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For a moment he said nothing. Just put his face in his hands and rubbed at his forehead. When he finally sat back up, he looked strained and so terribly sad. ‘I don’t mean to be scathing of your career. Truth is, I admire the hell out of what you’ve achieved. I lashed out because I don’t want you to go back, though I know you have to.’ He gave her a forlorn smile. ‘How does that saying go? All good things must come to an end.’
‘We were a good thing, weren’t we?’
Tenderly he trailed a finger down her cheek. ‘Better than good.’
She couldn’t handle the anguish in his eyes, or the way her heart was falling apart inside her chest. Jerkily she got to her feet. ‘I’ll go and phone Maria.’ Picking up the contract, she walked inside.
When she’d finished on the phone to her agent — at least someone was happy about all this — she found Nick still on the patio, staring morosely at the hills as the night grew dark around him. ‘I told Maria I’d fly back tomorrow.’
‘So soon?’
His voice sounded strangled and Lizzie felt her eyes prick. Hurting herself was bad enough, but hurting Nick? That was agony. ‘I might as well,’ she replied numbly. ‘I mean, if I’ve got to go, there’s no point putting it off. It’s just I’m not really ready to go yet . . .’ Her voice broke as her mind swirled with images of the time they’d spent together. The walks across the hills, the day on the river, the time at the villa. She didn’t want all that to end.
Before she knew it, Nick’s arms were around her, bringing with them the feeling of security, the sense of a strong warm haven she longed for. She burst into tears.
* * *
Nick held her, his heart breaking. He wanted to tell her they could fly Robert to England. That he’d help pay the medical bills, but somehow he knew she’d say no to that, too. Her life was in America now, and he had no right to expect her to give it up for him.
‘Will you come and visit me?’ Her big blue eyes glistened with tears as she stared up at him.
‘Hell, Lizzie, I don’t know.’ He wasn’t sure he was up for the torture of a slow transatlantic relationship death. ‘Isn’t it better to have a clean break? Not see each other for a while?’
She clutched at him, shaking her head. ‘I don’t think I can get on that plane if I know it’s the last time I’ll see you for a long time.’
He didn’t think he could put her on the plane, period.
‘Please?’
He studied her reddened nose and swollen eyes, and knew it would take a stronger man than him to refuse her. ‘Okay.’
‘Promise?’
He mustered the strength to smile. ‘Promise.’ Using his thumb, he wiped the tears from her eyes. ‘Though by the time you’ve become the face of Astella, you might not want to know me any more.’
She put a hand on either side of his face, clutching at him almost violently. ‘I will always want to see you, Nick. Always.’
‘Good.’ Taking her hand, he led her into the barn and into his bedroom.
He took his time undressing her, wondering if this would be the last time. The modelling world would soon captivate her again, as would another hunky male celebrity. It was unlikely she’d keep him to his promise when the world’s sexiest men were back on her doorstep.
‘Nick?’
He glanced down to find his hands clenching at her bra straps. ‘Sorry.’ Forcing them to relax, he gently tugged off her bra. Tonight he’d give her something to remember him by. And give the next man she took to her bed one hell of a lot to live up to.
* * *
Once again Lizzie found herself at the airport, saying goodbye to Nick. The last time she’d been too dazed with grief to remember much about it. This time she knew the pain of leaving Nick would stay in her memory for a long, long time.
Standing in the sterile departure lounge, all she could see around her were happy faces. Families preparing to go on holiday, lovers checking in for a romantic weekend break. God, what was she doing, leaving this man she loved so much? She flung her arms around him.
‘I’ve changed my mind. I want to stay. Please, let me stay.’
Briefly his arms tightened, but then he drew away. ‘You don’t mean that. You’ve just been handed a dream contract. Go home. Take up the Astella offer. You’ll live to regret it otherwise.’
She wouldn’t. For all the prestige it represented, it wasn’t the Astella contract pushing her onto that plane. It was her pride, her need to return to the place she’d left in shame with her head held high. Mostly though, it was Robert. She’d caused irrevocable damage to her family and somehow she had to try and make amends. The reasons didn’t matter though. She still had to get on the ruddy plane.
‘When will you come out and see me?’
