In Bed With...Collection. Emma Darcy
news was good. The spinal cord wasn’t damaged.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“That’s not why I called you out. Look at me, Miranda.”
A steely command.
For a moment, she looked out at the dark shape of his Land Cruiser, remembering her feelings when she’d seen him arrive, silhouetted against the sunset. There had been hope in her heart then. Now despair pressed its dark fingers on her mind. She dredged up some remnants of fighting spirit and turned her gaze to his, expecting nothing good.
His eyes blazed with relentless determination. “You cannot stay here,” he stated unequivocally. “I have called Tommy and apprised him of the situation. He’ll fly in first thing in the morning.”
Alarm streaked through Miranda. What had Bobby said about her? Why was Nathan involving Tommy? Was she being fired from her position? Summarily removed because of another person’s word? Though of course it wasn’t just another person. It was her previous employer!
“What did you tell Tommy?” she demanded frantically, needing to know what she had to defend herself against.
“Enough to know Hewson is a threat to his business,” Nathan answered tersely. “I want you to go in now and pack a bag, ready to leave. I shall keep the Hewsons occupied while you do this.”
“But where am I to go?” What had Bobby said? How was he a threat? And why did she have to leave? “You can’t do this to me,” she protested. “Not without telling me why. I’m entitled to an explanation.”
“I’m not doing anything but safeguarding you and the good name of this resort,” he retorted, frowning at her response. “As to where you’re going, with me, of course. You can spend the weekend at the station homestead. Once the Hewsons are gone, you’ll resume your position here.”
She wasn’t being fired! “I’m to go…with you?” she repeated dazedly.
“Yes. I promise you will be safe with me, Miranda. Is my word good enough for you?”
“Safe…from Bobby, you mean,” she said, trying to sort through her confusion.
“From me, as well…if that’s concerning you,” he said harshly.
She shook her head, knowing Nathan would not force himself upon her. But to go to such extreme measures…”I want to know what Bobby said. Why you’re doing this,” she cried.
“Later.” He gestured an impatient dismissal of these concerns. “Is there anything you need to organise for the guests tonight, before you leave?” he pressed, assuming her consent to his plans.
The realisation struck she had no choice in the matter. Nathan and Tommy had already made the decisions. “No,” she answered slowly, trying to adjust her mind to this entirely new set of circumstances. “Though I usually check that they’re happy with everything before they retire for the night.”
“You can do that before we leave. What about the morning? Breakfast? Activities?”
Her mind raced over possible problems and saw none. “It’s all been scheduled. It should run without a hitch. There’ll be a staff member on duty here.”
“Good! Then go and pack what you need. I’ll hold the party together. And don’t be long about it, Miranda.” His eyes flashed contempt. “I’ve had enough of the Hewsons to do me a lifetime.”
He hadn’t been enjoying himself…
Still in a state of shock over these new developments, Miranda went back inside to follow Nathan’s instructions. It took considerable effort to shake her mind free of the dark, tumultuous brooding that had possessed it since his arrival earlier this evening. However, one comforting fact did emerge. Nathan had come to stand by her, to protect her. And now he was taking her right out of the nightmare of having to cope with Bobby any longer.
Relief mixed with a sense of humiliation that it had come to this…taking her out…bringing in Tommy…all because of her history with a man she now despised, a past she had done everything to escape from.
Did anyone ever escape from their past? she wondered.
On the other hand, perhaps she was exaggerating her part in whatever was going on. Maybe there was some threat to the resort, competition planned by the Hewson/Parmentier hotel connection. Bobby’s request for her to show him how the resort worked might have another more devious motive than just getting her alone with him.
Assuring herself she’d find out soon enough from Nathan, and having reached her room, Miranda pushed herself into thinking of what clothes to take for a weekend at the station homestead. Except it wasn’t just a place to go to, a place of refuge from Bobby Hewson. She would be spending the weekend with Nathan…in his home.
Safe, he’d said, and his word could be trusted. Miranda didn’t doubt that. The problem was…could she trust herself to keep safe from him? She hated the distance she had put between them tonight. Maybe it was a sensible distance. Maybe he no longer wanted to cross it.
What had Bobby said about her?
Her heart quivered in trepidation. Her life didn’t feel her own any more. But she went through the motions of packing a bag. A weekend with Nathan should sort out something, she argued. Safe or not, it had to be better than staying here with Bobby Hewson.
NATHAN had taken her chair at the head of the table, continuing his assumed role of host in her absence. Miranda noted he was still promoting a congenial mood amongst the guests, though keeping a physical distance from the Hewsons. She dropped her bag near the doors and crossed the lounge area to the split-level dining section, nervously wondering how he intended to direct their departure.
He rose from her chair, pushing it right back so he could gather her to his side, smiling at her as he slid his arm around her waist, deliberately coupling them to face the table guests together.
“All ready?” he asked, his eyes commanding her assent.
“Yes,” she murmured, acutely aware of his hand resting possessively on the curve of her hip.
He transferred his smile to the guests who were all watching this linking with speculative interest. “I must beg you to excuse us from the rest of this evening’s dinner party,” he said charmingly. “Duty calls me back to the station and this is Miranda’s weekend off. I’ve persuaded her to find out firsthand what the life of a cattleman is like.”
He turned an intimate grin to her and added, “I can’t, in all conscience, expect her to marry me until she knows what she’s committing herself to.”
Marry!
Miranda was too poleaxed to say a word. Somehow she managed to maintain the smile she’d pasted on her face.
One of the male guests laughingly remarked, “Well, that’s making your intentions clear, Nathan.”
“One of the things we learn in the outback is always seize the day,” he answered good-humouredly. “And when a woman like Miranda comes along, a man would be a fool not to.”
Heat bloomed in her cheeks. She rolled her eyes at Nathan, not knowing where else to look. It amused the guests who were obviously enjoying his very open confidences.
“My brother, Tommy, will be here in the morning to manage you through the rest of the weekend,” he went on. “Staff will be standing by to see you off on your activities tomorrow. Is there anything you need to check with Miranda before I sweep her away with me?”
The inquiry brought only jovial remarks.
“We’re all set. Best of luck to you, Nathan!”