Page 68 of Unbuttoning Her Brooding Boss

‘Sothat’swhy she wants to sell the blog,’ he muttered, more to himself than to Tara, as he started striding towards the car.

‘Ofcourse,’ Tara said.‘She’s slaving for her brother, who just sits on the sofa making constant demands on her. She has no life. Limited money. I mean, she getssomeincome from ads, but she won’t sell out and do full-on product placement, and it’s not like she can eat the beauty samples she gets sent...’

So with an invalid brother she had to take care of there was no way Stephanie would have said no to Jack.

He felt sick.

He understood it all now. The reason for her determination to smile, no matter how snarky he’d got when they’d first met. The reason she’d been so afraid his finding out that she had assistance would put him off any kind of purchase.

‘This is why you help?’ he asked Tara.

‘Of course. Other friends send her info for the blog too. She verifies it as best she can, then goes for it. But she can’t keep doing it. She needs a life of her own.’

‘What does she want to do?’

Tara’s pause was shorter this time. But still pointed. ‘Didn’t you talk to herat all?’

Well,hehad talked. He’d spilled his guts. He’d thought she’d opened up to him and he’d opened up to her and there’d been a bond between them—something more than sexual.

But she hadn’t opened up at all.

She hadn’t trusted or cared enough to tell him everything. She’d beenafraidto.

And that hurt him bitterly.

‘Look, this is wasting time,’ Tara said. ‘I need to talk to her.’

‘I’ll get her to call you in a minute.’

‘Great. Tell her I’m sorry. I’m so,sosorry.’

He was the one who was sorry.

And so freakingangry.

TEN

She hadn’t heardfrom Tara and she couldn’t get hold of Dan because her stupid phone battery had died.

Stephanie glanced up at the building where Jack had gone to meet his father, hoping it was going okay. He’d looked so vulnerable and her heart ached for him too much. She was far too worried about it for her own good, because this was only a two-day fling.

Except it felt like so much more.

The way he’d teased her and then laughed with her... the lengths he’d gone to ensure her pleasure... Not just in bed but in seeing that echidna, going to that restaurant, playing in the pool... in taking the time to justbewith her.

But she was making too much of it, right? She hadn’t been with anyone like thisever.She was making more where there was actually nothing.

Just a good time.

He was going back to America once this meeting was over. She was one holiday fling of who knew how many? All humour—no hearts.

She’d known that. She’d walked into this with her eyes wide open.

But last night... She drew in a deep breath as she remembered the way he’d talked. The way he’d looked at her.

Thathad felt like something more. He’d opened up. He’d told her so much and she’d ached to do the same. But there was no point in telling him about Dan now. Not when he was so stressed about meeting his father. Not when there was still the blog deal to discuss later. There was no reason for him to know the truth about her brother. He probably wouldn’t be bothered about something that was only personal toher.

She had to face reality—sooner rather than later.

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