rather have been with you.’ How she wished she had never gone home tonight, but it would only have put off the inevitable. Had she not gone to her parents, then they would certainly have come to her.
‘They sound like my kind of people,’ he said, and she could hear the humour in his tone. ‘Next time I’ll join you, then you won’t have to miss me.’
The tear overflowed down her cheek. ‘I like the sound of that,’ she agreed, whilst her heart contracted at the knowledge that there would be no next time.
‘God, I wish you were with me right now. This bed is too damn big and lonely without you in it,’ Ransom told her gruffly, and Sam hastily stifled a sob behind her hand.
‘It’s only one night,’ she pointed out when she was able to control her voice. She hated herself for lying, but there was nothing else she could do. She realised now that calling him had been a mistake. She was going to feel worse, not better.
‘I guess you’re right. To make up for it, have lunch with me tomorrow. I can’t go the better part of forty-eight hours without seeing you,’ he urged and though she knew it probably wasn’t wise, she held onto the lifeline he threw her.
‘Lunch would be lovely. Name the place and time and I’ll be there,’ she promised. It would be all right. By then she should have decided how she was going to break off their affair. Lunch would be a final good memory. She would need all of those she could get.
Ransom named a restaurant close to the court, and she agreed to meet him at the time he suggested. He yawned again, and she knew she had to go. ‘I’ll let you get back to sleep now.’
‘I’m glad you rang. ’Night, sweetheart.’
‘Good night, Ransom,’ she said back, and held the receiver to her ear until she heard the sound of his phone going down.
Hugging the phone to her chest, she finally gave way to tears. They carried with them a wealth of helplessness. Of loss and utter despair. They tolled out the knell of her dreams, and the prospect of a future that promised to be bleak and empty without the man she loved in it.
CHAPTER TWO
SAM sat at a small table set in the restaurant’s window embrasure and waited for Ransom to arrive. Her watch told her he was a little late, but she wasn’t worried yet. It wasn’t easy to get away from the court on time. She felt…strangely numb. Which was odd, because between crying and thinking she hadn’t got much sleep last night.
Thinking of that, she reached into her handbag for a mirror to check her appearance. Thankfully the puffiness around her eyes had gone, and any redness had been hidden by make-up. She looked normal, which was all she could hope for. The numbness was welcome, but it would wear off all too soon. All she asked was that it would last the day out.
Sighing, she rested her chin on her linked fingers and stared at the world passing by outside. She had spent the night refining the details of how she would break things off with Ransom. She had been prohibited from telling the truth, so her options were limited. Of course, she could declare baldly that she didn’t want to see him any more, but Ransom was not the kind of man to accept that without a good reason. In the cold light of dawn, she had known that she would have to end their relationship in such a way that he would not want to see her again. The only way to do that was to make him hate her. However, she would only be able to put on a creditable performance once, so she had to get it right the first time.
Hands on her shoulders made her jump and look up. Ransom stood there, smiling down at her, and as her heart turned over he stooped and pressed a kiss to her startled lips.
‘You were miles away. What were you dreaming about?’ he asked her as he sat down opposite. Reaching across the table, he took one of her hands and held it between his own.
Sam gave a little shrug. ‘Nothing, really. Just this and that.’
One eyebrow quirked. ‘And here I was thinking you were dreaming about me.’
He made her smile, something she hadn’t felt like doing all morning. Lord, but she was going to miss him so much. ‘I don’t want you to get big-headed.’
Ransom grinned wickedly. ‘Meaning you think I’m perfect as I am? Well, now, I can’t argue with that.’ He stared at her, taking in every feature, and shook his head. ‘You are so beautiful. I can’t get over how beautiful you are.’
Sam uttered a tiny laugh, amazed at how easily he could take her breath away. ‘I’m not beautiful.’ She considered herself ordinary. There was nothing special about a swathe of silver-blonde hair and a pair of large blue eyes. Not having a vain bone in her body, she thought of herself as moderately attractive rather than beautiful. Her bones were fine, but her features were cool rather than animated. She had no idea that her smile transformed her face, making many a man do a double take. As for her figure, she had always considered that average at best. She went in and out in the right places, but a model she was not.
‘You are to me,’ he contradicted, holding her gaze with his intense one.
‘You’re only saying that because you think it will get you somewhere,’ she teased him back, whilst inside she could sense the numbness melting away.
Laughing, he released her hand and picked up the menu. ‘You’re right, young woman. I have definite plans for you.’
‘Oh, yes? I’ll have to check my diary to see if I’m available,’ Sam replied, feeling her heart squeeze tightly.
‘You will be,’ he told her confidently.
His confidence was unbearably painful, and Sam stared down at her own menu, though the words were unfocussed. She had planned to tell him goodbye here, where the restraints of being in public would limit what he could say, but she knew she couldn’t do it. The numbness was wearing off second by second now that he was here. Everything he said had her control slipping, so if she tried to reject him she would only end up in tears and that would never do. It was the wrong moment. She had to regroup and try again another time.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ Ransom broke into her troubled thoughts, and she looked up to find him watching her over the top of his menu. ‘I have some leave left, and you must have some too. Why don’t we go off together for a week? We could drive down to the coast and I can initiate you into the joys of sailing. What do you think?’
‘I didn’t know you were a sailor,’ Sam remarked in surprise.
Ransom grinned. ‘You don’t know everything about me yet,’ he teased. ‘If you must know, I could sail before I could walk, so my mother tells me. I love it, but I don’t have a boat of my own yet. One day I will, then we’ll sail off around the world together and not come back until we’re good and ready. What do you say?’
It was a wonderful dream, and she only wished she would be sharing it with him. ‘It sounds perfect, but we should try the week first in case I turn out to be a bad sailor.’
‘That’s a deal, then,’ he declared happily, and returned to studying the dishes on offer. ‘What are you having?’ he asked, and Sam forced herself to focus on the menu.
‘A pasta salad, I think,’ she decided. Something light that wouldn’t choke her when she tried to swallow.
‘Mmm, I’ve a fancy for
