his hair he stopped to rub the tense muscles in his neck.
‘Brodie?’
Chantal walked out from the cabin, hands knotted in front of her. Long dark strands tumbled around her shoulders, the messy waves scattered by the gentle breeze. A skirt with blue and green shades bleeding into one another swirled around her ankles with each step. A long gold chain weighted by a blue stone glinted around her neck. She looked like a mermaid… a siren. A fantasy.
‘What are you doing here?’ he asked, his heart hammering against his ribs.
‘I thought you’d gone back to Queensland.’
She bundled her hair over one shoulder, toying with the ends as he’d noticed her doing whenever she was anxious. He noticed everything about her now.
‘I was supposed to.’
‘Why did you stay?’
Light flickered across her face—a ray of hopefulness that dug deep into his chest.
‘Unfinished business.’
‘With who?’
The question emerged so quietly it might have come from his imagination. But her lips had moved; her eyes were burning into his.
‘With you, Chantal. Why do you have to make everything so hard?’
A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. ‘I’m difficult, I guess.’
‘You are.’
He rubbed at the back of his neck, wishing that his body would calm down so he could be in control of the conversation. Instead his central nervous system conspired against him by sending off signals left, right and centre. There was something about the mere presence of her that had him crackling with electricity. Those parts of him had been dead before her.
‘I’m sorry I pushed you away.’ She drew a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry I wouldn’t let you help. I’ve been afraid of letting anyone close—not just after my divorce but for a long time.’
‘You do seem to have trouble accepting help…’
What if he didn’t accept her apology? It would be her own fault. She’d been stubborn as a bull from day one, determined to keep a wall between her and the outside world. Only now she wanted to tear down anything standing between her and Brodie. She wanted to remove all barriers—even the ones that had been there so long that they had cemented themselves in.
‘I’m working on it,’ she said solemnly, swallowing against a rising tide of emotion. ‘I thought that I needed to do everything on my own because that’s what my mother did. I wanted to be strong… to be my own person.’
He rubbed a hand along his jaw. ‘It’s a lonely way to live.’
‘It is.’ She nodded. ‘I’ve been so concerned with making everyone think I was leading this successful life that I put no time into my reality. I only cared about my career, and I almost lost the best thing that ever happened to me.’
‘Which is…?’ His green eyes reached hers, the burning stare making her knees shake and her limbs quiver.
‘You, Brodie. You’re an amazing friend, and I lost you once because I refused to acknowledge my feelings. I’m not doing it again.’
She stepped towards him, resisting the urge to reach out and flatten her palms against the soft cotton shirt covering his chest.
‘I don’t want your friendship, Chantal.’ He ground the words out, his teeth gritted, jaw tense.
Her breath hitched. The flight response was tugging against her desire to fight. No! She’d come too far to turn away—she could make him see how much she cared. She could make him see that she could change. That she had changed already, thanks to him.
‘You asked me that night if I felt something for you.’ Memories flickered: the sensation of dancing in his arms. The scents. The heat. The intoxicating attraction. ‘I never had the chance to answer and then you were gone. I spent eight years convincing myself I’d made an error of judgment. I’d got caught up in the emotion. But I did feel something.’
‘And now?’
‘I want you in my life, Brodie. I want to sail away with you. I want your friendship, but I want more than that too.’ She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment so she would have the courage to speak again. ‘I love you.’
In the silence of waiting for his reaction she’d never felt so vulnerable in her life. No matter how many stages she’d performed on, no matter how much rejection she’d faced before—this was it. She was at a turning point, at the edge of falling into something wonderful. Her breath caught in her throat.
‘I’ll protect you even when you don’t think you need it—I can’t help that.’ His voice caught, the scratch edge telling her that he was fighting for control too. ‘But I’ll support you in being your own person.’
She nodded, her breath caught in her throat.
‘I’ll help you with everything. I will always be there for you.’
She sucked on her lower lip, her mind screaming out for her to touch him. But she didn’t want to stop his words, didn’t want to risk ruining things with him again. If only he would say those words back to her.
I love you.
‘I’ll make you part of my crazy needy family.’ He reached forward and drew her close. ‘But I know now that I don’t need to be your knight in shining armour. I pushed too hard at the bar. I understand that you need your independence. So I propose that we be our own people… together.’
‘Oh, Brodie.’ Relief coursed through her, buckling her knees so she sagged against him. The warmth of his body relaxed her, calmed her.
‘As much as I love my family, I want to be my own person too. You made me see that. I’m going to put my own needs first for a change—and that starts with loving you.’
She looked up at him, catching his mouth as it came down to hers. The taste of him sent her senses into a spin, the gentle pressure of his lips making her feel as if she’d come home. His tongue met with hers, all the relief and desire and love exploding within her like New Year’s fireworks. This was it—this was how life was meant to be.
She broke away from the kiss. ‘What needs might they be?’
‘Specific needs,’ he whispered against her ear, his warm breath sending a shiver down her spine. ‘Needs that can only be met by stubborn brunette dancers who like to practise yoga.’
‘I might know someone who fits the bill.’ She ran her hand under his T-shirt and pressed against the hard muscles in his stomach, as if memorising every ridge and detail of him. ‘But she’s pretty busy these days. I heard a rumour that she finally made it into a dance company.’
His eyes lit up and he hoisted her up in the air. ‘You did?’
The harbour lights blurred as he spun them around. The sky darkened as
