Page 83 of Midnight Surrender to the Spaniard

She shook her head. ‘I don’t want say it now.’

‘Fair enough, but you know we were getting in too deep.’

‘Only because you made it that way.’

‘Do you want me to look you up when I come to England now and then? Maybe sneak away for a few days when you come to visit Emily?’

‘I don’t know.’ She shook her head. ‘Maybe.’

‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘You want more than that for your future. So do I. And I don’t want us to get closer only for you to...’

‘To what?’

‘Come on, Anna. You’ve done the tough part. Willow will soon be going to school. You’re going to start the career you want. You’re not going to settle for some occasional catch-up with a guy in Spain.’

He might as well have got a pen and written on the table before them in capital letters: I DON’T WANT YOUR LOVE.

And there was no point arguing with that.

‘You’re right.’ She sniffed, and then nodded. ‘I do want more than that. But not yet...’

She didn’t want it to be over, but knew it was.

‘We end it now,’ Sebastián said. ‘Nicely.’

‘Yes...’

‘You’ve got a family waiting at home who love you.’ He must have seen her eyebrows rise. ‘They do,’ he said. ‘It’s time to forgive yourself for hurting them. Just be yourself.’

‘I don’t even know who that is,’ Anna admitted, because this week had spun her around, and she felt as if her heart lived in two worlds.

‘Ido,’ Sebastián said. ‘And she’s actually very nice. I know, because I’ve spent a week with her.’ He gave her a smile. ‘It was fun. Here...’ He reached beneath the table. ‘I got you a gift.’

‘Please don’t...’

‘Why? Don’t you like gifts?’

‘I do but...’ The dark brown box he handed her already told her it was too much. Now she was almost crying. ‘I can’t take this...’

‘Open it.’

What she saw made her gasp.

It was a beautiful white gold Fabergé egg pendant.

‘I got a long chain,’ he said. ‘Everyone will think it’s just a necklace.’

‘Nobody would think this was “just a necklace”.’

It was so exquisite—the detailing, the absolute beauty of the design...

‘Open it,’ he said.

Anna frowned, not sure what he meant, but then she realised the egg had a catch. When she opened it, she saw that inside was a tiny yacht.

‘Oh!’

She had never been one for gifts and had loathed the thought of him giving her an expensive present, but the little secret yacht was perfection. And he was right—no one even needed to see beyond the chain.

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