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“Does Steve know any of this?” she asked wearily. But it was a question Bindi needed answered. Because her boss may not realize he’d taken on such a liability. Was it her responsibility to tell him if he didn’t? Oh, God, she didn’t know.
“You ask a lot of questions,” he said, taking a step closer, resting his hand on the top railing, right above her head.
“And you need to answer them. If you want me to keep your secret, then I need to have all the details.” She was not going to let him distract her by moving nearer.
“Fair enough.” He took another step closer, so he was looking down at her. She kept her eyes level with his chest, refusing to look up. Even though the air seemed to crackle in the space between them.
“Dean told Steve that I had a fall and broke my leg, but it’s mended now. Also, Dean knows about the coma, but he doesn’t know the extent of my…headaches. Dean never asked, and I never told him. Perhaps he’s extending me a professional courtesy. In my world, you don’t ask if a guy can handle his problems, you trust that he’s doing the best that he can, and leave it at that.”
“Yeah, well, in my world, they call that stupid arrogance,” Bindi huffed. This conversation was going nowhere fast.
And his nearness was turning her traitorous mind to other thoughts. Amorous thoughts. The kind where he leaned down and captured her lips. The kind where she tangled her fingers in the hair at the back of his neck to pull him closer. The kind of thoughts she hadn’t had in a long time.
She tipped her head back to look at him. But that was a mistake, because she was suddenly trapped by his stare. Eyes lit by the faint glow from the tack room, she could see the smoky shine of hunger in them. He’d never hidden the fact that he appreciated how she looked. He definitely flirted with her every chance he got. But this was more. Dangerous. Almost predatory. And God help her, she knew she should look away, so he didn’t see the same hunger reflected in her gaze. But she was trapped. His mouth curved up in a sexy smile, and she knew he’d figured out she was attracted to him, too. More than attracted. It was like a carnal pull she had no resistance to.
Sahara’s head poked back through the railings, looking for attention, filling the space between them. The horse broke their laser-like connection, and Bindi took a step backward, as if released from some physical restraint. Her breath was coming fast, and her heart was beating erratically.
“I’ll keep your secrets, for now,” she said, turning on her heel. She needed to get away from Mack. He could find his own way back to the staff quarters.
“Thank you,” he called after her. But he was wise enough not to follow her down the hill. Which was a good thing, because she was walking so fast, she was almost running.
* * *
“I think Mack is hot. Don’t you think he’s hot?” Skylar straightened from where she’d been peering into the oven, and cocked her head toward Bindi.
Bindi merely rolled her eyes and continued mixing the cake batter.
When Bindi didn’t answer, Sasha piped up from her spot at the other end of the countertop. “Yeah, he certainly looks fine in his black jeans. And those eyes…Oh. My. God. He has the most come-to-bed smolder I’ve ever seen on a guy,” Sasha was helping the two of them sort through a pile of Skylar’s best recipes, trying to find the perfect wedding cake for Dale and Daisy’s big day.
But Bindi was beginning to doubt Sasha’s motive for joining them in the kitchen. What the hell were these two up to? Was this some kind of ambush? Bindi didn’t like the idea they were trying to matchmake her to the American cowboy.
“Don’t you think, Bindi?” Sasha asked sweetly.
“Not really,” Bindi replied, keeping her focus on the batter as she spooned it into the cake tin.
“Oh, really?” Skylar said. “That’s a shame. You could really have some fun this weekend in Cairns with him. But, I guess if you’re not into him…”
“I’m not into him,” Bindi replied, trying to hide the fact she was grinding her teeth. She was only going to the rodeo under duress, and she wanted to make sure everyone knew it. Steve had asked her to go to show him the way and introduce him to Cairns and the people of the top end, and she was doing it to please Steve, that was all.
But after her chat with Mack last night, she also understood the full extent of his injuries, something Steve wasn’t privy to. At least Steve’s instinct had been right, someone needed to be there to look after him, but not only in the ways Steve envisaged. Bindi felt compelled to go, to make sure he survived his first encounter with a bull after his accident. What if he suffered another episode while he was up on the bull? She hated feeling like she was somehow responsible for Mack’s physical wellbeing. Hated feeling like the responsibility had been thrust upon her without her agreement. But then, she had been stupid enough to ask for the truth, and now she knew the truth, she couldn’t put that genie back in the bottle. She’d gone over and over the reasons she shouldn’t go to Cairns all morning in her head. And she kept coming up with the same solution to the argument. Logically, her head told her Mack was old enough to look after himself. But the completely irrational side of her, the one where her feelings overruled her head, was nagging that she’d never forgive herself if he got hurt and she wasn’t there to help. God, why did she have to get sucked into other people’s problems all the time? She was such an idiot.
Looking up, she noticed both of the other women were staring at her. “If you think he’s that hot, why don’t you go for him?” Bindi said to Sasha, and then immediately regretted her outburst. Sasha frowned and looked down at her pile of papers. Everyone knew Sasha was keen on Alek. Everyone but Alek, that was. He was either as blind as a bat, or too chicken to act, because it was obvious Sasha would jump into his arms, if he could only get up the courage to ask her.
She sighed and picked up the bowl. Mack had only been here three days, and he was already driving her insane. There was no need for her to take out her exasperation on Sasha. “Have you found anything suitable for a wedding cake?” she asked, hoping to change the subject.
“Yes, I’ve found a couple that might work.” Sasha picked up the journal and flashed it in Bindi’s direction.
“We’ll come and look,” Skylar said, waving at Bindi to hurry.
The cake tin was full, and Bindi scraped down the edges of the mixing bowl, putting the last dregs into the tin. Then she handed it to Skylar, who put it in the oven. The passionfruit-and-fig cake was for Julie and Steve to take out for smoko this afternoon; with most of the fresh ingredients homegrown, of course. They were taking a group of guests over to North Paddock to check the health of the cattle, as well as the level of feed. Steve was thinking of moving the herd soon to spell the pasture. If the cattle were allowed to stay too long in one place, they’d eat everything in sight, killing a lot of the annuals and perennials, and the paddock could take years to recover. Steve liked to rotate his cattle and keep some paddocks free for at least a season. It was one of the reasons Stormcloud ran less stock. Because Steve wanted to keep his pastures healthy, and encourage the wild species to flourish, not denude the plains completely, like some of the lesser-informed pastoralists were wont to do. Bindi was keen to learn as much as she could from Steve about living and farming on this land while having as small an impact as possible. One day, she might even buy her own little piece of land, and when she did, she wanted to run it as sustainably as possible. She’d been saving up, building up a little nest egg for herself. Whether she bought that land in Queensland or back in her home country of New Zealand, was still an undecided issue.
Bindi and Skylar each took up a position, flanking Sasha as all three stared at the recipe book. This was Skylar’s holy grail. A collection of her favorite recipes she’d accumulated over the past ten years, most of them using native bush foods.
“How about this one?” Sasha turned to the page she was marking with her thumb. “Macadamia nut and finger lime cake with burnt butter.”
“Mm, that one is lovely and moist,” Skylar murmured. “We could do three layers and cover it in a rustic white icing with native wildflowers on each tier.”
“Nice,” Bindi agreed.
