Page 46 of The Rules of Their Red-Hot Reunion

Pasco groaned and rested his forehead against Aisha’s. He closed his eyes and pulled his hands up to rest them on her hips, quietly muttering a string of curse words.

‘I just wanted a half hour with you,’ he murmured, wrapping his arms around her. ‘Thirty minutes, that was all.’

Aisha’s hands rubbed his back. ‘Bad timing.’

He pulled back to run a hand over her hair. ‘Do we have any other type of timing?’ he asked, sounding rueful. And a little pissed off.

‘Seems not,’ Aisha replied, pushing her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. ‘And on that point, about Saturday night...’

Pasco saw the apology in her eyes and grimaced. ‘You’re cancelling our plans?’

He felt the wave of disappointment, a small stab somewhere in the region of his heart. Was this the way she felt every time he cancelled their plans before? Frankly, it sucked.

‘Not cancelling, just amending,’ Aisha replied.

Pasco released his pent-up breath, relieved. Aisha went on to explain she was leaving for Johannesburg for work and would be returning on the four o’clock flight Saturday afternoon. ‘I should probably stay for the chairman’s dinner—I was specifically invited—but I’m skipping out.’

For Aisha that was a big deal and he appreciated it. ‘No problem. Shall I push the reservation back from seven to eight?’ he asked.

‘Yes, please.’

She rubbed the back of her neck and he noticed she looked tired. ‘Would it help if I collected you from the airport?’

Aisha shook her head. ‘No, don’t worry. I’m leaving my car there, so I’ll just meet you at your Fresnaye apartment. If I land at six, I can be there by half-seven, I imagine.’

She’d still want to shower, do her hair. ‘I’ll make the reservation for eight-thirty.’

‘Thanks.’ She glanced at the locked door and nodded. ‘You should go, you’re needed.’

He was, but he wanted to know why her eyes held a hint of worry, why the muscles in her neck were hard with tension. ‘Everything okay?’

‘Sure.’ She looked away and Pasco knew she was lying, that she was worried about something. Him? Them? Their relationship? He didn’t blame her; he also spent hours wondering whether they were doing the right thing by hurtling into something deeper, something that could drown them. He wasn’t any closer to figuring out how they could be together without one of them reinventing their lives, something he wasn’t able to do.

No, that wasn’t true...he, mostly, didn’twantto change his life. It was busy and demanding and exciting. He just wished it left a little more time for him to spend with Aisha. And, yeah, he wished that her schedule weren’t quite so busy...

Hypocritical, Kildare? Sure.

Pasco heard a roar coming from the bar and knew he had to get back to work. Stepping around Aisha, he unlocked the door. ‘I have to get back.’

Aisha nodded. ‘Duty calls.’

He slid his mouth across hers and pulled back before he lost control again and told the rest of the world to go to hell. ‘See you Saturday.’ He ran his thumb across her bottom lip, not convinced she was fine.

Honestly, the weekend couldn’t come soon enough.

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