It Started With A Kiss. Miranda Lee

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      Meanwhile, she set about packing her clothes. She was emptying the drawers in her old dressing table when her mother came into the bedroom, looking miserable and chastened.

      ‘I feel terrible about what I said to you earlier, Isabel. Your father said I should have my tongue cut out.’

      ‘It’s all right, Mum. You were upset.’

      ‘What I said. I…I don’t think you were marrying Luke just for his money. I know you liked him a lot, too.’

      ‘Yes, I did.’

      ‘Do…do you think he might not have fallen for this other girl if you’d slept with him before the wedding?’

      Isabel turned to stare at her mother. Truly, what world did she live in? ‘Mum,’ she said with a degree of exasperation, ‘I did sleep with him. Quite often.’

      ‘Oh…’

      ‘And he liked it. A lot.’

      ‘Oh!’

      ‘Sex wasn’t the problem. It was passion.’

      ‘Passion?’

      ‘Yes, that overwhelming feeling you get when you look at a person and you just have to be with them.’

      ‘Jump into bed, you mean?’

      ‘Yes. Luke and I never really felt like that about each other.’

      ‘I used to feel that way about your dad,’ her mother whispered, ‘when we were first married. And he felt that way about me, too.’

      Isabel smiled at her. ‘That’s good, Mum. That’s how it should be.’

      ‘Maybe your dad’s right. Maybe you’ll find someone nicer than Luke, someone you’ll fall deeply in love with and who’ll feel the same way about you.’

      ‘I hope so, Mum. I really do.’ It would be cruel to take away her mother’s hope. She’d always had this dream of seeing her daughter as a bride. Isabel had had the same dream.

      But not any more.

      ‘You’re still going to move out?’ her mother asked a bit tearily.

      Isabel stopped what she was doing to face her mother. ‘Mum, I’m thirty years old. I’m a grown woman. I have to make my own life away from home, regardless. I only moved back in for a while because it was sensible and convenient, leading up to the wedding.’

      ‘But I…I’ve liked having you home. You are very good company.’

      Isabel thought the compliment came just a bit late.

      ‘You’re a good cook, too. Your dad and I are going to miss the meals you’ve cooked for us.’

      Isabel relented and gave her mother another hug. ‘What say I come over and cook you a meal once in a while? Will that do?’

      ‘Just so long as you come over. Don’t be a stranger.’

      ‘I won’t. I promise.’

      ‘And you’ve forgiven your old mum?’

      Isabel smiled a wry smile. ‘Have you forgiven me for not giving you some grandchildren by now?’

      ‘Having children isn’t everything, Isabel.’

      Isabel gave her a dry look. ‘Said by a woman who had five.’

      ‘Then I should know. What you need to do is find the right man. Then the children will follow.’

      ‘Don’t you think I’ve been trying to do that?’

      ‘Don’t try so hard. You’re a beautiful girl. Just let nature take its course.’

      Isabel was tempted to tell her that nature always led her up the garden path into the arms of men who’d never give her children.

      But it was too late to confess such matters. She’d never told her mother the bitter truth about her boyfriends. She hadn’t wanted to shock her. To reveal all now would only make her look even worse than she already did in her mother’s eyes.

      ‘Are you sure you don’t want to go on that Dream Island holiday, Mum?’ she asked, deciding a change of subject was called for.

      ‘Positive. I’m too old that for that kind of holiday, anyway. Look, why don’t you go yourself?’

      ‘It’s not a place you go alone.’

      ‘Then ask a friend to go with you.’

      Isabel thought immediately of Rafe… He’d jump at the chance of going with her, all expenses paid!

      It was a tantalising idea. Did she dare? Could she actually do something like that without getting emotionally involved?

      Perhaps she could. Her experience with Luke had changed her, made her stronger and much more self-reliant. She’d gone after what she wanted for once, listening to her head and not her heart. She’d actually gone to bed with a man she didn’t love, and quite enjoyed it. Her mind no longer irrevocably linked sexual pleasure and being in love.

      Just because Rafe was more like the type of man she’d used to fall in love with willy-nilly, that didn’t mean she would fall in love this time. She also had the added advantage of knowing in advance that he wasn’t interested in marriage or children. There would never be any fooling herself that she had a future with him.

      He’d just be a passing pleasure. A salve to her pride and a comfort to her bruised female ego. Not to mention a comfort to her female body!

      By the time she got through the next fortnight, cancelling everything and putting up with everyone’s condolences, she’d need comforting. And what better way than on a balmy tropical island in the arms of a gorgeous man you fancied like mad, and who seemed to fancy you in return?

      ‘Isabel?’

      Isabel shook herself out of her provocative thoughts.

      ‘Yes, Mum?’

      ‘Well, what do you think about finding a friend to go away on that holiday with you? If you can’t get your money back, it does seem a shame to waste it.’

      ‘We’ll see, Mum.’ She’d better sleep on the idea. She’d been knocked for a couple of sixes today. And she had been drinking. The booked holiday on Dream Island didn’t start for another fortnight and she doubted Rafe was going anywhere in a hurry. Maybe if she felt the same way in the cold light of Monday morning…

      A shiver ran down Isabel’s spine at the thought of doing something that bold. It was one thing to deliberately go to bed with a man like Luke, when your intention was marriage. Quite another to contemplate a strictly sexual affair with the likes of Rafe Saint Vincent!

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