Page 54 of Blind Date with the Boss

He should have been honest. Sally had told him about that rat because she trusted him. Poor darling. She’d trusted a man who hadn’t the fortitude to tell her there was no space on his agenda for love.

But damn it to hell. How would he find the strength to give her up?

Groaning heavily, Logan looked down at the drink someone had thrust in his hand. He had no choice. He had to be honest, had to tell Sally that he wasn’t in a position to commit.

Carissa came to stand beside him and gave him a nudge with her elbow as she cocked her head in Sally’s direction. ‘Tell me, little brother, are you still stuck on your crazy five year plan?’

‘Of course,’ he hissed through gritted teeth.

Carissa’s mouth flattened unhappily as she watched Sally. ‘That poor girl.’ She turned and shook her head at him. ‘Five years. That’s sixty months. It’s ridiculous.’

Logan tried to ignore the sickening hollow in his chest. He feared Carissa was right, but he couldn’t change his plans. Yesterday’s close encounter with financial disaster had proved that. In five years’ time, if all went well, his business would be secure enough for him to relax, to look around and find a life partner. Until then, he had to put his emotional life on hold.

God help him, Sally deserved the truth.

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE sore throat that had started while Sally was watching Logan dance with Diana Devenish got worse on the way home. It was raining again, pelting at the car windows and rushing along the gutters, adding a sinister touch to the midnight journey.

Sally was exhausted, but that’s what you got when you danced till you dropped.

‘Tired?’ Logan asked as the car zipped past a crowd getting soaked as they came out of a nightclub.

‘No, not tired at all,’ she lied.

Actually, her limbs were aching and her head had begun to throb in time with the back and forth action of the windscreen wipers. It couldn’t be a hangover. She’d been too busy dancing and had hardly touched her champagne.

Whatever the cause, she wasn’t going to pay any attention to her aches. No way could she let them spoil this fabulous night.

This perfect night.

Logan drove on in silence, but for Sally it was a comfortable silence. Curled languorously with her cheek against the soft leather upholstery, she stared out into the slanting rain and decided thatperfectwas the only word to describe this evening. Nothing had marred the Hospital Ball’s dazzling brilliance.

She’d worn a spectacular gown. Logan had been dreamily handsome and a flatteringly attentive partner. Carissa and Geoffhad made her feel completely at ease. And she’d danced with countless good looking guys, all apparently rolling in money. To cap it off, the dancing lessons, that she’d fretted over, couldn’t have turned in better results.

With a faraway smile, she rubbed Chloe’s locket. The talisman had worked its magic and her godmother would have been proud of her. Come to think of it, her parents and brothers would have been proud, too. The menacing shadows of the past were vanquished. She was a new woman.

Anyway Sally looked at it, her decision to come to Sydney had been the right one.

Logan pulled up outside her house, and she felt a leap of happy anticipation. It was about to happen. The perfect ending to this perfect night. Best case scenario, she’d be with Logan till dawn. And the only improvement on that would be spending the rest of her life with him. She’d fallen so deeply in love with this man that she feared there was no way back.

‘Well,’ she said, in a what-happens-next voice. ‘Thanks for a wonderful evening, Logan.’

He turned off the ignition and released his seatbelt. ‘I have to thankyou, Sally. For everything.’ He leaned towards her and touched her cheek with the knuckle of his forefinger. ‘I owe you so much.’

Something about his manner – an edge of carefulness and formality – bothered her. Where was last night’s easy banter? Where were his ready smiles? His passion? They were alone for heaven’s sake. Why wasn’t she in Logan’s arms?

All night she’d seen the hunger in his eyes; she’d felt the heat of his longing whenever he’d touched her. But now she could only sense a new distance between them. A frightening distance.

She hunted for something light to say. ‘Now I can boast that I’ve danced with the man who’s danced with Diana Devenish.’

He gave a half-hearted chuckle.

‘I’m so proud of you, Logan.’

‘The credit’s all yours, Sally.’

She shook her head. ‘You were very brave. Carissa told me you used to get stage fright.’

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