He took a step away from her. ‘First lesson at six-fifteen sharp in the morning,’ he rapped out. Then he turned on his heel and fled. He couldn’t even respond to the thank you she called after him.

CADE had Jack, his head stockman, give Nicola her first riding lesson. He stayed away.

Curiosity, though, defeated him by mid-morning. When he saw Ella and Holly with Nicola on the lawn in the shade of one of the date palms, their tartan blanket a flash of blue and red in the sun, he took a breather from breaking in a promising young colt to make his way over to them.

As he drew nearer he could hear them singing Waltzing Matilda, their heads bent over … something. At least, Nicola and Ella were singing, Holly mostly la-laahed. He glanced around the garden at all the Christmas decorations and wondered why they weren’t singing Christmas carols.

His gaze returned to Nicola and he chewed the inside of his lip. Without warning, Holly crawled into Nicola’s lap. One of Nicola’s arms went about her, cradling her easily. With her other hand she pushed the hair back from the child’s forehead and dropped an easy kiss there before picking up her … crayon again. She and Ella were colouring in a gigantic picture of a billabong—complete with kangaroos, koalas, wombats, a spindly emu and … a bunyip that Ella was colouring purple and orange.

He surveyed the tableau and something warm and sweet pooled low in his belly. He’d have loved it if they sang Jingle Bells and coloured in a festive Santa-themed picture, but it was obvious Nicola had developed an easy relationship with his children in a very short space of time, and for that he was grateful.

‘Ella,’ Nicola said, halting mid-verse.

It was only when she stopped that he realised what a lovely singing voice she had.

‘I have eyes in the back of my head and I do believe your daddy is standing right behind us.’

Ella spun around and with a squeal launched herself at him. He swung her up into his arms. ‘Nic’s magic,’ she told him.

‘She must be,’ he agreed, wondering what had given him away.

Nicola turned then too and smiled. ‘I’m a primary school teacher. Eyes in the back of one’s head is a necessary prerequisite.’

Her smile didn’t knock his world off its axis, didn’t create a fireball of desire. He let out a long, slow breath. Last night’s reaction had been nothing more than an overload of hormones—a temporary aberration. Understandable given he’d been celibate for the last eighteen months.

He did notice that her hair looked shiny in the dappled light, though, and that her skin had a healthy glow. ‘How did the riding lesson go this morning?’

Her face lit up. ‘Oh! It was the best fun!’

Something inside him thumped in response. He planted his legs and tried to quash it. ‘I hope you didn’t mind that Jack gave the lesson?’

‘Not at all. He’s a great teacher.’

Something in her voice, if not her face, told him she was glad he’d sent Jack in his stead. It made him want to thrust his jaw out and—

He shook himself.

‘He says I’m a natural.’

It was what he’d told Cade too. When Cade had finally shown his face. It was obvious the older man liked her.

‘Sore?’ It was a malicious question and he didn’t know where it came from.

‘Not yet.’

He was going to tell her she would be in the morning, but Ella chose that moment to wriggle out of his grasp. ‘Come and see our picture, Daddy. Nic brought a whole book of pictures and said we could colour in one a day if we want.’

‘Any Christmas pictures?’ he couldn’t help asking.

The colour heightened in her cheeks, but she merely tossed her head. ‘They’re all native Australian bush scenes.’

‘They’re beautiful,’ Ella announced.

He stared at Nicola and pursed his lips. ‘How about a Christmas carol before I get back to work?’

‘Yay!’ Ella clapped her hands.

He could’ve sworn Nicola rolled her eyes.

Ella launched into “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. To her credit, Nicola started on the song only a beat later. The sweetness of her voice held him spellbound.

She tossed him a crayon and broke off singing to say, ‘Join in or get back to work, those are your options.’

He grinned at the school teacher bossiness of it. He started singing too and coloured a koala blue.

When they finished Ella squirmed in excitement. ‘It’s only twenty more sleeps till Christmas!’

Nicola didn’t say anything.

Cade ruffled Ella’s hair. ‘That’s right, pumpkin.’

‘I want lots and lots of presents,’ the child announced. ‘I want the Rapunzel movie and a Barbie camper.’

Cade stifled a grin. He’d ordered the DVD and a whole load of Barbie accessories over six weeks ago. He hadn’t wanted to risk the stores running out. They were stowed in the top of his wardrobe at this very moment.

‘Nic!’ Ella bounced some more. ‘What do you want Santa to bring you?’

‘I don’t expect Santa to bring me anything because I’m a grown-up.’

Cade cleared his throat. ‘At Waminda Downs, Santa brings everyone a present.’

Comprehension dawned in those amazing eyes.

‘Every year,’ Ella confided, ‘he brings Harry the biggest box of chocolates and … and … something in a bottle.’

Nicola shot him a quick glance. ‘Perfume?’

‘Baileys Irish Cream.’

Her lips twitched. ‘You know, that sounds exactly what I’d wish for too.’

‘Not a Barbie camper van?’ Ella said, her mouth turning down.

‘I already have one. Santa brought me one when I was six.’

‘Oh, okay.’ Ella went back to colouring in.

Cade frowned. A box of chocolate-coated ginger and a bottle of Baileys suddenly seemed all wrong for Nicola. He shifted. ‘If you could have anything, what would you ask for?’

She shook her head and shrugged. The question obviously didn’t interest her and that disturbed him.

‘Other than a horse,’ he persisted, ‘what was the one thing you asked for when you were growing up, but never got?’

She stared up at the sky, lips pursed. ‘Romance novels.’

He blinked.

‘I loved them when I was a teenager and when I was fourteen I asked for a collection of romance novels. What I received was a leather-bound set of the complete works of Jane Austen. Which, technically, are romances, and don’t get me wrong, I love Jane Austen, but …’

But they hadn’t been what she’d asked for.

She frowned. ‘I haven’t read a romance novel in ages.’ She glanced at him and then gave a defiant toss of her head, though he couldn’t help noticing how she was careful not to jerk Holly awake. ‘And no doubt my life is the poorer for it.’

Romance novels, huh?

He stared at her and his youngest daughter. ‘You look like the Madonna and child.’

She snorted. ‘There’s nothing immaculate about me, take my word for it.’

He choked back a laugh. She stiffened and then did that stupid pulling back thing, as if she wished she hadn’t said what she had, even though it was funny and had made him laugh. It ruined his mood completely.

‘Time I got back to work,’ he said abruptly, climbing to his feet.

‘Bye, Daddy.’

He turned away, only to swing back half a second later. ‘A soak in a hot bath this evening will help with the sore muscles.’ And then he turned on his heel and strode off with long strides because the image that flooded his mind of Nicola stretched out in a steamy bath, her eyes heavy-lidded with pleasure, needed to be booted out again asap before the ground beneath his feet started shifting again.

He bit back a curse. Hormones might be a fact of life, but they could be darn inconvenient.

Ten days later Cade’s family arrived—his mother and all her luggage on one plane, his sister and his five-year-old twin nephews on another. His brother-in-law would fly in on Christmas Eve.

This was what Cade had been dreaming of and planning for—a rowdy family Christmas full of fun and laughter and festivity.