Rags To Riches Collection. Rebecca Winters

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СКАЧАТЬ And I promise it will get easier with time.’

      She stared at her beer. ‘I guess you’re right.’

      From the light that spilled from the house and the light from the stars, he could see her face clearly. The plump full promise of her lips made things inside him clench up. The question that had been burning through him since she’d landed her punch this afternoon burst free from suddenly dry lips. ‘What about Brad?’

      She turned to him. ‘What about him? I didn’t speak to him, if that’s what you mean.’

      But had she wanted to? Had she hoped Brad might answer the phone? Did she secretly yearn that more than her friendship with Diane could be salvaged? Did she want Brad back?

      Bile rose in his throat. ‘Do you still love him?’

      ‘I...I still care for him as a friend. He was a big part of my life for two years.’

      ‘But if he came to you now and said he’d made a mistake and wanted to get back together with you, would you rush back into his arms?’

      ‘I used to think that’s what I wanted.’

      ‘But?’

      She turned those glorious eyes of hers on him and everything inside him tightened up. She opened her mouth. She closed it again. And then she blinked as if she’d just realised something stupendous. ‘Heavens! It seems the sad fact of the matter is...’ she tilted her beer at him in a kind of salute ‘...is that I miss Diane more than I miss Brad.’

      He stared at her.

      She stared back.

      Then she snorted.

      He couldn’t help it. Suddenly his shoulders started to shake, and then they were both flat on their backs on the veranda laughing so hard he thought they’d wake the dead, or at the very least the rest of his family—and he knew exactly what his mother and Dee would make of this—but not even that thought could get his mirth back under control. Every time he thought he had it, she’d snigger, or he would, and they’d be off again.

      Somewhere along the way her hand had found its way into his, but he didn’t know if she had initiated the contact or if he had.

      He remembered the way her lips had felt on his this afternoon. His lips ached. His groin ached. Damn it, even his skin ached.

      Grinning, Nicola pushed up into a sitting position. All of the reserved hardness that she’d stepped off the plane with gone. He remained where he was, his grip around her hand tightening. He wanted a repeat performance of this afternoon, craved her kiss, her touch. All he’d have to do was tug and she’d fall sprawled across his chest.

      He craved to taste the laughter on her lips. He hungered to sample her sweetness once more. He ached to have the full sweet temptation of her pressed up against him.

      She glanced down at him and slowly the sparkle left her eyes, the generous smile faltered and disappeared. She pulled her hand free.

      Disappointment flushed through him, and something darker and more insistent. He pushed up into a sitting position too. ‘Scared?’ he taunted, though he knew that was hardly fair.

      She tilted her head back and took another swig of her beer. ‘How long is it since you’ve been with a woman?’

      The question took him off guard. He scowled. ‘That’s none of your damn business.’

      ‘And yet you’re inviting me to share your bed and your body.’

      ‘And you’re going to refuse and turn me down.’ He could read her as well as it seemed she could read him.

      ‘Sleeping with me won’t prove you’re over Fran.’

      He blinked, stiffened. What the hell...?

      Her eyes flashed. ‘How about you answer your own question? If Fran turned up here tomorrow and wanted to give your marriage another try, what would you do?’

      He reared back as if she’d struck him. ‘That’s not going to happen.’

      ‘That’s the exact same answer I could’ve given you about Brad.’

      She rose. His heart pounded. He didn’t speak. Couldn’t. The desire that had flooded him two seconds ago drained away.

      Fran was Ella and Holly’s mother. He owed them. If Fran came back, he’d owe it to his two daughters to give the marriage another shot.

      But...

      His hands clenched.

      ‘Thanks for the beer, Cade. Goodnight.’

      Nicola left and he couldn’t even manage to croak a goodnight after her.

      If Fran came back...

      He slashed a hand through the air. Fran was never coming back and he could taste the bitterness of that knowledge on his tongue. Ella and Holly no longer had a mother. He’d failed them.

      His hand clenched around his beer. He scowled into the night. He wouldn’t fail them again, though.

      He downed the rest of his beer and considered his intriguing nanny’s strategic retreat. She wasn’t immune to him. He’d felt it in her kiss. In both kisses they’d shared so far. He felt it in her gaze when she didn’t think he was paying her any heed. It arced between them, unspoken, whenever their eyes locked.

      He shook his head. Nicola was wrong. Things didn’t have to get complicated between them. Some uncomplicated adult Christmas fun could be exactly what the doctor ordered. It’d provide them—him—with a much-needed release, and he’d make damn sure that it restored her confidence. Win-win.

      He nodded once, hard. He had every intention of bringing Nicola around to his way of thinking as soon as he could. First, though, he’d give her some space.

      * * *

      Cade didn’t offer to give her a boxing lesson the next afternoon. Not that Nicola expected him to. She went back to the treadmill, and to glaring at the rowing machine...and to lecturing herself.

      She had to remain strong.

      Sleeping with Cade... A betraying thrill shot through her. She increased the speed of the treadmill and gritted her teeth. Sleeping with Cade would undo all she’d accomplished so far. It would make a mockery of her growing sense of self-sufficiency and the realisation that she was responsible for her own happiness.

      She loved her friends, she needed them, but she could rely on herself too. If she made love with Cade she would be in danger of transferring all her misplaced need to him instead of learning to stand on her own two feet first.

      Developing her self-reliance and inner strength was more important than physical release and temporary pleasure.

      She gritted her teeth and increased the speed of the treadmill yet again.

      * * *

      Nicola’s eyes narrowed a couple of nights later СКАЧАТЬ