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‘She told me she’d never loved me. And I believe her, I don’t think she ever did. She was always so in love with the idea of marrying a duke and being mistress of a big house. The thing that really cut me up was that she would have gone ahead and married me if I hadn’t found out about the affair. It all meant that much to her.’
Megan shook her head. ‘I always thought that Sonia was a bit silly, but... I didn’t know she was that cold.’
‘It’s the way things are, Megan. It’s who I am.’
‘No, it isn’t. It’s the way Sonia was. It’s nothing to do with you.’ Megan leapt to his defence so vehemently that Jaye could almost believe it.
A sudden clap of thunder made them both jump and rain began to fall, dribbling off the roof of the veranda. Megan shivered involuntarily, crossing her bare arms over her body.
‘We should go inside. I need to find Mrs Jayasuna, there are a couple of things I need to ask her.’ He could hardly tear himself away. Megan had just turned his world upside down. He’d told her his darkest secret, and suddenly it seemed just a thing that had happened. Too many years ago to be relevant now.
‘I’ll stay here if that’s okay. I like watching the rain.’
He picked up a throw from the back of one of the wicker chairs further along the veranda and wrapped it around her shoulders. When Jaye’s fingers grazed her cheek, she didn’t flinch.
It could happen. The last time he’d touched her they’d both drawn back, but they trusted each other now. Jaye knew she wouldn’t hurt him and hoped that Megan knew he would die before he hurt her.
‘Thank you.’ She turned her gaze up towards him, and he knew. He’d brought her here as a friend, hoping to give her a nice day out and some much-needed time off. But that friendship had finally broken the other barriers that lay between them. They would lead to a future which might hold anything.
* * *
They’d driven through the pouring rain and arrived back at the clinic just as it turned into a drizzle. Today had changed everything.
Megan could see it in his eyes. Dark and tender, like a lover’s eyes. And after all this time, all the effort spent in trying to stay away from him, she finally believed that she might look into those eyes and surrender to them.
‘Who’s this...?’ Jaye murmured the words as he turned into the compound, and Megan saw a large, black and chrome SUV, with tinted windows, parked outside. Dinesh was eyeing it from the shelter of the veranda, and one of the nurses was speaking to a man in a black T-shirt, which fitted tight across the muscles of his upper arms. Something about the way he carried himself said bodyguard.
Jaye stopped the car and swung down from the driver’s seat. Megan followed him.
‘Can we help you?’ Jaye spoke to the man, and the nurse hurried away, obviously relieved that she didn’t have to deal with him.
‘This is the Western Province Free Clinic?’ He had a trace of a cockney accent.
‘Yes, it is.’
‘I’m looking for Megan Wheeler.’
‘That’s me.’ Megan stepped forward and Jaye laid his hand on her arm. There was something possessive about the gesture, which thrilled through her.
The man smiled at her. ‘You have a visitor.’
Megan looked around him, trying to see who was sitting behind the car’s tinted windows. It couldn’t be...
‘Who?’
The man was clearly not authorised to answer that question. He turned and jogged back to the car, reaching inside for an umbrella before his passenger stepped out into its shelter. Megan’s heart thumped, almost painfully, in her chest.
No. Not here. Please, not now.
He was wearing a pale linen suit, creased by hours in the car. Blond hair, peppered with streaks of grey now. A few broken veins in his cheeks and a few extra pounds around the waist. But he was still imposing, looking around the compound as if he owned the place.
She wondered whether it might be possible to go and lock herself in her bungalow. But running away and leaving Jaye to greet him wasn’t an option.
‘Who’s this?’ Jaye was looking down at her with an air of troubled concern.
There was no point in telling Jaye that this was her uncle or a family friend. He’d see straight through the lie. And suddenly she wanted him to know.
‘It’s...my father.’
