particular vividness of early dawn faded a little, and she sighed wistfully.
‘Thank you for that,’ she whispered, as if she was afraid of breaking the spell by talking aloud.
He merely nodded and got off the bonnet, but only to reach into the ute for a thermos flask and two cups.
The coffee he poured from the flask was full-bodied and aromatic. ‘I thought you might be cross with me for dragging you out of bed.’
‘No. Well…’ Holly grinned. ‘That may have been my first tiny reaction.’ She sipped her coffee and sniffed appreciatively. ‘Smells so good!’
He climbed back onto the bonnet. ‘So you slept well?’
‘I did. I…’ She hesitated and thought of the tussle she’d had with herself before she’d been able to fall asleep. ‘I did decide I needed to apologize.’
He raised an eyebrow at her. ‘What for?’
Holly chewed her lip. ‘This is not that easy to say but I seem to have developed the habit of—kissing you—and, uh, sloping off.’
‘You have,’ he agreed after a moment.
Holly looked slightly put out.
‘What did you expect me to say?’ He drained his coffee and put his cup down.
‘I didn’t expect you to agree quite so readily. And there are reasons for it, of course.’
‘Of course,’ he echoed. ‘Such as, we just can’t seem to help ourselves? That’s what promotes it in the first place, at least.’
Holly wrapped her hands around her mug and was considering her reply when he went on, ‘Then you get cold feet.’
‘Well, I do! Why wouldn’t I?’
He tilted her chin, observed the indignation in her eyes and smiled slightly. ‘I could be going too fast. Should we just be friends for today?’ He released her chin and put his arm around her shoulders.
Holly opened her mouth to ask him what he was going too fast towards, but she decided against it. She diagnosed one good reason for that: it felt so good to have his arm around her, and to contemplate a friendly day ahead, she didn’t feel like debating anything.
‘What else will we do today?’ she enquired.
‘I’m flying to Croydon for a meeting, cattle stuff. If you’d like to come, you could visit the old gold-rush museum and we could fly onto Karumba for lunch. Karumba is on the Gulf of Carpentaria.’
‘Sounds great. I think I’d like that very much.’
She did.
She pottered around Croydon while he was in his meeting, she marvelled at the size of the Norman River from the air and she enjoyed a seafood basket on a thick, green lawn beneath shady trees. The Sunset Tavern atKarumba Point sat on the mouth of the Norman River and overlooked the shimmering waters of the gulf.
‘It must be magic at sunset,’ she said idly.
‘It is. Pity we can’t stay, but I’ve got another meeting this afternoon at Haywire.’ He stretched his legs out and clasped his hands behind his head.
‘Never mind. It’s been beautiful.’
He looked across at her. ‘You’re easy to please.’
‘I don’t think it’s that. It has been great.’ She pushed away her empty seafood-basket. ‘So were the prawns.’
He laughed. ‘Karumba is the headquarters of the gulf prawning-industry—they should be!’
Holly patted her stomach and sat back. That was when she noticed a couple of young women seated at a table nearby and how they were watching Brett with obvious fascination.
She grimaced mentally and felt some sympathy for them. Whether they knew who he was or not, she did. Thinking about him in his cargo pants and black sweatshirt, with his ruffled dark hair and that eagle intensity at times in his dark eyes, and with his tall, streamlined physique, she had no difficulty picturing him engaging in dangerous exploits like shooting tranquilizer darts out of helicopters or parachuting into jungles.
Worse than that, she herself had not been immune from the effect of Brett Wyndham, although it had been designated a ‘friendly’ day. His hands on her waist when he’d lifted her down from the plane had sent shivers
‘Thank you for that,’ she whispered, as if she was afraid of breaking the spell by talking aloud.
He merely nodded and got off the bonnet, but only to reach into the ute for a thermos flask and two cups.
The coffee he poured from the flask was full-bodied and aromatic. ‘I thought you might be cross with me for dragging you out of bed.’
‘No. Well…’ Holly grinned. ‘That may have been my first tiny reaction.’ She sipped her coffee and sniffed appreciatively. ‘Smells so good!’
He climbed back onto the bonnet. ‘So you slept well?’
‘I did. I…’ She hesitated and thought of the tussle she’d had with herself before she’d been able to fall asleep. ‘I did decide I needed to apologize.’
He raised an eyebrow at her. ‘What for?’
Holly chewed her lip. ‘This is not that easy to say but I seem to have developed the habit of—kissing you—and, uh, sloping off.’
‘You have,’ he agreed after a moment.
Holly looked slightly put out.
‘What did you expect me to say?’ He drained his coffee and put his cup down.
‘I didn’t expect you to agree quite so readily. And there are reasons for it, of course.’
‘Of course,’ he echoed. ‘Such as, we just can’t seem to help ourselves? That’s what promotes it in the first place, at least.’
Holly wrapped her hands around her mug and was considering her reply when he went on, ‘Then you get cold feet.’
‘Well, I do! Why wouldn’t I?’
He tilted her chin, observed the indignation in her eyes and smiled slightly. ‘I could be going too fast. Should we just be friends for today?’ He released her chin and put his arm around her shoulders.
Holly opened her mouth to ask him what he was going too fast towards, but she decided against it. She diagnosed one good reason for that: it felt so good to have his arm around her, and to contemplate a friendly day ahead, she didn’t feel like debating anything.
‘What else will we do today?’ she enquired.
‘I’m flying to Croydon for a meeting, cattle stuff. If you’d like to come, you could visit the old gold-rush museum and we could fly onto Karumba for lunch. Karumba is on the Gulf of Carpentaria.’
‘Sounds great. I think I’d like that very much.’
She did.
She pottered around Croydon while he was in his meeting, she marvelled at the size of the Norman River from the air and she enjoyed a seafood basket on a thick, green lawn beneath shady trees. The Sunset Tavern atKarumba Point sat on the mouth of the Norman River and overlooked the shimmering waters of the gulf.
‘It must be magic at sunset,’ she said idly.
‘It is. Pity we can’t stay, but I’ve got another meeting this afternoon at Haywire.’ He stretched his legs out and clasped his hands behind his head.
‘Never mind. It’s been beautiful.’
He looked across at her. ‘You’re easy to please.’
‘I don’t think it’s that. It has been great.’ She pushed away her empty seafood-basket. ‘So were the prawns.’
He laughed. ‘Karumba is the headquarters of the gulf prawning-industry—they should be!’
Holly patted her stomach and sat back. That was when she noticed a couple of young women seated at a table nearby and how they were watching Brett with obvious fascination.
She grimaced mentally and felt some sympathy for them. Whether they knew who he was or not, she did. Thinking about him in his cargo pants and black sweatshirt, with his ruffled dark hair and that eagle intensity at times in his dark eyes, and with his tall, streamlined physique, she had no difficulty picturing him engaging in dangerous exploits like shooting tranquilizer darts out of helicopters or parachuting into jungles.
Worse than that, she herself had not been immune from the effect of Brett Wyndham, although it had been designated a ‘friendly’ day. His hands on her waist when he’d lifted her down from the plane had sent shivers
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