Lindsay Armstrong: A Bride For His Convenience

“Caiti,” he said roughly, “how ‘convenient’ does it feel when you’re in my arms, in my bed?”

She shot up off the bench. “But would you have asked me to marry you if all this hadn’t happened? Would you have slept with me in the first place if you’d known I was a virgin?”

That nerve flickered in his jaw again. “Probably not but—”

“Then that’s what it is,” she insisted. “You suddenly found yourself lumbered with an ex-virgin and a whole lot of awkward baggage at home—and do you know what?” Her eyes widened as it hit her. “I don’t think you actually want to be in love with me or anyone, Rob Leicester.”

Lindsay Armstrong was born in South Africa but now lives in Australia with her New Zealand-born husband and their five children. They have lived in nearly every state of Australia and have tried their hand at some unusual, for them, occupations, such as farming and horse-training—all grist to the mill for a writer! Lindsay started writing romances when their youngest child began school and she was left feeling at a loose end. She is still doing it and loving it.

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CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

FLYING into Cairns on a clear day was like floating into a wonderland.

Caiti Galloway watched, mesmerised, from her window seat as the jet descended over the Coral Sea. Brilliant turquoise and sandy patches studded the deep blue surface of the water where coral reefs rose from the depths like delicately tinted birds’ eggs.

Although it was the gateway to her hometown of Port Douglas, it never failed to fascinate her.

Then they crossed the coastline and the flat patchwork of sugar-cane fields spread beneath them, flanked by darker green mountains that encroached on the city.

But as the wheels of the aeroplane touched down, she closed her eyes. Flying into Cairns might be magical but it was also a region that held many memories for her. Memories of falling in love with a man who wanted her but didn’t love her.

She opened her eyes as the jet roared into reverse and started to slow down, and the woman sitting beside her smiled at her in relief.

There was the usual wait as they taxied to the terminal, the usual awkward scrambling for bags from the overhead lockers, but finally the passengers were released into the tropical humidity of far-north Queensland.

Being May, it wasn’t as humid as it could be in mid-summer, when it was like walking into a warm blanket of air. Caiti had started her journey in much cooler Canberra and now she felt overdressed in jeans and a long-sleeved blouse.

Once in the terminal, she followed the signs to the baggage carousel and at the same time looked about for her cousin, Marion, who was coming to meet her. Marion was the kind of person who always favoured being early rather than late.

Indeed, her cousin was the reason Caiti was back in Cairns. Marion was getting married in a fortnight and Caiti was to be her chief bridesmaid.

There was no sign of her cousin yet and Caiti frowned as she turned her attention to the carousel. Preoccupied with her task, Caiti was unaware of the tall man who, in the act of walking past, had stopped abruptly and was studying her intently.

Rob Leicester would always stand out in a crowd for his height alone but it didn’t stop there. He was dark-haired, broad-shouldered and tanned. Wearing jeans and a khaki shirt, he looked all tough man. If you looked closer, however, and many women did, there was a latent sensuality about him that set them wondering.

Did it come from those slightly moody hazel eyes? A rather hard mouth? His lean, strong hands?

The two girls in their late teens he’d stopped beside were eyeing him with definite awe—as if precisely these thoughts were running through their minds.

Not that he even noticed them as he watched Caiti Galloway retrieve her luggage.

She hadn’t changed. Still the same long, blue-black hair that had always reminded him of rough silk and fish-plaited today. The same smooth, golden skin—his fingers tingled as if he were touching her body. Still slender and essentially chic even in jeans, a plain white blouse and hiking boots.

How did she do it? he found himself wondering. Was it the little touches like the way her collar was turned up? Or the unusual leather belt that emphasised her narrow waist? She could even turn hiking boots into a fashion statement.

She pulled a bag off the carousel and turned fully towards him. Rob found himself holding his breath, wondering at what he would see in her long-lashed lavender-blue eyes when she recognised him.

It took a few moments as people moved about then the space between them cleared and she was looking straight at him, and, heaven help him, he thought grimly, her reaction couldn’t have been more satisfactory.

Her eyes widened incredulously, she went paper pale then a rush of colour charged into her cheeks. She dropped her bag and her breasts, which he happened to have an intimate knowledge of, heaved beneath the white cotton of her blouse.

So, eighteen months apart hasn’t lessened the impact I always used to have on you, Ms Galloway, was his immediate reaction as he moved forward smoothly and retrieved her bag.

‘Caiti,’ he murmured, ‘this is a surprise. Have you decided to come back to me?’

Caiti swallowed several times and put her hand to her heart. ‘R-Rob,’ she stammered. ‘What are you doing here? I was expecting my cousin, Marion…’ She ran out of words and the flood of colour left her cheeks so that she was unnaturally pale again.

‘You need a drink.’ He took her elbow and began to steer her towards the bar.

‘No… I mean…’ she started to protest.

He said quietly, ‘Don’t be silly. You look as if you might faint.’

He found them a table in a secluded corner behind a potted palm and settled her in a chair then walked over the colourful carpet to the bar to order.

Caiti watched him with a hand to her throat and the utmost turmoil in her heart. Eighteen long months ago she’d run away from Rob Leicester because she’d fallen deeply in love with him, only to discover that she’d completely misread his feelings for her. It had been an agonising realisation and had plunged her into despair and desolation.

How could she have allowed herself to be swept off her feet so completely by this man? she’d asked herself repeatedly. Why was it only in hindsight that she could identify all the little signs along the way that had pointed to a man who wanted her but had no intention of allowing himself to fall in love with her?

By the greatest effort of will she’d pulled herself out of the chasm and put it all behind her. She’d even accepted Marion’s invitation to come back to Cairns to be her bridesmaid, but now, as she stared across at Rob Leicester, her stunned reaction told her that she’d put nothing behind her.