LITMIR.BIZ

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just sex. They’d shared something special, something that should have drawn them closer than ever, not driven an insurmountable wedge between them.

      He knew she was hurting. He could see it in every line of her beautiful features, in the shadows that lingered in her expressive eyes, not to mention in the rigid lines in which she held her body. Somehow he needed to take action, to help her face the fear that was holding her in its claws, so she could face up to the feelings he knew she had for him.

      A woman like Faye didn’t just give herself to a man on a whim. The fact that she’d been a virgin the night they’d made love had been irrefutable proof of that. Right now, he was terrified he was on the verge of losing the only woman he’d ever truly loved, but what could he do? He was working in the dark, grasping at straws. He hated that he couldn’t just bark a command and have everything fall into place, but he was prepared to keep working at this. If Faye still wanted to leave Luckman Developments after this, that was fine, but he couldn’t let her leave him.

      He had four weeks to somehow change her mind and Piers knew without a single doubt that it would be the toughest negotiation of his entire life.

      * * *

      Six days later he had his answers. The wait had almost driven him crazy, especially loaded on top of the growing pile of recommended applicants for Faye’s position. But now he knew and he hoped like hell that somewhere in this information delivered privately to his home tonight, he’d have the answer to why Faye was so determined to keep her distance from him.

      The reading was sobering. Her background began like so many other people’s. Solo, hardworking mom—no father on the scene. A lifestyle he would have considered underprivileged when he was a kid, but now realized was likely rich in nonmaterial things like love and consistency. Faye’s mom married when Faye was about thirteen and, from all accounts, the little family was very happy together. A happiness that, according to the report, grew when Faye’s baby brother was born. Piers flipped through the notes, looking for the baby’s name. Ah, there it was. Henry. The name he’d heard her whisper through the baby monitor last week. Things were starting to fall into place now.

      It appeared the family had been involved in a tragic wreck on Christmas Eve. Faye had been the only survivor. Details about the wreck were scarce and Piers had an instinct that there was a great deal more to the event than the brief description on the file. He could understand why losing her entire family in one night would make a person put up walls. But surely those walls couldn’t hold forever.

      Piers skimmed the rest of the report, reading the summary of her time in foster care and her subsequent acceptance into college. At least she hadn’t suffered financial hardship. Her stepdad had been very astute with his finances and her mom had been putting savings aside in a college fund from the day Faye had been born. Following the crash, all the assets had been consolidated. By the time the family home had been sold and life insurances paid out, and after three years of sound management by the executor of her family’s estate, Faye had had quite a healthy little nest egg to set her up for her adult life.

      He closed the file with a snap. Words. That’s all it was. Nothing in there gave him a true insight into why Faye was so hell-bent on leaving him. Yes, yes, he could see the similarities between Casey and her brother Henry. He understood Casey was the same age as her brother had been when he’d died. He could, partially at least, understand why she’d steered clear of involvement with his soon-to-be adopted son. But to keep herself aloof from love and from children for the rest of her life? It was living half a life. No, it was even less than that.

      Piers locked the file in a drawer in his home office. Somehow he had to find a way to peel away the protective layers Faye had gathered around her to get her to show him what truly lay in her heart. His future happiness, and hers, depended on it.

      * * *

      It was the kind of day where logic went to hell in a handbasket. Pretty much everything that could go wrong, did. Two new projects being quoted by contractors had come in way over the estimated budgets and asbestos had been found on another site, which had shut the operation down until the material could be safely removed.

      Faye and Piers had been juggling balls and spinning plates all day, and it was nearly 8:00 p.m. when their phones stopped ringing.

      Faye leaned back in her office chair and sighed heavily. “Do you think that’s it? Have we put out enough fires for one day?”

      “Enough for a year, I’d say. I want an inquiry into how those estimates were so far off track—”

      “Already started,” she said succinctly.

      It was one of the first things she’d requested when the issue had arisen at the start of the day.

      “I love that about you,” Piers said suddenly.

      Faye looked at him in shock. “I beg your pardon?”

      “Your ability to anticipate my needs.”

      “Hmm,” she responded noncommittally.

      She looked away and refreshed the email on her screen, hoping something new had arisen that might distract her from what she suspected would be another less than subtle attempt to get her to change her mind about leaving.

      “Faye, what would it take to make you stay?”

      And there it is. She closed her eyes and silently prayed for strength.

      “Nothing.”

      “Would love make you stay?”

      “Love? No, why?”

      “I love you.”

      “You love what I can do for you. Don’t confuse that with love,” she said as witheringly as she could manage.

      Inside, though, she was a mess. He loved her? No. He couldn’t. He only thought he loved her because she was probably the first person ever to say a flat-out no to him, and he loved a challenge. Of course he wanted her. And once he had her he’d lose interest because that’s the way things went. Either that or he’d realize he never loved her, anyway.

      Would that be so bad? her inner voice asked.

      Of course not, she scoffed. She wasn’t interested in love. Ever.

      Liar.

      “You think I don’t know what love is? That’s interesting,” Piers continued undeterred. “You know what I think, Faye?”

      She sighed theatrically but continued staring at her computer screen. “Whether I want to know or not, I’m sure you’re going to tell me, aren’t you?”

      She heard him get up from his chair and move across the office to stand right beside her. Strong, warm hands descended on her shoulders and turned her chair so she faced him.

      “I think you’re too scared to love again.”

      “Again?”

      “Yes, again. I’m pretty certain you have loved, and loved deeply. I’m also pretty certain you’ve been incredibly hurt. Faye, not wanting to take a risk on love is a genuine shame. I never really knew what love felt like, aside from the brotherly bond Quin and I shared. But now I think I’ve finally learned what love is.”

      “You seem to think you know a lot about me,” she said. Her words were stilted and a knot tightened deep in her chest. She had a feeling she really wasn’t going to like what he was about to say next so she decided to go on the attack instead. “Piers, please don’t kid yourself that you love me. You’re just attempting to manipulate me into staying because that’s what would make your life easier.”

      He genuinely looked shocked at her words. “That’s the second time recently you’ve made your perception of me clear—and I haven’t been happy with the picture you’ve painted either time. Tell me, Faye. Is that why you slept with me back at the lodge? Because it meant nothing to you and because you thought it would mean nothing to me?”

      His words robbed all the breath from her lungs.

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