Free Taming the Outback by Ann B Harrison

hers.
    “Bit cranky this morning, sweetheart.” He came to stand far too close to her, his hands on his hips and his knee touching hers.
    Libby turned and stepped quickly away from him, stumbling over a loose rock protruding from the dusty soil. She fell sideways, a cry of fright escaping her before she could stop herself. He caught her around the waist and held on tight before pulling her up and turning her to face him. With no encouragement, her body reacted to the man holding her. Her stomach clenched, and her nipples puckered under her rough cotton shirt. Libby froze against his broad chest, scared he would notice the effect he was having on her if she pulled away from him too soon.
    “It must be my lucky day. Throwing yourself at me so early in the morning.” He laughed at her, holding her tightly.
    “Let me go.”
    “Don’t they teach you manners in the city, Libby?” Nathan’s sensual mouth breathed warm air on her neck as she struggled to keep her hands to herself.
    “Please. Let. Me. Go.”
    Libby’s face flamed with embarrassment as he released her. Turning away from him, she smoothed her shirt down, straightening her underwear as unobtrusively as she could to make herself more comfortable before turning back toward him with her face set firm.
    “What do you want?”
    “Where’s Tom?” He looked around.
    “Why?”
    “Because I want to ask him about the shearers.” Nathan sounded annoyed.
    “Ask me.” Libby folded her arms and tapped her foot.
    He gave her a scathing look, which spoke volumes. “I rang them, and they said Tom had already booked them in. I want to have them come to my place first if that’s okay with him because it suits me better this week before the rains come, and I have more stock than you do.”
    “No.”
    “What do you mean no? ”
    “N. O. No. What don’t you understand about that?” Libby shot back, warming to the argument. “We have them booked, so you can wait. I don’t care if it suits you better. Can’t you see we’re bringing in our sheep now? Why should we stop to suit you?”
    Nathan looked over her shoulder, and his face changed. Stepping past her, he called out a cheery hello to Tom who was riding their way.
    “Tom, just who I wanted to see,” he called out, his voice now warm with affection.
    Libby watched as Tom handed Nathan a couple of tiny lambs before dismounting from his horse. Before she could move her feet to take them from him, Holly was squealing with delight and running toward him. She watched as he knelt down in the dust to let her daughter fuss over the small bundles of fluff. Carefully, Nathan passed one to her and told her how to handle it.
    “Mum, look at what I’ve got,” she cried, looking to Libby.
    Plastering a smile to her face, Libby walked over and stood behind Holly, looking over her shoulder at the lamb that was nudging her in its attempt to find food. Holly tried to stroke its head, but it found her fingers and latched on, sucking them into its mouth.
    The look on her daughter’s face was priceless. The joy one orphaned lamb brought her little girl was more than Libby had managed to do in the last five years of struggling on her own. Her emotions threatened to derail her until she remembered the man in front of her.
    Turning to Tom and ignoring the dark look Nathan was giving her, she said, “Nathan is here to try and talk us into letting him have the shearers at his farm first because of the coming rain. I said no. We’ve already started to bring in our sheep, so he can wait.”
    “Typical city reaction, sweetheart.” Nathan sneered at her as he handed the other lamb to Holly and turned away from her. “I stand by my original idea about you. You’re not cut out for this life. Any other country person would have helped out their neighbor, but not you. You have started to bring in your motley herd of stragglers while mine are all ready to go. Don’t hold up the shearers, or you’ll get a bad name, and next year,