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His Outback Temptation
by Annie Seaton

Copyright © 2018 by Annie Seaton. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Prologue

Two years earlier

Sebastian Richards put down his camera and pulled the buzzing phone from his pocket. “You can take a break, kids.” He forced a smile to his face as he gestured to the mother of the small children he was shooting for the department store catalogue. The little boy poked his tongue at Sebastian as he ran past, and he thanked his lucky stars for the call that had interrupted the photo shoot from hell. The little fiend’s sister aimed a kick at Seb’s ankles and stood there and stared at him.

God, I love kids, but I sure hate working with them.

He was so preoccupied watching for the kicking feet of the child from hell, he didn’t look at the screen before he pressed answer. “Seb Richards.”

His blood ran cold as he listened to the voice on the other end.

The last person he expected to call him. He turned away from the small girl, not caring if he got kicked to kingdom come. It would be preferable to talking to his grandmother.

“Sebastian.”

“Hello, Gran.”

“I want you all to come home.”

“All who?”

“Don’t be smart, boy. You and your cousins.”

“Sorry, Gran. I’m at work. I’ll call you back.” He disconnected before she could reply and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

“Sorry, Mrs Armitage. That was…er, business. I have to go. Take your kids out for some lunch, and we’ll meet back here at two o’clock.”

He grabbed his camera and tripod and ran down the stairs. If he was quick he could get to the office on the next floor before the old bat called Lucy.

But he was too late. Gran had already rung not only Lucy but their other two cousins, as well.

Lucy stared at him, her brow wrinkled and her eyes full of worry. “Do you want to travel back with me?”

“What? Back to the Pilliga Scrub? Come on, Lucy, you’re not seriously considering going home?”

No, not home. It wasn’t home. And it hadn’t been for a long time.

He shook his head. In the old days when they’d all lived in the small country town of Spring Downs—family holidays, Christmas, and many a weekend had been spent out of town at Gran and Pop’s farm. The whole family would pack up and head to the farm—the three sisters and his three cousins—but it wasn’t home anymore.

“You’re not really going back to Spring Downs, are you?” he asked.

“Yes, and you have to come. Gran said Jemmy and Liam have already agreed.”

Sebastian’s eyes were wide. “What? You mean Mr.-High-Achiever-the-world-famous-journalist, is coming home from London? No way! Not only will I come up and see that but I’ll eat my hat and run around the paddock stark bollocky naked if Liam comes home.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” she said quietly. “Gran was sure he was coming. So now the three of us have said yes, and if you agree that’ll make all four of us.”

“Damnation, bloody hell, and bollocks.” Sebastian’s voice was cross, but he couldn’t help it. “I don’t want to.”

“You sound like the whining six-year-old you used to be.” Lucy reached out and touched his arm. “Come on, Seb. I don’t think Gran’s real well. But she won’t say what’s wrong unless we’re all there. So get yourself on your bike and get out there.”

“All right. I know I’m being difficult, but damn it, I’d rather step into a nest of vipers than in front the old bat.”

“I honestly don’t know what’s got into you, Seb. Gran is a sweetheart.”

“All right, all right. I said I’ll go out there. But I won’t be staying.”

Chapter One

The present

Sebastian leaned his head back on the soft black leather headrest and closed his eyes. The comforting drone of the engines soothed the strange restlessness that had filled him ever since he’d boarded the plane in Rome. Choosing to travel business class from Europe might have been an extravagance, but hey, he’d worked hard for the past two years. His destination was a long way from the luxury apartment he’d shared in Florence. Spending some of his savings on making the long flight back to Sydney more comfortable had been a no-brainer. If he had to spend time back at the farm, he would have a comfortable trip getting there.

How long would he be there?

A few months?

A few years?

Sebastian still hadn’t got his head around the fact that he was going home.

A long while.

The rest of my life?

Spring Downs was good enough for his cousins, and now it was time for him to do the right thing by his family. Since Gran had called them all home two years back, Lucy, Liam, and Jemima had taken their turns and gone home to Spring Downs to look after their grandparents’ farm. One by one they’d decided to settle in the Pilliga Scrub where they’d grown up. And when he’d come home to the Outback for a visit—not that it had been very often—their contentment had surprised him.

Maybe he was even a little bit jealous. If the truth be known, watching the three people he was closest to fall in love and settle happily with their respective partners had left him a little bit hollow and lonely. And that was way out of character for him

“Love-’em-and-leave-’em Seb” was the nickname given to him by his colleagues in the business. Somehow, Liam had gotten wind of that nickname back home, probably from Lucy when Seb and Lucy had worked together at the advertising agency in Sydney. Of course, it had gone through the family, and Gran had shaken her head and tutted about it when he’d visited.

So he had a reputation as a bit of a playboy. Let them think what they liked. He enjoyed life, and he knew he could make a go of whatever the Outback threw at him.

But he hadn’t gone home very often. He knew he was a disappointment to his family but that was their problem, not his. Gran kept going on about how lucky he was.

What a great life Seb has.

“Sebastian has an easy job,” she told everyone. Clicking away and taking photos was a breeze compared to the hot dry work in the paddocks at Prickle Creek Farm. “He is so lucky,” Gran would say, “not to mention they pay him a ridiculous amount of money to swan around the world.”

Well, it was time to come home and prove that he could work as hard as the rest of the family.

Sebastian shook his head and reached for the glass of fizzy water that the air steward placed on the tray beside him. Whoever would have thought that a graphic designer, a journalist, and an international supermodel would be happy and settled in a small farming region on the edge of the Outback? Now a freelance photographer would be joining them.

It was time to see what coming home to Spring Downs would do for him.

No one knew the grief he’d carried inside since his mother had been killed in a car accident. No one knew how much he longed for the vast open plains of the Pilliga Scrub…sometimes.

Maybe it was time to settle down to real work. A bitter smile tugged at Sebastian’s lips.

Gran’s words, not mine.

…

Isabella Romano caught the eye of the female steward as she walked up the aisle towards the service area at the back of the economy section. “Excuse me? May I have some more water please?”

“I’ll be back in a moment,” the steward replied with a smile.

As Isabella waited, she took the opportunity to move farther to the right. Closer to the armrest of the aisle seat, and as far away as she could get from her fellow passenger. Ever since she’d reboarded the plane after the brief refueling stopover in Singapore, the guy sitting beside her had talked nonstop. Even putting the earphones in and trying to watch a movie hadn’t worked. Whenever she tried looking at the screen, he’d touch her wrist to get her attention back. He was driving her crazy.

Harmless but a pain in the arse.

She’d heard all about his trip to China. How much he’d hated the food. How he’d hated the crowds. And then he’d started on how much he’d hated his job and wasn’t looking forward to going home. He leaned closer and the stale smell of his clothes almost made her gag. She bit her lip as his long, greasy hair brushed her shoulder when he settled in his seat.

“And my boss sucks, too,” he added.

“Maybe you could take another vacation,” Isabella had said politely, inching as far towards the aisle as she could.

And then he’d started on about how he’d used all his leave up and couldn’t afford it, anyway.

She deserved a medal. Four hours into the flight and he hadn’t shut up for one minute.

Four hours down, three hours and twelve minutes to go.

“Thank you.” Isabella took the plastic cup from the steward and sipped at it. She tried to ignore the conversation coming from her left. Sadly, she’d already sussed out the plane, and there wasn’t a spare seat to be had.

“So tell me all about yourself. I think we’re going to be friends,” the creepy guy said. “I still don’t even know your name. Let’s go out for a drink tonight in Sydney.”

What?

The hide of him! For all he knew she could be catching a connecting flight as soon as they landed. She considered using that as an excuse, and then she straightened in her seat and gave him a cool look.

“I’m not staying long enough in Australia to become friends with anyone.”

God, I’m an idiot. Don’t engage in conversation. Don’t tell him anything.

Why do I find it so hard to be rude to anyone? This guy was certainly overstepping the boundaries of polite behaviour, and he didn’t deserve a response at all, let alone a polite one.

But of course he pounced on her words, and she spent the next three hours avoiding even more personal questions.

Eventually, he began to really creep her out.

As they prepared for landing, he pulled out a pen and scrawled his number on the back of the napkin that he’d already wiped across his mouth.

Ugh.

If they hadn’t been so close to landing, she would have begged the steward to find her another seat, even though she’d walked the length of the plane a couple more times and it was full.

Finally, the fasten seat belt light stayed on, and those wonderful words, “prepare the cabin for landing” came over the loudspeaker.