Last night she’d said: Isn’t honesty the best thing?
That had been his cue.
He should have told her then. While we’re being honest, sweetheart, I have this business plan, which doesn’t, unfortunately, allow me the luxury of a romance.
But if he’d told her that he would have ruined a beautiful, utterly perfect moment.
Sins of omission can be the most dangerous.
Hattie had told him that. And the really terrible thing was he’d been so damn eager to have another bout of fabulous sex with Sally that he’d avoided telling her an important detail—that his emotions were on hold for another five years.
Actually, he should have made sure she understood that before he’d lured her into his bed. He’d totally ignored his vow to keep his distance from Sally Finch. He’d known from the start that she wasn’t a sophisticated city woman, but a sweet country girl who believed in falling in love, in two people becoming soul mates and living happy-ever-after.
Which made him as bad as that creep who’d attacked her at the dance. And what was his excuse? That he’d been floating high yesterday because Sally had saved his company? Pumped with euphoria, overflowing with gratitude? How honourable was that?
Last night’s emotions did not excuse him from giving in to forbidden desires. He should have remembered that, no matter how desperately he wanted Sally, he could not give her the emotional commitment she needed and deserved.
He should have been honest. Sally had told him about that rat because she trusted him. Poor darling. She’d trusted a man who hadn’t the fortitude to tell her there was no space on his agenda for love.
But how would he find the strength to give her up?
Groaning heavily, Logan looked down at the drink someone had thrust in his hand. He had no choice. He had to be honest, had to tell Sally that he wasn’t in a position to commit.
Carissa came to stand beside him and gave him a nudge with her elbow as she cocked her head in Sally’s direction. ‘Tell me, little brother, are you still stuck on your crazy five-year plan?’
‘Of course,’ he hissed through gritted teeth.
Carissa’s mouth flattened unhappily as she watched Sally. ‘That poor girl.’ She turned and shook her head at him. ‘Five years. That’s sixty months. It’s ridiculous.’
Logan tried to ignore the sickening hollow in his chest. He feared Carissa was right, but he couldn’t change his plans. Yesterday’s close encounter with financial disaster had proved that. In five years’ time, if all went well, his business would be secure enough for him to relax, to look around and find a life partner. Until then, he had to put his emotional life on hold.
God help him, Sally deserved the truth.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE sore throat that had started while Sally was watching Logan dance with Diana Devenish got worse on the way home. It was raining again, pelting at the car windows and rushing along the gutters, adding a sinister touch to the midnight journey.
Sally was exhausted, but that was what you got when you danced till you dropped.
‘Tired?’ Logan asked as the car zipped past a crowd getting soaked as they came out of a nightclub.
‘No, not tired at all,’ she lied.
Actually, her limbs were aching and her head had begun to throb in time with the back and forth action of the windscreen wipers. It couldn’t be a hangover. She’d been too busy dancing and had hardly touched her champagne.
Whatever the cause, she wasn’t going to pay any attention to her aches. No way could she let them spoil this fabulous night.
This perfect night.
Logan drove on in silence, but for Sally it was a comfortable silence. Curled languorously with her cheek against the soft leather upholstery, she stared out into the slanting rain and decided that perfect was the only word to describe this evening. Nothing had marred the Hospital Ball’s dazzling brilliance.
She’d worn a spectacular gown. Logan had been dreamily handsome and a flatteringly attentive partner. Carissa and Geoff had made her feel completely at ease. And she’d danced with countless good-looking guys, all apparently rolling in money. To cap it off, the dancing lessons, that she’d fretted over, couldn’t have turned in better results.
With a faraway smile, she rubbed Chloe’s locket. The talisman had worked its magic and her godmother would have been proud of her. Come to think of it, her parents and brothers would have been proud, too. The menacing shadows of the past were vanquished. She was a new woman.
Any way Sally looked at it, her decision to come to Sydney had been the right one.
Logan pulled up outside her house and she felt a leap of happy anticipation. It was about to happen. The perfect ending to this perfect night. Best case scenario, she’d be with Logan till dawn. And the only improvement on that would be spending the rest of her life with him. She’d fallen so deeply in love with this man that she feared there was no way back.