She leaned in, soaked up his warmth, and wondered if they would ever find themselves on even ground.
Lord knows she wanted to.
Whatever had transpired in the past didn’t affect the way she felt in his arms.
Safe. Right. Home.
He’d been the first person she’d thought to call last night. The only person she’d thought of. With a sigh, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back.
They stood holding each other on the path, and she couldn’t deny the emotional step they’d taken.
Was it possible they could move beyond the wreckage of their past and not only repair their relationship, but make it stronger?
Hope bloomed inside her and she couldn’t wait a second longer to find out.
“Come on.” She pulled out of his arms and turned toward the house. “You promised me lunch and I recall something about lazing by the pool.”
Without looking to see if he followed, she walked down the hall that led to Brent’s apartment. She hadn’t been inside since she’d first returned to Sydney after university, but she remembered his place being modern.
The door was wide open so she went in and discovered he’d changed little except his cleaning habits.
His home no longer looked like a bomb went off. It was spotless, right down to the huge window facing the harbor.
That was new.
Drawn to the view, she stood in front of the wall of glass and decided she needed to rethink the windows on the north side of her house.
She wanted an outlook like this one. And she could have it if she removed the original timber ones currently in place.
She’d need to phone the contractor on Monday and let him know he’d been right about replacing the existing windows with bigger ones.
“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” Brent stepped beside her.
“Breathtaking. I didn’t realize this part of the house had such a sweeping view of the harbor.”
“We didn’t either until we had to remove this section of wall due to termite damage. Of course, once your brother and I knocked the wall out and saw this, there was no way either of us wanted to cover it back up.”
“You did this?” She indicated the window.
He laughed. “No. We were just cheap labour for the builder.”
“Oh, for a second I thought I’d uncovered another of your talents.” She smiled. “Speaking of, let’s get that lunch you keep promising me put together. I’m suddenly in the mood to lie in the sun.”
“Vee.”
She knew what he was going to say. Knew he wanted to talk, but she didn’t want to hash it all out yet.
First she wanted to sit and eat, get to know the man he was a little better before they dug into their past and possibly destroyed any appetite she had.
“Not yet. I want to enjoy some time together first. Can we do that?”
He stared at her, his gaze searching hers, before he smiled. “Okay. Let’s get this date underway.”
ChapterEleven
Brent leaned back and watched Vee sip her drink.
They’d eaten lunch and talked.
