She laughed, relief melting into pleasure. ‘I just didn’t want to let you down, Ethan.’
‘You never let me down.’ He kissed her forehead and smiled into her eyes. ‘And that’s something I really value, Daisy.’
‘You haven’t let me down, either,’ she rushed out somewhat breathlessly, and there was a yearning look in her eyes—a look that did something weird to Ethan’s heart. It was as if a hammer had smashed into the hard shell he’d kept around it since his disillusionment with Serena, and a gush of warmth made his chest swell with waves of emotion.
He wanted to look after this woman.
Protect her.
Give her everything she needed.
The instincts that had driven him to act as he had when he had first met her suddenly made perfect sense. The need to have her, to nail her into a relationship with him…it was because she was uniquely special in his experience…a woman he could trust, a woman he could love, a woman he could share his life with.
The look in her eyes told him she wanted to be convinced that could happen and the realisation hit him that all along she hadn’t believed it was a possibility. Her determined avoidance, her resistance to an affair with him, her stunned surprise that he wanted her to appear in public with him…she simply hadn’t believed a relationship with him would work, that it would always be limited to sex on his terms.
And that wasn’t good enough for Daisy Donahue.
Nor should it be.
Today was a testing ground.
He must not let her down.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DAISY and Ethan arrived at Rosehill Gardens in a chauffeured limousine—no parking problem, no drunkdriving problem. A crowd of people were milling around the entrance gates, waiting to get in, although showing no impatience about it. It was a bright sunny day and everyone seemed to be in a festive mood—the men mostly dressed in suits, the women favouring cocktail dresses, with more of them wearing fascinators than hats, which gave Daisy extra assurance that her outfit had been a really good choice.
As Ethan escorted her towards a side gate with his member’s pass in hand—no queuing for him—quite a few people turned to look at them. Ethan, of course, was a strikingly handsome man, superbly attired in his grey pin-stripe suit, white shirt and gold and grey silk tie, but Daisy felt she really matched him today, as well as she could.
‘Hey, Daisy!’
The call of her name startled her and she stopped dead as she spotted Carl Jamieson striding out from a group of people, grinning at her as though he was delighted to claim acquaintance with her again. With unbelievably crass arrogance he ignored the fact she was with another man and focussed entirely on her.
Still grinning, he said, ‘You look fabulous, Daisy. No more penny-pinching, huh?’
Daisy instantly stiffened with resentment. Her ex-boyfriend was proving once again he was a fine weather friend. ‘I didn’t know you were into horse-racing, Carl,’ she said coldly.
‘It’s not usually my bag. I’m here with a bachelor party. One of the guys is getting married tomorrow.’
‘Then I suggest you rejoin your party.’
His ego took umbrage at her blanket rejection and he shot a sneering look at Ethan. ‘Got better fish to fry, have you?’
‘Yes, she has,’ Ethan replied with unruffled aplomb. ‘And I suggest you take Daisy’s advice and return to your party.’
Carl’s chin jutted up belligerently, but something in Ethan’s expression quickly changed his mind about challenging anything. ‘Fine!’ he snapped. ‘Have fun!’
Ethan’s arm tightened around hers as Carl turned his back on them. ‘Let’s move on,’ he murmured.
Daisy forced her feet to fall into step with him. ‘Sorry about that,’ she mumbled. ‘I didn’t expect to run into him here.’
‘Your ex-boyfriend?’
She winced. ‘Yes.’
‘I’m glad you didn’t give him any encouragement,’ he said dryly.
She lifted her gaze to his and found amusement twinkling in his green eyes. Her vexation with Carl broke into a giggle. ‘Well, he was very rude, Ethan, breaking in on us like that.’
He smiled with devilish humour. ‘And got his just deserts.’
Having regained her pleasure in the day, Daisy hugged his arm as they moved past the gate and strolled up the rose-bordered path to the pavilions overlooking the racetrack. She sniffed the scented air and felt a blissful joy in Ethan’s company. He was so different from Carl—caring, considerate and best of all, a giving person. Although he did want what he wanted in return. Which was fair enough, Daisy decided.