He liked open space, clean lines and absolutely no clutter whatsoever. He should have hated this, but he immediately felt at home.
‘Things ended fine between us,’ Erin quickly contradicted. ‘I told you I wasn’t prepared to carry on sleeping with you until the whole thing fizzled out and then I packed my stuff and left.’
‘Afterwards I wondered whether you might have been offended because I offered you that promotion.’
‘Why would I have been offended? It was a very generous offer.’
‘Could we sit? Maybe I could have something to drink. I’ve spent quite some time on the road.’
Erin sighed.
She didn’t want him here and yet she felt as though she’d never wanted anything more in her life. She didn’t want to look at him but her rebellious eyes couldn’t help but stray, and oh, how beautiful he was. He was an assault on the senses and she could feel herself spinning back to square one. The pain of not having him in her life was hitting her all over again, full force.
Maybe he’d come to check in on her.
He was naturally intuitive and yes, he might have sensed that after their amazing time together, there had been something cool and remote when she had said goodbye. Maybe her unhappiness had somehow got through to him and, as the friend he had always been, he’d felt compelled to come and find out what was going on.
But with the parameters altered between them, he’d felt awkward about announcing his intention.
She didn’t care, and she hated herself for second-guessing.
‘Colin should never have told you where I was staying. It was out of order for him to give you my address.’
She walked towards the kitchen, keenly aware of Raffaele just behind her. Every nerve in her body was alert to his towering presence behind her.
‘I can make you a coffee and you can tell me why you’re here and then you can head back to London, Raffaele. Or else there’s a hotel in the village if you’d rather check in there and save yourself the trip back. My parents are out at the moment and I’d rather you weren’t around when they get back.’
‘Why?’
‘Why what?’ Stretching up to reach a mug from the cupboard, Erin spun around and looked at him with undisguised hostility. She didn’t care what he read into her expression.
In a rush, she felt a tidal wave of resentment that he had shown up here, in the very place in which she had come to take refuge. She needed to get him out of her system but right now, with him crowding her in the small, cosy kitchen, every inch of her system was lit up by him.
‘Look, Raffaele, if you’ve come to discuss some stupid work thing, then there was no need to trek all the way down here to sort it out. I did offer to stay and do a handover if that was what you wanted, but you refused.’
‘I know. I’m not here about some stupid work thing, Erin. Come. Sit. Forget the coffee. I’ll survive without it. Please.’
Erin hesitated. He looked exhausted. Haggard. She hadn’t really noticed before because she’d been too wrapped up with dealing with her own emotions.
‘I’ve been a fool’ was the first thing he said when she was seated on the chair at the pine kitchen table, facing him.
His hands were resting loosely on the table and he had spoken so softly that she’d had to strain to hear what he was saying.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I let you go.’
Raffaele looked at her and as their eyes tangled, he realised that he’d never felt more vulnerable.
He also realised that this wasn’t the first time he’d felt this way. She’d unlocked a piece of him a long time ago. He just hadn’t realised it until they’d become lovers. Then all those things he’d shared with her had, piece by piece, unlocked more and more of his frozen heart.
But still he’d refused point blank to admit it.
‘You didn’tlet me go, Raffaele,’ Erin said, sounding confused. ‘I decided that I couldn’t carry on working for you because I would have found it too awkward even if we weren’t physically sharing the same space, and because I felt it was a good time to branch out. So…’
‘I’ve never shared myself with anyone the way I shared myself with you.’
‘You’ve had a million lovers.’
