LITMIR.BIZ

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captured his hand. Odette tugged his fingers to make him follow her. ‘This is my brother, Levi,’ she said dismissively. ‘Now, come and see the place.’

      ‘William’ looked back at Sophie, who managed a tiny smiling shrug that said she’d be fine.

      ‘My sister can be impetuous,’ Levi said grimly.

      ‘My brother can’t.’ She watched Smiley leap up the stairs after Odette. ‘Or I didn’t think he could.’

      Levi lifted one eyebrow sardonically. ‘Welcome to Xanadu. I’ll send someone for the bags when we get inside.’

      Sophie glanced in the back of the truck. ‘Actually, we’re used to carrying our own.’

      He inclined his head. ‘But I’d be offended. Please come in.’

      The bags weren’t worth standing out here with him so she turned resolutely towards the entrance. He went on. ‘The resort’s not technically opened for the season and we have the run of the place.’

      ‘Well, that’s very nice.’ But she couldn’t help thinking, How the heck did you do that? They must know the owners extremely well or have unlimited funds. Best not go there. ‘When does it open?’

      He glanced at the sky. ‘Depends on the weather and the state of the roads, though apparently next week, if all continues well.’

      She slanted a look across at him. ‘I guess you and Odette will be gone by then.’

      Another enigmatic brow rose. ‘Trying to get rid of us?’

      They crossed the gravel drive to the stairs and she paused. ‘You did say you were passing through. A week ago,’ she said calmly.

      ‘I lied.’ Straightfaced, no remorse.

      Sophie blinked. She’d known he was dangerous. Like sniffying the briny scent before a storm. Her instincts had been right. He was trouble. She started walking again, faster now, but he kept pace. ‘People don’t tend to do that up here.’ Liar like Brad.

      His eyes narrowed as if he sensed some history there. ‘Necessity can make liars out of us all.’

      She could feel her lip curl. ‘So some people say.’

      He looked across at her and no doubt he could see her distaste. She hoped so. ‘Had a bad experience with a man, have you?’

      ‘I think I’ll look for my brother.’ She turned away but before she could take a step he caught her hand again and she pulled up short to look back at him with raised eyebrows, actually astounded that he would invade her intimate space.

      Maybe he didn’t know that people from the bush—used to wide-open spaces and few people—didn’t do space invasion well. Smiley tended to wave at people rather than shake their hands. Not like those from the city, who were used to people brushing up against them in elevators and on city streets.

      He let go. This time she didn’t hide that she rubbed her hand.

      ‘I apologise, Sophie.’ To give him his due he looked as confused as she felt. ‘We seem to have got off on the wrong foot. Twice.’ Those deadly lips of his were as devastating in an almost smile as she’d imagined. Damn him.

      ‘Now why do we rub each other the wrong way, do you think?’

      No way was Sophie going there. She looked him up and down. Coolly, she hoped. ‘I’m not interested in rubbing anyone at all.’

      His almost smile, which she decided was forced anyway, departed and he nodded. ‘Let’s go in, then.’ He gestured with his hand for her to precede him, but he didn’t touch her. And she didn’t thank him for the courtesy because she could feel his eyes on her back uncomfortably the whole way up the steps. And he was still in her space.

      Levi watched her attempt to walk sedately ahead of him; they both knew something had happened. He wanted to come up beside her and put his hand on the small of her back—lay claim, in fact—and he crunched his fingers into his palm to stop from reaching out. She’d invaded his head with the tiny bit he’d seen the other day but in full-blown glory she took his breath away.

      Her dress was simple and blue but smoothed the slender line of her back and hips as she swayed in front of him and her legs were bare and brown and long enough to dream about. This was crazy. She smoked, just by walking in front of him.

      It felt as if a wire from one of the fences dragged him along in her wake, and there was a tautness he could see in her shoulders that said she wasn’t comfortable either.

      He didn’t know what it was. Apart from totally impractical and heinously inconvenient…but then again the travel agent had quoted the Kimberleys as a destination of adventure. Suddenly he was thinking of a side tour of a different sort.

      He ushered her, with great restraint and no contact, through to the veranda where they all shared the sunset, or at least her brother and his sister shared it; he and Sophie separately observed. Maybe not even that because he wasn’t looking at hills bathed in purple.

      He’d always had a thing about women with long necks and hers flowed like an orchid to her throat. He’d bet her skin felt as soft as a petal. He shifted his scrutiny away from temptation and looked higher. He couldn’t see her eyes from where he stood but he knew they were blue. Like her dress. High cheekbones, snubby nose that should have just been snubby but turned out deliciously cute, and those lips. He reefed his eyes away and took a long swallow of his beer. Who was he and what had happened to the normal, sane, overworked man who’d arrived last week?

      Shame it wasn’t prehistoric times because dragging her off to his cave looked mighty appealing to him at this moment. And no one had appealed for a while. He’d better find something to stay focused on, something apart from how to get her into bed.

      ‘Odette tells me you’re a midwife,’ he said, and now he could see her eyes. Her pupils were big and dark and he’d read somewhere that was a sign of arousal. He hoped so ‘cause he was sure his eyes would be all pupil to his lashes.

      She ran her finger around the rim of her glass and even that tiny movement made him swallow. ‘And community nurse, and anything else that needs medical attention,’ she said.

      He almost wished he was sick. ‘Sounds diverse. It must be a heavy workload.’ He watched her face light up.

      ‘I enjoy it,’ she said. ‘Love it, in fact. Now it has the added dimension of meeting people like Odette who’d benefit from access to a midwife.’

      Passion for her job. Bless her. He used to have that. Now he didn’t even want to talk about work. ‘Odette said you’ve just returned from Perth.’

      He felt the cold breeze and even her pupils constricted until her eyes were light blue again. She jutted her chin and he regretted the question. Obviously bad choice of conversation and a major setback. Probably a good thing.

      ‘Yes. It’s great to be home.’ Such a cold voice, so different than when she’d spoken of work.

      She put her glass down and turned to his sister. ‘The view is wonderful, Odette.’ Sophie pretended to be absorbed and tried to fade Levi into the background. She didn’t want to think about Perth and the fool she’d made of herself there. Though it served as a reminder not to be foolish here. Just because externally Odette’s brother was hard to ignore, internally he’d be the same as Brad. He’d already shown his arrogant, untruthful side. Rich, callous, oblivious to hurting others. And she’d promised she’d never become that vulnerable again.

      She just wished he’d stop studying her. She could feel him watching. Could feel the brush of his analytical study as if she were some strange species he hadn’t figured out yet and it made her want to think of some witty, slash-cutting thing to make him back off. But of course she couldn’t think of something. No doubt tonight in bed it would be there on her tongue.

      Well, he could look, but she refused to squirm. He’d be used to city women falling all over him but he’d

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