Page 52 of Bound By Her Baby Revelation (Hot Winter Escapes)

‘I know. I...was the trip okay?’

He hated the polite utterance that left his mouth. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, pull her to him and bury his face in her hair. He was afraid. Afraid of a minefield of exposed feelings lying ahead of him. Afraid of being committed to a course of action that would end up going nowhere. Had his rigidly controlled world begun unravelling when the truth about his past had been revealed? Or had he just been waiting for the right woman to come along and break the spell?

Leo didn’t know. He stared at her, wishing that he could read what she was thinking.

‘Kaya.’

‘You said your PA would be showing me the house.’

They spoke at the same time.

Ensnared by the glittering depths of his dark, dark eyes, Kaya could only stare. But then she blinked and reminded herself that this was the guy who had given her the freedom she had asked for because he had no longer seen the value in marrying her, all things considered. She doubted she would ever be able to do more than speculate on his reasons for changing his mind.

She would pretend to be happy if it killed her, so she forced a smile and made a something and nothing remark about them talking over one another.

‘How do you feel about moving to Boston?’ he asked, buying time.

‘I think it’s going to be great,’ Kaya said brightly. ‘I mean, I’ll be able to carry on working remotely with my clients, and then it’ll be exciting getting out there and meeting new people.’

‘New people...’

‘I suppose I became quite accustomed to small-town living, accustomed to doing the same things all the time with the same people. Course, I plan on returning often to visit my old friends, but it’s going to be fantastic expanding my social circle.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with small-town living.’

‘I didn’t think that was your thing.’

‘It never used to be but times change. I’ve always been a guy who can adapt.’ He inhaled shakily. ‘Kaya...this situation between us...’

‘We’ve talked about it enough.’

‘There are things I have to say to you.’

‘I don’t want to hear.’

‘And I don’t want to say them but I have no choice.’ Now he knew what it felt like to look down the side of a precipice, one foot outstretched, hoping to make a safe landing on a wing and a prayer. ‘Kaya, the past two weeks have been hell.’

Kaya was utterly thrown by that remark.

‘What do you mean? No, I don’t want to hear.’

‘I know you don’t. I know you’re where you want to be but please—let me speak. Being apart from you has been unbearable.’ He raked his fingers through his hair and realised he was shaking but he didn’t care. ‘This is maybe not quite the place for a conversation like this but, Kaya, I can’t spend this entire trip pretending that everything is okay when nothing is.’

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

She looked suspicious, bewildered and guarded and for a few seconds Leo wondered whether he had the guts to finish what he’d started, but almost immediately he knew that he had to.

‘I’ve missed you,’ he said roughly.

‘No!’ Her voice was sharp. ‘It’s not going to work. I’m not going to make the mistake of falling back into bed with you because the sex is good, only to wake up the next day to realise that, in the bigger scheme of things, sex doesn’t matter that much. I’m not climbing on a merry-go-round with you, Leo.’

‘Is that what you think happened?’

‘Like I said, I don’t want to talk about this.’ She made to look away but he gently caught her chin with his fingers and she froze.

‘Tell me why you think I felt I had to...let you walk away from me. From us...from this thing I want more than anything in the world...’

‘Because...’ Kaya tilted her head defiantly ‘...you realised that, if you don’t have love in a relationship, then it’s never going to succeed.’ She half-closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, taking the plunge. ‘Or, more likely, you had me out there and you realised what you knew all along—lust is something that comes and goes. It went, and being stuck in a relationship without even the benefit of sex was just never going to work out. The best thing you could do would be to call it a day before it went any further. I get it. I really do.’

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