Outback Hero

Chapter 1

Through the wire screen door, Kate Reed’s eyes narrowed and her mouth pulled into a thin line. The silver Range Rover glinted in the hot, morning sun as she watched it approach along the gum-tree-lined driveway to the homestead. A surge of resentment rolled through her. This visitor to her beloved debt-ridden Darnleigh was no stranger. She and her brother, Pete, had known Matt Thornton all their life.

The chunky vehicle tyres crunched to a stop on the gravel before the two-storey red brick house. A cloud of following dust lingered in the air before settling again to the dry brown earth. Her neighbour uncurled his long, muscular frame from the vehicle and slammed the door.

Kate had amassed a resentful dam of memories over the past six years. It was unfair, she knew, and all the more difficult to maintain with the best looking hunk of manhood in the district limping across her driveway in the Australian heat. Seeing Matt again at her father’s funeral the week before, Kate had been appalled to discover that her heart still turned over at the sight of him. But what woman wouldn’t succumb to his rugged good looks, easy manner and deep, sexy drawl?

She had also been shocked to notice that he walked with a bracing stiffness on his left side. In typical Thornton style, he carried his minor handicap with poise. Idly, she wondered if his leg ever hurt, then cursed her weakness in feeling the smallest grain of sympathy for him. He looked so strong, so dynamic, so alive. She felt bittersweet heartache wash through her. The tall, commanding man hadn’t lost any of his appeal, which only highlighted the unbelievable reality that the most eligible bachelor in the district remained unmarried.

The past few days had proved an apprehensive ordeal waiting to see if or when he would visit. Ironically, now that he was here, her big brother Pete was away from the homestead repairing boundary fences, getting the property ready for sale. Confronted with Matt alone, she could have used the extra strength of Pete’s moral support.

Kate was flooded with painful regret. If her inept, stubborn father hadn’t mismanaged their property she and Pete wouldn’t be forced to sell, Darnleigh wouldn’t be up for grabs, and Matt Thornton wouldn’t have offered to buy it. Filled with the impossible hope of reclaiming her happy childhood and restoring the remnants of her once-whole family before it had been cruelly shattered by fate, Kate rubbed her arms and scowled.

In that instant, Matt’s head jerked up. Beneath a battered, wide-brimmed black Akubra that shaded his face, eyes as rich and brown as the thousands of acres of soil he owned, met and captured her own unsmiling stare. Deep lines edged their outer corners and a sparkle of warm familiarity lit them from within. Kate’s heart set up an alarming pounding.

One glance revived the knowledge that he was a strong, magnetic personality with whom to remain guarded. Fortunately, the harder side of his personality was tempered by a persuasive mischief lurking just beneath the surface. But she was in no humour for his visit today.

Not bothering to use the wide, stone steps, and using his good right leg for propulsion, Matt’s stiff leap brought him onto the generous veranda that surrounded the old house. Kate sucked in a steadying breath of apprehension and awe. She forced herself into neighbourly action, ungraciously thrusting open the paint-flaked door. She winced at its whining sound, one of many that exposed the property’s run-down condition.

‘Welcome home, Katie.’

How well she remembered that deep rich voice that rumbled so smoothly and effortlessly from his chest like thick syrup as he had used the fond nickname he’d gifted her when they were kids. Determined not to be emotionally undone at his expense ever again, and bracing herself for the forthcoming encounter, she stiffened.

‘Katelyn,’ she reminded him.

‘What happened to Katie?’ he asked pensively.

‘She grew up.’

Her irritation at his playful familiarity turned to outright surprise when he caught her hands in his. Their big brown warmth covered her own slender fingers and his thumbs stroked her pulsating wrists. When he suddenly leaned forward, Kate realised he intended to kiss her. Not wanting to test her resistance, knowing she would fail, she turned her face aside and his warm, full lips softly brushed her cheek instead. The feel of his mouth on her skin sent a flash of excitement through her and she despised herself for enjoying the feather light sensation.

When they broke apart again and Kate hastily removed her hands, clenching them at her side, a flash of puzzlement at her rejection crossed his face.

‘Nice to have you back,’ he said.

‘Is it?’

‘Always.’

‘Not for long,’ she answered, especially if she was successful in getting the European promotion. She expected a phone call any day now. ‘Pete isn’t here.’

‘I didn’t come to see your brother. I came to see you.’

His piercing gaze travelled over her as he removed his hat, exposing a familiar crop of thick brown sun-streaked hair. His dark eyes took in her sleeveless blue top and brief denim shorts above a pair of trim legs. She prickled with hot awareness, marginally gratified by the appreciative scrutiny but considering his lengthy stare more than neighbourly.

‘Forgotten what I look like?’ Kate quipped, uncomfortable.

‘Never.’

The word emerged almost as a threat. The back of one large hand swiped his damp forehead and he slapped the dust from his hat against a muscled thigh, tight in faded denims.

‘Get me a cold drink before I evaporate in this heat.’

‘Still as bossy as ever. You don’t own Darnleigh. Yet,’ she tossed at him over her shoulder and let the door slam in his face.

Waiting for a strong retort that never came, Kate walked stiff-backed down the hall and into the kitchen.

‘I’ve made the best offer you’ll get, Katie.’

Matt’s voice echoed softly close behind her. Despite his slight handicap, he had moved fast. She clenched her teeth at the nickname again but the coldness of the flagged stone floor beneath her bare feet soothed her jangled nerves as she crossed to the refrigerator and poured them an icy beer. She deliberately set his frosted glass on the table, sipping her own and eyeing him with a challenging gleam. She had no intention of playing the friendly hostess when she didn’t feel it.

He grinned and tossed his hat onto the table as though throwing it into the ring, retrieved his drink and sculled a long draught, leaving his mouth glistening with dewy moisture.

Kate privately drooled over the marked and impressive change in him. Like a prestigious vintage wine, Matt Thornton had improved with age. He’d always possessed that air of authority and control. Combined with an increased and devastating physical appeal, he bordered on dangerous. Remembering him when she was a besotted naïve sixteen year old, his towering height and powerful build had promised then what time had generously delivered – a magnificent specimen of manhood.

‘Don’t think that just because you have me alone without Pete, you can talk me around,’ she warned.

‘A bloke would have more than talk on his mind around you,’ he drawled.

Kate was infuriated to notice a twinkle in his eyes and she felt an angry flush race across her face. The flirt! He was using a big come-on. What a cheek.

‘Okay, I’m suitably flattered. But you can cut out the nonsense,’ she suggested with saccharin sweetness, ‘and get down to business.’

He pulled out a chair, turned it around and sat on it backwards. Folding his arms across the back of it, he said, ‘I’m sorry about what’s happened to this place, Katie.’

If he called her that one more time... ‘Yeah, right. I’ll believe that when hell freezes over. You can’t wait to get your hands on it.’

His dark brows cinched into a frown and his forehead wrinkled as if he was genuinely puzzled. ‘Not true.’

‘What is the truth then?’

‘That I care about you and Pete, and your future,’ he replied smoothly.

Kate faltered at his quiet words, outwardly at least filled with what sounded like genuine sincerity and warmth.

‘Is that what your offer’s about? Charity? Because if it is, Pete and I don’t want it. We’ll manage just fine.’

‘Katie, I can understand your anger.’

She gave a sad laugh. ‘I’m beyond angry. I despise my weak, drunken father for driving us to this and letting Pete’s inheritance slip through his incompetent fingers.’

‘Maybe your father wasn’t fully to blame. He never really fully recovered after Vietnam, did he?’

His subtle insinuation referred to the state of her father’s mental health but he was being tactful. ‘Your father returned to live a normal life,’ she argued.

Matt shrugged. ‘On the surface maybe, but he had his bad moments, too. Vietnam affected some men more than others. Most coped. Some didn’t. None of them forgot.’

‘Life might have been easier around this place if he had.’

‘What about