Page 16 of Unbuttoning Her Brooding Boss

‘I love the big city thrill of Sydney.’ She reverted to an answer he’d expect from Steffi Leigh.

‘And the shopping?’

‘Why, yes...’ she all but cooed. ‘And all those restaurants. The scene is a lot of fun.’

‘And beyond Australia?’

She shrugged. ‘I’ve not been many places outside of Australia.’

She’d not beenanywhereoutside Australia, despite her mum now living in France with husband number three. Because, unlike her mum, she wouldn’t walk out on her whole world for a man. Unlike her mum she wouldn’t walk out on her responsibilities. And Dan needed someone. By default it had to be her.

That fateful trip Outback had been the first Stephanie had planned—her choice, her organisation—and she’d been so excited because, yes, she’d longed to travel. But Dan had been recovering from the flu just before they’d left and his immunity had been weak. And when they’d been miles from anywhere he’d suddenly got really, really sick.

Headache. Fever.Rash.

Stephanie had never been so afraid. Her brother had almost lost his life. As it was the meningitis had cost him limbs—his lower arm, his leg. All his dreams of sporting fame and fortune had been obliterated.

And all becauseshe’dbeen the one who’d insisted on their trip to the back of beyond—where medical help was hours away.

‘But what about Queenstown, New Zealand? You had a list on that just the other day on your blog.’

Jack interrupted her thoughts.

Frowning, she glanced at him—and registered his frown.

Queenstown?

Oh, yes. Her face burned as she suddenly remembered. A schoolfriend had emailed and helped her. She wassoclose to being caught out right now.

‘Oh, you know—I meant further afield than New Zealand,’ she recovered quickly. ‘I meant Europe.’

‘Mmm...’ he nodded, negotiating an exit onto a different motorway. ‘The travel pieces on your blog are done well. You can tell you’ve spent some time in the places.’

Well,someonehad. That person just wasn’t alwaysher.

Tara helped her with the make-up lists, and a few of her other school and uni friends helped her with the destination and restaurant lists. Other stuff she gleaned from the internet.

The truth was that Steffi Leigh was a phony—a caricature of a woman, and not even the author of all the ideas she shared.

So she had to be more careful in answering him. If he knew she faked it—that she got as much help as she did to generate content—he wouldn’t be interested in buying the blog at all.

‘I haven’t covered many destinations outside of Australia,’ she said brightly. ‘I guess that’s something your people could build on if you decide to take it over.’

‘Possibly.’

She fidgeted with her phone, absently rubbing her gloved thumb back and forth over the screen, wishing Tara or Dan would hurry up and text back to let her know all was okay.

‘What about you?’ She flipped the question back at him to fill the lull. ‘What was your most amazing adventure? You must have had so many.’ And, yes, shewasenvious.

‘It’s a thing in our family to take a year out to travel. Nothing but a backpack and a few hundred dollars. ‘Bye bye—see you in a year’.’

‘Really? No big money? No five-star hotels?’ she teased.

‘None.’

Wow.Curiosity piqued, she twisted to look at him. ‘Where did you go?’

‘I didn’t travel around as much as my brothers did when they went. I spent most of my time in South East Asia. A little village in Indonesia.’

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