The Wedding Date Read Online Free PDF Page B

nothing had happened she went back to the pile of papers.
    ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I think we can safely assume Sonja will survive till Tuesday.’ She ruffled a hand through her hair, and it ended up looking even more loose and carefree and sexy as hell. ‘I’m ready.’
    She ruffled a hand through her hair, and it ended up looking even more loose and carefree, and sexy as hell.
    His hands grew restless, as if he wasn’t quite sure where to put them. As if they wanted to go somewhere his brain knew they ought not.
    So he gave them a job and grabbed the handle of her suitcase. One yank and his stomach muscles clenched. ‘What did you pack in here? Bricks?’
    A hand slunk to her hip, buried somewhere deep beneath acres of grey wool, temptingly hiding more than they revealed.
    ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I have filled the bag with bricks—not, as one might assume, a longweekend’s worth of clothes, shoes and under-things that will take me from day to night, PJs to wedding formal. Have you never been to a wedding before?’
    ‘Never.’
    ‘Wow. I’m not sure if you’ve missed out or if you’re truly the luckiest man alive. While you’re trekking through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world—bar Tasmania’s, of course—I’ll be changing outfits more times than a pop singer in a film clip.’
    Bradley closed his eyes to stop the vision
that
throwaway comment brought forth before it could fully manifest itself inside his head.
    ‘Car’s downstairs,’ he growled, hefting the bag out through her front door. ‘Be there in five minutes or your—’
    Underthings that will take you from day to night.
    ‘Your gear and I will be gone without you.’
    ‘Okey-dokey.’
    With a dismissive wave over her shoulder she went looking for Sonja to say her goodbyes.
    Feeling oddly as if a small pair of hands had just unclenched themselves from the front of his shirt, Bradley was out of that door and away from all that soft velvet, stifling frills and froufrou pink that had clearly been chosen specifically in order to scramble a man’s brains.
    To the airport, up in the plane, drop her off,thanks gifted—and then to New Zealand he and his research crew would go. He, his research crew, and a juvenile intern who could spend half the day discussing ‘underthings’ and not affect his blood pressure in the slightest.

CHAPTER THREE
    H ANNAH stood in the doorway of the Gulf-stream jet.
    Place? Launceston, Tasmania.
    Time of arrival? Mid-morning.
    Temperature? Freezing.
    She breathed in the crisp wintry air though her nose. Boy, did it smell amazing. Soft, green, untainted. She could actually hear birds singing. And the sky was so clear and blue it hurt her eyes. A small smile crept into the corners of her mouth.
    She hadn’t been sure how she’d feel, stepping foot back on Tassie soil after such a long time in Melbourne. How parochial the place would feel in comparison with her bustling cosmopolitan base.
    It felt like home.
    A deep voice behind her said, ‘What? No “welcome home” banner? No marching band?’
    ‘Oh, Lord,’ she said as she jumped. Then,‘I’m going, I’m going! You can get on your way. Go back inside. It’s freezing.’
    ‘I’m a big boy. I can handle the cold.’ Bradley threw the last of a bag of macadamia nuts into his mouth as he looked over her shoulder. ‘So this is Tasmania.’
    She looked out over Launceston International Airport. One simple flat-roofed building sat on the edge of acres of pocked grey Tarmac. A light drizzle thickened the cold air. Patches of old snow lay scattered in pockets of shade, while the rest of the ground was covered in little melted puddles.
    As far as first impressions went it was hardly going to ring Bradley’s adventure-savvy bell.
    ‘No,’ she said, ‘this is an airport. Tasmania is the hidden wonder beyond.’
    ‘Get a move on, then. I don’t have all day.’
    She shook her head. ‘Sorry. Of course. Thanks. For the lift. But, please, I don’t