Free Australian Outback Kings / The Cattle King's Mistress / The Playboy King's Wife / The Pleasure King's Bride by Emma Darcy Page B

tomorrow?” Sam asked, rolling her eyes.
    â€œFor them the Bungle Bungle Range.”
    â€œGot Albert lined up to take them in after I’ve landed them?”
    â€œOf course.”
    Miranda’s mind flinched away from the memory of her morning with Nathan. It still haunted her, even after six weeks of seeing nothing of him. It seemed he had decided to respect her choice not to play. The problem was, in the lonely hours of the night, she was tormented by the question of what might have been if she’d chosen differently.
    â€œSomeone coming,” Sam remarked, squinting past Miranda at a Jeep, which was fast approaching. “Looks like Tommy. Must be coming from the station homestead. Are you expecting him?”
    â€œNo, I’m not.” She was puzzled by this unheralded visit. “He dropped in on Tuesday to check through everything with me.”
    Sam gave her a crooked smile. “Well, it’s Saturday. Maybe he’s without a date tonight and hopes you’ll fill in.”
    â€œThen he’ll be out of luck.”
    Sam shook her head in bemusement. “It’s an education, watching you block him out. Mind if I stay to watch the fun?”
    â€œAs you like.”
    She didn’t find Tommy’s flirtatiousness fun, and didn’t really see what fun Sam could get out of watching them together. Apparently it amused her, yet Miranda kept remembering what Nathan had said about Sam’s feelings for Tommy, and she couldn’t help thinking it was masochistic to want to watch. Or maybe it was a case of not being able to help herself. If he was like a magnet to her…
    A convulsive little shiver ran down Miranda’s spine. It had certainly been easier, throwing herself into her job and getting on top of it with Nathan out of sight, if not completely out of mind. Tommy was not a problem to her. His irrepressible personality seemed to bounce around her personal sidesteps and he never pushed beyond the boundaries she set. Getting the business right came first with him and he wasn’t about to upset that applecart.
    â€œHow’s it going?” he called cheerily as he came up the path.
    â€œFine!” Miranda answered.
    He stopped short of the verandah, looking up at them with a quizzical little smile. “Mum and Jared have flown in for the weekend. You are commanded to come to dinner at the station homestead tonight.”
    She frowned. “Commanded?”
    Her heart started skittering. Nathan had commanded?
    â€œInvited,” Tommy corrected wryly. “But take it from me, there’s no ducking out of my mother’s invitations.”
    His mother, not Nathan.
    Her mind started skittering.
    Did Tommy think she ducked out of his invitations? Why couldn’t he simply accept her disinterest? Was he behind this command? Was Nathan? Was it simply Elizabeth King dictating her own desire to check the situation at the resort?
    Why couldn’t they simply let her be? She was doing a good job. Yet she felt an irresistible tug at the thought of meeting Nathan again…what it might mean…
    It would be safe, she reasoned. Had to be safe with Elizabeth King there, and the other brother, Jared. It might even dispose of the wanton thoughts that plagued her lonely nights…show her beyond question how foolish any involvement with him would be.
    â€œWhat about our guests here?” she prevaricated, feeling hopelessly at odds with a desire she knew could lead nowhere good.
    â€œSpend Happy Hour with them,” Tommy promptly replied. “Settle them at the table, and leave them to their own devices. They know each other from last night, don’t they?”
    He’d checked the bookings earlier in the week and all four couples in the homestead suites overlapped this weekend. “I won’t be able to leave here until after seven,” she pointed out.
    â€œThat’s understood. We’ll be dining at eight.” He slid Sam