Read Online The Socialite and the Cattle King by Lindsay Armstrong - Free Book Online

sat up. ‘What could it have been?’
    ‘It could have been a stingray.’
    She stared at him round-eyed. ‘That could have been fatal!’
    He smiled. ‘Not necessarily, not in your feet and legs, but it can take a long time to heal.’
    Holly allowed a long breath to escape. ‘So, a serpent in paradise, you could say.’
    ‘Mmm…Have you had breakfast?’
    ‘No. Uh, no, but—’
    ‘Come and have it with me.’ He stood up.
    Holly stared up at him. He wore a colourful pair of board shorts; as she’d always suspected, his physique was outstanding: not an ounce of excess weight and whipcord muscles. There was only one way to describe it: he was beautifully proportioned. Tall, lean, strong as well as dark, and pirate-like—altogether enough to set her pulses fluttering.
    She swallowed and realized she was on the receiving end of his scrutiny. His dark gaze lingered on her legs, her waist and the curve of her breasts beneath the fine lycra of her costume, as well as the pulse beating at the base of her throat. She found herself feeling hot and cold as her nipples peaked visibly.
    She jumped up. ‘Thanks, but no thanks. I really…’ She picked up her towel and flapped it vigorously. ‘I really got the feeling last night that things had gone sour somehow, and it might be best if I just go back to Brisbane, so—’
    ‘Holly.’ He wrested the towel from her. ‘Before you cover us completely with sand, if you still want to go after breakfast, fine. But I haven’t told you about my new project yet—my plans to open a zoo.’
    Holly went still and blinked at him. ‘A zoo?’ she repeated.
    ‘Yes, I’m planning one along the lines of the WesternPlains zoo outside Dubbo, but up here on Haywire—that’s why I wanted you to see it. I’m thinking of an adopt-an-animal scheme as a means of publicizing it, as well as the whole endangered-species issue.’
    Her eyes widened. ‘What a great idea! Tell me more.’
    He shook his head. ‘You have to come to breakfast if you want any more details.’
    She clicked her tongue. ‘You’re extremely domineering, aren’t you?’
    He shrugged and handed her back her towel.
    He ordered breakfast to be served on the terrace of his suite.
    Holly sat outside waiting for it while he made and received some phone calls to do with the welfare of his rhinos, and she tried to work out a plan of action.
    Nothing had occurred to her by the time breakfast arrived. It was a ceremonial delivery. There was champagne and orange juice; there was a gorgeous fruit-platter with some of the unusual fruits found in the area, like rambutans and star-fruit; there was yoghurt and cereal, a mushroom omelette for her and eggs and bacon for him.
    The toast was wrapped in a linen napkin and there was a silver flask of coffee.
    ‘Thank you, we’ll help ourselves,’ Brett murmured, and the team of waiters withdrew discreetly.
    ‘I’ll never eat all this,’ Holly said ruefully.
    ‘Eat as much or as little as you like. I usually start with the main course then work my way backwards,with the fruit topped with a little yoghurt—as dessert, you might say.’
    ‘Really?’ Holly eyed him with some intrigue. ‘That’s a novel approach.’
    ‘Try it.’
    ‘I will. By the way, how long would we stay at Haywire, assuming we go?’
    He glanced at her. ‘Two or three days.’
    ‘You did mention your brother’s wedding.’
    He glanced at his watch to check the date. ‘That’s a week from today, here.’
    ‘Here?’
    ‘Uh-huh, but there are a few preliminaries in the form of balls, soirées, a reef trip et cetera.’
    Holly had to smile. ‘You don’t sound impressed.’
    ‘I’m not.’ He shrugged. ‘But he is my brother. OK—the zoo.’ He started on his eggs and bacon, and gave her the broad outline of his plans for the zoo—the size of the paddocks he intended to create, the animals he wanted and some of the difficulties involved.
    ‘Impressive,’ she said. ‘I think it’s a marvellous