Christmas Down Under: Six Sexy New Zealand & Australian Christmas Romances

by Rosalind James

  And his thighs were magic from the new angle—long and sinewy, then bunched and hard, then long and sinewy... He was a machine— tireless, determined—smashing and pounding with furious energy.

  The last piece of concrete gave way. He whooped with triumph, grinned at one of the other men, threw down the hammer and stretched. His whole body went rigid and then relaxed. Then he bent down, yanked off his boots, stripped his socks away and took a running dive into the pool. He arrowed half a length under the water and exploded upward to the sun again, shaking his head so the drops spun off it in a glittering swarm. Ellie yelled with surprise as they scattered all over her heated skin.

  He ran a hand back through his dark hair so it stood up comically, and rested his elbows on the edge of the pool. “Are you free to come out tonight?” he asked.

  Not ‘would you like to’ or ‘do you want to’. He was sure enough of his attractions to know that she would. And she was dying to. Yes please.

  Ellie glanced across at Maggie, and he said, “I’ve got a mate.”

  Maggie had shrugged and grinned.

  “I’ll pick you up here at eight.” He vaulted out of the pool, and water cascaded all around him as he sauntered off to retrieve his boots and resume work.

  Ellie had been left breathless by his speed and sureness. None of the boys in her hometown had such confidence. To be asked out before a single word had passed between them—that was definitely different. And he was definitely different, too. A man rather than a boy. Physically superb. He might prove to be an absolute fool once she got to know him, or a bore, or so self-centred that he was a pain—but she was willing to take the risk, just for one evening anyway.

  “Told you going red was a good idea,” Maggie said. She’d persuaded Ellie to have her long dark hair bleached and coloured the day they were in Wellington. Ellie adored it, but knew there’d be stinging words from her mother once she returned home.

  But for that week she was unrepentantly flame-haired and free to do as she wanted. She was also newly on the pill, because even at eighteen her periods were still irregular, and her family doctor had decided a daily hormone dose might shake her system into a proper pattern. She’d felt wicked, as though anything was possible... a truly delicious feeling for a girl who’d led a studious and sheltered life. The brief white bikini she’d bought and hidden from her mother summed things up exactly; excitement yearned for but not allowed.

  Ellie had stayed by the pool, watching as her unexpected date cleaned up the mess he’d made. He tossed the lumps of concrete onto the tray of a pickup truck as though they weighed no more than polystyrene, shovelled up the rubble in powerful sweeps, then swung himself into the cab and roared off. She didn’t even know his name.

  ~♥~

  And all these years later she was in his home, waking drowsily, smiling at a photo of his son—the son he’d never met and must not meet. Slowly the happy memories receded and the dread engulfed her again.

  She cocked an ear toward the next room, but there was no sound. Tony had risen early.

  Her watch said seven-thirty. Not as bad as yesterday, anyway. She showered and began to dress, and was stepping into her white cotton shorts when an annoying background whine swelled into a tremendous thudding din somewhere very close. It almost knocked her off her feet.

  The noise rose to a shattering crescendo and then eased off a little. A helicopter. She’d not heard it land—she must have been deeply asleep indeed.

  She fastened her shorts and walked out across the balcony, hands clamped over her ears. The clattering monster rose into view and hovered not too far distant. It dipped to the left, then the right, for all the world as though saluting her, and peeled away into the vivid blue sky. She stood watching until it was almost out of sight.

  The trees ceased their frenzied thrashing. Stray leaves swirled to the ground. Dogs barked a little distance away, and she heard one of the farmhands yell, “That’ll do, Jess.” Silence was slowly restored.

  Except that Ellie now knew it was never really silent at Wharemoana. There were always engines starting up, or sheep bleating, or the dark bellow of distant cattle. A tractor or quad-bike sometimes chugged along the driveway. Sporadic hammering thudded out as work continued on an invisible project behind one of the implement sheds. The ducks quacked and fussed in the sun. And the sea made a constant soft roar behind these closer noises.

  She sat on the bed and picked up Cal’s photograph and her cell-phone. She’d spoken to him the previous evening, but now she longed to talk to him again. He answered on the third ring, being very polite in case the call was for his grandmother.

  “You’ll never guess what I’ve just seen,” she enthused. “A helicopter. Right here at the farm. I’ve just watched it take off. What a noise they make up close.”

  “Cool, Mum. Where’s it going?”

  “No idea, love. It just went straight up and then headed off. It made all the farm dogs bark like mad. Are you being good for Grandma?”

  “Course I am. We’re having pizza for dinner tonight.”

  Oh yes, he has his grandmother well trained.

  She shared a bit more chat before disconnecting. Then, just in case, she opened the top drawer and pushed Cal’s photo out of sight before joining Ginny and the twins for breakfast. There was no sign of Tony, for which she was grateful.

  “Daddy’s gone in the helicopter,” Antonia said, as though reading her mind.

  “I couldn’t see who was in it. The sun was so bright.”

  “Some sort of forestry business,” Ginny said. “He expects to be back mid-morning. I found a hat for you,” she added, indicating a wide brimmed straw sunhat with a blue floral band.

  Ellie nodded her thanks. “What else do we need to take on this mad expedition?” she asked.

  “A couple of garden trowels I daresay. And some plastic bags to bring home the famous fossils? I’ll put them in the hamper. I think Robbie’s trying to recapture his lost youth.”

  In more ways than one.

  She still couldn’t think of him as Robbie. He’d always be Tony to her.

  She sighed. “My son would enjoy this more than the girls will, I suspect.”

  “You must bring him out to see the farm sometime soon,” Ginny said. “Remember that folding bed in your wardrobe. It’ll make it very easy. He’ll be missing you.”

  “And I’m missing him,” Ellie agreed. “We’ll have to see what we can arrange,” she added, playing for time. “But it’s a busy time of year, and I need to do plenty for the girls before Christmas arrives.”

  She pictured Cal’s dark hair and laughing eyes, and her heart contracted. She knew her mother would be spoiling him rotten, but she was already bereft without him. How would she endure the long weeks of her contract without his engaging company and unquestioning love? She wouldn’t be inviting him to the farm. Tony would recognise him instantly.

  ~♥~

  After breakfast the twins scampered away and Ellie helped Ginny clear the table.

  “It’s good to have a proper teacher for them,” Ginny said. “Julia... well, she was unhappy, and it made her impatient with them, and then we found out why she was sick...” She turned to retrieve the tablecloth. “And I was too occupied looking after Julia in the last little while to be much use to the girls. They’re good kids—they’re biddable enough. And very good at asking questions.”

  “So... you keep house here now?” Ellie asked with caution. She was still unsure quite where the boundaries lay.

  “Chief cook and bottle-washer,” Ginny said, starting to fold the tablecloth. “Robbie has jokingly titled me his Domestic Director, which is kind. One of the men’s wives helps me with the cleaning, but we won’t intrude into your room unless you want us to. Will that suit you?”

  Ellie murmured her agreement. It suited her very well indeed not to have Ginny’s lively eyes spotting Cal’s photo and putting two and two together.

  ~♥~

  The distant thudding of the h
elicopter warned her of his return. The noise grew deafening as the gleaming black machine settled earthward and disappeared behind the farm buildings. Ellie stacked her teaching aids away, sighed with exasperation, and followed the girls down the stairs.

  Her breathing stilled as he approached her. The farmer in work shorts and the labourer in denim and boots were wiped from her mind in an instant. This man was in charge of whatever he desired. The tailored dark suit sat impressively on his tall frame. A snowy shirt and muted blue tie added authority and elegance. He carried a slim black briefcase, and his eyes were invisible behind aviator sunglasses. The tough haircut and arrogant bearing completed a man who did not invite trouble.

  Every hair on Ellie’s body lifted away from her skin. Her response was unexpected, uncontrollable. He’d broken through her defences despite all her firm intentions to keep him at a safe distance. He’d made the connection with none of his body on display, and with his enticing eyes hidden.

  She had no way of divining the expression in them. Resentment for her rebuff the previous evening? A flicker of interest and a renewal of his invitation? Absolute neutrality as though the rooftop scene had never happened?

  She’d never imagined him like this... never expected to see him in business tycoon’s camouflage. She knew she shouldn’t feel so attracted, but he looked beautiful, powerful, irresistible. Her pulse cranked up another notch as she tried to subdue her racing blood.

  He stopped very close in front of her and removed the sunglasses. “My other life,” he said. “Forestry’s an ever-expanding part of the mix here. It’s claiming more of my attention these days.”

  Ellie had seen the distant hills blanketed in a rising sea of dark Radiata pine—huge plantations of vigorous trees that ate up the steeper countryside. It was all his?

  He handed his briefcase to Antonia and his sunglasses to Carolyn, and they trotted off with them.

  “I’m impressed,” she admitted. “I never saw you in business clothes, of course. You look a natural for the boardroom.”

  Bedroom, her traitorous brain inserted.

  “I enjoy negotiating. Hard work, but rewarding.” He dropped his voice, although there was no longer any possibility of being overheard. “I’m looking forward to our future negotiations, Ellie McKenna. I warn you I don’t back down often. Last night was only a preliminary skirmish.”

  “I’m not a business deal,” she snapped, dismayed.

  “But you’re open to negotiation?” His eyes were merry.

  “I’m not for sale.”

  “You haven’t heard my best offer yet.”

  She closed her eyes. His best offer—himself, naked, with Cal’s photo safely hidden. That’s all it might take. Feathery tremors of anticipation licked from her scalp to her toes.

  She turned away. His long stride closed the distance between them in seconds, and they walked toward the house pace for pace. He stood back so she could enter first. The twins had left the door open, and in the hot still air nothing stirred.

  “Nice flying today,” Tony said, foot on the lowest stair. “I’ll take you up later if we get the chance. Show you the farm from above.”

  Ellie nodded. Was this another attempt to impress her and entice her into his bed? Yes, he presided over an amazing kingdom, but the huge house and vast acreage and beautiful clothes were far outshone by the man himself.

  “I haven’t flown since I came back from Sydney,” she murmured.

  “Never?” His brows rose with disbelief.

  She shrugged. “I had a life to get on with, and a pretty tight budget to keep to.”

  “Still...”

  Oh you have no idea, Tony. No idea at all how hard it can be for ordinary people to get by. Especially on one wage, and with a child to support.

  “We’ll do it then. If not today, then quite soon.” He turned and bounded up the stairs.

  Ellie retreated to the kitchen to collect their picnic and the sunhat. They were out on the dusty road a few minutes later.

  ~♥~

  She still has dynamite legs, Tony thought, appreciating his close up view of Ellie in shorts. Her sleek thigh rested only inches away from his hand. It would be so easy to let his fingers wander across and caress her. To smooth up and down over her warm golden skin. Would she dare complain with the twins sitting right behind them?

  All through the forestry meeting his attention had been split between the business at hand and the business he’d like to be attending to. He itched to get very personal with Ellie again. He’d made no plans yet... was being dragged along in a mindless daze by his eager body. Just the sight of her still turned him on. When she was as close as this, and he could smell her and so nearly touch her, he felt like a randy kid again. Deliciously desperate. Acutely alive after the long guilt-ridden months of watching Julia get weaker and weaker, and knowing his girls weren’t getting the education they needed.

  He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and directed his attention back to the road.

  “Okay, here we go,” he said a few minutes later, swinging the SUV between two spiky Nikau palms and onto a sloping track. They bounced over the potholed surface, and then levelled out on the river flat. “I’ll drop you here for a while and head off to Bob’s. The best place for fossils is over there.” He waved across to a stony bank. “Don’t dig in so far that you collapse the ground on top of you.”

  “With two garden trowels and hired labour this size?”

  “I’m serious Ellie—the land can be unstable around here. Go carefully, and have fun.”

  He pulled the handbrake on and strode around to the back of the vehicle, lifted the hamper and a chilly-bin out, and set them against the trunk of a willow. “It should stay shady enough there until lunchtime. You’ll need to watch the dog around the food. See you back here sometime before noon.” He kissed each daughter’s cheek, and laughed as they made a beeline for the hamper.

  While the girls’ attention was diverted, he caught Ellie’s hand, wishing he could draw her close enough to press his body against hers and feel the softness of her breasts, the cradle of her hips. “Don’t tire yourself out,” he said, with half a smile and a raised eyebrow. To his pleasure she closed her eyes, and he watched a definite blush steal up her neck and over her face. She wasn’t entirely immune then. Good to know.

  He bumped away up the track, leaving a cloud of dust floating in the still air. Slowly it settled. And just as slowly his heart ceased its exhilarated thumping.

  Chapter Six—Sunscreen

  The girls showed no interest in fossil hunting. Instead, they insisted on wriggling into the swimsuits Ginny had packed and paddling about in the river shallows with Tasha, the old spaniel.

  Ellie planted her feet in a patch of shingle and stood watching them. How easy it would be to fall in with Tony’s plans. To resume their long-ago affair as though the intervening years had never happened. Plainly he was keen. And her own body clamoured for his attentions even if her cautious mind warned her to tread with care.

  But if she had to deny herself the intoxicating pleasure Tony could provide, it also meant she’d avoid the pain of their eventual parting. A night spent tossing and turning, and remembering how good they’d been together, had scared her silly. She’d loved him eleven years ago with all the passion and joy of her youthful heart. She didn’t want to fall in love like that again. Couldn’t jeopardise all her careful planning. Her years of scrimping and saving to take the best possible care of Cal. And she knew she was perilously close to risking it.

  She dragged her mind back to his daughters—the reason he’d employed her. “We could make a waterfall,” she said, pushing off her sandals and stepping a little way into the water. She heaved a couple of hefty stones across to start a miniature dam in one of the channels, wondering if a lecture on hydro-electricity might be in order, and then abandoning the idea.

  The cool water caressed her ankles and calves. It was bliss to paddle about, scooping up stones, placing them so ‘their’
small piece of the river was diverted. But she soon realised the folly of wearing her olive green T-shirt. The sun soaked into the dense colour and her back became burning hot. She stood and flapped some air up under it every now and then.

  “Put your swimsuit on, Ellie,” Antonia suggested.

  She didn’t have a swimsuit... hadn’t expected to be splashing about in the water. But her underwear was decent enough, and it was wonderfully private in this secluded place. There was not a single sign of human habitation. No houses, no visible road, no power lines, not even any farm fences because of the lush vegetation on the opposite side of the river. The willows and poplars were in early summer leaf, bushy and dense. What would it matter? She didn’t expect Tony to return any time soon.

  “Back in a minute. You two be very careful,” she called, picking her way across to where he’d placed the hamper in the shade. She stripped off her dark T-shirt and shorts to reveal white bikini panties and a pretty enough white bra. Ginny had packed a big bottle of sunscreen lotion. Ellie smoothed some over her arms and shoulders and legs, and took it down to the water’s edge.

  “Come out for a moment and I’ll put some of this on for you.”

  “We already did that.”

  Had they? She doubted it. “Well it’s time for more,” she insisted. “You’ll burn up fast in this sun.”

  After token resistance Antonia sidled across and let Ellie smother her in the lotion. Caro followed with more reluctance, gazing at the river, kicking at the stones and feigning great impatience.

  “Are you going to do me too?”

  She froze. Tony stood not far behind her. He’d returned much sooner than she’d expected. Or perhaps the time had simply slipped by very fast? She had no way of telling—her watch was by the hamper. The gurgling river noise must have masked the sound of his engine, unless he’d coasted quietly down the track, hoping to take her unawares?

  “Daddy’s in his underpants,” Caro shrieked. Ants also collapsed with giggles, as though this was the biggest joke of the year.