By Request Collection 1. Jackie Braun

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СКАЧАТЬ For as long as for ever.

      ‘Why?’ she asked quietly.

      And he knew it wouldn’t work, even if her eyes were telling him something else. Her new business was where she needed to be. She’d regret it for the rest of her life. Because he couldn’t be the man she needed. He couldn’t give her the kind of life she wanted.

      So he shrugged as if his gut weren’t tearing him up. A moment of madness. ‘I just wanted to satisfy myself that you really are committed to this venture.’

      She nodded, crossed her arms over her chest. ‘And now you know. I can’t believe you’d think I’d give up my career on a whim. You made this chance possible and I’ve worked towards it for so long. I’m going to take Maddie’s offer while it’s still on the table.’ She searched his eyes for the longest time, as if committing them to memory.

      He was vaguely aware that a group of younger party-goers stepped onto the footpath, that someone called her name. Still watching him, Lissa backed away towards them. Someone put a glass of champagne in her hand. She didn’t seem to notice. ‘You sure you won’t come with us?’

      He shook his head, barely managed a quick smile. ‘Go do your thing, party girl. I’ve got some business of my own to take care of.’

      ‘Someone’ll drop me off, so I’ll see you back at home, then.’ She lifted her glass in a kind of salute.

      Home? She’d never referred to his house as home before and warmth flickered deep inside only to cool instantly as he watched her walk away, his jaw so tight he wondered that he didn’t crack a tooth.

      Then she seemed to change her mind. She turned around and ran back, clutched at his shirt and blinked up at him. And for a pulse-pounding second a new dawn beckoned.

      ‘Thank you, Blake, you’re the best partner I ever had.’ She reached up, pulled his head down and pressed her warm lips to his. The cold bubbly spilled out of her glass and down his shirt.

      He pulled her closer, skimming the edge of something that felt eerily like panic. He’d faced enemy fire, unexploded mines and been life-threateningly close to running out of oxygen in the ocean’s depths and always kept his cool. Used reasoning and logic to see him through.

      There was nothing cool or reasonable or logical here.

      When she broke the kiss and eased her heels back down to the footpath, the feeling didn’t go away. It deepened.

      She smiled and stepped back. ‘The cleaning crew’ll lock up when they’re done.’

      He jutted his chin towards the group up ahead. ‘Your friends are waiting.’

      She nodded. ‘‘Night.’ Don’t wait up. He swore he heard those words on the balmy salt air.

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

      HE SHOULD have enjoyed coming home alone. That was what he wanted, right? His temples throbbed with tension. Not wanting the light’s harsh glare, Blake walked through the darkened house. The silence was shattering. He stopped outside Lissa’s bedroom. The subtle fragrance she wore lingered on the air. He stepped through the doorway and looked about. It was the usual disaster area. A jumble of clothes, boxes, shopping bags.

      Her presence extended to other rooms. Where she stored—and he used the word loosely—her tools of trade, where she sketched. Even his room didn’t escape unscathed. Make-up and hair products. Her two pillows propped at a crazy angle against his headboard.

      Damn. He’d become accustomed to it. It was … comfortable. Too comfortable.

      His gaze moved to a photo he’d snapped of the two of them at the Loo with a View, a popular local spot overlooking the esplanade. She’d framed it for him to take with him when he left.

      Their relationship had never been anything other than temporary. No misunderstanding on that score. It had been fun while it lasted.

      Stretching out on the bed, he tucked her pillows behind his head. Waiting for Lissa to come home. What if …?

      In his mind’s eye he saw Lissa setting a birthday cake glowing with candles in front of him. Gifts on the sideboard. Smiling faces around the table. Jokes and laughter. Sharing his special day. Being part of a family. Shaking his head, he dismissed it before it could seize his heartstrings and never let go.

      He’d made her, and himself, a commitment to stay, or at least remain in contact until Lissa was on her feet and able to manage without him. They’d come to that point. Closing his eyes, he made a mental list of all he needed to do.

      Lissa quietly let herself in as the first line of scarlet smeared the sea’s horizon. She grimaced as the door squeaked on its hinges. She hadn’t meant to be out so late but she and Maddie had had a lot to discuss and the time had flown by. She’d texted Blake over two hours ago and left a message to tell him she was okay but she’d had no response.

      Now the festivities and celebrations were over, everything else came flooding back. Fatigue hit her like a bomb. Not wanting to wake Blake, she slipped off her shoes, crept to the staircase and sat on the bottom step.

       If I asked you to, would you come with me?

      And for a moment there, at the party, looking into his eyes, she’d wavered. To sail with him off into the sunset. To live and love and grow old together. Her heart had yearned with the beauty of it, cried with the pain of it.

      But he’d thrown it out there to test her commitment. Her sense of responsibility. To see if she was as good as her word.

      So she’d given all the right reasons, all the logical reasons why she should say no. She’d struggled for independence most of her life and Lissa’s Interior Designs was her passport.

      But deep inside, where reason didn’t exist, she’d wept.

      Gathering up her shoes, she climbed the stairs. Blake’s bedroom door was part-way open.

      Suddenly unsure, she tapped before entering and was met by a brooding man with a surly tone. ‘Morning, party girl.’ He wore the same black jeans and ratty T-shirt he’d had on the night he’d landed on her deck. His hair had grown in the weeks since, and was furrowed now, as if he’d been running his hands through it. There were dark smudges beneath his eyes.

      ‘I texted you,’ she said.

      One glance at the bed and she saw he was packing. Packing? Now? Swift and devastating pain stabbed at her. She’d known it was coming, but today?

      ‘Yeah. Thanks for letting me know.’ He folded T-shirts, laid them in his bag. ‘So, you and Maddie got it all sorted?’

      She barely heard him. ‘You’re leaving.’

      ‘It’s time. You’ve got what you wanted and my boat’s been ready for a week. I’m picking it up tomorrow. I wanted to wait until the launch was over. Didn’t want to spoil the fun.’

      Her brain whirled with the shock and the details that needed sorting. ‘Your loan. We have to arrange—’

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