Page 47 of Return of the Outback Billionaire

‘That’s not all you’re saying.’ He was still trying to get to the bottom of that. ‘I know it’s going to take a while to warm up to new faces around here, but we have plans and goals that you fully support. People with specialised skills are going to be coming in. I’m starting with these two—three—because I figured it might ease you in gently so you can get used to people coming and going. I thought it would help you as well as them.’

She stared at him with stormy eyes.

‘In my defence, I extended one of those offers months ago and the other one weeks ago and neither of them took me up on it at the time. I’m not hiding information from you deliberately. I’m still figuring out the decision-making process and when it’s an easy one I make the call because I can.’ Did he really have to remind her about the buttons?

‘I’m jealous.’

‘You’re—’ He sat back. ‘Of what?’

She smiled grimly. ‘Jealous of a hardworking single mum who sounds like she could use a hand and who’ll have daily access to you that I don’t. You met a lady in Sydney who sounds like a treasure and you never said a word. You’re entitled to a life of your own and I know that. It’s just... I’m coming to the conclusion that I might be a little possessive. Of you. And that’s not good because you should absolutely spread yourself around, doing good things for other people. It’s nice. Unlike me.’ She waved towards his plate of food, and then looked down at her own plate and stabbed an oyster with her fork in a way he was pretty sure no oyster had ever been stabbed before. ‘These are fresh.’

‘Whoa, wait. Back up.’ He kind of liked the thought of her wanting to lay claim to him. No need to beat herself up about it though. He eyed her carefully. ‘Can we at least agree that I have no sexual interest in these women and that you have nothing to worry about on that front?’

‘No, because then I’d have to stop arguing before I’ve worked my way up to making my point.’

Good old logic. Not a big player in this conversation. ‘By all means make your point.’

‘You seek me out, you seem to like my company, and every time I ask if you want your ring back you say not yet. You let me see all your eccentricities and, sod knows, they’re fascinating. You’re fascinating.’

He wasn’t exactly sure where she was going with this but surely she would get to the reason his ring wasn’t on her finger soon. ‘You’re not finished yet, are you?’

‘No. You also consistently ignore the fact that I’m dying of lust for you.’

He hadn’t touched her since returning from Sydney. He’d wanted her to know what she was getting into if she was having thoughts about being with him. He’d buried lust beneath a mountain of work and had set about showing her all the negative traits he possessed. It was important before they started anything real that she knew the real him. He cleared his throat. ‘Nothing wrong with lust. Shows you didn’t hate what we did last time.’

‘I’d like to do it again. With you. Pretty sure I made that clear. And I get that you don’t want to sully me, or overwhelm me, or whatever it is you think you’re going to do, but I’m a woman of experience now—’

He snorted.

‘—and I’m losing hope.’

Four little words that shattered him more effectively than a crowbar to the head.

‘I can’t keep giving you this much of myself if you’re not interested in taking this—us—any further.’

She had a knack for honest self-reflection that terrified him. And he hadn’t been giving out scraps, he’d been lowering guards so deeply nailed into his psyche that they only moved a fraction at a time. ‘I’m interested.’ Understatement. The thought of losing whatever it was they had made him sweat. ‘At the same time, I don’t want to overwhelm or disappoint you.’

‘But you don’t disappoint me,’ she said quietly from beneath a fall of lashes. ‘I want another reset of our relationship. The Conrad land is yours now. You’re making waves in the business world and society thinks you’re golden. There’s no reason to stay engaged unless we want to. My question is: do you want to?’

‘Do you?’

‘You first,’ she said with a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes. ‘I used up all my courage putting that ring on the table.’

Was she really saying she wanted to take him on for good, flaws and all? He wasn’t quite ready to admit his fierce joy at that thought, even to himself, but he wanted that ring back on her finger and, timing wise, right now wasn’t nearly soon enough.

‘My reputation hinges on me being a reformed man,’ he offered slowly, mind racing. ‘I need to be seen as settled and steady. Combining Jeddah Creek and Devil’s Kiss by way of marriage is a move my aristocratic ancestors would applaud. It’s good business.’

‘Not quite the reset I was imagining,’ she murmured.

She deserved more, no doubt, but for all that his feelings for her ran deep—you’re in love with her, a little voice whispered—she still figured him for a hero and he knew for a fact that he wasn’t. The secret he’d held to for so many years, the one that had sent him to prison, clawed at him for release so that she could see him more fully, but he’d given his word and breaking it would have far-reaching and possibly legal consequences for all of them.

Hold your tongue. Give her what truth you can and make it enough. That was what he should be doing.

‘I do want to marry you. I want that a lot, but I need you to be sure you know what you’re getting into with me, and I don’t think you do,’ he told her baldly. ‘That’s my concern. You could still wear my ring while you figure it out.’

Her fingers rubbed at the spot where the ring currently wasn’t. ‘And would there be sex while I was figuring all this out? Because we haven’t... Y’know...’

Oh, he knew. ‘Again, I was giving you time to reassess.’ And shore up his control. ‘But if you need more to go on...’

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