Page 3 of Securing His Heart

Was he expecting to eat with her?

Oh, what have I done?

She should’ve refused his offer of a drink and left. Gone home to the empty house she’d grown up in. Mum had taken to living in the holiday home on the beach in Yallingup the family had owned for years—the place where she and Dad would’ve retired to had he not died.

“Do you mind if I join you for dinner?” The stranger asked, after their drinks were delivered.

“You can eat, I’m not stopping you.” Damn, that’d come out bitchier than she intended. Lindy sighed, facing him instead of the opposite side of the bar, where a group of guys were laughing and watching a sports game on the television. “Sorry, it’s been a day.”

“We all have those, apology accepted. Chris Swanson.” He held out his hand toward her.

She studied it for a moment. Would he do that macho squash her hand to show dominance handshake, or would he have a weak grip.

What did it matter? The chances of her seeing him again were slim. What was one dinner?

She slipped her hand in his. “Lindy Jones.”

His larger hand engulfed hers, and a fissure of sparking warmth trickled over her skin, heating her.

Lindy looked at their joined hands, noticing the way hers fit snugly in his and his grip was firm but not overbearing at all.

During the last couple of months many of her father’s associates had attempted to show their strength when they shook her hand, but she’d showed them she wasn’t a weak female.

She wasn’t that young impressionable girl who’d got taken in by a smooth-talking swindler who’d dazzled her so much that she’d fallen for him and married him, against her parents’ wishes. How long had it been before Skip had shown his true colors? Two weeks after their marriage? He’d probably been sleeping around the whole time they had been together.

Lindy firmly pushed her mistake of a marriage to the recesses of her mind—where it belonged. She’d moved on from her mistake, and any relationship she’d indulged in since had been a mutual slaking of desires and suitable partners for the formal events she’d had to attend.

The days of looking for a long, loving relationship like the one her parents had had were long gone.

Not happening for her now.

“Can I have my hand back?” Amusement laced his tone.

Her face heated, and she tried not to snatch her fingers back. How long had she been staring at their hands?

Too long, obviously.

What the hell is wrong with me?

If she’d had any idea she wouldn’t be in this position, she wanted to yell back at her inner voice.

“Sorry, as I said it’s been…a day.” Now Lindy was repeating herself. She really was off her game tonight. The best thing to do would be to cut and run, go home and loose herself in some mindless sit-com. Not the K-Dramas she liked to watch. Those she had to concentrate on—reading subtitles meant she couldn’t quite lose herself in the show, unfortunately, but there was still enough emotion, even reading, for her to feel everything the characters did.

Chris picked up the menu and his beer, inclining his head to the open part of the room. “Want to get a table?”

“Sure.”

What am I doing? I don’t do this, normally.

Yet, after the last few months, seeing how life could be snatched away so quickly. Doing the opposite of how she normally acted seemed like something to try.

After everything she’d dealt with recently, she deserved something nice. At the end of the night, she could shake his hand again, thank him for a pleasant meal and then be on her way.

Never to see him again.

So, why didn’t she like that idea?

Chapter