Page 34 of Cinderella and the Outback Billionaire

‘I’ve never been in one,’ she confessed.

‘Find a seat, rest your head against the headrests and let go,’ he suggested, and she did just that, but there was nothing to hold onto and she couldn’t relax.

And then he was easing his big body into the seat alongside her and taking her hand in his at the surface of the water and it was just enough to anchor her.

‘Relax,’ he murmured. ‘If your legs and arms want to float to the surface, let them. If you want to put your feet down and your knees up, do it.’

‘I think hand-holding’s our thing.’ She hadn’t let his hand go but she wasn’t squeezing it to bits either. She closed her eyes, tilted her head back against the padded headrest and sighed her pleasure. ‘This is nice. We wouldn’t have got this in my bedsit. It doesn’t even have a bath.’

‘How are you feeling about starting your new job?’

About that...

She’d heard from the nursery manager yesterday. ‘You know how Gert was bragging about me already having a job to go to? There’s been a slight change of plans.’

‘I’m listening.’

‘The owner’s son came back from overseas and is “assessing his options”, whatever that means. They don’t want me just yet. They may not want me at all. They’re going to let me know in a couple of months’ time.’ She blew out a breath. ‘I think I’m done with them. Goodbye, Cairns.’ She released Reid’s hand to remove a wayward strand of hair from her face and tuck it behind her ear. ‘I’m disappointed.’

‘Work for me.’ The confident way he said it mixed with the heat of the water and the gently rising steam and made her light-headed. ‘Better still, I’ll help you lodge the paperwork to create your own company and you can work for me as a contractor.’

‘You hate my garden plans for your eco lodges.’

‘Hate’s a strong word.’

‘You’re not denying it.’

‘I want to give you a proper project brief this time. I want you to move into one of my lodges and live there for a month or two. There’s another lodge nearby and people will come and go. Get a feel for what my visitors respond to and how they interact with their surroundings and then submit a new set of landscape plans. I’ll give you a three-month contract in two stages, development and completion.’

‘You’re serious.’

‘Very. And you can look at it as charity or payback for saving my life if you must. There’s no denying that your remarkably brave actions are what first got my attention.’

‘You think I’m brave?’

‘Yes.’ And not just that. ‘I had grit and determination and resilience when I took on Jeddah Creek station at seventeen. The same kind of grit and resilience and determination I see in you. And back then I had help, from Tom and Bridie and Judah and others, and I took it and it set me up for a future I never dreamed of.’

He wasn’t finished.

‘I don’t want to take anything from you. I don’t want to deny you the chance to work and grow and travel in directions you’ve never dreamed of. I want you to have help too, like I did. I want to pay it forward. I want to see you soar.’

Did she dare believe him? Trust him to do right by her?

Could she trust her own instincts when what he was offering sounded too good to be true?

He leaned back and closed his eyes, possibly to avoid her open-mouthed disbelief as she scrambled to sit upright. He’d left her with no defence against his generosity. ‘Say yes.’

It was a chance in a million. ‘You want to see me succeed?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘No strings attached? Regardless of whether I end up in your bed tonight?’

He lifted his head and studied her through narrowed eyes. ‘I’m ruling that out for now. I’m playing the long game. But even if we do get romantically involved, my offer will stand. I want you to create a work future you’re passionate about.’

He speared through the water to the opposite corner of the spa pool and turned to face her with the arc of an eyebrow. ‘Say yes to the contract.’

Gert had vouched for him.

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