Second Chance in the Outback - Chapter 4

Grace looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Then she gave a funny laugh. ‘What on earth for?’

That laugh rankled.

‘Heck, Jamie, we were only kids. None of that matters anymore.’ She peered up into his face. ‘Does it?’

Of course it mattered! But apparently only to him. He managed a shrug. ‘I don’t want there to be any awkwardness.’

‘No awkwardness here.’

The expression on her face when she’d first clapped eyes on him had said otherwise. She might want to pretend everything was hunky-dory, but in that moment, she’d been thrown for a loop—and not a good one. ‘Your face when you first saw me wasn’t exactly a study in nonchalance.’

She hooked her chin up at the exact same angle as she had at sixteen whenever she’d felt at a disadvantage. It made him smile to know she still did it.

‘I was surprised!’

The smile slid off his lips. ‘Not in a good way.’

She chewed on her bottom lip, unknowingly making it lusher and fuller, deepening the colour. Hunger roared through him. Gritting his teeth, he ignored it. He’d come here to avoid drama and romance. Dana had cured him of the last of his romantic illusions. He wasn’t starting something with Grace even if she was interested. Which she clearly wasn’t.

‘What happened fifteen years ago didn’t cover either of us in glory, Jamie. It’s logical that surprise should be followed by a healthy dose of embarrassment.’ Her chin lifted further as if daring him to defy her. ‘I overreacted. You ran. There’s nothing more to say on the matter.’

He’d known that’s what she’d thought he’d done, but to hear her say it so baldly, so matter-of-factly… The exhaustion of travelling for two days descended over him. He wanted nothing more than to collapse into the armchair in the living room, close his eyes, and shut out the world.

‘But we were only sixteen. We were too young to know any better.’ She planted hands on those glorious hips and he choked back a groan. Don’t stare! ‘Yes, I was surprised and initially embarrassed. But we’re not starry-eyed kids anymore and we ought to forgive ourselves for all of that and put it behind us.’ The lines on her brow deepened as she surveyed him. ‘Agreed?’

He shrugged. ‘Sure.’

‘I’ll see you in the morning then.’

‘Okay.’

What had happened all of those years ago had obviously meant more to him than it had to her. In typical teenage fashion he’d over-inflated its importance, had probably fixated on it to ignore the chaos that had been his life—courtesy of his parents.

You’ve turned into your father. His father-in-law’s words—ex-father-in-law—went round and round in his mind. Did Eric seriously think Jamie a man who cared more about money and status than he did about people? He respected Eric. Far more than he ever had his father. Unlike his father, Eric had always been honest, straight…ethical. Eric’s accusation had chilled him to the bone. It still did. The one person he’d never wanted to emulate was his father.

Dragging in a breath, he let it out slowly. Had he become a cold and soulless workaholic? Everything inside him rebelled at the thought. More to the point, if he had, could he reverse it?