Page 78 of Unbuttoning Her Brooding Boss

‘I’m not going to be posting as much in the next week or so because Dan and I have some personal things we need to do,’ Steffi said. ‘But I promise there’ll be some super-special lists coming up—so be patient... we’ll be back with a new segment soon.’

For a second her smile faded and he thought he could see her bruised heart, pinching her features.

‘But now... because Tara is here... she’s going to show us her best tips for reducing puffy eyes. If you’ve ever spent a night crying your eyes out, you’ll know the kind I mean... see?’ She leaned into the camera and laughed—pure Steffi Leigh. With heart. ‘Here’s how to fix it.’

Why had she had a night crying her eyes out? Was it because of her brother? Because she was pulling back from her blog?

Or was it because ofhim?

His heart thundered and his pulse roared like a dozen motorcycles at the raceway. She was hurting. And he hated it.

He picked up his phone and checked his email. The most recent to land caught his eye. It was from her, and it took him less than a second to read it.

She’d refused his offer.

There was no reference to the time they’d shared together. Just a very polite sentence declining his very generous offer. End of story.

He jumped up from his seat and walked—just for something to do.

Then he caught himself and laughed bitterly. She’d been right in her scathing assessment. He’d been running—escaping—his form of hiding. He’d been using work as his excuse. Travelling all the time. Not giving anyone the chance to get close. Ducking out from risk. From rejection.

But Stephanie was worth that risk, wasn’t she?

Somehow—in such a crazily short time—she’d got under his skin. He’d talked to her. He’d let her in. She’d made him wantmore.And, while she might not have opened up tohim,she’d given him so much. All that emotion in her eyes... No matter how much make-up Tara applied, there was no hiding the hugeness of her heart.

And she’d done the thing he’d challenged her to. She’d turned the camera the other way and shown her less than perfect side. She’d removed the filter and then, as only Steffi Leigh could, she’d given a demo on how to cover up again.

Because everyone needed to cover up sometimes. When they were hurt. When they needed to carry on regardless. It was all in how you did it, right? And who you chose to reveal yourself to.

She’d shown her whole self—and from the number of views the new vlog had already had, and the comments,somany people loved Steffi Leigh.

He’d been telling the truth when he’d told hershewas the blog. People likedher.And she might have thought she was putting on a persona, but it was all just a part of her. She was sweet. She was savvy. She was strong.

And she was brave. Far braver than him. She’d taken on so much and she hadn’t complained. She’d just got on with it—doing what she thought she had to, to survive. And she’d not wanted him to pity her. Or help her. Because she had all the independence and strength that her brother had lost. She had more than enough for the lot of them.

But too much independence could work against you.

She’d said she didn’t want to depend on someone too much because she was scared of being like her mum. And scared of being hurt.

He’d never wanted to hurt her. He should have told her that.

How much of her time with him had been a pretence?

Perhaps some of it. Perhaps none.

But he couldn’t live the rest of his life without knowing. The thing was, in order to find out he was going to have to open up again. And, yeah, that thought scared him.

Now he realised he’d been holding back all this time. He’d been living half a life.

But now he wanted it all.

TWELVE

Stephanie frownedatthe loud knocking on her door. Who was here so crazily early in the morning?

She opened the door and had to count to three before she could think enough to speak.

‘Jack...’ She breathed out. ‘Couldn’t sleep?’

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