale green carpet. The guest room had such a fresh airy feel. It had only just been redecorated, she’d been told. The wallpaper was a wide cream and pale green stripe. The drapes a cream sheer that moved gently in the breeze. The circular bedside tables were covered in the same soft green, almost a lime. Taffeta decorated around the hem with silk tassels, matching the shades on the bedside lamps. The quilt and the scatter cushions introduced harmonious pinks and blues. Very good watercolours hung on the walls. There was a daybed, near the French doors and an upholstered bench at the end of the bed. A little writing table with a chair.