The Cattleman. Margaret Way

I know you want to speak to him.”

      B.B. all but snarled. “Dammit!” Then, more mildly, he added, “Okay I’m coming, Ruth.” He turned back to Jessica with a surprisingly charming smile. The many faces of Broderick Bannerman in less than half a minute she thought. “I’m sorry, my dear, this is going to take time. I’ll have to postpone our tour until tomorrow.”

      In the background, Cyrus Bannerman spoke up. “If Ms. Tennant will give me ten minutes, I can show her around the place.”

      “I prefer to do it, thank you, Cyrus.”

      “No trouble, Dad,” Cyrus insisted smoothly.

      There was a silence as B.B. responded to what seemed like a challenge.

      “Very well,” he barked, turning abruptly on his heel.

      Cyrus Bannerman stood, lean elegant frame propped against the cedar post of the staircase. “By the way, Jessica, you haven’t met Ruth, have you? Ruth is Dad’s secretary. Ruth this is Jessica Tennant, Dad’s new interior designer.”

      “Pleased to meet you, Jessica.” B.B.’s secretary gave Jessica a sweet, flurried smile, clearly anxious to follow her master. “I must go. B.B. might want something.”

      “Best not keep him waiting, Ruthie,” Cyrus warned, his blue eyes full of mischief. “Now suddenly it’s up to me, Ms. Tennant, to give you the grand tour.”

      “Why is it I’m thinking you’re trying to score points in a competition with your father?”

      “God, is it that obvious?” He shook his head. “Why don’t you wait for me on the veranda? It’s nice this time of day. I’ll only be ten minutes.”

      “I beg you. Don’t hurry on account of me.”

      “You should thank me for rescuing you,” he said blandly.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      HE WAS BACK ON THE VERANDA in fifteen minutes flat. “Did you time me?” he asked. “I’m a bit late.”

      “Actually I’d forgotten you,” she said casually, which was a long way from the truth. “I was breathing in the air and the exotic scents. It’s another world up here. I’ve never felt so connected to the earth. It’s rather a profound experience. Thanks again for the helicopter trip. It was a revelation, and one of the highlights of my life.”

      “I think you mean that.” There was an appraising look in his eyes.

      “How could you doubt me?” Jessica stood up, trying to hide the excitement he engendered in her.

      “There’s plenty more I can show you,” he said. “How come you’ve never visited the Red Centre?” Something she had mentioned. “Or Kakadu, which is the jewel in the Top End crown—maybe a little off the beaten track—but Alice Springs? It’s quite a tourist destination these days. Our desert monuments, Uluru and Kata Tjuta, are world-famous.”

      “Maybe when you have the time you can take me.” She gave him a sidelong glance.

      “Jessica, we don’t know yet if you’re staying.”

      “Why does it bother you so much? My staying, that is.”

      “I have my reasons.”

      “That sounds intriguing. So what are you going to do to frighten me off?”

      “Whatever it is I have to act fast.” He met her eyes, a gleam of mockery in his. “No. It’s going to be your decision.”

      “Your father’s, surely,” she said. They walked down the flight of stone steps together, Jessica acutely conscious of his height and pure, animal magnetism.