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When she brought the car to a standstill in front of the cabin, Sam pointedly turned down the radio and shifted to face her. She kept her gaze straight ahead.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have kept the truth from you. I didn’t even have a legitimate reason for doing so, it just seemed like—”
“Brand”—she turned to meet his eyes, and he tried not to flinch at the distance he saw in hers—“you’re right. You don’t owe me any apologies and certainly no explanations. I overstepped. It was out of bounds. I think, since your arm is out of its cast, you don’t need me anymore. So why don’t we call this experiment of ours a partial success and move on from there?”
Fuck.
“I still hate doing my own cooking,” he pointed out. “And I paid you for two weeks’ help.”
“In light of our situation and the intimacy, I don’t feel right accepting your money. I’ll be returning it.”
“No. For fuck’s sake, Lia. You only agreed to help me because of that money. You clearly needed it for something.”
“I didn’t earn it, and to accept it after what happened between us just feels wrong.”
“Look, we don’t have to end things. I mean now that everything’s out in the open, it’ll be better. No more secrets, right?”
“I have to get back to my studies,” she shocked him by saying, and he was confused for a moment.
“Studies?”
“I’ve been doing an online bachelor of education degree. My eventual goal is to be a properly qualified foundation phase educator. Preschool teacher, really. I’ve been on a midterm break, but I have a couple of assignments to complete before the new semester starts next week.”
“That’s fantastic, Lia.” Her lips quirked slightly in acknowledgment of his sincere compliment.
“Thank you. But I’ll be busy, so it’s probably best to end our fling.”
“I don’t want to end it.” He knew he sounded petulant, but fuck it, he wasn’t anywhere close to getting her out of his system. “You’re just punishing me because I don’t meet your crazy high morality standard. News flash, princess, nobody can ever meet those impossibly high standards.”
He was starting to recognize that he only ever called her “princess” when he was annoyed with her. Maybe because she put on that prim, unapproachable, high-and-mighty façade whenever she was upset about something. It rubbed him the wrong way.
“Brand, let’s not make this unpleasant. I’d like it if we could remain civil and respectful of each other.”
“God, you’re cold! As frigid as a fucking iceberg.” She paled and flinched at his words, which instantly made him regret saying them. He had meant that she was harsh and unyielding in her decision making, but he wasn’t sure that was how she took it. And that bothered him. Especially when he considered within which other context those words could be used. Somebody had called her frigid—sexually frigid—and Sam was willing to bet it was that prick she was once engaged to. Again, he felt a burning urge to find the bastard and fuck him the hell up.
“Please,” she was saying, her voice quiet. “I have to get home.”
“Sunshine,” he began tentatively, keeping his voice low and sincere, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for things to go this way. I’m going to miss the hell out of you.”
She smiled, but it was one of those horrible ones that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Thank you for saying that.”
The prim little thank-you absolutely shredded him, and he fought the urge to gather her into his arms and simply hold her.
“Fuck.” He heard his voice falter on the word. “I’m seriously going to miss you, sunshine.”
“Goodbye, Brand.”
He had no choice—he took another lingering look at her downcast profile before acquiescing to her wishes and leaving the car. Sam stood watching, the heel of his hand pressing against his chest, as she drove away without a backward glance.
Just because Lia had ended their fling did not mean that Brand would magically disappear from her life.
Ha, if only. She managed to avoid him at the animal shelter by changing her visiting times, but she knew, from Siphiso, that he came to see Trevor every day.
And she saw him again just three nights later, having dinner at MJ’s with Daisy and Mason. Lia immediately felt awkward because she was meeting Michael Kendrick, a local accountant, for dinner. It was a blind date—one of the residents from the retirement home had been pushing Lia to meet her grandson for months. And yesterday—after making the less than rational decision to get back on the dating horse, so to speak—she’d asked Mrs. Kendrick for his details. She didn’t know anything about him other than the fact that he was an accountant and—according to his grandmother—a very handsome boy.
Lia halted when she spotted Brand, her first instinct to turn around and wait for Michael outside. She would suggest they go to Ralphie’s for a drink instead. But Daisy caught her eye and waved enthusiastically. Biting back a groan, Lia pasted a smile on her face and waved back. Mason and Brand looked up, too, and she could see the subtle shift in the latter’s body language when he saw her.
