Outback Sunset Read Online Free PDF

the tune had a slow beat to it. Bren gathered his courage and looked at Vanessa. ‘Care to dance?’
    ‘What about your two left feet?’ Vanessa teased.
    He smiled as he got to his feet. ‘I’ll do my best to control them.’
    Holding Vanessa in his arms, not too close, but not too far away, did the most amazing things to him. He hoped she wouldn’t notice his sweaty palms, and the hesitancy in his steps as he tried his darnedest not to step on her feet. Miraculously he didn’t. She was so tall that they could look into each other’s eyes. Hers were a rich, warm brown fleckedwith gold. Very unusual, he decided. Vanessa Forsythe, such a nice name, was the loveliest woman he had ever met, and he’d met a few in his thirty-four years. He’d loved a few too, and been engaged twice, but
this
woman …
    Christ, he couldn’t believe what was happening to him. He was falling under some kind of spell and the spell-maker was — Vanessa. Another interesting thing was that she had no idea of her capabilities. From the responses she made he knew that she was just being pleasantly polite. But an English reserve was there, below the surface politeness and it made him wonder, was she getting over a broken relationship? That could explain the stand-offishness and why a gorgeous-looking woman such as herself was travelling alone. There had to be a reason why she preferred her own company. He longed to ask so many questions other than the standard, ‘Are you enjoying yourself?’, ‘Do you like Australia?’, but commonsense and the manners drummed into him by his mother, stopped him. Besides, he’d rather she vouch information about herself instead of him trying to prise it out of her.
    They enjoyed another dance — and he only stepped on her foot once, something of a record for him.
    ‘I think I have to call it a night,’ Vanessa announced as the dance finished. ‘I’ve heaps of packing to do and …’
    ‘How about one for the road?’ Bren tried to talk her into another drink.
    ‘Thanks, not this time, Bren. Really, I should go.’
    Desperate to keep the contact going as long as possible he offered, ‘We could share a taxi back to town. I’m staying at the All Seasons Hotel, it’s near Rydges. That’s where you’re staying, isn’t it?’ He’d heard Fay mention the hotel’s name in conversation. ‘I don’t think so.’
    ‘Okay,’ he accepted her decision. She didn’t know him from Adam and she was smart enough not to hop into a taxi with a stranger. Fair enough. A woman on her own had to be careful these days. ‘When’s your flight?’
    ‘10.00 a.m.’
    He watched her say goodbye to the people at the table, those she’d been touring with.
    ‘I’ll write in a few weeks, after you’ve had time to settle,’ Fay Whitcombe promised.
    ‘Please do, especially if you and Barry plan to come to London in late June, for Wimbledon. We’ll catch up then,’ Vanessa answered as she gave Fay, then Barry, a hug.
    Bren insisted on staying with her while she waited for a taxi. Unfortunately, a vacant one came along too soon as far as he was concerned.
    ‘Nice to have met you, Bren Selby,’ Vanessa said with an informal smile. She held out her hand. ‘Don’t work too hard on that station of yours.’
    As he grasped her hand in his large one, Bren was extraordinarily conscious of his reaction to her. It made him feel — bloody fantastic. God, how could he walk away from her, from what he was feeling? It was too damned special. Somehow he controlled the urge to let her see his reactions. Too soon for that.
    ‘Yeah,’ he grinned at her. ‘I know the axiom: all work and no play … Have a safe trip home, Vanessa.’
    Bren could have asked for her phone number, her address. He didn’t, but not because he didn’t want to. He did, desperately. He didn’t because he believed she wouldn’t give it to him and he chose not to risk a second rebuff. Closing the taxi door after she’d got in he watched it until it