LITMIR.BIZ

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that’s how you met Nick? When you were teaching?’ he asked.

      ‘I’m sure he’s filled you in on all the details.’ Her face grew hot at the very idea.

      Her defences were up again – the ten-foot-high gates padlocked and the key thrown away.

      ‘Obviously not in the way that you imply.’ Fin returned his wineglass to its smart coaster, compelling her to meet his enigmatic gaze. ‘He told me you were beautiful, irresistible. He didn’t lie.’

      The compliment tingled between them like little sparks of electricity as Brenna struggled hard not to let down her guard. ‘Well, clearly I wasn’t that irresistible or he wouldn’t have left,’ she retorted smartly.

      ‘Do you really believe he never regretted that?’ Fin questioned her. He’d already privately concluded that perhaps his friend wasn’t as smart as he gave him credit for.

      ‘I doubt it. Nick always knew what he wanted. He was very definite about going to America and making a name for himself as a director, and who could blame him? He had the talent and the drive. He’s amply proved that, hasn’t he? He’s got a very successful career so what’s to regret? That he left behind a twenty-two-year-old girl he had a meaningless fling with? I don’t think so.’

      Lowering her eyes, she reached for her glass of water and took a sip. Please God, don’t let him see that my hands are shaking, she thought as she swallowed. I can’t keep coming undone like this at every single question he asks me.

      ‘He never told me it was meaningless. Having met you I couldn’t begin to imagine that for even a second. It must have been a real wrench for him to leave you behind – whatever he may have told you at the time.’

      ‘Well.’ Brenna shrugged, her expression carefully veiled. ‘It’s all water under the bridge, as they say. All that concerns me now is Nancy’s welfare. Why are you smiling?’

      ‘I’m wondering what that beautiful twenty-two-year-old dance teacher was like back then … wondering what she was like before she became prickly and so guarded that it would take one hell of a determined suitor to scale those walls and get behind her carefully erected defences. I’m wondering how many have tried and failed?’

      ‘I told you,’ her dark lashes fluttered against her too-warm cheeks, ‘I don’t date. There haven’t been any suitors, determined or otherwise.’

      ‘I don’t believe you. My guess is that you freeze out any guy who even tries.’

      Fin’s evenly voiced statement was so close to the truth that for a moment Brenna didn’t know what to say. Anguish flared inside her at the painful memory of more than a couple of hurtful male taunts she’d had in her time since Nicholas. ‘Frigid’ seemed to be a favourite. ‘Ice-maiden’ was another. Men didn’t respond well to rejection, she’d found. Especially when they thought she should be grateful for the attention, being a single mum and all.

      ‘Of course you’re entitled to believe whatever you want to believe, Mr Malone. Far be it from me to try to convince you otherwise when you so clearly know the answer to everything. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m very tired. I think I’ll go to bed.’

      Dropping her pristine starched napkin onto the table as she rose to her feet, Brenna couldn’t prevent herself from feeling upset. Getting to his feet at almost the same time, Fin’s relentlessly blue eyes fixed her with a penetrating stare as she went to turn away. To her shock, his hand came out and encircled her wrist firmly.

      ‘Don’t shut me out, Brenna. I think you’ll find I don’t give up as easily as some of the other men you might have met.’

      ‘Is that some kind of a threat?’ She glared back at him, even as her skin turned almost feverishly hot beneath his touch.

      His blue eyes narrowed meaningfully. ‘It’s a promise. And when you get to know me better, you’ll realize that I’m a man of my word. When I make a promise I always make sure I keep it. Honour and integrity are commodities I don’t take lightly.’

      When you get to know me better …

      Fin’s words rang worryingly in Brenna’s head as she buttered her triangular slice of toast with unnecessary force. Of all the conceited, arrogant— Her thoughts broke off as she glanced round the scarcely populated elegant dining room. She’d risen early as she normally did at home, surprisingly hungry considering she’d eaten late last night. But breakfast was one meal she always made sure she had. Her work demanded a lot of energy and food really was fuel, as far as she was concerned. But now, now she really was on tenterhooks and not simply in anticipation of Nick’s arrival.

      She and Fin Malone hadn’t exactly got off to a good start and that kiss they’d shared yesterday had presented her with another problem she hadn’t dreamt of anticipating in a million years – plain and simple lust. The need to act with a modicum of common sense had flown out the window as soon as he’d looked at her. Desire had drenched her with all the elemental power of an electrical summer storm and all she could do now was groan at the lack of self-control she’d displayed. She’d been utterly mad to encourage Fin’s kiss whether he’d aroused her or not. The sooner she dealt with her business with Nick, the sooner she could go home to Nancy and never see Fin Malone again, she vowed.

      ‘Something told me you were an early riser.’

      With a guilty start, Brenna abandoned the toast on her plate to glance up into teasing blue eyes that were a mesmerizing blend of sea and sky. Dressed casually in a light blue chambray shirt and faded jeans, the mere sight of Fin Malone reduced all of her recently made vows to confetti.

      ‘Force of habit,’ she mumbled, inadvertently taking an over-anxious sip of too-hot coffee. Fin pulled out the chair opposite and drew himself up to the table. A soft-footed waiter appeared as if out of nowhere and took his order for breakfast. Brenna waited until the man had gone before speaking again.

      ‘I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Nick yet?’

      To her surprise, her arresting companion breathed out a long drawn-out sigh. A disconcerting mental tussle seemed to be going on behind his riveting blue gaze that made her stomach anxiously cartwheel. What now? Please don’t let it be bad news …

      ‘The reason Nick hasn’t shown up is because there’s been some difficulty back home.’

      ‘Difficulty? What do you mean?’ She tried so hard to remain calm but it wasn’t easy to keep a lid on her anger at the cavalier way Nick had so far kept her dangling and now she was impatient for Fin to enlighten her with an explanation.

      ‘I don’t suppose you’ve had a chance to look at the papers this morning?’ he asked.

      ‘The newspapers, you mean?’ She frowned. ‘No. I try to avoid them as much as possible. Too much negativity … Why?’

      Sitting up straight, Fin raked his fingers through his freshly showered hair as if mulling over the best way to tell her his news. When Brenna heard what he had to say there would be no chance she would ever let her guard down round him again … none. Already he found he was mourning the loss of that precious chance.

      ‘There’s no way I can cushion this so I’ll just have to tell you straight. Nick got married two days ago and since then the Press has been on his tail morning, noon and night. He just hasn’t been able to get away as easily as he hoped he might.’

      Nick … married? Brenna’s stomach muscles clenched tight as if warding off a blow. Tension coiled between her shoulder blades, and she strove hard to get a grip on a tumult of emotions. She’d known a long time ago that he was never coming back to her – any hope that he might had finally been obliterated on the day of her daughter’s birth when she had gazed into Nancy’s innocent infant eyes and realized she was the most important thing in her life now. It didn’t matter if she never set eyes on Nicholas Balcon for the rest of her life. Still, it was a shock to suddenly learn that he’d got married.

      Examining

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