by Annie Seaton
“Can you keep your arm around me, and then let me go first? I’ll wait for you at the other side?” He obliged, lifting his arm and putting it around her shoulders and holding her close as he reached down for his camera bag.
“Wait for me there. I missed you, darling,” he said loudly. Lowering his head he pretended to brush her cute little ear with his lips but he whispered, “It’s okay. I get it now. Don’t worry.”
The guy behind them reached over and tapped Isabella’s arm as Sebastian hefted the camera bag onto his shoulder. “You forgot to take the napkin,” he said in a whiny voice, shoving a stained paper napkin at Isabella.
“No, thank you.” She lifted her head briefly from where she’d snuggled into Sebastian’s shoulder. Sebastian didn’t recall that she’d had an accent when they’d been at high school, although she hadn’t been in Spring Downs for long before she’d left again. Not that he’d spent much time with Isabella back then. She’d just been one of the girls at school. He stared down at her as she lifted her chin and turned away from the man behind them.
“And I missed you too, Seb.”
“If you missed each other so much, why weren’t you sitting together?” The guy was persistent and Sebastian narrowed his eyes.
As he crowded their space, Isabella moved closer to Sebastian—if it were possible. Most of her body was already stuck to his like a limpet.
The guy’s tone was full of belligerence. “I said, ‘Why weren’t you sitting with him on the plane?’”
Sebastian lowered his head and brushed his lips against Isabella’s ear. “Do you know this guy, Bella?”
The shake of her head was almost imperceptible.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business, mate.” While his words were firm, Sebastian kept his smile friendly. “But for your information, I was upgraded to business class, and I wasn’t able to sit with my fiancée.”
The passport control booth lit up and, turning his back, he blocked the guy’s view of Isabella as she hurried forward with her passport open ready to scan. When she was through he followed quickly, placed his passport on the scanner, and as soon as the green light flashed he hurried after her. He walked beside her as she rushed through the “nothing to declare” entry to customs.
“I’ll come to the baggage carousel with you,” he said. “I don’t like that guy’s attitude.”
“Me neither, and thanks. I really appreciate that,” she said, flicking a nervous glance over her shoulder. “Once we get our bags I’ll explain why I threw myself at you. You would not believe how relieved I was to see someone I knew.” For the first time, a glimmer of humour was in Isabella’s voice.
“My pleasure. Happy to oblige.”
The slight flush that stained her cheeks made her even prettier. Sebastian stayed with Isabella while she retrieved her small bag, and then she stood beside him while he went over to the special luggage section to arrange for the delivery of his photographic equipment to Spring Downs. The nuisance guy seemed to have disappeared, but Sebastian wasn’t going to risk leaving her alone. If the guy came back and bothered her again, he’d call airport security.
“So what now?” Sebastian swung his travel pack onto his back and reached down for Isabella’s bag. “Do you want to share a taxi?”
Isabella bit her lips as he watched. “Are you staying in the city?” she asked.
“No. I’m collecting my motorbike from a storage unit at Botany, and then I’m heading out to Spring Downs later today. What about you?”
“Um.” That lip biting thing she did was really cute. He couldn’t take his eyes from her mouth; her lips were rosy and full.
And kissable. He could vouch for that firsthand. Another warm tingle ran through him and he smiled at her.
“Well, would you believe I’m going to Spring Downs, too?” she said, and that gorgeous mouth opened into a smile, revealing a row of perfect white teeth.
“Fair dinkum! That’s a happy coincidence. I thought you moved away when we were in high school?”
“I did. Mum and I moved back to Italy, but—”
Sebastian put a hand on her arm. “Look, I’m starving. How about a coffee before we head out into the peak-hour rush? It’ll be a better place for catching up than standing around in the airport.”
He grinned when she nodded.
…
Isabella had been so relieved to recognise Sebastian at the airport she hadn’t entertained a second thought when she’d hurried over to him and demanded a kiss. Convincing that sleazy guy that she was with someone had been uppermost in her mind. It had been dicey for a while when he’d insisted on knowing why they hadn’t been sitting together, but Sebastian had picked up on the situation quickly and handled it adroitly.
What a jerk that guy had been.
She waited at the table Sebastian had snagged while he went over to order their coffee.
“Short black, please. Double shot,” she’d answered when he asked her what she’d like. “I need to wake up a bit and get myself organised.”
While Sebastian stood at the counter Isabella checked him out.
He sure could kiss. That’s one thing she’d discovered about the grown-up Sebastian. He’d been tall at high school, but he’d grown even more, both in height and width. A tight black T-shirt moulded his broad chest, and his narrow black jeans hugged powerful thighs. His hair was pulled back from his face with a leather tie into a short tail. He looked more suited to the city than Spring Downs, with his movie star good looks. As tall and broad as those Hemsworth brothers who were in the magazine she’d tried to read on the flight.
She wondered if he lived there or if he was just visiting.
Sebastian was probably visiting like she was. He looked way too sophisticated to be living out in the boondocks. As he turned, she looked down, pretending to fiddle with her phone, not wanting to be caught blatantly checking him out.
“One short black, double shot.” He put the coffee down in front of her and pulled out the chair opposite her.
“Where’s yours?” she asked with a frown.
“They’ll call me over when it’s ready. I’m having a chocolate milkshake. It’s the one thing I’ve craved while I’ve been in Italy.”
Isabella smiled and picked up the packet of sugar to tip into her coffee. “Have you been over there on holidays?”
“No, I was working.” Sebastian leaned back in the chair, and for the first time she noticed a small diamond glinting in his earlobe.
Very cosmopolitan.
“Now tell me about that guy who was hassling you.” He leaned forward with a frown.
“It was nothing major. I was probably overreacting. He was in the seat next to me all the way from Singapore, and he was very persistent. He just wouldn’t stop talking.”
“You should have called the steward.”
“No.” She shook her head. “There was nothing to report. He was just persistent and a little bit sleazy. He didn’t do or say anything bad. I got off the plane as quick as I could, but then he was right behind me. I panicked when he tried to hold my arm. And then, I saw you, just at the right time.” She picked up the spoon and stirred her coffee. “Like I said, I was overreacting. But I didn’t feel comfortable going to sleep with him beside me so I’m extra tired now.”
“What about you? Were you on holiday over there?” he asked, and she was pleased at the subject change. Enough of Mr. Creepy Guy.
“No. I was working, too. Where were you working?” she asked.
Sebastian waited until the waitress from the coffee shop put his milkshake in front of him. “Thank you. I could have come and collected it.” His smile lit up the room, and the waitress lingered for a moment smiling back.
Isabella bit back her own smile.
Sebastian oozed charm. Bucket loads. But in a nice way.
She remembered his family from school. There were a few of them, and they’d been a very tight bunch. There’d been some tragedy with a road accident about the time s
he and Mum had left town, but she couldn’t remember exactly what it was.
She pushed away the sad sigh that hovered.
Poor Dad. He’s been all alone there a long time.
“I’m a photographer and I had a few contracts with a couple of Italian companies,” he said.
“Rome?” She tilted her head to the side. “Or fashion in Milan?”
“No, tourism in Florence. What about you?”
“Wow! Really?” She stared at him. “What a coincidence! I’ve been in Florence for the past eight years. Ever since Mum and I left Spring Downs.” Her voice was quiet. “Dad stayed. He’s doing it a bit tough at the moment. That’s why I’m going for a visit.”
“What a shame we didn’t hook up in Florence. You could have shown me the sights.”
“I’m sure if you were a tourist photographer you saw most of them.”
Sebastian picked up his milkshake, and Isabella smiled at the look of bliss that crossed his face as he drank it. “Yum. That is so good.” He wiped his hand over his mouth when he came up for breath.
“Looks like you’re enjoying that.” She shook her head. His appearance was more suited to someone drinking a trendy coffee, not slurping a milkshake like a schoolboy. “Where did you live?”
“Just off Santo Spirito Piazza.” He drained the last of his drink and then dipped the straw in the froth and licked it. Isabella giggled. It was just like being back in high school again in Dad’s milk bar after school. It had been a long time since she’d sat beside a boy—no, a man, a gorgeous man—drinking a milkshake. Usually, it was some chef trying to entice her into a fancy cocktail after a busy night in a hot kitchen.
“You?” he asked.
“I’m not making this up.” She put her elbow on the table and propped her chin in her hand. “But would you believe not far from Santo Spirito? Closer to the Pitti Palace end, near the Boboli Gardens.”
“Small world. I walked down there most mornings.” He shook his head and reached back to tie the leather when it slipped off his ponytail. “So tell me about your trip home to Spring Downs. Your dad is still there, you said?”
“Yes, he still owns the local milk bar. I’ll have to get you a friend’s discount.”
“Your dad is Con, isn’t he? Lucy worked there one summer.”
“He is Con the Greek.” She giggled. “But he’s actually Italian, and his name is Leonardo.”
Sebastian’s brow wrinkled in a frown, but he smiled and Isabella caught her breath. He was such a great-looking guy, and when he smiled at you—like he had at the waitress a minute ago—he seemed to focus exclusively on you and blocked out everything else. Like you were the only thing in his world at that exact moment. She sat up straight and shook her head again.
Charm unlimited. He was hard to resist.
“When Dad took over Con’s Milk Bar, everyone called him Con, so he answered to it.”
“Love it. I’ll make sure I call in for a milkshake. But I don’t expect mate’s rates.”
“So tell me about you coming back to Spring Downs,” she said. “A quick visit like mine? Family duty and all that?”
“No, to a quick visit, but yes to the family duty bit. I’m going home to stay.”
“That’s a big change from Italy. What are you going to do? There’s not a lot of work for a photographer in Spring Downs, is there?”
“My grandparents have retired, and my cousins have taken over the Prickle Creek Farm. Well, mainly Liam, now that Lucy’s married and lives on another farm. I was supposed to be there ages ago, but I couldn’t knock the Italian contract back.”
“Lucy’s married? Wow, it seems like no time at all since I was friends with Lucy and Jemmy at high school. So once you arrive, the old gang will be back together.”
“Yep. But they’ve all settled down. They fell back in love with the place and found ‘love.’”
“You sound cynical.” Isabella drained her coffee and put the cup back onto the saucer.
“It’s all been a bit quick for me. One minute they were each immersed in a career, and then we got called home, and before you could say ‘Jack Robinson’ all three of them were getting married.”
Isabella shrugged. “Cupid’s arrow. It’s a bit like that.”
“You sound like you speak from experience.”
“Oh Dio, no. I’m too busy working to fall in love with anyone.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m a chef.” Excitement flooded through her. “After I visit Dad, I’m going to England. I’m starting a job in one of the best restaurants over there.”
“Congratulations. I love the UK. I flew over for a few weekends when I was in Italy.” Sebastian glanced at his watch. “Okay, I’d better get going. So how are you getting to Spring Downs?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Isabella shrugged. “Dad got his dates mixed up when I first told him I was coming to visit. Would you believe he drove all the way to Sydney and turned up at the airport to collect me six months ago! I said September and he swore I wrote February in the email. He is such a ditz sometimes. So I didn’t tell him I was coming today. I said I’d make my own way there. I’ll have to catch a coach to Narrabri or Dubbo and maybe hire a car.”
Sebastian glanced down at her small bag. “You travel light. Would you like a lift? Or should I say a ride?”
She thought for a brief second and then nodded. “Thank you. That would be great!”
Chapter Three
Three hours later, Sebastian was on his BMW. The thrill of the speed and the wind whistling past his face—not to mention the woman sitting behind him with her hands resting lightly on his waist—had soothed his mood. He wouldn’t admit it to his cousins—or Gran—but he was hesitant about going back to the farm. But he had something to prove, not only to the family, but to himself as well.
His trepidation dissipated as the powerful bike flew along the highway. Sebastian had missed the bush. There was nothing like the colours of the paddocks and the big open sky out west. Even the thought of the red dust and the prickles of the Pilliga Scrub enticed him. The paddocks were full of fat cattle, and the grass along the edge of the road was lush and green for a change. Liam had said they’d had a lot of winter rain, and the glossy coats of the cattle showed how good the season had been.
He grinned beneath his helmet as he leaned into a sweeping curve north of Dunedoo.
Still a country boy, checking out the cattle.
Isabella leaned with him and held on tight. She whooped behind him. It hadn’t taken much to get her sorted for the ride home. He had a spare helmet and leathers in the unit where the bike was stored, and it had taken less than an hour to get them both kitted up and on the highway.
As he slowed for some cattle crossing the road just before Dubbo, he turned to her. “Happy to take another quick break?”
“Sounds good. I have a numb bum.” Her chuckle surrounded him and he smiled as the cattle ambled into the paddock, and the bike surged forwards. The small city of Dubbo wasn’t far ahead. “But this is great. I’d forgotten how beautiful the Australian bush is.”
Isabella had been the ideal pillion passenger. Not one complaint, and apart from an earlier quick stop, they’d been on the bike continuously for just under five hours. After this break they had less than two hours to go before they reached Spring Downs. He’d be sorry to drop her off, but he’d definitely see her again once he got settled.
Even though it sounds like she’s only here for a short visit.
Sebastian turned the bike into the large highway service centre just north of Dubbo on the Castlereagh Highway. Isabella unclipped the helmet, removed it, and as she shook her head her black curls tumbled onto her shoulders. Sebastian stared as she combed her fingers through her hair with a laugh.
“I need coffee, please. I was getting sleepy before you stopped for those cattle.” Her smile was wide and, once again, he was struck by her beauty. He didn’t remember noticing that at high school, but in those days, he’d prob
ably been more interested in motorbikes than pretty girls. She reminded him of that character in the fairy tale.
The one with the red lips, fair skin, and black hair. Rose Red?
“What’s wrong? Have I got smut on my face?” Those pretty teeth flashed in another smile.
Seb was jerked out of his daydreaming. “No, no. You’re fine. I was miles away.”
Her look was curious. “I know you said you’re here to stay, but how do you like the idea of coming back to the Pilliga after two years in Florence?”
“Why do you ask?” he said carefully.
“I couldn’t live here. There’s nothing here for me.” Isabella peeled off the leather jacket and put it on the back of the bike. “But each to his own. Lead on, Sebastian. Coffee calls.”
“I need food.” As he followed her to the café, he mulled over her words.
Sebastian had loved being at the farm when he was a teenager, but in Gran’s eyes nothing he did had ever measured up to Liam, his oldest cousin. So he’d turned himself into a city boy. In his signature black turtlenecks, black jeans, and his long ponytail, he’d roamed the bars with his camera, snapping the in-crowd for the social pages and doing department store catalogues until Lucy had gotten him a start at the agency where she worked. His career had skyrocketed, and the past two years in Europe had put him at the top of his field. To his colleagues, Sebastian was the consummate metro-sexual of the trendy crowd. No one realised a country boy still lurked beneath his city exterior.
There was something for him here. Family. And Prickle Creek Farm.
There was.
It would be enough.
It would.
…
Sebastian was quiet as they sat waiting for their meal and Isabella worried that she’d upset him. She racked her brains for a clue, but they hadn’t spoken much since they’d ordered. Maybe he was regretting offering her the ride.
“Are you stopping in Spring Downs or is your farm this side of town? Would it be easier if I called my dad and got him to meet us out on the highway?”
“No, it’s fine. Our farm’s way out on the other side of town, and besides, I need to get my payment from you for the ride out.”