His Outback Nanny (Prickle Creek)(12)

As the two children walked up the hall, Jemima stepped back and moved to  pull the door further shut. She usually left it open a chink to give  Ryan a clue. But when she stepped back, a chuckle warmed the back of her  neck, and a pair of strong arms went around her.

"Looks like we chose the best hiding spot, Jemmy."

Embarrassment-and something else pleasurable-surged though her as Ned held her close.

"Ssh, don't give us away," he whispered as she tried to move away. "He'll hear us."

They stood close together as Ryan's little footsteps padded past the  door. All sorts of thoughts skittered through Jemima's mind, and she  held herself perfectly still and quiet. Ned had showered after he'd come  in from the paddocks, and the fresh masculine clean smell surrounded  her. She resisted temptation.

But it was so hard. All she wanted was to jump his bones.

Somehow he must have picked up her thoughts. Mental telepathy in a  cupboard? Those bones she was thinking about almost went to water as  warm lips nuzzled the side of her neck.

"What are you doing?" she whispered as heat flooded through her.

There was laughter in his voice. "It's easier to keep quiet if my lips are here."

"Oh."

Her head turned slowly, and his warm lips slid along her cheek, getting  closer to her mouth with every breath she took. Her legs trembled, and  just as she reached to hold the hand that had snaked around her waist,  he turned her in his arms.

His lips descended on hers, and when Jemima opened her mouth, Ned  murmured against her lips. "Excellent. Now we can both be perfectly  quiet."

His lips stayed on hers as little footsteps padded down the hall. Warm and soft, gentle, yet enticing.         

     



 

The door flew open, and as light flooded into the cupboard, Jemima  pulled away from Ned's hold. And those lips that set her legs trembling,  and the thoughts that ran rampant in her imagination.

"Found you!" Ryan giggled. "You always hide in there, Jemmy!"

She fanned herself with her hand as she stepped into the hall. "I'm pleased you found us. It was too hot in there."

She could still hear Ned's amused chuckle as she'd taken Ryan's hand to help him find Kelsey. "It sure was," Ned had murmured.

Ever since then, she'd been so much more aware of him but unsure how to take him.

"Jem?"

She jumped as Lucy's voice intruded on her thoughts as she came into the kitchen.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said, ‘I'm sure Maisey Sykes will come up with a story about you knowing each other in Sydney.'"

"Um, yes. We'll leave it to Maisey." Jemima smiled, her attention  diverted as Ned drove in and parked near the shed. The three kids  clambered out, and she could see the excitement on their faces as they  ran across to the barbeque area. Ned walked more slowly behind them, his  jeans moulding powerful thighs as he walked across the lawn. She forced  herself to look away and pay attention to Lucy.

"Or Paris," Jemima said as she turned away from the window.

"Paris?" Lucy screwed her nose up. "Paris, what?"

"For the Sykes story," Jemima said. "But really, Ned and I met when we  were kids when he used to play in Liam's treehouse. She wouldn't know  that. She didn't live here then."

"I must admit when you told me, I wondered if you were making a huge  mistake, if you were sure about what you were doing, but now that I've  met Ned and the kids, I think it's fine. You're doing a good thing, you  know, Jemmy. Missing out on that school job was meant to be."

"It's all good. Anyway, it's only for a year, and it serves purpose for  both of us." Jemima opened the fridge. "What has to go outside?"

"The three bowls of salad." Lucy took them from her as she passed them out. "There's only one problem as far as I can see."

"What's that?"

"Ned's a lovely guy, and the kids are sweet. How are you going to last a  year without falling in love with the lot of them? That worries me,  Jemmy. How will you feel about leaving them at the end of the year?"

Jemima laughed. "There's no fear of that. It's a job, and that's what  I'm treating it as. And besides, Ned's not my type." She crossed her  fingers behind her back.

Lucy frowned and didn't look convinced. "What is your type?"

"I don't know. When I meet him, I'll tell you." She opened the oven and  took out the garlic bread. "Come on, the meat'll be cooked by now. I'm  starving."

Liam, Garth, and Ned were out by the barbeque, and the two little girls  had walked over to the horse paddock, carrying Willow, Liam and Angie's  pup. Jemima stood at the kitchen window watching them as they balanced  on the fence rail. She leaned forward and checked where Ryan was. She  grinned when she spotted him playing in the red dirt at the back of the  barbeque area. His once-white T-shirt was now streaked with red dirt.

As they walked out to the barbeque area to join the men and the children, Jemima smoothed her hair back.

"So you're not nervous about making it real tomorrow? Or excited about being a bride?" Lucy asked quietly.

"No. I told you. It's just a job. I'm not a real bride, remember. It's a business arrangement."

Lucy walked ahead and put the salads on the table. Jemima ignored the  happiness that flooded through her when Ned looked up and smiled.

It's a job.

 …

Catching up with Liam socially had been great, but Ned had sensed a  little reticence when they'd first shaken hands. Even though he'd been  at Daniela for more than a month, they'd both been too busy on their  respective farms to catch up. They'd spoken a few times on the  telephone, but this was the first time they'd seen each other face to  face. After dinner and a couple of beers, Liam had been up front about  what was bugging him. Like he always had been. They'd walked over to the  cattle crush and leaned against the rail, discussing the upcoming  Spring Downs cattle sale where Ned was going to buy his first stock.  After a while, Liam put his beer on the top of the timber railing and  looked at Ned.

"I'm not going to say much. I'm just going to ask one thing of you."         

     



 

Ned looked at him over his beer as he leaned on the fence. "What's that?"

"Don't hurt my sister."

"I won't. You have my word on that."

"She comes across as tough, but she's not. She pretends she knows the world, but she's done it tough."

"What sort of tough?"

Liam shook his head. "I'll let Jemmy tell you. If she wants to share."

Ned didn't reply. He leaned back against the rail and looked over at the  house. Ryan was still playing in the dirt-that boy would have the best  resistance to germs-and would need another bath before bed. Just as well  they had the underground bore at the farm to keep the water supply up.  Gwennie was sitting at the table talking to Liam's fiancée, Angie, and  Kelsey was being Jemmy's shadow as she had been ever since she'd  discovered Jemima was as mad keen on horses as she was.

The problem would be what he could do for her.

Liam looked at him curiously as they walked back to the barbeque area. "You're quiet, mate."

"Just thinking. Will you be at the cattle sales next Thursday?" Ned  pulled his thoughts back to the present. "I'd appreciate an experienced  cattle buyer with me."

Liam laughed. "Well, I'm not that experienced. I've only been back here a  few months myself. But I'm happy to come and help you as best I can.  Shame our pop's not home yet. He's the one with the cattle experience.  I'm still learning."

"When I was here as a kid, I never took much notice of what Dad was  doing." He shook his head with a rueful laugh. "Never planned to be back  out here on the land."

"Me neither. Are you here to stay?" Liam asked as they walked across to  the house. The sun was setting, and the sky was a glorious mix of pinks  and gold. But Ned didn't take much notice of it. All he thought of was  the number of chores he had waiting for him at home.

He shrugged. "At the moment, that's the plan. As long as I can make the farm a going concern."

Jemmy was clearing the table, and a puff of wind lifted her loose hair  in a blond tangle around her head. The setting sun was behind her, and  she was silhouetted in a halo of soft light, not that she needed  anything to make her look more attractive. Every time Ned looked at her,  he couldn't believe what a beautiful woman she'd become. Her  knee-length dress was printed with brightly coloured flowers, and as he  watched, she put her head back and laughed at something Kelsey said to  her. She was vital and alive and beautiful, and something shifted in  him.

Full of life.

Anticipation grew for the next year, a certainty that Jemima's presence  would make a difference to the children. She gave him a renewed hope  that life could be happy, and more than anything, her being there would  provide the opportunity for him to get out on the farm and make a go of  it. A chance to provide a good and happy life for his children. The next  year would set the foundation for the future. He smiled; it was going  to be a great year. The thought of having Jemmy in the house with them  for a year stirred feelings that he knew he'd have to keep a lid on. It  was only because she was such a beautiful woman.