Page 28 of Bound By Her Baby Revelation (Hot Winter Escapes)

The sudden tension in her voice relaxed him. Why, he didn’t know.

‘I’m trained to notice details like that, especially in places I happen to own.’

Kaya forced herself to count to ten and to squash the tide of disappointment flooding her. ‘Aside from that, what did you think?’

‘What do you want me to say to that?’

‘I want you to say that you were...impressed by what you found! I want you to say that you looked at all those young women, looked at the advantages the place has given them, and liked what you saw!’

Leo gritted his teeth, took a corner a little too sharply and slowed for a bit, but then picked up speed, heading back to the house with his emotions all over the place.

Silence seemed the best option when it came to getting his self-control back on track. Yet that very silence made him feel exposed and vulnerable, allowing insight into emotions he didn’t want to put on display yet found impossible to keep concealed.

‘Surely you can see that?’

‘Thatwhat, Kaya?’

‘You can see the woman Julie Anne was? She devoted her life to that place. Knew and took an interest in all the girls personally.’

‘I’m sure she did.’

‘So...’

‘The place needs a whole lot of money pouring into it, Kaya. I’m guessing that, in between the fun and the laughter and the caring and the sharing, no one has taken the time to make a note of the beams that have woodworm, or the cracks in the ceiling, or the suspicious signs of damp in the kitchen?’

They were back at the house in record time. If the trip out had taken forty minutes at a leisurely pace, the trip back had taken half the time.

Leo leapt from the driver’s seat at the same time as Kaya jumped out from her side, making sure to land on one foot, protecting her ankle just in case.

‘Yes, everyone knows that there’s work to be done on the place, Leo!’ She wanted to reach out and hold him, but her hand dropped to her side before she could rest it on his arm. She watched as he inserted the key and noted how he fumbled for a bit before pushing open the door and standing back to allow her past him.

He spun round to look at her, raked his fingers through his hair and then stripped off his jacket, watching as she did the same, following him in getting rid of the layers, including the winter boots.

They stood facing one another.

‘I didn’t come here to pour money into one of Julie Anne’s schemes,’ he said in a driven undertone. ‘Have you any idea how much it would cost to salvage that place before it starts collapsing?’

‘There were plans...costings done...before Julie Anne died.’

‘And you’re trying to persuade me that I should pick up the slack?’ He shrugged but there was a sour taste in his mouth, a feeling of loss that made him angry and belligerent. ‘As the good Samaritan I’ve never been? I don’t believe the woman was much of a Samaritan thirty-odd years ago, do you?’

‘Leo, I’m sorry.’

Kaya’s voice was low and quiet. She had manipulated him in visiting the shelter, and now was torn apart by the notion that she might have done the wrong thing, might have opened up wounds that had been better left alone.

‘She tried to atone, you know? That’s what I truly believe. I don’t know why...why she did what she did all that time ago. I don’t have answers any more than you do, but why not judge her on what happened next in her story?’

Leo stared at her, at her beautiful, open face pleading with him to find a heart where there was none.

Although, he’d seen the good the woman had done, had been moved by what he had seen.

At odds with himself, restless in his own skin, all he could see was Kaya in front of him. Her delicate floral scent filled his nostrils. He scowled, moved closer and groaned as he pulled her towards him. He couldn’t resist and he didn’t understand why. There was a lot he felt he didn’t understand at that moment.

‘What is this thing you do to me?’ he whispered huskily. He detached, breathing in deeply. He was about to apologise and turn away, thoroughly ashamed that he hadn’t been able to fight an urge that was bigger than him, but she pulled him back, drew him down and kissed him.

Leo held her and kissed her back, sliding his tongue into her mouth, meshing it against hers, barely able to contain his desire.

Kaya’s lips parted and her eyes were heavy. So were her limbs, all of her heavy as lead, as if suddenly she could only move in slow motion, yet inside was fizzing with excitement.

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