Welcome to the intensely emotional world of
Margaret Way
where rugged, brooding bachelors meet their match in the burning heart of Australiaâ¦
Praise for the author:
âMargaret Way deliversâ¦vividly written, dramatic stories.â âRomantic Times BOOKreviews
âWith climactic scenes, dramatic imagery and bold characters, Margaret Way makes the Outback come aliveâ¦â âRomantic Times BOOKreviews
âTell me whatâs the matter.â Urgently he searched her face.
Boyd reached down to take hold of her hand, and as he did so it went nerveless, and the earrings rolled out of her grasp.
âWhat the hell is going on here? Why didnât your brother have the guts to come to me and confess heâd taken the diamonds?â he demanded.
âRobbie had nothing to do with it.â
âOh, stop it!â Boyd said, as though heâd totally run out of patience. How formidable he looked. How handsome! He had taken off his jacket but he was still in his evening clothes, the collar of his white shirt undone, his black dress tie hanging loose.
âSomeoneâs coming!â Leona gave a terrified gasp. She looked towards the entrance hall.
Boyd didnât reply. He grabbed her, hauling her back against the green and gold curtains. âKiss me,â he ordered bluntly. âKiss me and make it good!
Margaret Way, a definite Leo, was born and raised in the subtropical River City of Brisbane, capital of the Sunshine State of Queensland. A Conservatoriumtrained pianist, teacher, accompanist and vocal coach, she found her musical career came to an unexpected end when she took up writing, initially as a fun thing to do. She currently lives in a harbourside apartment at beautiful Raby Bay, a thirty-minute drive from the state capital, where she loves dining al fresco on her plant-filled balcony, overlooking a translucent green marina filled with all manner of pleasure craftâfrom motor cruisers costing millions of dollars and big, graceful yachts with carved masts standing tall against the cloudless blue sky, to little bay runabouts. No one and nothing is in a mad rush, so she finds the laid-back village atmosphere very conducive to her writing. With well over 100 books to her credit, she still believes her best is yet to come.
Recent books by the same author:
BRIDE AT BRIARâS RIDGE *
WEDDING AT WANGAREE VALLEY *
CATTLE RANCHER, SECRET SON PROMOTED: NANNY TO WIFE **
CATTLE RANCHER, CONVENIENT WIFE **
* Barons of the Outback duet
** Outback Marriages duet
CHAPTER ONE
âLEO, YOU KNOW they donât want me, but they feel obliged to ask me,â Robbie, her stepbrother said. As usual, he was making himself comfortable, lolling back on her brand-new sofa, dark head on a cushion, his long legs slung languidly over the other end.
This was a familiar theme between them, causing Leona, always the peacemaker, to answer automatically, âYou know thatâs not true.â Sadly, it was true. âYouâre good company, Robbie. Youâre an asset to any house party. Besides, youâre on Boydâs polo team, which counts for a lot, and youâre a darn good tennis playerâmy best doubles partner. We can and do beat the rest of them.â The rest of them being the close-knit Blanchard clan, many of whom would be attending the weekend house party.
âExcept Boyd,â Robbie chipped in. âNow, Boyd is a man to marvel overâa business dynamo, IQ off the charts, superb athlete, a serious heartthrob with the women. What more could a man hope for? They could have cast him as the new James Bond.â
âForget Boyd,â said Leona. âI rather like the new guy.â As always, she was masking the deep feelings she had for Boydâfeelings she thought she would never get pastâas she chucked a cushion at Robbie. âThough I will concede they donât come any more perfect than Boyd.â This was said very dryly.
Robbie laughed, deftly fielding the silk cushion and depositing it on the floor. âSure you donât actually love him?â He lifted his head to flash her a bright challenging look. Robbie was teeming with intuition and he frequently caught her out.
âNow, that would be a turn-up, wouldnât it?â she answered, hoping her white skin wasnât showing tell-tale bright flags of colour. âHe is my second cousin.â
âWell, not strictly speaking. Youâd have to give or take a few âstepsâ,â Robbie reminded her. âThereâve been so many deaths, divorces and remarriages in the Blanchard family.â
That was certainly true. Triumph and tragedy aplenty. She and Boyd, for instance, had both lost their mothers. She when she was eight. His beautiful mother, Alexa, had become Leonaâs honorary aunt after that until sheâd died when Boyd was in his mid-twenties. Boydâs father, Rupert, Chairman of Blanchards, had remarried two years later, not to a nice sensible woman somewhere near his own age, as the family had dared to hope, but to a flamboyant divorcee, the daughter of one of Rupertâs old cronies who sat on the Board of Blanchards. She was just a handful of years older than Rupertâs only son and heir, Boyd.