Page 58 of Forbidden Access

Every instinct screamed at him to close the distance between them, to act on the magnetic pull he felt whenever she was near.

But what then? What would that mean? He didn’t want to mess this up, didn’t want to spoil it by moving too soon.

Still, the tension between them was undeniable, and it was getting harder to ignore. His eyes traced the curve of her neck, the way her skin glistened with sweat in the dimming light. It would be so easy to reach out, to pull her close and find out if the fire between them was still there.

But he didn’t. Not yet.

They jogged back in comfortable silence, the night settling around them. When they reached the farmhouse, they were both drenched in sweat, but in an upbeat mood.

“You shower first,” he said to her. The old farmhouse only had one bathroom.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, go for it.”

Thorn paused at the bathroom door, turning to face him. Her eyes were dancing. “I really enjoyed that.”

“Me too.”

There was a brief pause, and then she smiled and went inside.

Damian walked into the living room and opened the patio doors wide to let in the cooler air. As he stood there, staring out at the horizon, he knew one thing for sure.

He wasn’t out of the game yet.

Not by a long shot.

The air continued to buzz all the way through supper, which they ate on the patio again, washed down with a bottle of wine. And afterward, they sat outside talking softly.

“You never told me why your wife left you,” she said when they were halfway through their second glass.

He hesitated. “I don’t actually know.”

Thorn frowned. “Really?”

“Yeah. She said she was going back to the hotel for a massage. I was scuba diving at the time, I think.” He scoffed bitterly at his own naivety. “When I got back to our hotel room, she was gone.”

“Weren’t you worried?” Thorn looked across at him.

“Not really. She’d packed her things up and left. A taxi had come to collect her. I checked with the hotel concierge.”

“Oh.”

He ground his jaw. “Yeah.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “So you have no idea why she left?”

“I think she got cold feet. Maybe she didn’t want to be married to me. Who knows? Her father coerced her into it. I know that much.”

“Alek made her marry you?” Thorn’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

“In a sense. I mean, he sent her to seduce me, and by marrying me, they’d keep me in the family business. I’d have no choice but continue to do Alek’s bidding.”

“It’s so manipulative,” she hissed. “What a bastard, using his own daughter like that.”

“Yep.” Damian nodded. “That pretty much sums him up.”

She shook her head. “Did you ever look for her?”

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