Her nipples instantly tingled and she frowned to cover up her fast-beating heart. “What are you doing?” she asked, taking control of the conversation. Lord knew she had to take control of something.
He turned away to crack an egg into the frying pan. “Cooking breakfast.”
“But why are you doing it? I thought that was why I was here.” Pride suddenly made her tense. “I told you before I don’t accept charity.”
His head shot up. “And I didn’t offer it. You’re here to run the household, not only the cooking.”
She let out a slow breath. Okay, so she’d overreacted a little, but was it any wonder when the man in front of her looked as if he’d been lifted from the cover of a women’s magazine.
“You should have left breakfast to me,” she felt obligated to say, glad that at least she was going to be of use around here.
“I thought I’d let you settle in on your first morning here.”
“Thanks, but I rose ahead of time so I could get things ready for you in case Josh woke early, too.”
“No need to do that. I can always wait. Your son can’t.”
Her heart tilted. She was not sure she wanted to see more of the caring side to Kirk Deverill. She wanted to dislike the man. “I would think—”
“Then don’t. If I need to have breakfast early in future and you’re not around, then I’ll make it myself.”
“You shouldn’t have to.”
He slanted her a sardonic glance. “I think I can manage to feed myself occasionally.”
Fine. Who was she to tell him what to do?
“By the way, there’s no need for you to feed Suzi this morning. I’ve already done it. You can start tonight.” He began transferring the bacon onto a plate. “Take a seat. Breakfast is ready.”
She looked across at the bacon and eggs, then up at the man himself. For a moment she was distracted again by the look of him. “I think I hear Josh,” she said, spinning away.
She hurried down the hallway. She hadn’t heard Josh at all, but she needed time to get used to sharing breakfast alone with an attractive man other than her husband.
Of course, she had to remember Mike had often been doing shift work and hadn’t been home for breakfast, though that wasn’t the point. Not being used to intimacy with another man was the main thing here.
Josh was just waking up as she tiptoed over to his crib. She gave him a big good-morning kiss and proceeded to change his diaper and dress him, and by the time she headed back to the kitchen she heard Kirk’s vehicle leaving.
Relieved yet anxious to start with her duties, she nevertheless took her time to have a little breakfast with her son. Now he was one man she didn’t mind sharing breakfast with. Afterward she took him to see the puppies.
Back inside, she started on the housework, carrying him around with her wherever she went and letting him play on the floor where she could keep an eye on him. Eventually she could no longer put off going into Kirk’s bedroom. The scent in the air was pleasant and she felt odd entering this masculine domain, as if she were stepping closer to the man himself.
She didn’t linger. He was fairly tidy, so she had to only make his bed and straighten up the bathroom. She was actually quite amused to see the damp towel on the bathroom floor. It made him appear more human somehow.
Midmorning she heard a vehicle drive up and when she looked it was Kirk. She was thankful she hadn’t still been cleaning his room. In some way it would have made it seem more personal.
“Would you like some cake and coffee?” she asked as he came through the door.
“No, I’ve just had some.” He didn’t say where but she figured it was with his men. “Is Josh still awake?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I’ve got to check something and I thought I’d give you a small tour of the place at the same time.”
She hid her surprise. He wasn’t being overly friendly but all the same she was glad he’d thought to ask her. “That would be lovely.”
“It won’t be the full tour but we could still be a couple of hours by the time we visit the cattle yards. You might want to bring along whatever you need for Josh, and something cold for us to drink in case we’re longer than I plan.” He headed for his study. “I’ve got to make a few calls first. Let me know when you’re ready.”
It wasn’t too long before they were all off and driving in his Range Rover. The windows were tinted for protection from the sun and the air-conditioning inside the cabin made it a comfortable ride as he drove along a well-worn gravel road. It took Josh a nanosecond to fall asleep in the child’s seat in the back.
A few miles farther and he turned off onto a smaller road. The drought was obvious out here, the area sun-baked and parched, with only the gum trees and their gray-green leaves giving any hint of color.
“Where are we going?” she asked, when it looked as if they were just driving for the sake of driving, though she knew that wasn’t the case.
“I want to check one of the fences.”
In the distance ahead, heat ribboned across the road. “How large is the cattle station?”
“Let’s just say it would take us a couple of hours to drive around the boundary.”
She was impressed. “That’s pretty big.”
“My great-grandfather settled out here a long time ago. Deverills have been breeding cattle here ever since,” he said with a touch of pride in his voice.
She stole a look at his profile, so strong and dynamic like the man himself. Then he sent her a fleeting look and she quickly focused back on the road ahead. “I can see how easy it would be to become lost out here.”
“If you stick to the roads it will lead you somewhere eventually.”
She gave a delicate snort. “The roads? You mean these dirt tracks?”
He actually smiled. “Around here, if you drive on it, then it’s a road.”
She smiled back and she saw his eyes drop to her mouth. The air thickened between them. Then he returned to his driving and she returned to looking out the window, her heart thumping. She knew his look hadn’t been deliberate and that made it all the more unsettling.
Farther on they came to a gate across the road and Kirk slowed the vehicle then stopped in front of it, letting the engine run. Vanessa sat there, too, wondering what he was going to do next. Perhaps it was automated?
He turned his head to face her. “It’s the passenger’s job to hop out and open the gate.”
She was startled. “It is?”
“It’s customary, yes.”
Oh, yes, she remembered hearing about the outback custom now, but had never experienced it.
“It’s easy enough to do,” he said. “Just unhook the chain and you can swing the gate open.”
“Okay.” She did as he said, aware he was watching her. Those eyes sent a trickle of sweat running down between her breasts but she ignored it as she hopped back in the vehicle.
He drove forward and stopped. “Now you have to close it,” he said, his lips twitching.
She didn’t find it funny. “Why didn’t you say so before?”
“You didn’t ask.”
She shot him a withering