His clear blue eyes were fixed on hers, drawing her in, relaxing her.

      The chaos, the noise and the crowd of people around them seemed to disappear into the red dust, leaving the two of them alone on the airstrip. The experience was slightly hypnotic, and Emma found herself nodding automatically in reaction to his calming blue gaze. But when he reached out and cupped her chin with his hand her response was definitely not calm and relaxed. It was something completely different altogether. Her skin tingled under his touch as his fingertips grazed her lip, leaving a trail of heat behind as he wiped the blood from her face.

      Why was she letting a complete stranger hold her face in his hands?

      Because his touch had rendered her incapable of moving, that was why.

      She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t move. She could barely breathe. Her breaths were shallow—it was the best she could manage—and she could feel her heart pulsing in her chest. She told herself it wasn’t him, it was the adrenalin that had heightened her senses. What other possible reason could there be?

      She needed to sit down and catch her breath. She needed to get some perspective. She just needed a moment to collect herself and then everything would be back to normal.

       Dear Reader

      The flying doctor service of Australia fascinates me, and I think if I could stomach small planes I would have quite liked to work for the service—but I’ll have to be content to set my stories in their world instead.

      This story evolved from a trip my husband and I went on last year, when we took our two boys to visit our godson who lives on a remote cattle station in south-west Queensland. The drive from Adelaide, the closest capital city, took us eighteen hours—although it takes the locals a lot less! For part of the trip there is no road to follow, just stony paddocks and the odd creek bed to bump across, and I still don’t quite know how we didn’t get completely lost.

      His driveway is forty-five kilometres long, the next-door neighbour is a day’s drive away, and he uses a plane to check the cattle as the station covers one million square kilometres of Outback Australia! Food is delivered by truck four times a year, the mail plane visits once or twice a week, the children are schooled by School of the Air and the flying doctor is a regular visitor both for clinics and for emergencies. For city-dwellers it really is an amazing experience, and I hope I’ve managed to capture some of that world in Harry and Emma’s story.

      While the story has come from my imagination it was born out of the places we visited on that trip. The locations are real—Broken Hill, White Cliffs, Innamincka and Thargomindah are all Outback towns—and the Cooper Creek exists, but I named the cattle stations and made up the medical emergencies.

      While Harry and Emma’s story shows only a snippet of Outback life, which might be less frantic than living in the city but never dull, I enjoyed giving Harry the chance to introduce Emma to the country he loves while their relationship developed. I hope you enjoy their story.

       Emily

      About the Author

      EMILY FORBES began her writing life as a partnership between two sisters who are both passionate bibliophiles. As a team Emily had ten books published, and one of her proudest moments was when her tenth book was nominated for the 2010 Australian Romantic Book of the Year Award.

      While Emily’s love of writing remains as strong as ever, the demands of life with young families has recently made it difficult to work on stories together. But rather than give up her dream Emily now writes solo. The challenges may be different, but the reward of having a book published is still as sweet as ever.

      Whether as a team or as an individual Emily hopes to keep bringing stories to her readers. Her inspiration comes from everywhere, and stories she hears while travelling, at mothers’ lunches, in the media and in her other career as a physiotherapist all get embellished with a large dose of imagination until they develop a life of their own.

      If you would like to get in touch with Emily you can e-mail her at [email protected]

       Recent titles by the same author:

SYDNEY HARBOUR HOSPITAL: BELLA’S WISHLIST*

      GEORGIE’S BIG GREEK WEDDING?

      BREAKING HER NO-DATES RULE

      NAVY OFFICER TO FAMILY MAN

      DR DROP-DEAD-GORGEOUS

      THE PLAYBOY FIREFIGHTER’S PROPOSAL

* Sydney Harbour Hospital

       These books are also available in eBook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Breaking The

       Playboy’s

       Rules

      Emily Forbes

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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      For my Mum, Barbara, and my mother-in-law, Tess,

       both of whom dreamt of working

       on Outback stations—it’s not too late!

      And for Michelle, an English ex-pat

       who came to Australia on a working visa, fell in love,

       and now lives on a cattle station on the Cooper Creek

       in Outback Queensland with Jon and their four boys—

      including my godson Keegan.

      CHAPTER ONE

       Emma!

       When are you coming to visit? You know I’m serious—I’m actually taking time to sit down and write!!!

       Use some of your inheritance and get your butt on a plane. You can hang in Sydney with the olds until you get over your jet lag and then fly out to me. You’ll love it out here—remember when we were teenagers and you loved everything Australian? Do you remember watching that television series about the flying doctors? (How could you forget—you took all the videos back to England with you !) Well, this is where the real ones are! Come on, you HAVE to come and visit.

       I promise you, the minute you see the Outback and I introduce you to some real Aussie men you’ll forget all your worries. It’ll give you a chance to get some distance and perspective and get what’s-his-name OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM!!!!

       Don’t think about it, Em,