“I’m sorry,” he says. His face is tortured, and I reach out and hug him. He inhales and his arms band tight around me.
I move back a little and cup his face in my hands. It’s such a strong face, the bones and angles impossibly dear to me. “I don’t know anymore what you’re apologising for, Reuben. Once I would have thought it was for shagging around. Now?” I shake my head. “Now I think it’s something else, something even more serious than that, and while I can get over the way you behaved in the past, this secret will probably end up destroying the future.Ourfuture. That’s why I don’t want it to be a secret.”
He’s breathing heavily. “I don’t want to tell you.”
My eyes sharpen. “Don’t want to? That’s an odd thing to say.”
“It will hurt you.”
“You’ve already done that.”
Footsteps sound, and Reuben groans as Grey comes up next to us. “It’s cold,” he chides. “Go on inside, the two of you.”
I let go of Reuben, feeling his arms release me reluctantly and turn to Grey. “Thank you,” I say slowly.
He smiles. His hair is ruffled, his mouth a little swollen, so he’s obviously been welcomed home. “No problem.”
He steps past us and up onto a veranda, opening the front door and beckoning us in.
Reuben whistles for the dog as I walk into the house. It’s open-plan, with warm, bright colours and a log burner crackling merrily.
“This is lovely,” I say.
He directs me into a huge kitchen at the back of the house. The massive windows offer an unimpeded view of the ocean, grey now in the dying light.
“I’ll make some tea,” he says, heading over to the kettle. “Reuben, for the love of god take a breath before you fall over and break something important.”
“His body?” I ask.
“I was thinking of my lemon tree, but yeah, let’s go with that.”
My loud laughter stuns me, but it’s impossible to contain. Reuben stares at me like I’ve been replaced by an alien version. Then he slowly slumps onto a barstool.
“Good,” Grey says. “There’s some mail on the table for you. Hachette wants to discuss buying the rights to the book we discussed, and we need to negotiate the audio rights. I’m not happy with them.”
I stare at Grey. “Who are you?”
He smiles at me. “I’m Reuben’s agent. Didn’t he tell you?”
Reuben huffs. “I’ve largely avoided mentioning your name to Xavier for the last five years.”
“And that was a gigantic mistake, and I do remember telling you so at the time.”
“It wasn’t just the once,” Reuben says gloomily. He sighs and rubs his eyes tiredly.
I look at Bernard, who’s sitting quietly watching us as if sensing the drama. “He’s getting sand all over the place. Will you wash him, Roo?”
He hesitates, obviously calculating his next move. “Sure,” he finally says. “You coming to help?”
“I think you can manage it on your own,” I say mildly.
He was obviously hoping to get me outside, and now he’s unsure what to do. I raise my eyebrows. Finally, he gives a sigh and clicks his fingers to Bernard. The puppy walks over, and Reuben says, “I will be back in a bit. For the love of god, Grey,pleasedon’t say anything.”
“This is my house.”
“I don’t care. Tell me you won’t discuss anything that you shouldn’t.”
Grey considers that thoughtfully. Then he nods. The door shutting behind Reuben and Bernard is loud in the suddenly quiet room. I have the impulse to follow him outside, and I run my hand through my hair, wincing at the knots in the salt-dampened strands. I always thought that if I met Grey again, I’d be immaculately dressed, every inch the supermodel. In reality, I look like a complete mess with wild hair and damp, crumpled clothes.
