Taming the Outback (10 page)

“Shall we?” he asked, leading her onto the floor. The smell of lamp oil and hay filled her head as he put his hand around her back, resting it just a little above her butt. He twined his fingers through her other hand and pulled her closer still as the music surrounded them. Libby tried to block out the voices of the dancers and stay in the moment with the man whose body made hers heat uncontrollably.

She had eyes and ears only for Nathan. Her heart raced as he whispered sexy suggestions in her ear, making her cheeks heat up and her mouth go dry. Looking up, she saw the fire smoldering in his eyes and tried to look away, but felt compelled to keep her gaze on his.

“I think we both need to go outside for some air, don’t you?” He guided her with one hand on her back and the other gripping her fingers tightly. They escaped out of the hall via the kitchen door, brushing past those who would waylay them to talk. The cold air hit her warm face, the realization of what she was heading for clear in her mind now that they were outside. She shook herself, thinking she was making a mistake but unable to stop herself going with him. The chemistry was definitely there between them, and it reared its ugly head every time they were within spitting distance of each other.

They strolled around the back of the hall toward the stockyards. The static croaking of rocket frogs broke the quiet of the night as they stepped over twigs and dry, cracking leaves. The only light to guide them was the full moon, which shone its silvery beams down on the old stock pens. Nathan pulled her to a stop by the first gate, pushing her back into the corner post. He ran his fingers softly along her jaw line, cupping her head in his hands as he gently took her lips with his mouth, nibbling at first, then hot and forceful. She tried to keep up with him. Her breath came hot and fast, the lust rising from her like a volcano erupting after a long, silent sleep threatening to flow over without any sense of control.

She slipped her hands behind his head, pulling him closer and tightening her fingers at the nape of his neck. Impatient and demanding, she slid her hands to the front, slipping them down to undo his shirt and roam over his warm, muscled chest. She toyed with the smattering of hair running down his throat to his lower torso. His taut nipples excited her as she tweaked them between her fingers, rubbing them gently while they hardened under her touch.

The groan that escaped him made the blood rush faster to her groin. The heat built up inside her as he trailed his lips down her jaw to her neck, nuzzling his way back up to her ear. She gasped as he licked her lobe, his teeth pulling on it gently, the feeling shooting straight to her center, making her tremble with anticipation. He pulled the silk shirt from her jeans, and she felt his work-roughened hands push up her bra, freeing her breasts into the night air. The shock of Nathan’s hot mouth on her cold nipples had her groaning with pleasure as he flicked them with his tongue, sending sensations racing through her body. The thrill as he left one breast for the other—causing a rapid cooling before heating them up again—was almost more than she could bear. Libby could feel her long-overdue orgasm building before he moved his attention and fingers to the zip on her jeans. He popped the button and pulled it down while gently pressing under her panties and into her hot flesh. She could feel herself exploding just as his fingers started to move inside her. It’d been so long since a man had touched her. She held onto him tightly as her body writhed in ecstasy against his hand.

When her pulse slowed, she reached to cup his chin, her mouth puckering up to a...starched, cold pillow slip? Libby’s eyes flew open. “A dream...”
No way.
This sucks.
She rolled over and untangled herself from the rumpled sheets. Funny, she felt like she’d had an orgasm. Maybe she had. The release relaxed her somehow. She stood and walked over to the full-length mirror beside her wardrobe, pulling her sleeping shirt over her head. Her gaze roamed over her soft breasts, and as she turned, she clasped her bum cheeks and lifted them, remembering when they had sat that high by themselves. Letting go, she sighed. It was funny how the droopy bits didn’t bother you until you started thinking about sex with someone new, although it was a small price to pay for the lives of her children and not one she would ever like to change. Cupping a hand under her stomach, Libby gave fleeting thought to another child growing inside her, a child of hers and Nathan’s.
Pfft. As if that would ever happen.
He wants my farm not my body.

Pushing the dream from her mind, she lifted her hands over her head and twirled in front of the mirror, looking at her body from different angles. She was getting a healthy-looking glow now that she was working outside so much. She liked it. Her body would tone up soon enough, especially with the work she was doing. Unfortunately, the boobs would stay droopy and no doubt get more so with age. Shrugging off the reality facing her in the mirror, she headed for a cool shower.

_***

Walking through the house to the kitchen, Libby could hear the bleating of hungry lambs coming from the direction of the stables.

Humming to herself, Libby made two cups of coffee and took them outside. “Morning, you two.” She smiled at the sight of her baby playing mother to the orphaned lambs.

“Hi, Mum,” Holly gushed. “They’re so hungry. They nearly knocked me over when I came in the door.”

“I bet they did,” Libby replied. “I have a coffee for you, Tom, when you’re ready.”

“Thanks. I’m sure this young lady has it all under control.” He stood and accepted the mug from her. He leaned on the fence by Libby, watching as Holly fed the remaining three lambs.

“I promised Holly she could ride Puddin’ today if that was okay with you, Libby. You don’t have any plans that need me, do you?”

“No, that’s fine, Tom. I was thinking of going over those figures on the stock and trying to make sense of it all before I had some
me
time in the garden.”

“The boys want to go out and scout around for any stray sheep.” He took a sip from his mug before continuing. “I’ve told them if it’s okay with you, they can go.”

“No worries.” The figures in the stock record books were starting to get under her skin, so she left Tom and Holly to their lesson and headed back inside to sit at the old office desk. She proceeded to pull out the ledger he’d had given her last night when Nathan had shown up. Pushing back the annoyance she felt at that man’s high-handedness, Libby tried to concentrate on the figures again without letting him intrude into her task.

Basic business skills, she had. It was the whole stock-running she didn’t quite understand, but with Tom’s help, she was learning. She ran over the last five years’ figures, and wrote herself out a chart so she could understand it better in her own way.

It seemed that every year, less and less sheep were being shorn at shearing time and fewer lambs were being sold. He had informed her the bulk of the sheep were too old and needed to be replaced, and he’d shown her the figures to back that up. The station hadn’t had any new rams in ages, and it was getting to the stage the herd was unviable. He wanted to cull out the old ewes and old rams and start again. They would know by the end of crutching how the numbers stood. Then Libby would have some figures to talk to Aaron about.

She took a look at the cattle file as well and decided to make herself a chart for them too, since Tom had mentioned it to her. She may as well get prepared and learn something. There were only about 900 all listed in the book as at last year’s drenching date. About half of those were cows. The rest were steers and old bulls. She divided them into the right categories and filled in her chart.

Getting interested, she fired up her computer. She Googled Brahmans and when a list of sites came up, she hit on the first one. There were some pretty impressive bulls on line, especially if you were a cow. Most were up for auction, so she couldn’t get an idea of prices but was sure Tom would know how much they would have to pay.

She heard Tom come into the house a couple of hours later.

“Down here in the office,” she called.

“Just going into town to get my lotto tickets.” Tom cast a gaze over her charts. “Want anything?”

“No thanks, Tom. This will keep me busy for a while.”

“Holly wants to come for a ride. Is that okay?”

“Sure; if it’s no trouble.” Libby turned to look up at him.

“No, no trouble at all,” Tom said. “See ya soon.”

It would appear they weren’t the only ones this move was benefiting.
Tom has found himself a little sidekick.
Smiling, Libby went back to her charts and computer.

She lifted her head when she heard a vehicle come down the drive. Time tended to fly when one was enjoying oneself. And she was. She was really getting into the whole “sorting out the breeding” idea. She wanted to have better stock if they could afford it because, at the end of the day, it was to their benefit. The whole idea was to make a profit and keep the farm.

She heard the gate and then the bang of the back door screen. Loud footsteps sounded in the kitchen, and she jumped up, her heart thudding.

That’s not Tom
.

She bolted out of her chair, her breath caught in her throat. Creeping out of the office, Libby slid along the wall down the hallway on bare feet, pausing at the door to the kitchen. Sneaking a quick look around the opening, she came face-to-face with Nathan. She let out a small scream before she could stop herself, then the humiliation started to rise as she glared at him.

He stood by the table, his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, inwardly sighing with relief.

“Is that any way to greet a neighbor, sweetheart?” he asked. “Shouldn’t you offer me a cup of coffee or something?”

“You’re kidding, right,” she shot back. “Every time we see each other, you have a go at me. You have the nerve to creep in here and scare the crap out of me, and now you’re asking for coffee?”

He pulled a chair out from the table and turned it backward before straddling it. It was obvious he wasn’t going anywhere. She moved over to put on the kettle.

Her body reacted uncomfortably to him being so close to her after her dream last night. Prickles of desire attacked her nipples, and she squeezed her legs together as she leaned back against the sink, her arms crossed over her breasts as if that would keep her feelings from him.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just being neighborly.”

“Really, why don’t I believe that?” Libby asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

“Untrusting soul, aren’t you?” His gaze followed her as she grabbed cups while the kettle boiled.

“Well, you haven’t exactly given me anything neighborly to go on. You can hardly blame me.” Libby poured the hot water into the cups, and after adding milk, she held one out to him.

“I thought I would catch up with Tom, if you must know.” He reached for the coffee mug and stirred in two generous spoons of sugar from the bowl in the center of the table.

“Why?”

He raised his own eyebrows at her.

Libby shook her head. Now she was starting to get antsy.
The guy blows hot and cold, bossy and then apologetic.
Now he thinks he can just waltz into my house without being invited, order coffee, and doesn’t want to tell me why he’s here.
She wasn’t going to give an inch after the way he’d treated her the last few weeks. Damned if she would, no matter how much Tom tried to make excuses for him.
Life throws out curveballs to everyone now and then. I should know. Learn to deal with it, Nathan.

She cocked her head at him.

“McNallys are selling some young Brahman bulls. I wondered if he would be interested,” Nathan said finally. “It’s something we discussed a couple of times.”

“You could have easily told me.”

“Sweetheart, you are a city import. You know nothing about cattle.” A sneer was starting to form on his face.

“I’m learning, and this is my farm,” she replied in an even voice. Standing opposite to him was hard when he looked as good as he did, sneer or not. “Tom was going to speak to Jonas at the dance anyway.”

“That old rogue.” Nathan laughed. “Those two go aways back, but you’ll still get a better deal with McNallys.”

“I’ll let him know you called.” She put her cup in the sink and stood there, hoping he’d take it as a signal to leave. “You’ve said your piece, and I’ve given you coffee. Now I’d like to get back to my office.”

“Fiery, aren’t we, sweetheart.” He rose and walked over to her, leaning against the kitchen bench, his arm touching hers. “Tell me why you really moved here, sweetheart.”

“Because it was left to me. That’s why,” she retorted.

“So was a sizeable amount of money. Why didn’t you just take that and spare yourself and us all the grief of having a city-dweller thinking they can take on the outback and make a go of it?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, standing straight.

“Did you even bother to read the will Aaron gave you?”

“No, but that’s none of your business anyway. Aaron never mentioned any money.”