‘Travel, eh?’ She had never been outside Australia, but she could imagine it. ‘We’re not holiday-taking people. Sydney’s as far as I’ve been. It’s too far to go anywhere and there’s always too much to do on the station. Though we have shed parties after muster and the off-road races my brother loves. And camel and horse races.’ She thought about that and was satisfied. ‘We have fun at home when the work is done.’

He watched her face as if listening to her was the most amazing, fascinating experience in the world. He was too encouraging, and she could become just a little besotted with this guy if he kept looking at her like she was a rain cloud and he was a thirsty camel.

He touched the corner of his eye. ‘You said outback races. Like Birdsville?’ he asked. ‘I’ve heard about those outback race meetings.’

She couldn’t help the snort. ‘Birdsville is in a class of its own. And about two thousand kilometres away. Closer to us, we have the Alice Springs Cup, but it’s not quite the same.’

She took in his creaseless trousers, which hugged his thighs in a way that made her think she probably shouldn’t notice, and his gleaming leather shoes. ‘I can see you at Flemington in a suit. Bet you’ve been to “the race that stops the nation”.’

The blankness fell like a dark cloak and hid the thoughts on his face. ‘When she was alive, my wife loved the Melbourne Cup. Fashions on the Field.’ She saw a frown, then a wince, as if he’d done something wrong.

Okay, then, another closed door. Maybe she should just look out the window. Which she did, and saw they’d left Sydney. At that moment the seatbelt sign pinged off.

He sighed, unsnapped his seatbelt and stood up. ‘Excuse me.’

She tried to figure out what it was that made her so determined to understand him when he was proving to be such hard work. She’d felt that tingle of attraction and she wanted more. Lots more. But if he returned the interest, which she was sure he had for a few shared heartbeats, he’d just told himself to stop.

They were strapped and trapped in narrow airline seats on a three-hour flight from Sydney, so it was almost inevitable for them to talk. As the flight attendant came around with miniature bottles of West Australian pinot noir, Ava grabbed a couple. A drink might be what he needed to loosen his oh-so-constrictive reserve, because this could be interesting.

When he came back, he seemed to have recovered from whatever had troubled him and he accepted the wine from Ava.

His beautiful eyes were self-mocking. ‘I forget to be sociable.’

She laughed and decided not to ask about his work or his wife. ‘So what music do you like and who’s your favourite actor?’