Page 58 of This Time Around

He hated seeing the depth of Jane’s doubt, hated hearing the hitch in her voice and the downtrodden finality that she was an unequivocal failure.

Cupping her face in his hands, he made her look at him. “You haven’t failed, Jane. Not yet.”

She glared up at him and he had to bite back a grin of approval. She had too much fire in her in wallow in self-pity for too long. “What would you call it then?”

“A set back. Nothing more.”

She grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands away from her face, undoubtedly so he could witness the full force of her incredulity. “You call losing my life savings to an egotistical oxygen thief and landing myself in a world of debt that I can never repay, a ‘set back’?”

“Yes. And it’s not even that if you think about it.”

Her mouth moved but no sound came out, and Rafe discovered he really enjoyed rendering his lover speechless, gaining the upper hand. She stalked a few paces away, spun on her heel and marched right back to him.

Drilling her finger into his chest, she found her voice and spluttered, “You are the most—”

Setting his grin free, Rafe stared down at Jane with unabashed amusement. “Handsome?” he offered. “Generous? Sexy? Amazing? Well endowed? Come on, Janie. One little adjective and we’ll have a whole sentence.”

“Arrogant, egotistical bastard!”

Rafe’s smile widened. “There’s my girl.”

“What?” She spat the word at him.

Standing tall, he said, “I’ve been waiting for you to pick a fight with me since we left home. I thought you might last night at dinner but you backed off.”

“We were in the middle of a restaurant. I wasn’t going to fight with you in public.”

“Why not? It wouldn’t’ve been the first time.”

“One time, Rafael,” she snarled, poking him in the chest again. “That happened one time in my mother’s café and I was eleven years old. And I fail to see what that has to do with this.”

“It has nothing to do with it,” he admitted. “Unless we’re talking about your inability to back down from a fight. You’ve always fought for what you want, Jane. I’ve always admired that about you. And you may not have known what you wanted when you were a kid but you know what you want now.” He grabbed her upper arms and held her tight. “Fight for it.”

“But the money….” Her voice trailed off and her face tightened. Rafe knew that look. She was at war with herself, her logical brain fighting against her passionate heart. Jane had so much pride, and that coupled with her stubborn nature was what made her one of the most determined women he’d ever known.

What Sam Lyndon had done to her with his lies and ultimately his betrayal had put one hell of a dent in her pride, crushed her determination. Made her forget who she was. What she was.

She was fierce.

Fearless.

She just needed a gentle reminder, a nudge in the right direction.

“No one ever said this would be easy, baby,” he cooed, stroking her hair, soothing her, “But no one said you had to do it alone either. And if you’d pull your head out of your arse and think about it for a moment, you’d see I’m right.”

“My head isn’t up my arse,” she growled through gritted teeth.

“No? Because if you were thinking clearly you would have seen the solution the moment I offered to buy out your lease.”

“Stop speaking in riddles or I’ll flambé your arse.”

Rafe spread his arms wide and grinned. “Two words, beautiful. Silent. Partner.”

Before she could respond, a beautifully restored vintage Holden ute drove through the open gates and parked in front of the warehouse.

Rafe stood tall and his grin vanished as he switched into lawyer mode. He walked forwards to greet the man climbing out of the car. “Mr Bridges? I’m Rafael Bennett. We spoke on the phone yesterday.”

“Ah, yes, good morning. My, you got here early, didn’t you?”

---