LITMIR.BIZ

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Usually.

      So why did she feel as though something was missing this year? It was a nagging thought inside her that remained there throughout the day and began again when she woke on Boxing Day. She felt restless. As if she should be some place else but didn’t know where.

      It wasn’t until a barbecue lunch in the backyard, where she was playing peekaboo with her six-month-old nephew, that she looked up and her heart dropped to her feet. The laughter died on her lips. And suddenly she knew what had been missing. Brant. He stood near the corner of the house, watching her, his eyes piercing the distance between them. Her family faded from her mind.

      “Who’s that?” she heard her mother say, and all at once Kia realized he was there. He wasn’t a figment of her imagination. And here she was dressed in denim jeans and a stretch knit top, far from the businesslike persona she kept for the office and even for Phillip.

      She handed Dominic to her sister and jumped up. “It’s okay, Mum. It’s one of my bosses. I’ll be right back.”

      She raced toward him, her hand going to her throat as something occurred to her. Something must be wrong. Terribly wrong.

      “Phillip?” she croaked as she got closer.

      Irritation flickered across his face, then disappeared. “Relax. He’s okay, as far as I know.”

      She moistened her lips. “Then what are you doing here?” It had to be something important if he’d flown from the north of the continent to the south, over three thousand kilometers.

      “The Anderson project needs redoing. Phillip must have been having a bad day when he met with them, because he got all their instructions wrong. If we don’t present them with another option by Thursday morning, we lose the account.”

      Kia remembered she’d been a bit uneasy about that particular project. She’d even said something to Phillip about it and gotten her head snapped off at the time.

      “I’ve got a ton of work ahead of me and I need a PA.”

      She frowned. “What about Evelyn?”

      He smiled without humor. “Remember that medallion I gave her that was supposed to keep her safe? It didn’t work. She came down with a stomach virus yesterday morning. It looks like she’ll be out of action for the rest of the week.”

      She grimaced. “Poor Evelyn.” But why did she suspect he was pleased about this? Not about Evelyn being sick but about needing her as replacement. Probably because he was enjoying ruining her holiday like this.

      Her eyebrow lifted. “Why not hire a temp?”

      “This project is too important, Kia. The company will still survive if we lose them as a client, but I’m not sure about Phil. How do you think he’s going to feel if he finds out what’s happened? He’s pretty down at the moment.” He had her with that and they both knew it. “No, I need you to come back to Darwin and help me out. I flew down last night and I’ve got a jet waiting at the airport now. I’ll pay you triple time, of course.”

      She waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t care about the money.”

      “Then think of it as repayment for the security alarm.”

      Her shoulders tensed. “You said that was already paid in full,” she reminded him, though she still had every intention of paying off the debt herself, and in cash. “Or is this one of those debts that only seem to compound interest?”

      A half smile crossed his face. “Perhaps.”

      “Kia, love,” her mother’s voice said behind her, and Kia froze. “Why not bring your boss over to meet the family?”

      Kia leaned toward Brant. “Please don’t mention Phillip,” she whispered.

      “What?” he muttered.

      “They don’t know about him.” She saw his flash of surprise just before she swung around to face her mother to make the introductions.

      But surprised or not, he soon recovered. Kia watched him turning on the charm, but she knew he’d be asking some hard questions when they were alone.

      “I can certainly see where Kia gets her looks,” he told her mother with a warm smile that only seemed to be available for other women.

      Kia mentally rolled her eyes, but she had to admit her father would never have married her mother if she hadn’t been a looker. Her mother had the warmest of natures, too. She hadn’t deserved to be treated so badly.

      Marlene blushed with pleasure. “Thank you, Mr. Matthews.”

      He darted a wry glance at Kia that said like mother, like daughter for calling him “mister,” then turned back to her mother. “Call me Brant.”

      Marlene nodded. “Well, Brant. Come over and meet the rest of Kia’s family.” She slipped her arm through his and began walking toward the others. “Have you had lunch yet?”

      “Yes, but thanks for the offer.”

      “Then have a drink. It’s Christmas, after all.” She gave a warm smile. “Besides, we want to get to know Kia’s boss.” She leaned slightly closer to Brant. “We worry about her up there in Darwin by herself.”

      He smiled. “No need to worry. We’re keeping a very close eye on her,” he said, and Kia’s heart lurched at the hidden meaning behind those words. Suddenly her jeans felt too tight and her pink top too skimpy.

      “Oh, I’m so pleased to hear that.” They reached the others. “Brant, this is my husband, Gerald.” The two men sized each other up and shook hands. “And this is Kia’s sister, Melanie. And her husband …”

      Kia gritted her teeth as she watched the females succumb to Brant’s charm like a line of dominoes toppling over. The men weren’t so accommodating at first, but before long Brant had them eating out of the palm of his hand, too. Did this man know no bounds?

      “So why have you come to see Kia?” her stepfather asked, and Kia saw that maybe Brant hadn’t quite charmed the older man as much as she’d thought. She smiled at Gerald, loving him all the more for his protection.

      “There’s a major problem at the office and I need Kia’s help. She’s been working on the project with Ph—” He hesitated, then smiled at Kia. “She knows it by heart and I can’t do it without her. I have no choice but to beg her to return to the office with me. Believe me, I wouldn’t ask her if it wasn’t important.”

      “Of course you wouldn’t,” her mother said. She glanced at her daughter. “Darling, are you still doing your studies?”

      Brant’s ears pricked up. “Studies?”

      Kia groaned inwardly. “I’m learning Chinese.”

      “And she’s doing very well, too,” Marlene said proudly. “She’s got quite a knack for languages and is already fluent in French and Italian.”

      Brant regarded her with a speculative gaze. “You really are a mystery at times, aren’t you?” he said, but she could see a slight hardness back in those eyes.

      He glanced at his watch. “We’d better be going.”

      She nodded. “I’ll just get my things together.” She left him talking to the others, a little regretful that she hadn’t had more time to spend with her family. But, on the other hand, helping out in a time of crisis was a small sacrifice to make for the good of the company.

      Then she thought of working alone with Brant when they got back to Darwin and she pushed aside a level of excitement that had nothing to do with the challenge of the project and everything to do with the man himself. She swallowed hard. Correction. This wasn’t a small sacrifice. This was going to be a big one.

      Her hands shook as she quickly showered before slipping into a floral-print shirtdress with a short-sleeved jacket that was easy-wearing

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