Page 53 of Unbuttoning Her Brooding Boss

She’d seen all those people today, running to do as he’d bid. The thing was, even if he hadn’t been wealthy they’d have still done anything and everything for him. He just had that presence. Charisma. So striking.

And, yes, the undeniable aura of power.

And the life he led... Donating to charity here and there, dining at fine restaurants every night, staying in exclusive invitation-only resorts...

He was in the top one per cent of the world. Utterly elite in every way. And so totally out of her league.

Good thing she was going home tomorrow. Back to reality. Back to Dan.

‘I have a brother,’ she said softly, thinking aloud as she shrugged her arms back through the pyjama jacket and got out of the car.

‘Yeah? What’s he like?’ Jack asked, walking round to meet her.

Stephanie hesitated, swaying towards telling him the truth. That her brother was broken and she didn’t know how she could make him whole again. That yet again she wasn’t able to be all that a person needed.

But Jack clearly had a couple of issues of his own and he’d worked through them. He was determined to be master of his own destiny. That kind of coping was something she ought to emulate. He didn’t need a self-indulgent sob-story from her. So she thought back to what Dan had been like—before the illness.

‘He’s an amazing athlete. Really fast and strong.’ She smiled as she remembered the good days. ‘Seriously, there’s no sport he doesn’t excel at. When we were younger we spent every weekend at some swim meet or other, then basketball in the evening, athletics, cricket... He was the sun. Our calendars revolved around his events.’

He’d been so active. And the apple of their parents’ eyes. But after their father died her mum had immediately got into a relationship with one of Dan’s coaches and their lives had become even more sport-crazy.

‘Did you play too?’ Jack took her hand and walked her around the side of the apartment to the private turquoise pool, with the lush forest as its backdrop.

‘Oh, no.’ She laughed. ‘I wasn’t blessed with that same athletic physique or aptitude. He’s gifted, you know?’

And he’d worked so hard. It had been his everything.

‘So what did you do while he was playing?’

‘I tagged along and sat on the sidelines and started my lists. “The Five Best Cafes near the Melbourne Cricket Ground” or something. It was fun.’

She’d enjoyed taking her camera and seeing parts of the country she wouldn’t normally have got to. And she’d taken her bag of design books and her crafty things and got on with it.

‘So, has he been snapped up by a team? Or gone to university on a sports scholarship or something?’

She forced herself to nod, unable to speak. Because Dan had lost all those chances.

She turned and dived into the pool, escaping answering properly.

When she surfaced he was standing by the edge of the water and watching her with a frown in his eyes.

‘Your parents must be proud of you too,’ he said.

She laughed, unable to hide the bitter edge. ‘Why?’

‘Your blog.’

She turned to float on her back. ‘Mum doesn’t really get it. She’s on her third marriage. She lives in France. She always needs a husband. She doesn’t like to be alone.’

She’d wanted a partner—not children. She hadn’t been able to cope with Dan once he’d lost his limbs. Hadn’t been able to cope with the moods and the depression. She’d found another man to whisk her away... put him before anyone else.

‘What about your dad?’

‘He passed away a few years ago,’ she said. ‘Cancer. It was very quick.’

‘So just you and your brother live in Australia now?’

‘Yeah.’

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