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When her mother
tires of supporting her during one halfhearted career pursuit after
another, twenty-year-old Peggy Fisk is left with only one choice…
to seek support from her father instead. He lives in Australia, but
that fits just fine with her brand new plan for a career in nature
photography. After running off two guides in her first month,
however, Peggy is left with one last hope for a trip to the outback—a
rancher-turned-bush-guide named Tripp Ruf.
Within seconds of
laying eyes on Peggy, Tripp finds himself acting in the nick of time
to prevent a snake bite. He is pretty sure things will only go
downhill from there unless he puts his foot down and puts it down
fast, and Tripp lets Peggy know that he will be the only boss on this
trip. He also warns the beautiful, sassy American that careless
behavior will earn her a sound spanking, but if her cute little
behind ends up bared over his lap, Tripp fears that his biggest
problem won’t be the dangers of the outback, it will be keeping his
desire for her in check.
It isn’t long
before Peggy puts Tripp’s word to the test and learns that a hard
spanking delivered by a work-roughened hand is nothing to be taken
lightly, but in spite of his strict discipline and his brash
arrogance, Peggy grows more and more attracted to her rugged,
handsome protector as the days pass. Can she dare to hope that her
time with Tripp will leave her with more than just memories, or will
it all end in heartbreak for the feisty American and the firm-handed
Aussie?
Excerpt:
The Gouldian finch
was hopping from branchlet to branchlet on the big green plum tree,
and Peg very nearly had her shot ready. Just an adjustment here, a
twist there. She shimmied carefully along the gum tree branch she was
observing from, getting farther out toward the leafy edges. Slow
movement was necessary; scaring the finch off would be awful after
she’d spent so much time following him through the bush. But he was
a beauty, with gorgeous color block patches and bright black eyes.
The perfect specimen of one of the last Gouldian finches in the wild.
The branch under her
began to bow and one of the ever-present flies buzzed under her nose,
but Peg steadied her equipment again, and had her finger poised when
there was a loud crack and she and the tree limb went tumbling toward
the ground six feet below. Landing with a resounding thud on her
back, Peg felt her camera thump solidly on her chest, its pointy
little edges and corners leaving bruises, no doubt.
Her breath was lost,
but after a moment, she gasped. There was a tall shadow between her
and the afternoon sunshine. Tall and mobile; tall and wearing a hat.
She couldn’t see the man’s face because of the lighting, but she
knew it would be dangerous. What was a man doing out here in the bush
with her, miles from civilization?
After a moment of
looking at her, he bent, reaching down his hand. It was a
broad-palmed, tanned hand, work roughened, the nails short and
slightly dirty. “Help up?” His Australian accent was common
enough, here in Australia, but the timbre of his voice, low, dark,
and maybe even a little sexy, gave Peg shivers. She stared at the
hand.
“Ya all right,
lady?” He could have invited her for tea and she wouldn’t have
understood him. He spoke with a thick accent, and the words were
clear enough, but his baritone voice and sudden appearance were about
all Peg could comprehend at the moment.
Finally, after
taking a deep breath, she shook her head, a tendril of blond hair
poking her in the eye. She went to reach for the wavy strand, but
suddenly the man spoke again, from all the way up there at his full
height.
“Don’t move.”
“What?” It was
the first she’d spoken to him and her voice came out almost a
squeak.
“Don’t bloody
move. Don’t even breathe.”
He was reaching for
something.
“I don’t
understand,” she whispered, fear growing with each passing second.
And then she saw the knife. It was a long knife, wide-bladed, and it
looked extremely dangerous, with a single sunbeam glinting off the
metal blade. “Oh, God. Don’t kill me.”
“Hush, sheila.”
Peg was aware that
‘sheila’ was a common term for woman here, so she didn’t think
he’d gotten her name wrong. How could he know her name, after all?
They hadn’t set eyes on each other before. And that reminded her
that she still hadn’t set eyes on him. She had no idea how to
describe her attacker, if he let her live.
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