the same sexual scenario out of spite. All too easy to target a woman who had no back-up. But, by God! there would be no lack of back-up in this instance.
The telephone rang.
He snatched up the receiver, automatically noting the time—8.41—which more or less placed the proposed Monday morning departure on schedule.
“Nathan?”
“Here.”
“The Hewson charter flight is lifting off as I speak,” Tommy announced smugly. “The birds have flown.”
“You saw them onto the plane yourself?”
“No. I sent Sam to do that. I’m watching it from the homestead verandah.”
“Dammit, Tommy, I asked you.”
“Calm it, brother. No love lost between Sam and the Hewsons. She would have hog-tied them and hauled them into their seats if they’d so much as hesitated. And quite frankly, I’d had enough of them.”
“Is the problem cleared?”
“Oh, I think we established a pertinent understanding and Jared will make it stick during their stay in Broome.” He chuckled. “By the time Bobby-boy pays out there, I rather fancy he’ll want to forget he ever came to King’s Eden.”
“What payment are we talking about, Tommy?”
“Now, Nathan, you got the kudos for whizzing Miranda out of harm’s way. I deserve the kudos for clearing the decks. Bring her back now and I’ll tell you all.”
The call was disconnected before Nathan could press the point. He hoped Tommy’s confidence was not misplaced. A snake had a habit of wriggling and spitting venom even when it was spiked. Still, Tommy should know his own business. It was not only a matter of protecting Miranda. The resort was his baby.
Nathan smiled to himself as he moved out of the office and headed down the hall to Miranda’s room where she’d gone to pack her clothes, ready to leave. He didn’t mind the resort any more, despite the occasional irritation of tourists wandering where they shouldn’t. It had brought him the gold he’d thought he’d never find. True gold. And he’d staked his claim to it. His charming and gregarious brother could win as many kudos as he liked. It wouldn’t win Miranda. She was his and his mind was set on keeping her his. Whatever it took.
He knocked on her door, the memory of last night’s love-making fresh in his mind. Sleep had been minimal but he didn’t feel tired. He’d never felt more vibrantly alive, excitement stirring through him again as she called out, “Come in,” the words reminding him of her sexual openness, inviting all he wanted of her and revelling in every intimacy.
He stepped into her room, itching to hold her once more, and the anxious eyes she turned to him spurred him on.
“Is it all right? Have they gone?”
“Yes.”
She sagged into his embrace, her arms winding around his neck so the full lush femininity of her was pressed against him. He couldn’t resist flattening his palm across the pit of her back, fitting her even closer as he lifted his other hand to stroke away her worry lines.
“Tommy assures me Hewson won’t be coming back. It’s safe for you to return to the resort.”
“How did he handle it?” she asked, uncertainty still clouding her eyes.
“He insists we come and find out.” He smiled to reassure her. “Tommy enjoys a bit of boasting.”
She sighed, her breasts heaving sensuously. He’d never been so horny in his entire life. Difficult to push temptation aside but it was time for business now and Tommy would not appreciate being kept waiting.
“I just hope there aren’t any nasty repercussions,” she said, still fretful.
“Not on King’s Eden, Miranda,” he promised with absolute confidence, and kissed her frown away. “Ready to go?”
“Yes.” Trust and courage glowed in her eyes.
His heart kicked into a joyous beat at this further evidence that his instincts had been right all along. It had simply been a matter of breaking through her barriers for her real character to be revealed and everything made sense to him now. Whatever had made Miranda Wade, the result was she was made for him. There was not one response from her that didn’t fit want he wanted, what he craved.
With this assurance dancing through his mind, he broke away and picked up her bag. He would take her back to the resort and this tourist season would be long enough for her to know the life she would be taking on with him, but he had little doubt about the choice she would make. It had to be.
He took her hand. She looked at him. It was more than a physical link and she knew it. The bonding was there in her eyes. However many partings there would be, Nathan told himself none of them would change what they were to each other, and his soul filled with happiness at the thought. He would not be walking alone through life. Miranda would walk with him.
The drive back to the resort reminded Miranda of the drive away from it on Friday night…the confusion and fear that had churned through her then. The weekend had certainly sorted out where she stood with Nathan and she could almost bless Bobby Hewson for having unwittingly forced an outcome she hadn’t dared to believe in a few days ago. Nevertheless, anxiety still fretted at the edges of her happiness.
She had brought this trouble to King’s Eden. Inadvertently, but nonetheless irrevocably. She would feel responsible if Bobby did some damage to the resort’s good reputation and she couldn’t bring herself to believe he wouldn’t. It was impossible to trust the man or his word.
Unlike Nathan. She feasted her eyes on him as he drove, loving every aspect of him. He wasn’t just big on the outside. He was big all through. Her skin prickled in sensual delight, just remembering the pleasures they’d revelled in last night, how she’d felt so wonderfully enveloped by him, safe and cossetted, belonging to him and with him.
He hadn’t said he loved her, but wanting her to think of sharing his life—all the years ahead of them—and hoping she wanted to be the mistress of his heart…why would he crave her love, if he didn’t feel love for her? The words would come—she was sure of it—when he felt the time was right. Though she didn’t really need until the end of the tourist season to know what she already knew…that nothing was going to change her mind or heart. Nathan was the man for her.
Though she did owe an obligation to Tommy, to work out her contract at the resort…if he wanted her to. It might be better if she didn’t, should there be any risk of Bobby spreading damaging lies about the resort because she was the manager. Were Nathan and Tommy right in believing they had fixed the problem?
She hoped so.
It would be good to lay the past to rest, knowing it could never come back to hurt her or those she cared about, and that included everyone who’d supported her at King’s Eden. As Nathan drove through the resort to the homestead, she felt she had established herself as a person in her own right here. Maybe that was the effect of the outback, bringing out one’s inner resources to meet the challenge of it.
Sam and Tommy were waiting on their arrival, their stances on the homestead verandah reflecting the sparring mood typical of any conversation between them. However, attention was instantly focused on Nathan and Miranda as they alighted from the Land Cruiser. All personal wrangling halted as the new couple were scrutinised for sexual signals.
“Well, before I skip off,” Sam addressed them, “you’d better tell me if I’m to damp down the rumours or let them fly. That sleazy creep, Hewson, yapped on about Miranda, having her claws into you, Nathan, and I told him flat that if she did, it was precisely where you wanted her claws to be because no one got to you unless you opened up to them.”
“How very perceptive of you, Sam!” Nathan answered good-humouredly.
“So?” She gave him a piercing look.