“Well, in that case,” he said, lifting her effortlessly into his arms.
“You don’t intend to argue?”she asked as he carried her down the passage to her bedroom.
“Right now, I want to kiss and touch you.Maybe tomorrow.You might come to your senses by then.”
“Huh!I doubt it.Something about you gets to me.No other man interests me in the same way.”When he didn’t comment, she continued.“You attracted me when I was younger, but I didn’t understand.Something compelled me to speak with you, and you ran away.”She hadn’t meant to sound accusing, but that’s what emerged in her words.
Henry reached her bedroom and released her, holding her upright until she stood firm.
“You terrified me,” Henry said.“I can admit that now, but I was running scared.You still terrify me, but I’ve stopped arguing with myself.”
“You promise?”
“If I take a backward step, you can call me on it.”
She beamed at him.“Done deal.So what next?More kissing?”
“What if you have doubts?Second thoughts?”
“Don’t think so.”The memory of meeting Henry all those years ago had stayed with her.She’d seen his panic before he’d fled and felt the rejection, but she’d remembered him during the intervening years and thought of him often.When she met him again, those memories surged back along with frustration at him for rebuffing her again.He’d spotted her in the cafe and practically sprinted out the door.That wouldn’t happen a third time.
“I’ll say this once, Henry.You don’t get another chance if you run from me again.I don’t need that kind of negativity.The aim is to play rugby and give it my full attention.I won’t be home much, but spending time with you and having fun when I’m here would be fantastic.”
His brows drew together, and the ease in his features dissipated.“I’d be your boy toy while you’re at home?”
“Not so much of the boy,” she purred.
“I’m not willing to be a plaything for your convenience,” he snapped.
Maia paused and cursed inwardly.She shouldn’t have tossed a careless joke when he was so skittish.“Henry, when I’m not in Middlemarch, I won’t have the time or inclination to date or spend time with men.My rugby career comes first, along with my other commitments.”
“What other commitments?”he asked, suspicion coloring his tone.
Maia hesitated before deciding if she wanted Henry in her life, nothing but total honesty would do.“Those reference books you saw in my office…”
His brow creased, and a flash of confusion crossed his face.“The books on mythology, the sex guides, and the travel handbooks?”
“I have those because I write when I’m not playing rugby.I write fantasy with a dash of romance, and the books are research.”
His brows rose.“The sex guides?”
“Yep, those too.Some of my characters are sexual, and reading a book on human behavior or about sex can spark ideas I can incorporate into my writing.”
Instead of giving her a hard time about the sex guides, which was where she thought this conversation might head, he changed tack.“Do you write under your name?”
“No.”She hesitated again before giving him the absolute truth.“I started writing when I was young after attending a creative writing class during the school holidays.My aunt hated me.She thought my mother wasn’t good enough for her brother.She refused to have me stay during the holidays, so I remained at my boarding school when the other students went home.The creative writing class helped me fill my days.I enjoyed it, and I wrote and entered competitions.In one, I caught an editor’s eye and, from there, published my first book.I’d started university, and the money I earned came in handy.The company my editor worked for ended up absorbed into another.My editor lost her job, and I didn’t get another contract, but she suggested self-publishing.Long story short, that’s what I did, and my series found an audience.I didn’t need to go through my aunt to request money from the trust my parents had set up for me.She rejected my requests and told me to get a job to pay for luxuries.”Maia couldn’t prevent her derisive snort.“As if a new pair of jeans and athletic shoes were luxuries when I grew out of my clothes.”
“You sidestepped my question about your name.”
“My aunt wouldn’t have approved of me writing books, so I chose a pen name and have used the same name ever since.”
“Which is?”
“Never mind,” she blurted.“I don’t want you looking up my books.”
“My stepmother writes romances and is quite successful.She was a sports journalist and wrote to fill the travel hours.Now that Dad and Megan have a kid, she writes while Levi is at school.London is in charge of her admin stuff, which frees Megan up to do more writing.”
“Is Megan self-published?”
