AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Well, maybe you should start thinking of that,’ she said flatly, her chin lifting as a smile touched his firm mouth.
‘If you don’t mind me saying so, it was pretty strange behaviour for someone who didn’t like me.’ His tone was deceptively mild and he caught her chin in his strong fingers. ‘But maybe you’ve forgotten exactly what happened that night. Shall I jog your memory?’
Dear God, no! That was the last thing she needed. ‘Jed, please—’
‘We connected instantly, do you remember that? Eyes across a crowded dance floor, just like the best romantic movies. Then we danced, first at the ball, then outside under the Christmas-tree lights and the stars. And then, when we couldn’t bear the torment any longer, we went back to my flat.’
‘That’s enough!’ She thumped at his broad chest but he caught her wrists and held her easily.
‘We didn’t make it to the bed, did we, Brooke?’ His voice was soft and insistent. ‘We just about managed to close the front door, but that was it.’
‘You’re making it into something it wasn’t!’ Brooke was frantic. ‘It was just a one-night stand, Jed. People have them all the time.’
‘Do they?’ His tone was flat and his eyes locked with hers. ‘I don’t. That was the first and only time in my life I’ve gone to bed with a woman I didn’t know, but shall I tell you something? I did know you. From the minute I saw you I felt as though I’d known you all my life. And what about you? How many one-night stands had you had before that night?’
Brooke felt tears prick her eyes and she shook her head, unable to answer.
‘Shall I tell you?’ His voice was low and very male and his fingers tightened on her arms. ‘None. You’d never even been to bed with a man before, so don’t try telling me that it didn’t mean anything to you.’
Hot colour seeped into her cheeks and she looked away from him. ‘You don’t know that.’
‘Brooke…’ He gave a sigh and lifted her chin, his blue eyes unbelievably gentle. ‘Believe me, I do know that. You were a virgin, sweetheart.’
She closed her eyes, embarrassed by the intimacy of his words. ‘I’d like you to go now.’
There was a short silence. ‘Why?’
She opened her eyes and looked straight into his. ‘You wanted this conversation, not me. Well, now it’s over and I’d like you to leave.’
He shook his head, his mouth a grim line. ‘Not without an explanation.’
‘OK, I’ll give you an explanation!!’ Her heart was pounding so fast she felt dizzy. ‘I panicked, Jed! I left because I panicked. Before that night I had never been to bed with a man—to be honest, I’d never even really had a proper boyfriend. What happened with you scared me. I couldn’t believe what I’d done—I needed time to think.’
She broke off, breathless, and Jed frowned.
‘I can understand that, I suppose. But once you’d had time to think, you must have seen that what we had was special. So why didn’t you track me down?’
Brooke avoided his gaze. Because of the discovery she’d made a few weeks later. A discovery that had totally wiped out her fantasy about having a relationship with him. It had made everything impossible.
‘Surely you’d—’ He broke off, frowning suddenly over her shoulder. ‘What’s that?’
‘What’s what?’ Thrown by the change of subject, she glanced behind her and froze. Oh, dear God. She’d thought all the clues had been tidied away. But she’d forgotten about her walls.
‘To Mummy with love from Toby?’ He read it slowly, his eyes taking in every aspect of the childish painting, and then he looked back at her. ‘Mummy? Are you Mummy?’
Her voice didn’t seem to work properly, and when it did it croaked. ‘Yes.’
‘You have a child?’
She nodded, suddenly mute.
There was a long silence while he stared at the picture, his expression unreadable.
‘Boy or girl?’
What did it matter? ‘Boy.’ She cleared her throat. ‘His name is Toby.’
A muscle worked in his lean jaw. ‘How old?’
