she settled herself on a lounger by the pool in the fading afternoon’s warmth and called Jared. She started with an apology, briefly summarised what had been happening with the boat, then talked to little Isaac a moment, which gave her time to psych herself up for the next round of information.
‘Blake and I have gone into business together.’ As quick and easy as that, she thought.
‘I see.’
Clearly he didn’t.
She lay back and watched the palm fronds move in the breeze and told herself not to overreact. ‘He didn’t tell you because I asked him not to. I wanted to do it myself. Just listen first, will you?’
She hurried on with a quick overview, then outlined the details of her new partnership with Blake, his living-room makeover clause, the new clients she’d got and how fortunate she was to be getting her own business ra, ra, ra.
‘So, it makes sense to stay at Blake’s for now,’ she finished.
Silence.
She tracked the calming sight of flight of a flock of water birds as they skimmed the water.
Calm, calm, calm.
‘Is that wise, Liss?’
Calm vanished and irritation prickled between her shoulder blades but she kept her voice steady. ‘What are you implying?’ She flicked at an insect on her dress with a fingernail, then tapped on the lounger’s metal arm. ‘You know Blake—it’s not as if he’s a stranger.’
‘I know you had a little crush on him as a teenager but he’s been in the navy for fourteen years apart from that brief trip home when his mother died. He’s a sailor, for God’s sake.’
‘A clearance diver, to be precise.’ Jared knew about her crush? Her calm slipped another notch. ‘The naval equivalent to the Special Air Services.’
‘So he informed me,’ he replied coolly. ‘I am aware of what they do, Lissa.’
‘At least you know he’s not just any guy I picked up at a party.’ Like Todd.
‘Are you sleeping with him?’
She jerked upright. Forget calm, forget irritated, now she was angry. ‘Is that any of your business?’
‘My God, you are. It’s been what. days?’
‘Careful, Jared. Glass houses.’ She fought for composure; she didn’t want to argue long-distance.
There was a long pause. ‘He’s not going to hang around for long, honey. He’s buying himself a boat. Are you prepared for that?’
She knew. And she’d never be prepared. The heartache would come and the knowledge stabbed at her. She wished she’d thought to bring a drink with her to wash away the dry taste in her mouth. ‘I know all that. I’m not a kid.’
‘A man like Blake is not the settling-in-one-place kind of guy. He—’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sakes, didn’t you ever have a fling in your life? One wild, crazy no-strings affair with no unrealistic expectations?’ Then she frowned, remembering he’d been too busy being a parent to her, and said quietly, ‘No, I guess you didn’t.’
‘Is that what this is?’
She blinked back a sudden moisture, already storing memories of Blake in her heart. ‘What else would it be?’ What else could it be? She gave a light laugh for Jared’s benefit, but it came out loud, brittle and over-bright. ‘You know me. Always busy. Too busy for anything more and that’s not going to change any time soon.’ The world’s worst fibber. ‘Don’t worry, he’ll be gone and it’ll be over before you know it.’
‘What about the business?’ he said. ‘I hope you—’
‘Of course. Priority number one, but, as I used to tell you often enough, all work and no play.’
‘Just. look after yourself.’
‘Always.’
‘We love you.’ Gruff and stern. Not happy. Not happy at all.
‘Love you too.’ She did. She really did. But she forced a sunny-as-you-go smile into her voice. ‘Bye for now.’
She disconnected, leaned back and closed her eyes, moisture clinging to her lashes. Let him get used to the idea. No surprises when he came home from overseas.
Blake might already be gone by then.
Relax. Breathe. Don’t let Blake see you like this.
So while she got her emotions under control she reminded herself of the conversation and why she needed to listen to her head and not her heart. She didn’t need Jared to tell her Blake wasn’t the right man for her. Not long term.
She’d want too much from him—already wanted too much—and an ongoing relationship with a man who lived a million miles away on a boat just wouldn’t work. It was vital for her own well-being that she accepted their liaison for what it was and lived the next few weeks accordingly.
A short-term affair.
Blake leaned a shoulder against the open doorway and watched Lissa through narrowed eyes. He couldn’t see her face from this angle but she’d disconnected and stretched out as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
He’d been about to step outside when he’d heard her spill the status of their relationship to her brother.
He’ll be gone and it’ll be over before you know it. He’d seen the flip of her hand as she said it. Chuckled it even.
Amused and casual about it all, was she? She’d been anything but amused and casual last night, he remembered darkly.
She’d told it how it was—fun and games for as long as it lasted. A wild, crazy no-strings affair, he’d heard her tell Jared.
That was what Blake wanted too, he told himself. And what better way to de-stress than a fling with a gorgeous, fun-loving woman who knew where they stood? It had always worked before.
So why did he feel as if he’d been trussed with barbed wire and tossed overboard into a storm-ravaged sea?
He was a navy man, he reminded himself. He knew how to swim. Tension coiling through every muscle in his body, he pushed off the door frame. ‘Food’s cooked,’ he said. ‘You about ready to eat?’
She jumped at his voice and scrambled upright. ‘Sure am.’ Facing away from him, deliberately, he guessed, she rose, all loose-limbed grace, and stared at the tangerine-smeared sky.
‘I never tire of this view.’
‘Me neither,’ he agreed, willing to stand there for however long it took and watch her with the balmy breeze carrying her scent to his nose and the languid sound of a clarinet drifting from a house across the river.
Then
