His Ring, Her Baby / His Bride for the Taking: His Ring, Her Baby / His Bride for the Taking

Those blue eyes narrowed on her. “No.”

“If you’re looking to eat in the restaurant—”

“I’m not.”

“You’re not here for the gardener’s job, are you?” she said, knowing it sounded ridiculous but one never knew.

His low chuckle resonated with something inside her. Something she didn’t want to acknowledge.

“No, I’m not here for that, either.”

Suddenly she noticed his gaze dart to her left hand, noting her bare fingers. Uneasiness fluttered inside her stomach that he might think her single and available. It had been weird taking off her rings, but the heat had made her fingers swell a little and the alternative had been to have the rings adjusted. She hadn’t wanted to do that, seeing her fingers would return to normal once she returned to Sydney.

Just like she would return to normal, she had promised herself, realizing now it might happen sooner than expected. Oh, God, she didn’t want to go back to the city where her wealthy parents-in-law doted on her one-year-old son, Josh.

More than doted.

Smothered.

“I came to see Linda and Hugh,” the man said, drawing her back to the present.

The penny dropped. He was the new owner of the motel. Oh, yes, that explained him. Her cousin said he was rich, predatory, and sucked up failing businesses like a vacuum cleaner, then got rid of half the staff under the guise of modernization.

Well, officially she wasn’t on the staff.

She gave him a cool look. “They’re not here.”

“Where are they?”

“Dubbo.”

There was a moment’s pause. “When will they be back?”

“No idea.”

One brow lifted, a questioning light in his eyes. “Are you always this helpful?”

“Only when it’s part of the job,” she said with a politeness that was nothing more than lip service.

His jaw set. “Look, I’m a friend of Linda and Hugh’s and—”

Her heart thudded. “A … a friend?”

“Yes, Hugh and I went to boarding school together.”

“Oh, I thought—” She stopped. Perhaps Linda and Hugh didn’t want it known yet that they were selling.

“Yes?”

“It doesn’t matter.” It all made sense now. She could easily see the two men being friends. Hugh’s parents owned a cattle station, but Hugh had been more interested in business than the land and had bought the motel for him and Linda.

Did this man own a cattle station, too? He certainly looked like one of the wealthy landowners.

“The name’s Kirk, by the way,” he said, snapping her from her thoughts. “Kirk Deverill.”

His name flowed over her. Why couldn’t he be called Bruce? Or Darryl? Something that didn’t sound so masculine or make a woman think about him as a man.

She let out a shaky breath. “I’m Linda’s cousin. Vanessa Hamilton.”

He paused, as if putting the name to her face and liking what he saw. Then his eyes fell to her lips. “I didn’t know Linda had such a beautiful cousin.”

She gave a soft gasp. Why did this man’s words make her knees weak when almost every available male in town, and some not so available, had said the same thing since her arrival?

The telephone rang and she snatched it up, uncomfortable at the feelings he was raising inside her. She could feel him watching her as she went to a stand to get a brochure on the Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo. She answered a couple of questions for the guest then hung up and put the brochure back.

“I’m sorry. I—” She looked up and caught him eyeing the full length of her denim jeans. “Um … just a question about the zoo,” she finished on a lame note.

“No need to be sorry,” he said smoothly, not looking the slightest bit uncomfortable at having been caught. Then he considered her. “So tell me. Why the attitude?”

She cleared her throat. “Attitude?”

“You obviously thought I was someone else.”

“Perhaps.” It wasn’t up to her to tell him about the sale. Besides, he could say he was a friend of Linda and Hugh’s but that didn’t mean he actually was.

“Someone you don’t like.”

“Maybe.”

“You realize you owe me an apology,” he pointed out.

Yes, and he owed her an apology for the way he’d been looking at her, but did she want to go there? No way.

“Of course, there is a way you could make up for it,” he said, a light in his eyes telling her this man was very experienced with women.

She stiffened. Here it comes. One sexist remark and she’d tie him to a tree for the dingoes to eat.

“Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

“Dinner?” Her heart jumped in her chest. “I can’t. I mean, I can’t desert Linda and Hugh then. It’s going to be a big night for them. I’m helping out around the place, you see, and I—”

“You only had to say no.” Her reaction seemed to amuse him. “I’m a big boy. I can take it.”

Vanessa didn’t know whether to be relieved or irritated that he gave in so easily. She’d expected some sort of fight from the guy.

She drew breath. “Fine then. No, I don’t want to have dinner with you tomorrow night.”

“How about a rain check?”