The High Price of Secrets(30)
“Are you sure I won’t be any bother?”
“One steak or two on the grill, it makes no difference to me.”
“Okay, then,” she agreed. “I’d like that. How about I bring a salad and something for dessert?”
“I’ve got dessert covered, but if you’d like to bring a salad that’d be great. See you around six?”
“Sure.” She nodded eagerly, her dark eyes glowing. “I’m looking forward to it already.”
Nine
The afternoon dragged interminably. Tamsyn dusted and polished and vacuumed the cottage feverishly. She’d had to keep busy to keep her mind off the dinner ahead.
Over and over she’d told herself it was just a neighborly gesture, but she couldn’t forget that moment yesterday when they’d almost kissed. Of course, she’d castigated herself several times over for a fool for even contemplating kissing another man. It had only been a matter of days since she’d broken her engagement. But had it been a true engagement?
She’d thought so at the time, even though their relationship had been low on intimacy and high on society events. Looking back, she realized that Trent had been grooming her to be his very public partner right from the start of their relationship—introducing her to the senior partners of the law firm where he worked at his earliest opportunity. She could see now that she’d been a smoke screen to hide the parts of himself that his conservative bosses wouldn’t have liked, and now that the shock was receding, she was angry. Angry at him for using her so badly and, even more so, angry with herself for not realizing she was being used.
Perhaps if she hadn’t had such a sheltered upbringing at The Masters. Perhaps if she’d traveled widely, like her soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Isobel, or been more outgoing or…well, anything—it might have saved her from making herself into the biggest fool in her family’s history. Whatever, she’d grown up the way she had, made the choices and decisions that had led her to Trent and now here. She had nothing to be ashamed of.
Yet, if that was the case, why did she feel she had so much to prove? Why was it so important to her that a man like Finn Gallagher find her attractive? She’d be stupid not to have seen the way he looked at her. She’d done a fair bit of looking herself—he was, after all, gorgeous, and he made her feel almost gorgeous herself. Maybe a fling with a man like Finn Gallagher was exactly what she needed.
She was going to dinner with an attractive man. One who’d asked for her company. One who she’d seen every day since she arrived here. That had to count for something, surely. He’d chosen to seek her out, chosen to spend time with her. The idea gave her a happy buzz and she went out to the vegetable garden with a spring in her step.
Bringing a salad for tonight’s meal might not be much of a contribution, but she’d make sure it was the best salad Finn Gallagher had ever seen. After picking the salad greens and some early ripe cherry tomatoes, and pulling a couple of fresh radishes from the plot, she took everything inside to wash and drain. Afterward, she went for another brief shower and decided on what to wear tonight. Jeans just felt too casual and she’d already bundled up the skirt and blouse he’d seen her wear on Saturday for recycling—never wanting to ever wear them again. Given her limited options, that pretty much left the purple-and-blue dress she’d worn on Sunday.
Well, why not, she decided, pulling it off the hanger and slipping it on over her head. She loved it and she might as well get the use out of it. She brushed her hair out thoroughly until it crackled beneath the bristles then swept half of it up into a loose knot, leaving the lower section to tumble down her back and over her shoulders. Glancing at herself in the mirror she found herself smiling. Yeah, she liked the effect.