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He regarded her tiredly. 'I wanted to believe you before, but you haven't made it easy for me.'

Playing with her knife, she nodded reluctantly. 'I suppose you're right. I did give the impression that the inheritance was more important to me than anything else, but it wasn't.'

'What about Theo Strathopoulos?' he asked in a low voice.

Her thick lashes curtained her expression. 'I didn't go out with him for his money. He's a charming man and I enjoyed his company.'

'But you didn't marry him.'

'There was never any question of marriage. His family is more important to him than anything. I always knew that he would be expected to marry someone from his own background. We were friends, that's all.'

'Yet he gave you all those presents,' he said, his tone accusing.

'Yes, and he got them back the next day. Showering women with gifts is Theo's way of paying them attention. I didn't accept any of the things he gave me, no matter what the papers reported.'

Ben dropped his knife with a clatter. 'Damn it, you tell me that now, but you must see how it looked from the outside.'

'I know exactly how it looked,' she said. 'I had to live with the sly glances and the gossip. That's why I stopped going out with Theo. Knowing what you think of me, I hardly expect you to understand.'

'Oh, but I do understand. What I don't understand is why it matters to me.'

Her eyes flew wide. 'Does it?'

'It shouldn't.' His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. 'I shouldn't give a damn what you do or who you see, yet I came here ready to strangle Rick, and you for encouraging him.'

Her hand went to her throat as if to protect it. She told herself he wasn't here out of love, but only to ensure that she kept away from Rick. 'You've done your duty. You can go now,' she assured him with as much dignity as she could muster.

His expression became strained. 'I should go, shouldn't I?'

It was hard to swallow for the lump in her throat. 'Yes.'

He made no move towards the door. Instead, he took a step closer, holding his arms rigidly at his sides as if he was fighting the urge to open them to her. 'Tell me to go and I will.'

Her lips moved soundlessly, forming the words, but no amount of willpower would force them out. He should go. If he stayed, she would only get hurt again. But a longing more powerful than all the common sense in the world stilled her tongue. Helplessly, she shook her head.

The gesture was enough. Swift strides brought him to her and he crushed her against the hard wall of his chest. His fiery breath fanned her forehead and she felt the hot pressure of his hands on her back through her cotton housecoat. She swayed against him. 'Oh, Ben.'

He gasped. 'Say it again. You make my name sound like a poem.'

She nuzzled her cheek into his shoulder. 'Ben, Ben, Ben,' she repeated, feeling joy well up inside her.

He cupped the back of, her neck-, tilting her head up so they pressed more closely together. 'Again.'

Laughter trilled through her. 'Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben.' The chant became increasingly husky.

Then he silenced her with a kiss which gave and demanded all at once. Gladly, she accepted the gift of his mouth and returned it in full measure.

His tongue flicked along her lower lip, teasingly erotic, and she gave it a playful nip. His eyes flashed fire. 'Two can play this game,' they warned her and he clasped her lip between his teeth so that she opened her mouth in surprise. He was ready, plunging inside until she felt as if she would burst with pent-up passion.

While he continued to play love games with her mouth, she slid her hands down his shirt, opening the buttons as she went, then spread her hands across his hard mid-section. She heard his sharp intake of breath. 'Dear God, Keri.'

He wanted her, she was well aware by now. And, by all the saints, she wanted him. No amount of reason could outweigh that knowledge. When he urged her backwards on to the couch, she offered no resistance.

Like a sleepwalker, she saw him shrug off the shirt she had opened to the waist! Next, he slid his jeans off. Soon her housecoat was the only barrier between them and she helped him undo it so it fell open, exposing her to his heavy-lidded gaze. 'My beautiful Keri,' he said, devouring every inch of her with his eyes. 'You should have made me go.'

Speaking was an effort. 'Would you have gone?'

'Probably not. But it would have been better for both of us.'

Better because this was all he was offering her, she thought wildly? Yes, but no matter, she answered herself. For too long, she had denied herself this because it would lead to more pain. Yet nothing could hurt as much as sending him away.

Suddenly, all reason was drowned in a torrent of sensation as he joined her and began a leisurely exploration of her body which drove her almost wild. When she could stand it no longer, she clasped her hands along his backbone and pulled him against her in an unspoken gesture of surrender.

'Soon, my love, soon,' he murmured into her ear. Soon felt like forever and a moan escaped her throat. At the animal sound, he raised himself on one elbow and looked down at her. She marvelled at his control. 'Now, please,' she urged, sounding almost prim, as if she had said 'pass the salt'.

'Patience is a virtue,' he reminded her. But there was nothing virtuous in the kiss he pressed on to her parted lips. One knee was between her thighs and she clasped it, feeling his teeth grind against hers as a jarring response shook his whole body.

How could she have lived without Ben for so long, she asked herself. Coming back hadn't proved her resistance to him, but showed her lack of it, she acknowledged now. At least, that was how it was turning out.

Dimly, she became aware of the telephone ringing but she ignored it as she trailed kisses across Ben's stubbly chin. He seemed content to ignore it too, until they both said at the same moment, 'It could be the hospital.'

She gave a groan of frustration. They were supposed to call and arrange for her to collect Robyn, but why did it have to be now? 'I'll get it,' she said resignedly.

He pressed a finger to her lips. 'No, I will. Don't move until I get back.'

His weight shifting off her felt like a betrayal and she watched him with hungry eyes as he followed the ringing sound and disappeared into her study. The ringing stopped and she heard him speaking. The mere sound of his voice sent a shiver down her spine. Hurry back, she implored silently.

'Was it the hospital?' she asked when he came back into the room.

'Yes. You're to collect Robyn at noon. Everything is fine.'

But it didn't sound fine, she realised with a shock. His voice had lost its caressing tone. He sounded almost cold. She struggled upright and pulled her housecoat over herself. 'What's the matter? Is something wrong?'

'Not with Robyn.'

'Then what? Ben, what is it?'

In hurt bewilderment, she watched as he pulled his trousers on. Then he handed her a piece of paper. 'This was on your desk, beside the phone.'

Confused, she stared at the paper. It was a cheque for a large sum of money, drawn on the Champion Holdings Account. It carried Ben's printed signature and was countersigned by Rick with yesterday's date. And it was made out in her name. 'You can't think I'd accept money from Rick,' she asked, knowing that it was exactly what he did think.

He fastened his shirt with quick, angry movements. 'Why not? It isn't the first time I've paid off one of his
inamoratas.'

'But I'm not one of them. I sent him away last night. Nothing happened.'

His look raked her. 'Like nothing was about to happen just now, I suppose? Well, at least I got my money's worth.'

She had never felt so cheap or degraded. The glorious feelings of a moment before were crushed into ashes. 'How can you think such things, far less say them?'

He looked at the cheque she still held in trembling fingers. 'How can I not?'

She felt sick at the sight of it. Rick must have planted the cheque in her study when he used her bathroom. She hadn't looked in there since last night, never dreaming that Rick would choose such a vicious means of revenge for sending him packing. Ben would, never accept that she hadn't lied about Rick's presence here last night.

'Take this with you,' she said, holding the cheque out to Ben.

He ignored it. 'Keep it. You earned it this morning.'

Then he was gone. She stayed where she was, too heartsick to move. She should have listened to her own injunctions and kept Ben at arm's length, then none of this would have happened. As it was, she didn't know how she was going to face him again.

* * *

As it happened, she wasn't given the chance. Two days later, on the day of Robyn's party, Ben still hadn't put in an appearance at the homestead. From Nugget Malone, they heard that he was at the muster camp with the men.

'He is coming?' Robyn typed on the keyboard in her bedroom when Keri went to help her get ready.

'Of course he is. This is his big night too,' Keri assured her with more conviction than she felt. Surely he wouldn't hurt Robyn because of what he thought Keri had done?

She helped Robyn to dress in the black silk pyjama outfit they had collected from the boutique before leaving Darwin. Although her heart wasn't in it, Keri had also found an outfit for herself. As she stood behind Robyn, styling her hair, her glance went to the mirror. Keri's outfit was classic in design and consisted of a flowing shirt in coral silk over slim-fitting trousers of the same material, fashionably cropped above the ankle. 'Fantastic,' Robyn had typed when she saw Keri in the suit.

Keri didn't feel fantastic. She felt miserable. She and Ben had been on the verge of a truce until Rick had ruined everything with his incriminating cheque. Rick hadn't been around since they got back either, or Keri would have given him a piece of her mind. He was probably leaving his return until the last minute so that the presence of Robyn's guests would prevent her from speaking her mind.

She glanced at the clock. The first guests were due to arrive by private plane in less than an hour. Nugget was already on his way to the airstrip to meet them. Guests from the neighbouring properties were driving over and despite Robyn's promise, there would be quite a crowd. Many of the guests would stay at Kinga Downs overnight to save themselves the long trip home late at night.

In the kitchen, Jessie and a positive army of helpers were preparing what seemed like a mountain of food. Most of it came from the property's own herds and fields. Knowing that it was all being done under false pretences didn't make Keri feel any better as she watched everyone rushing around.

She wanted to get into her car and drive as far away from Kinga Downs as possible. How could she stay and let all these people celebrate an engagement which was pure hypocrisy? If the occasion hadn't done Robyn so much good, she would have left by now. But the sight of her friend's glowing expression and the encouraging reports they had received from the hospital after Robyn's check-up made Keri determined to see the night through. But where was Ben?

Leaving Robyn to finish her preparations, she escaped to her own room to finish getting ready. As she pushed open her door, her hand froze on the handle. Further down the hall, Ben was going into his own room. It took her less than a minute to make the decision. She hurried down the hall after him.

WHEN
she walked in, Ben gave her a look of irritation. 'Don't you believe in knocking?'

'I need to talk to you. I didn't think you'd open the door if I announced myself.'

He paused in the act of shrugging his shirt over his head. His bare chest looked as if it were hewn from mahogany. 'Too right I wouldn't. You're too expensive for the likes of me.' He completed the movement and flung the shirt on to his bed. 'I have to get ready for the party.'

'It's my party, too,' she reminded him, 'or have you forgotten that we're supposed to be celebrating our engagement?'

'Don't remind me,' he said sarcastically. 'As a means of keeping you away from Rick, it wasn't very successful, was it?'

'It's all cut and dried to you, isn't it?' she demanded. 'Didn't it occur to you that Rick left that cheque behind precisely so you'd think what you did?'

'How could he? He didn't know I was coming to Darwin.'

'He recognised your voice on the phone. He must have put two and two together and decided to get even with me for throwing him out.'

When he remained silent, she added, 'Do you think I would have left the cheque lying around for you to find if it was genuine?'

He pulled stiff fingers through his hair. 'With you, I don't know any more. It did strike me as odd that you left the thing in plain sight.'

'Yet you didn't stick around long enough to discuss it with me.' She let out a sighing breath. 'Why don't you call Rick in here and settle the question once and for all?'

The firm muscles of his chest tautened as he became angry again. 'You'd like that, wouldn't you? Have me fling accusations at Rick when it's your word against his. As it happens he came and apologised for haring off to Darwin. He even admitted that he's looking forward to settling down on Casuarina with Persia.'

'So that's that,' she said dispiritedly. 'Well, at least I know how things stand.'

'Where are you going?' he asked as she turned away.

'To pack. Robyn is in better shape now, as I'm sure her doctor told you when you visited the hospital. There's no need for us to play out this farce of an engagement any longer.'

'I'm afraid there is.'

She froze in mid-step, disturbed by the matter-of-fact way he spoke. 'What do you mean?'

'This came for you today.' He swept an unopened letter off his dresser and held it out.

Accepting it, she saw that the envelope bore the crest of the Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory. 'What is this?'

'When you open it you'll find that you've been seconded to my crocodile farm to help me overcome some problems I'm having hatching the eggs at the correct temperature.'

'But you're not . . .' she began then her voice tailed away as she understood what he was up to. 'You manufactured this so-called problem so I have no choice but to stay.' She gave him a look of appeal. 'What I don't understand is why? I thought you'd be anxious to get rid of me.'