LITMIR.BIZ

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good, that didn’t matter in the real world. Professionalism mattered. Ethics.

      She shouldn’t have told him any of it, she thought. She had just been trying to get him to see that she had earned her job. Why did the way it had started out matter? But at the same time she had told him about the worst part of her past. She had opened up to him. Her heart accelerated at the thought. She had done exactly what Connor had encouraged her to do so often. Except she’d done it with her boss. The man who had the power to kick her out of his hotel and make sure she never worked in the hospitality industry again.

      She bit her lip and searched Blake’s face, hoping she would find the truth of what he was thinking somewhere. What she saw worried her even more.

      ‘Blake...look, I’m sorry if I overstepped. I probably shouldn’t have told you any of this.’

      ‘What?’ He looked up at her distractedly and whatever he saw must have alerted him to her paranoia. ‘Callie, no—I am so glad you told me. I understand.’

      His face softened and something made her think that perhaps he wanted to say I understand you so much better now.

      He laid a hand over hers. ‘Thank you for telling me. I know it wasn’t easy for you.’

      ‘It wasn’t.’ The heat from his hand slid through her entire body. ‘And if you’re not upset with me, that means you’re thinking about something that isn’t easy for you.’

      He frowned up at her.

      ‘Come on, Blake. We’ve spent almost all our time together for the last two weeks. You don’t think I know when something’s bothering you?’

      ‘Look, it’s honestly nothing. I was just thinking that getting investors is probably the best solution for the hotel.’

      ‘And that upsets you?’

      ‘No.’ Rob placed coffee in front of him, and Blake waited until he was gone before continuing. ‘I was just so set on saving the legacy of the hotel that I would rather have retrenched staff whose livelihood was on the line—as you so nicely reminded me—than think about my father being disappointed in me—’

      He stopped abruptly, and Callie realised he hadn’t meant to say that. But because he had, things began to fall into place for her. Snippets of their conversation on the day of their tour filled her mind. His relationship with his father. His mother leaving. The legacy. As she put them together she thought she knew what was bothering him.

      ‘There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make your father proud,’ she said gently.

      He shook his head. ‘I don’t know where that came from.’

      She smiled, wondering if he realised how much of a man he was being. ‘You were being honest with yourself.’

      He angled his head, didn’t meet her eyes, and she realised he didn’t enjoy being honest with himself. Which, if she knew him well enough to guess, meant that he had halted any thoughts that would continue along those lines.

      ‘Blake, was your dad upset when your mom left?’

      He looked up at her in surprise. ‘Of course he was. But I don’t see what that has to do with anything.’

      Of course you don’t.

      ‘So they’d had a good relationship?’

      ‘I don’t know.’ He shrugged. ‘My dad always used to say they were partners—so, yeah, I guess so.’

      ‘Do you know why she left?’ Callie didn’t want to ask, but she knew that the answer would help her put the final piece into place. And help Blake to do the same.

      ‘Callie—’

      ‘Blake, please...’ she said, seeing the resistance in his eyes. ‘I want to understand.’

      Especially because I still feel raw from telling you about my parents.

      ‘My father said she didn’t want us any more.’

      He clenched his teeth, and Callie resisted the urge to loosen the fist his hand had curled into.

      ‘That she’d left us for someone else.’

      She felt her heart break for the little boy who had heard those words. For the man who still suffered from them.

      ‘She disappointed him?’

      He drew a ragged breath. ‘And me.’

      ‘And now you don’t want to disappoint him, or yourself, like she did?’

      He didn’t answer at first, and then he looked at her. She saw his eyes clear slightly, and resisted the urge to smile at his expression.

      ‘I guess so.’

      Now she did smile. ‘Should I ask the waiter to warm up your coffee?’

      ‘What?’ He was still staring at her in bemusement.

      ‘Your coffee.’ She gestured towards it. ‘It’s probably cold. Actually, so is my tea.’ She signalled to the man and asked him to bring them fresh beverages.

      ‘Callie, did you just psychoanalyse me?’

      ‘No,’ she said, putting on her most innocent expression. ‘I was merely pointing out why it’s important to you to make your father proud.’

      He stared at her for a moment, and then shook his head with a smile. ‘I think you missed your calling in life. You would have had a field day with me when I got married.’

      Callie felt her insides freeze. The smile she had on her lips faded and she thought time slowed.

      ‘What did you say?’

      Blake was still smiling when he answered her. ‘I said you’ve missed your calling in life.’ And then he saw her face, and his eyes widened. ‘Callie—’

      ‘You’re married?’

      ‘No, I’m not. I got divorced a long time ago.’

      ‘Oh...okay,’ she said shakily, and wondered why she hadn’t thought about it.

      He was, after all, an attractive, successful man in his thirties. It shouldn’t surprise her that he had been married. Though the divorce was a surprise, she thought, and thanked the waiter—why didn’t she know his name yet?—as he placed her tea in front of her.

      She went through the motions of making a cup, and remembered the first time they’d met, when Blake had told her that he tried to stay away from women. She’d attributed it to a bad relationship. She’d known there was a mysterious woman. So why hadn’t she considered an ex-wife until just now?

      ‘So she was the piece of work we spoke about in that elevator?’

      ‘I don’t think we’ve ever spoken about that.’

      ‘Yeah, we have.’ She didn’t look up at him, just kept on staring intently at the milky colour of her tea. She hadn’t let it stand for long enough, she thought. ‘When you said that you don’t put moves on women, that you stay away from them, I told you that whoever had made you feel that way must have been a real piece of work.’ She lifted her eyes to his and asked, ‘Was she?’

      His face hardened. ‘Callie, this isn’t any of your business.’

      ‘It isn’t.’ Suddenly the surprise that she’d experienced only a few moments ago morphed into anger. ‘But neither was my parents’ deaths yours.’

      ‘That isn’t the same thing. You told me about that because you wanted to explain why Connor hired you. And since he hired you into my company I had the right to know.’

      She quickly realised that the reason she’d told him about her parents’ deaths, about how she’d coped and how Connor had saved her—the reason he had just provided—was a lie.

      ‘You and I

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