An Outback Affair/Runaway Wife/Outback Bridegroom/Outback Surrender/Home To Eden Read Online Free PDF Page B

hadn’t bargained on liking you either.”
    â€œAh, so I wasn’t wrong. I could feel the hostility when you first arrived.”
    â€œYou assumed that,” he corrected.
    â€œNo. It’s true.”
    â€œAll right,” he shrugged. “For a few moments you reminded me of someone I used to know.”
    â€œSomeone no longer in your life?” At his expression her smile faded.
    â€œExactly.” The brilliant dark eyes became hooded. “Anyway, apart from a few similarities you’re not like her at all.”
    â€œThat’s good. You had me worried until you smiled.”
    â€œThat’s it? A smile?” he questioned, with a faint twist of his mouth.
    â€œYes,” she said simply, almost with relief. She didn’t add that as a big man he was in such possession of the space around him. Necessarily the dominant male. Colin had lacked this man’s presence, for all her husband’s arrogance and physical attributes. How she wished her life had gone otherwise.
    Poignancy left its imprint on her face. Women like her always made a man protective, Evan thought. “Well, I’ve got an hour or two to kill,” he found himself saying. “Would you like some help picking out furniture?”
    â€œYou mean you accept me as your neighbour?” Her eyes lit up.
    â€œI accept that in some way you’re very vulnerable.”
    â€œYou’re accustomed to vulnerable people?”
    â€œI’m not a doctor. I’m not a psychiatrist or a rocket scientist either. But I know a lot about people in pain.”
    â€œThen you know too much,” she said quietly.
    That contained emotion caused him to make a further offer. “How about lunch?” He, Evan Thompson, the loner! “Then we look at furniture, if you like.”
    â€œYou’re being kind, aren’t you?” Kindness was there, behind the brooding front. People mattered to him. As they did to her.
    â€œKind has nothing to do with it,” he said crisply. “I’m hungry.”
    â€œOkay, that would be very nice.” She walked towards him as he rested his powerful body against the doorjamb. “Why don’t you call me Laura?” She gave him a spontaneous smile that would have had Colin enraged. Her normal smile, or so she thought. Uncomplicated.
    Evan found it captivating. “Then you must call me Evan.” He held out his hand. After a slight hesitation she took it, her hand getting lost in the size of his.
    It was warm and firm, but never hurting.
    â€œThere, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked, one eyebrow raised. “You didn’t really think I was going to crack your fingers?” He turned her hand over, examining it. “Delicate, but strong. Are you any good as a pianist?”
    The effect of his skin on hers was the most electrifying thing that had ever happened to her. She couldn’t pull away. It was as though she was held by a naked current. “People seemed to think so.”
    â€œConservatorium trained?”
    â€œWh-a-t?” It was so hard to concentrate when every nerve seemed to be jumping.
    He released her hand. “I asked if you were Conservatorium trained?”
    â€œI graduated. I’d begun studying for my Doctorate of Music.” She managed to speak calmly.
    â€œSo what happened?”
    â€œLife.”
    â€œAn unhappy love affair?” Something had overwhelmed her.
    â€œDesperately unhappy,” she admitted. “But that’s all you’re getting out of me.”
    â€œThere are worse things than unhappy love affairs,” he said.

CHAPTER THREE
    I T WAS market day in the town. A day to be enjoyed. Street stalls sold their produce: fruit and vegetables, all sorts of pickles, home-made pies and cakes, the town’s excellent cooks vying with one another to come up with some surprises. Stall after stall featured crafts. The town’s two cheerful little coffee shops,