over.
‘What’s made you change your mind about me?’ she asked. ‘When we first met it was like—What did she do to her poor husband?’
‘I’ve had an epiphany,’ he said, deciding there was safety in being flippant. ‘For one thing, you’re a great cook.’
‘So the fact I can cook swung it?’ The coffee was perking away merrily. She turned away to shift it off the heat.
‘I’m joking!’ There was amusement in his eyes.
‘I know you are, Rory Compton,’ she said tartly, betraying her stretched feelings. There was only one answer to all this. The question was when?
‘So what did he do to you?’ Rory repeated, his gaze very direct. He didn’t think he could stop until he knew. That in itself was a danger.
She set his coffee down in front of him and pushed a plate of homemade biscuits his way. ‘Isn’t this too early in our relationship—for want of a better word—to ask a question like that?’
‘One doesn’t have to go together a long time to have a relationship.’ He let his gaze rest on her. ‘I thought we’d agreed we’ve well and truly bypassed the preliminaries?’ He stirred three teaspoons of raw sugar into his black coffee.
‘That’s way too much sugar,’ she murmured, unable to deny the truth of what he had just said.
‘I take sugar to rally my flagging spirits. Not that I actually need it right now.’ The little sexy quirks bracketed his mouth again. ‘If you won’t answer my question about your husband, answer this. What do you think of my offer?’
Her hand reached up to brush back a fallen thick coil of her hair. ‘Well, I have to see what Valerie and Chloe think.’
‘Stop being so damned evasive,’ he said swiftly. ‘Valerie and Chloe were ready to take $3.5 million.’
‘Don’t you dare look triumphant,’ she warned him, seeing the silver glint in his eyes. ‘I can’t bear it!.’ To her horror she felt tears swim into her own.
‘Hey!’ Rory reached across the table in consternation. He took hold of her satin smooth fingertips, curling his own work toughened hands around them.
Electricity pulsed the entire length of Allegra’s body. She felt the shock of it as much as if he had taken hold of her and thrown her down on a bed.
‘What’s the matter?’ Rory asked. ‘Have I upset you? I didn’t mean to. It’s honestly all I can offer, Allegra.’
She blinked furiously. God, what was the matter with her? She was a quivering mass of nerve endings. ‘I know that,’ she said, looking down at their joined hands. She had never seen such a contrast in skin tones. ‘You can let go of me now.’
‘Fine.’ He did so before he burst into flames. ‘You’ve got skin like silk. It’s your home is that it? In losing it to me you’d be cutting the last ties with your dad.’
‘You’re very perceptive,’ she said shakily, convinced of it.
‘Why else would you look so sad?’
The deep note of empathy, smote her heart. ‘The grieving never ends, does it? It goes away for a little while then it comes back.’
‘Old wounds never cease aching,’ he agreed with a philosophic shrug. ‘Some people are far less able to cope with the pain than others.’ He was thinking of Jay now.
‘I don’t have anyone anymore,’ she said as though it had suddenly occurred to her. ‘No father, no mother, no husband, no stepmother, no half sister. No family. At least you have your brother. Someone you know loves you and you love him back.’
His brooding expression was back in place. ‘It’s going to be damned difficult to see him if I can’t set foot on Turrawin.’
‘Your father must be a monster,’ she exclaimed, leaning her head in her palm.
‘Is that why you left your husband? He was a monster?’ The fact he couldn’t let the subject alone proved he was in over his head.
‘He was a clown!’ The words burst from Allegra before she could take them back. ‘God that sounds awful. Forget I said it.’
He didn’t speak for half a minute, he was so surprised. Clown? He hadn’t been expecting that! ‘So you don’t hate him so much as despise him,’ he asked, registering an involuntary wave of relief.
‘Why are you so interested in my past life?’ she asked.
He smiled. Tantalising. Heartbreaking. It seemed to her that smile was coming more frequently.’ You know why, even if I am trying to slow myself down. I don’t want to frighten you away, but you’re the most romantic, the most glamorous woman I’ve ever met. And you smell like a million crushed wildflowers.’
Her heart faltered, plunged on. ‘That’s one sweet compliment for a cautious man, Rory Compton.’
‘I just can’t help myself. There’s something so right about you, Allegra. Too much danger, too.’
‘In what way?’
He looked past her. ‘I’m an Outback cattleman. You’re a woman with a glamorous career in Sydney.’
‘So I am,’ she said, suddenly plummeted into bleakness.
He wanted to pull her into his arms, stroke that melancholy expression away, instead he spoke bracingly, trying to keep both of them on an even keel. ‘It was one hell of a trip around the property with Chloe. Her driving isn’t so much dangerous as unlawful. What about the two of us riding out? I know you’ve still got some good horses.’
Instantly she felt a surge of pleasure that blew her troubles away. ‘Great minds think alike! I was planning that myself. You can ride Cezar if you like?’ She was aware of her desire to see him on horseback. She hadn’t the slightest doubt he’d been a superlative rider.
His eyes widened for a second. ‘I’d really appreciate that, Allegra,’ he said. ‘And I’m honoured. Cezar is a splendid animal.’
‘You’re welcome.’
‘Great!’ He stood up, cattleman coming to the fore. ‘I hope you’ve had your men shift the cattle off the river flats. If there is more rain the water will rise above the escarpments of the creek. It will run a bumper and then, you’ll have trouble on your hands.’
Allegra rolled her eyes heavenwards. ‘Do you think I don’t know? I’m not stupid, Rory Compton.’
‘I’m starting to think you’re a paragon,’ he said dryly.
Allegra took the final gulp of her coffee.
‘Right!’ He pushed back his chair. ‘Let’s get going while the sun’s out.’
CHAPTER FIVE
HE WAS already acting like Naroom was his own,
