An Unlikely Bride for the Billionaire Read Online Free

happy to stay on this side of the fence, but...’ he glanced across at Charlie ‘...that emu is huge. What if he attacks you?’
    He couldn’t in all conscious just stand here and do nothing.
    â€˜He won’t hurt me. I promise.’
    â€˜In that case I promise to stay on this side of the fence.’
    Nevertheless, he found his heart pounding a little too hard as she slipped into the enclosure and made her way towards the giant bird. She ran a soothing hand down its neck, not in the least intimidated by its size. He reminded himself that she was trained to deal with these animals, but he didn’t take his eyes from her.
    Slipping her arms beneath the bird, she lifted it to its knees, and Dylan could see something wrapped tight around its ankles. The poor bird was completely tangled! He watched in admiration as she deftly unwound it, shoving the remnants into her pocket. The entire time she crooned soothingly to the emu, telling him what a good boy he was and how pretty he was. Charlie leaned into her as much as he could, trusting her completely.
    Finally she placed her arms beneath him with a cheery, ‘Up we come, Charlie.’
    The emu gave a kind of strangled beep before a stream of something green and vicious-looking shot out of the back of him, splattering all over the front of Mia’s shirt. Only then did the bird struggle fully to its feet and race off towards a water trough. Mia stumbled backwards, a comical look of surprise on her face. She turned towards Dylan, utterly crestfallen and...and covered in bird poop.
    Dylan clapped a hand over his mouth to hold back a shout of laughter. Don’t laugh ! An awful lot of women he knew would have simply burst into tears. If he laughed and then she cried he’d have to comfort her...and then he’d end up with bird poop all over him too.
    Mia didn’t cry. She pushed her shoulders back and squelched back over to the gate in the fence with as much dignity as she could muster. Still, even she had to find it difficult to maintain a sense of dignity when she was covered in bird poop.
    She lifted her chin, as if reading that thought in his face. ‘As you can see, Charlie left me a little present for my pains.’
    He swallowed, schooling his features. ‘You did a very good deed, Mia.’
    â€˜The thing is, when an emu gets stressed, the stress can result in...’ she glanced down at herself, her nose wrinkling ‘...diarrhoea.’
    â€˜God, I’m so glad those birds can’t fly!’
    The heartfelt words shot out of him, and Mia’s lips started to twitch as if the funny side of the situation had finally hit her.
    Dylan couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer. ‘I’m sorry, Mia. You deserve better, but the look on your face when it happened... It was priceless!’
    She grinned, tentatively touching the front of her shirt. ‘That rotten bird! Here I am, supposedly trying to impress you and your sister with our marvellous facilities...and now you’re going to live in fear of projectile diarrhoea from the native animals!’
    The sudden image that came to his mind made him roar until he was doubled over. Mia threw her head back and laughed right alongside him. She laughed with an uninhibited gusto that transformed her completely. He’d glimpsed the mischievous imp earlier, but now she seemed to come alive—as if her mirth had broken some dam wall—as if she were a desert suddenly blooming with wildflowers.
    Dylan’s heart surged against his ribs and for a moment all he could do was stare. ‘You should do that more often, you know. Laugh. You’re beautiful when you laugh.’
    She glanced up at him, the laughter dying on her lips. Something in the air shimmered between them, making them both blink. Her gaze lowered momentarily to his lips, before she turned beetroot-red. Swinging away, she stumbled across to the tap that stood by the gate in the