‘And don’t start mocking me.’
‘I’d forgotten how prickly you could be.’
‘That’s because you’ve probably gone back to dating your usual brand of sycophantic female.’
‘Let’s go inside, shall we?’
Hugh sat at the kitchen table, waiting for Kathryn to emerge from the bathroom. He’d collected the long-cold hamburger from the verandah and placed it on a plate next to the microwave. But he feared it was ruined. Feared his plan was ruined, also.
In his mind he’d imagined she’d be a lot happier to see him. He’d fantasised about her welcoming him with open arms. He should not have read so much into her tears the day of their wedding. That had to have been an emotional day for her. It didn’t mean she had strong personal feelings for him, not the way he had for her.
At the same time, her being so angry with him just now gave him some hope. Anger was not indifference. Neither was the way she’d looked at him during that split second when her eyes had lifted and she’d first seen him on her verandah.
Hugh was not above taking advantage of the sexual chemistry between them. Though that was not the way he wanted this to go today. It was not in his plan.
But when a man was as madly in love as he was with Kathryn
Well sometimes, you had to change plans midstream.
But first, he would try absolute sincerity. And brutal honesty.
‘You could have at least made some coffee,’ she snapped when she finally swept into the room, dressed in white Bermuda shorts and a cornflower-blue short-sleeved blouse which minimised her bust.
‘I didn’t think you’d want me rooting through your cupboards.’
‘That’s just an excuse,’ she said, then busied herself putting on the kettle and setting out the necessaries for two mugs of coffee.
‘Your hamburger’s over there,’ he pointed out.
‘Yes, I can see that, Hugh. Sorry, but I don’t feel like eating at the moment. I’ll have it later. Now,’ she said, leaning back against the pine cupboards and crossing her arms, ‘you can start talking whilst we wait for the water to boil.’
Lord, but she could be terribly bossy, Hugh thought. Give her an inch and she’d take the proverbial mile. Though her ongoing stroppiness was very comforting.
She did care, he decided. It was just a matter of how much.
‘I’d prefer to wait till you’re sitting down. And I’d like a biscuit if you have one.’
Kathryn gritted her teeth but did as he asked, setting out a small plate of mixed creams and not saying another word till the coffee was made.
‘Everything to your satisfaction, boss?’ she said tartly as she pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down.
He smiled one of those warm, wonderful smiles which had helped him worm his way into her heart.
‘Everything’s perfect, Mrs Parkinson.’
Kathryn’s heart lurched. ‘Don’t call me that,’ she said, her voice not as sharp as she might have hoped.
‘Why not?’
‘I’m not your real wife.’
‘Would you like to be?’
She just stared at him.
His eyes held hers, his coffee untouched. ‘That is why I’ve come, Kathryn. To ask you to marry me again. Publicly next time for real.’
Her mouth dropped open, then snapped shut. ‘Why on earth would you want to do that?’
‘I love you,’ he said in an astonishingly sincere voice. ‘I love you and I can’t live without you.’
Oh, my God! Had he really just said that? It didn’t seem possible, her natural cynicism battling against the tidal wave of joy his words evoked. ‘But you always said that that—’
‘I know what I always said,’ he cut in. ‘But I was wrong. I love you, Kathryn Hart, with every fibre of my being.’
Kathryn put her hand over her heart as it threatened to jump right out of her chest.
‘I tried to forget you after you left,’ he went on whilst she still struggled to get her head around this amazing declaration. ‘But you refused to be forgotten. I knew within hours of sending you away that my feelings for you weren’t just lust. I knew that true love had finally taken possession of my, till then, shallow soul.’
Kathryn simply could not find the right words of reply.
‘Yes, I know,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘It came as a shock to me too. To suddenly come face to face with something as serious as true love has rocked my world, I can tell you.’