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It was a pointless want.
He might as well be a poster on a teenager’s bedroom wall or a film star on the screen he was so unattainable, but for a while there she’d let herself think that she might belong, even for a night, in his world.
His world was stunning, Naomi thought as she stared out of the car window. The streets were wider here and the trees were sparkling with fairy lights. There really was a village feel to the shops, with shutters open, revealing gorgeous displays and Christmas wares. Closed cafés that by day would beckon you in for catch-ups and brunch and she could see why Abe loved it here so much.
‘We’re here.’
They had turned into a gorgeous tree-lined street and the car pulled up outside a huge brownstone house. She climbed out of the car and, rather than hold his arm, she held onto the rail as she climbed the stoop and then stood as he opened the door to his home.
As she stepped inside, it was luxurious, yes, but it was certainly a home.
The hallway was long, with archways, and there was one staircase leading up and one leading down.
‘Come through,’ he said, but she did not know where so she followed him down the long hallway, the dark wooden floors softened with a Persian rug that her heels sank into. Beyond the hall she could see a large kitchen and she could almost picture him sitting on one of the stools, sipping coffee. Beyond, Naomi glimpsed a softly lit garden, and it was cruel to be in his home, for now she would picture him here for ever.
Abe pushed open a door and as she stepped through it the delicious scent of pine hit her, and even though it was officially Christmas Day, the sight of a tree gorgeously decorated and beneath it presents added another layer to his lies.
Naomi stood clutching her bag and shivering in his jacket as he lit the fire. He was drenched from melted snow and his hair was as wet as if he’d just come out of the shower.
He’d lit a fire on the night they had met, Naomi recalled. It felt such a long time ago. Then she’d sat, at first innocent to his charms.
She wasn’t now.
He’d snaked into her heart that night, Naomi thought.
So much so that when she’d found out about Candice, she’d chosen to believe him when he’d said it was over.
Those dark eyes, that kiss had melted her inhibitions away. She looked at way the shirt clung to his back, recalling her hands sliding over his naked torso as he’d brought her to her first orgasm.
And for him she’d broken all her own rules because she’d been hoping for more tonight.
Instead she stood there dripping wet, and the night ruined, by his fire.
On Christmas morning.
She looked at the ornaments on the mantelpiece, and the tree in the corner with presents beneath and she unearthed another of his lies. ‘I thought you didn’t bother with Christmas.’
‘I don’t usually,’ Abe said, and with the fire starting he stood. Her absolute lack of faith didn’t perturb him, he got why she had none. ‘Naomi, how many times do I have to tell you that Candice and I are through?’
‘And I’m supposed to believe you? She told me—’
‘Why would you listen to her?’ Abe demanded.
‘Who else would I listen to? You?’ Naomi retorted. ‘You haven’t spoken to me in a week. You couldn’t even look at me when I came to your office...’
‘I’ve been cleaning up my life,’ Abe said. ‘I’ve been trying to right an awful lot of wrongs. Naomi, I saw Candice this afternoon, yes. And she finally signed a contract that means for another twelve months she can live in the flat, but that’s it. I thought I’d sorted it, but I hadn’t. I’m sorry for what you went through tonight, but the fact is you’re going to have to start trusting me.’
‘Trusting you?’ The man with the reputation, the man who should come with a warning sign attached, the man she still wanted, evennow. ‘You!’ Her purse clattered to floor as she jabbed a finger into his chest. ‘I wouldn’t trust you if you were the last man...’
Except he was thefirstman.
The first man to really make time for her. The first man she had wanted and her very first love, and she was terrified that he really was her last, because she couldn’t envisage ever feeling this way again.
‘Naomi...’ He took her angry hand that was jabbing at him and gripped it between their bodies. ‘I was going to talk to you when we were alone. I’d booked a suite for after the ball.’
His assumption incensed her. ‘You were you so sure that I’d come up?’
‘Yes,’ he shouted, because he had been sure, and more so on the dance floor, and even more so as she went to pull away the hand he was tightly holding, but she took his with it. He could feel the softness of a heavy breast and the rise and fall of her chest and when her hand released his, Abe’s remained. His fingers were like ice on her skin but she did not flinch, and he looked right into her eyes as she looked into his face.
