Page 13 of Singing For His Kiss

“I really can’t stay. I’m sorry.”

James nodded, resignation on his face. “I thought it was a long shot. It’s been so difficult for her…” He looked at her, and his mouth firmed into a determined line. “But none of that is your concern.”

She tried to ignore the hurt look on his face, the shadow of desperation in his eyes. “Thank you for the meal, but I’d better be going now.”

His forehead scrunched in confusion. “Going? You can’t leave. It’s eleven at night in the middle of a storm.”

Surprised at the late hour, and the fact that she hadn’t noticed the weather, she peered through a window. Hail beat a staccato rhythm on the glass. It was a cold fury outside. She hadn’t noticed it. It made a difference when your roof wasn’t made of corrugated iron, or maybe it was the extra floor above her head that insulated the sound.

“I’ll just go to the bus station,” she said.

James shook his head. “I couldn’t let anyone spend a night like this huddled in a bus shelter. There’s no protection.” He gestured towards her designated door down the hallway. “Please. It’s been a long day and I’m sure you’re as tired as I am. As you can see, I have plenty of room.”

She internally sighed. She didn’t even know which direction town was, let alone navigate getting there in the dark and rain. Plus, she couldn’t afford to get more clothes wet or end up with pneumonia. She really didn’t have a choice. One night, especially on a night like this, would actually be a blessing.

“Well, then. Thank you for your offer.”

He smiled. Small lines crinkled at the edges of his eyes. He looked much younger smiling than he did frowning; she suspected he spent a lot of time frowning.

“Good. I’ll see you in the morning, and Elizabeth, please…will you still think about my offer? Give me your final answer in the morning.”

He held her gaze. He really did have amazing eyes. She detected nothing more than concern for his daughter now. Nothing to suggest he was offering her anything more than a clean, dry room for the night. Alone.

Despondency washed through her heart, and she quickly shoved it aside. Hell, she was being a nutcase. Afraid he was trying to take advantage of her, then sorry he wasn’t. She really needed to get a grip.

Rule number one through one hundred: don’t get involved. End of story. No matter how wretched that might feel at the time.

“I’m sorry. The answer will still be no. I really do have to leave in the morning.” She sent him a polite smile and retreated to her room, only to sink onto the bed when her knees started to tremble.

* * *

James planted a hand through his hair, staring at the closed door. What a way to end one hell of a day.

He’d nearly lost Madeline.

Anguish crashed through him. He allowed himself to feel the full force of it now that he was alone. The sight of his little girl, limp and wet and so cold, had almost crippled him, mind, body, and soul.

If he hadn’t been so concerned with Anastasia Highland and her long list of demands, both professionally and personally, he wouldn’t have been so diverted. His attention had wandered. Not just for seconds, but minutes. The thought of not having his little daughter with him because of that was too much to contemplate.

If this current project wasn’t so important, he never would have entertained answering the phone to Anastasia while they were at the beach. It was meant to be their special time together. But the reality was that he needed Anastasia, as well as the paycheck that would pay all the other bills lined up like a stack of cards. If this project fell through, it would not only mean his business would be in ruins, but he couldn’t afford to pay the bank loan he’d taken out to cover wages. Plus, his men would be out of work. They had families and children and bills of their own. The ripple effect would be enormous.

His business had grown at a great rate of knots, and he'd invested heavily in capital to complete bigger and more profitable jobs. He’d worked hard to gain the contracts he'd won, but won them he had. He’d had to invest a huge amount of money in capital for this latest project, but he would need the machines for the first of the Highland Hotel chain set to be built across Australia.

He’d maxed everything to the limit. Business and personnel. All mortgages, including this house, even though it was special. He’d built it with his wife from the ground up, renovating it when it was just little more than a two bedroom shack when they were just starting out. Hanna had gotten her hands dirty and worked alongside with him.

Those were the memories he treasured, and this house allowed him to remember them. This was where they’d come after Madeline was born and spent those first precious few weeks of her life. He could imagine Hanna still being here with him. Memories that slowly faded when he stayed away.

Maybe that’s what had made him make the decision to spend some time here. With all the work and travel, his memories of Hanna were becoming hazy. Madeline was also becoming more and more withdrawn. He’d come here to spend time with her, as he rightly should. He was the only parent she had.

But he’d been so distracted by work, and look where that had left him. A stranger had saved his child. He was all kinds of the worst father.

When Elizabeth turned those fear-shadowed eyes on him, his gut had twisted. He couldn’t quite identify what exactly he’d seen. It was a mix of emotion. Fear. Distress. Horror. All had collided in that one look they’d shared as he’d clutched his daughter to his chest.

He hadn’t seen such rawness of emotion for a long time. Sure, he’d noticed greed, calculation, cool assessment. Nothing more than that in others' eyes. But because she’d felt those darker emotions, it meant she cared. It had touched him in a deep place he hadn’t wanted to awaken in years.

She’d also ruined her clothes and lost her jacket to save Madeline. She was down to her last. If all she possessed was in her too-light bag he’d picked up, she didn’t have much to her name at all.

Although she’d been reluctant to come here, there was no way he could have left Elizabeth on the beach, freezing and wet and wondering how she was going to get warm again. Her slight body almost folded in on itself as she struggled to find warmth. He’d just had to protect her. He would have brought her home, even if he’d had to pick her up and bring her here in the boot of his car alongside her scrappy, half-empty backpack.

But when she’d appeared in the hallway, he hadn’t just seen the faded denim jeans, or the hole in the leg that had been carefully stitched. He saw how well it moulded to her shapely thighs, fitting in places that made heat punch in his stomach and blood course through his veins. She was too thin, but she hid the body of a goddess. What’s more – he’d noticed. He’d thought that side of him had died along with Hanna. And it had.

Until now.

Elizabeth had jammed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and bit her bottom lip when she’d caught him watching. He’d been stuck on those perfect white teeth gnawing the soft skin of her luscious bottom lip. Damn if he was still thinking about it.

James caught himself still frowning at the door. Mentally shaking his head, he let his hand drop from his nape he hadn’t realised he’d been massaging. The thought of his bed brought an audible groan, reminding him of how dog tired he was. Not just from the day, but from the endless hours he’d worked for the past six months. He was beyond exhausted.

He tumbled beneath the covers, trying to ignore how large and cold his bed seemed to be without the benefit of someone else to share it with, along with the realisation that it hadn’t bothered him for years.

Until now.

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