Caitlin giggled.“Well, sweetie, it so happens that you have a mother who writes romance novels.I’m sure you can steal some of her ideas to make the telephone conversations…how shall I put it?More interesting?Come to think of it, Mom’s stories may be too tame for what you need; I’ll send you a link for a book I heard about.And remember, the poor man doesn’t always have to be the first to say or do anything.We are twenty-first century women.I mean, look at you—you didn’t even wait for your knight in shining armor to rescue you from the dragon’s clutches—you clobbered the dragon with your high heel!”
A giggle escaped Hannah’s lips, and soon she and Caitlin were laughing uncontrollably.
“Thank you, I needed a good laugh,” Hannah said after the giggles finally stopped.
“Call him.I’m sure he’d love to hear from you,” Caitlin ordered before they ended the call.
*
By five o’clockthe next morning, Hannah was still wide awake, staring at her ceiling.She couldn’t sleep.She’d cleaned her apartment, made sure her schedule was up to date, sent out emails, and scrolled through the books on her tablet, struggling to find something that would interest her.And although she’d began reading one or two of the books, her mind was too busy to focus on the words in front of her, and she’d switched off the light at midnight, hoping to fall asleep.
But thoughts of Darryn kept her awake.No, make thatlongingfor him kept her awake.She missed him.Badly.And Caitlin’s words also kept turning in her head.Marry Darryn.Stay with him.
Could she do that?Could she give up everything she’d worked so hard for?Her career was at a point where she was able to choose the jobs she wanted to do.If Darryn insisted she stop working, would she do that?Did she want to do that?
Her phone beeped.She sat up, switched on her bedside lamp, and looked at her phone.It was a message from Caitlin with a link.Frowning, she opened the link.
The link opened on a site where a book was advertised.On the cover of the book was the muscled chest of a very sexy cowboy.Giggling, she remembered Caitlin did say something about sending her a book she’d heard about.
She bent down to pick up her tablet where she’d dropped it the previous night and, sitting back against the pillows, opened the e-reader, clicked on the muscled torso, and started reading.
A few pages into the book, she grabbed an envelope that was lying on the side table and began to fan herself.Oh, my goodness—did people do this?
And the more difficult question: couldshedo this?Did she have the guts to pull this off?Out of breath, she put down the tablet, several interesting thoughts racing through her head.
She’d never thought of herself as brazen, but when she was with Darryn she had absolutely no shame.Loving him the way she did, it was easy to give everything of herself to him.But wow, this…?She glanced at the story again.This was taking bold to a whole new level.
Well, she wanted to know if he still loved her, still wanted her.This was one way to find out.
She picked up her phone and scrolled to Darryn’s number.Her finger hovered over his name.Inhaling deeply, she finally pressed it.
Chapter Eighteen
Darryn had hadenough.This was a bloody waste of everyone’s time.The meeting wasn’t going as planned.This was supposed to be a mere formality so the papers could be signed, and now one of the sellers had all sorts of ridiculous stipulations.
They decided to build another hotel, somewhere along the Garden Route, a stretch of road along the southeastern coast of South Africa which extended from Mossel Bay in the Western Cape to the Storms River in the Eastern Cape.It was a popular tourist destination and included towns such as Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, and Nature’s Valley, with George being the Garden Route’s largest town and main administrative center.
They’d decided on the picturesque town of Knysna for their hotel.The piece of land they were interested in was near the Knysna Lagoon and would suit what they had in mind.Now all of a sudden, one of the owners was worried they’d put up something that wouldn’t fit in with the environment.And this after Dale, the architect of the group, had spent weeks there before he’d drawn up plans for the hotel.But the guy kept finding fault.
Just as he opened his mouth, though, his phone rang.The caller ID indicated that Hannah was calling, and he promptly forgot what he was going to say.
Frowning, he got up and excused himself, in spite of Don’s raised eyebrow.Hannah never phoned him, especially this time of day.He was usually the one who called and he hadn’t spoken to her in a few days.A sense of urgency had him nearly running from the room.Something had to be wrong, very wrong.
“Hannah, what’s wrong?”
“Hi, Darryn.”She breathed in his ear.“Nothing is wrong.I…I was wondering…”
Silence.
“Yes?”he asked in a clipped voice, his heartbeat settling.She was obviously fine.
“What are you wearing?”
Stunned, he took the phone from his ear to make sure it was actually Hannah.What the hell?
“Hannah?I’m not sure what—”
“I’m wearing pearls and a smile,” her voice whispered in his ear.
