His Ring, Her Baby / His Bride for the Taking. Sandra Hyatt

than doted.

      Smothered.

      “I came to see Linda and Hugh,” the man said, drawing her back to the present.

      The penny dropped. He was the new owner of the motel. Oh, yes, that explained him. Her cousin said he was rich, predatory, and sucked up failing businesses like a vacuum cleaner, then got rid of half the staff under the guise of modernization.

      Well, officially she wasn’t on the staff.

      She gave him a cool look. “They’re not here.”

      “Where are they?”

      “Dubbo.”

      There was a moment’s pause. “When will they be back?”

      “No idea.”

      One brow lifted, a questioning light in his eyes. “Are you always this helpful?”

      “Only when it’s part of the job,” she said with a politeness that was nothing more than lip service.

      His jaw set. “Look, I’m a friend of Linda and Hugh’s and—”

      Her heart thudded. “A … a friend?”

      “Yes, Hugh and I went to boarding school together.”

      “Oh, I thought—” She stopped. Perhaps Linda and Hugh didn’t want it known yet that they were selling.

      “Yes?”

      “It doesn’t matter.” It all made sense now. She could easily see the two men being friends. Hugh’s parents owned a cattle station, but Hugh had been more interested in business than the land and had bought the motel for him and Linda.

      Did this man own a cattle station, too? He certainly looked like one of the wealthy landowners.

      “The name’s Kirk, by the way,” he said, snapping her from her thoughts. “Kirk Deverill.”

      His name flowed over her. Why couldn’t he be called Bruce? Or Darryl? Something that didn’t sound so masculine or make a woman think about him as a man.

      She let out a shaky breath. “I’m Linda’s cousin. Vanessa Hamilton.”

      He paused, as if putting the name to her face and liking what he saw. Then his eyes fell to her lips. “I didn’t know Linda had such a beautiful cousin.”

      She gave a soft gasp. Why did this man’s words make her knees weak when almost every available male in town, and some not so available, had said the same thing since her arrival?

      The telephone rang and she snatched it up, uncomfortable at the feelings he was raising inside her. She could feel him watching her as she went to a stand to get a brochure on the Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo. She answered a couple of questions for the guest then hung up and put the brochure back.

      “I’m sorry. I—” She looked up and caught him eyeing the full length of her denim jeans. “Um … just a question about the zoo,” she finished on a lame note.

      “No need to be sorry,” he said smoothly, not looking the slightest bit uncomfortable at having been caught. Then he considered her. “So tell me. Why the attitude?”

      She cleared her throat. “Attitude?”

      “You obviously thought I was someone else.”

      “Perhaps.” It wasn’t up to her to tell him about the sale. Besides, he could say he was a friend of Linda and Hugh’s but that didn’t mean he actually was.

      “Someone you don’t like.”

      “Maybe.”

      “You realize you owe me an apology,” he pointed out.

      Yes, and he owed her an apology for the way he’d been looking at her, but did she want to go there? No way.

      “Of course, there is a way you could make up for it,” he said, a light in his eyes telling her this man was very experienced with women.

      She stiffened. Here it comes. One sexist remark and she’d tie him to a tree for the dingoes to eat.

      “Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

      “Dinner?” Her heart jumped in her chest. “I can’t. I mean, I can’t desert Linda and Hugh then. It’s going to be a big night for them. I’m helping out around the place, you see, and I—”

      “You only had to say no.” Her reaction seemed to amuse him. “I’m a big boy. I can take it.”

      Vanessa didn’t know whether to be relieved or irritated that he gave in so easily. She’d expected some sort of fight from the guy.

      She drew breath. “Fine then. No, I don’t want to have dinner with you tomorrow night.”

      “How about a rain check?”

      She gave a startled laugh. “What happened to ‘you only had to say no’?”

      “I said I could take it. I didn’t say I would.” An air of indolence exuded from him. “Now, about that rain check …”

      All at once she wanted to get the better of him. “Okay,” she said, planting a smirk on her lips. “Next time it rains I’ll have dinner with you.”

      His brow rose. “You realize we’re in the middle of a severe drought, don’t you?”

      “Yes, I know.”

      His firm lips relaxed into a lazy smile and her stomach did a flip-flop. Suddenly she wanted to step around the counter and into his arms. Arms that would snake around her hips and pull her up against his aroused body.

      Aroused? Yes, she had the feeling she could excite this man, if she chose to make a move on him.

      Not that she would, she told herself as she mentally pulled away in confusion. She’d never felt such an instant reaction before. With Mike the attraction had grown as she’d slowly fallen in love.

      Mike.

      Oh, God, how could she even think about comparing her late husband to this stranger? What was wrong with her today? Maybe it was just too much stress. In any case, it was definitely too much of—

      “Kirk!” Linda exclaimed, coming through a side door with Hugh, sending a sigh of relief through Vanessa, who was more than ready to go clean some of the vacated rooms. “You’re back from Sydney at last.”

      “Yes, just passing through on the way home.” He gave Linda a kiss on the cheek and shook Hugh’s hand. Then his gaze slid across the reception desk. “Your cousin’s been looking after me.”

      Linda darted a smile at Vanessa. “Good.”

      “Did she tell you about the sale?” Hugh said.

      Kirk brows drew together. “Sale?”

      Vanessa gave Hugh a helpless smile. “I wasn’t sure if I should say anything.”

      “That’s okay, love,” Hugh said warmly. “Kirk, we put the motel on the market a few weeks ago and this morning we received our first reasonable offer. That’s why we rushed into Dubbo. To sign the contract.”

      A frown crossed Kirk’s face. “You’re selling?”

      “It’s either sell now or lose everything,” Hugh said, then his face brightened. “But I’ve been offered a job to manage some apartments on the Gold Coast. It’s come at the perfect time. Linda and I want to have another baby in the not-too-distant future.” He hugged his wife to his side. “Don’t we, darling?”

      Linda smiled up at him. “A little brother or sister for Toby would be lovely.”

      Kirk scowled. “Listen, if you need money to keep the motel afloat—”

      Hugh shook his head. “Thanks, mate, but it’s been getting too much for