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Hegave her a quick look, raising a brow. ‘Areyou?I’mnot.SinceI’vebeen inLullburyBaythings have become so much clearer.Iknow whatIwant for the first time in years.’Heblew out a breath. ‘MintyandIwere happy together for a while, especially in the early days, but all the timeIwas with herInever looked to the future.Doyou know whatImean?’
Daisynodded.
‘Ihope that doesn’t make me sound callous.Ienjoyed going out with her, she’s great fun butInever saw my relationship with her as the oneI’dalways be in.Everythingwas kept strictly in the moment.Forboth of us.’Hepressed his lips together to suppress the emotion. ‘Ihad an excellent role model of marriage from my parents.IsupposeIwanted,Ihoped, to replicate that with my own marriage and knew withMintyit was never going to happen.AndIknew she felt the same.Wenever discussed the future any further than the next week and it suited us both.Atthe time.Assoon asIbegan bringing up whatImight want for the future the cracks began to show.’
‘Shewas very proprietorial whenIsaw you atTheStationHouse,’Daisypointed out. ‘Shecalled you her boyfriend.’
‘Shedid.Itwas still all a bit raw at that point.’
‘Andshe was furious when she caught you rubbing suntan lotion into my back.’
‘True, andIdon’t blame her, do you?’
Daisyshook her head. ‘Itwas all completely innocent butIfelt incredibly guilty afterwards.’
Hegave her another hungry look. ‘Itwasn’t innocent,Daisy.Notfor me.Iwanted you so badly at that moment.Hadyou been willingI’dhave taken you there and then, on that dusty floor.’
Daisy’sthroat closed. ‘Oh.’Itwas all she could manage.Shereached for her glass of squash with a trembling hand and spilled some. ‘Sorry.’Usingthe hem of her polo shirt she wiped it up.
‘Sorryfor turning me on or sorry for making a mess?’Rick’seyes creased up with amusement.
‘Don’tlaugh at me.’
‘Iwouldn’t dream of it.’Hereached out and took her hand.
‘Icouldn’t blameMintyfor being angry.’Daisy’swords were coming out all hiccough-y. ‘Imean, it looked awful.Herwalking in on us like that.Youwere her boyfriend, after all.’
Rickshook his head. ‘No,Iwasn’t.Notby that point.We’dhad the talk and had agreed the best thing to do, if my life was going to be down here and she was staying inBrum, was to split up.Shewas hurt and upset.Injuredpride,Isuppose.She’sa really good person.Ihope we’ll be friends one day.’Hepulled a face, wrinkling his nose. ‘Ihadn’t wanted her to walk in on something like that though.Ididn’t –Idon’t want to hurt her.Sheaccused me of moving on, of having someone else all the timeIwas seeing her and lying to her.Allsorts.’Herubbed his face again, looking exhausted. ‘Ittook some working out.Icouldn’t justifiably claimIwas innocently rubbing in aftersun because, for me, it was anything but innocent and she’s known me long enough to know ifIwas lying.Theupside is she also knows whenI’mbeing honest and straight with her.IexplainedIhad feelings for you.Strongfeelings.ButIhadn’t acted on them whileIwas still in a relationship with her.Onceshe’d calmed down she realised it was the truth.’Hegave a short laugh. ‘Evenasked all about you.’
‘Oh,’Daisyrepeated.
‘Doyou know the moment whenIknew how muchIloved you?’
Daisy’smouth fell open.Partof her brain registered how unattractive it must look.Mostof her clung on to the wordsRickhad just uttered.Heloved her?Heloved her! ‘When?’ she spluttered.Geta grip,Daisy!
‘Whenyou got all excited about seeing the restaurant premises.Soexcited you didn’t mind a few cobwebs and spiders.’Histone changed. ‘Iadmire so much about you,Daisy.Swappingcareers because you accepted teaching wasn’t for you and being brave enough to do something about it.’
Headmired her!Perhapsshe’d misheard that he loved her?Sheanswered with the flippant, ‘Beinga failed teacher, you mean.’
Ricktwisted towards her and took both her hands in his. ‘Butthat’s not it.It’snot about failure.It’sabout acknowledging your strengths lay in another direction and having the bravery to step outside your comfort zone and do something about it.’
‘Itwasn’t very comfortable trying to teach and knowing you weren’t very good at it.’Daisy’smouth twisted. ‘Thoseyoung people deserved someone who was fully committed to their education.’
‘Butthat’s just whatImean.’Rickwarmed to his theme. ‘Youcould easily have stayed in your job, enjoying the security, coasting until you retired, but you didn’t.Yougot out and tried something new.It’sincredibly brave.Settingup a business on your own is amazingly courageous.Imean, yeahIthink you’re hot as hell too–’
‘Youdo?’Daisyasked, delighted.
‘Haveyou looked in the mirror lately?You’regorgeous,Daisy.Butmy attraction to you is more than that, it’s based on something deeper.Iadmire who you are and what you’ve achieved.Thelast few years haven’t been easy for any business, but especially the face-to-face service industries.I’dlike to spend time with you, learn from you, develop some of your resilience.’
Wasthis how others saw her?Despiteher recent acknowledgementto herself that she was doing okay,Daisywas so used to being filled with wracking self-doubt and worry she couldn’t adjust her mindset to step outside and see herself as others did.AsRickdid. ‘Thankyou,’ she managed.Itfelt a totally inadequate response to his outpouring of words.Oflove.Itseemed he did actually love her!Shescrewed up her face in puzzlement. ‘Istill don’t get what the spiders and cobwebs have to do with anything though.’
Rickgroaned and took her gently by the shoulders. ‘Canwe forget about insects?’
‘Arachnids,’Daisysaid, on a giggle, ever the scientist.
‘Insects.Arachnids.Whatever.CanIjust kiss you instead?’
Daisyreached up and ran her fingers through his dark hair, sighing a little that she was doing something she’d yearned to do for so long.Itfelt as thick and lustrous as she’d always imagined.Tugginghim to her not nearly so gently, she whispered, ‘No,Idon’t think that would be at all acceptable.Irather thinkI’llkissyou.’
