particularly when he thought of his sister’s tears and the hollow look of hurt that still haunted her eyes. Annabel had been bright and bubbly and happy until Lawson got hold of her and crushed her spirit and her ability to trust.
But that said, Sev was even angrier that Amy had been hurt too and that he had to accept that he had recklessly, blindly caused that hurt. As for Lawson’s wife, well, he hadn’t thought of her at all, except as a sort of deus ex machina, who would hopefully punish Lawson even more for him. He felt vaguely sorry for the woman, but she had to have some idea of the nature of the man to whom she had been married for over twenty years.
Getting ready to meet Sev at the upmarket bar in Highgate, Amy would not allow herself to make a special effort. She wouldn’t be staying long; she wouldn’t be trying to attract him. There was no longer anything between them, although the birth of their child would change that, she thought in shock acceptance of the link that would be created between them. If Sev planned to be involved with their child, she would have to work on having a more friendly relationship with him. She shrugged, reckoning that the occasional smile and polite word would suffice if their paths crossed. That would cost her little but, for all she knew, he wouldn’t be interested in access to their son or daughter. He might not be too much different from her own father.
Petting Hopper and tucking him back in his cage with the promise of a future treat, she headed for the Tube station. The meeting place was a fashionable bar and busy. She picked her way through the throng, feeling underdressed in her somewhat shabby black sweater and jeans amidst all the smartly dressed office workers congregated round the bar, her anxious gaze engaged in skimming round the room in search of Sev. He lifted a lean brown hand to signal her from a corner booth, which would mercifully offer them, she realised, a fair amount of privacy.
It was now or never, Sev registered grimly. He had to apologise, had to bite the bullet and hope that that climbdown worked some magic for him. He wanted his life back to normal and it didn’t feel normal any more without Amy. He didn’t understand that extraordinary fact, but didn’t need to understand it to know that he wanted her back, wanted to see her smile at him again. And if the miracle cure to the emptiness dogging him was an apology, he was determined to give it a go, even if on some level the concept still struck him as humiliating.
Sev signalling her, Amy thought painfully, suddenly reminded her painfully of their first encounter at the café, and she stilled before she remembered that that had all been one big fake from his supposed interest to his every question. Now pale and taut, she sank down on the bench opposite him and fought not to be electrified with excitement by his eyes glinting at her from below the lush black screen of his lashes.
‘Hi,’ she muttered awkwardly, her fingers plucking nervously at the cuffs of her sweater.
Sev breathed in deep, afraid of losing his momentum. ‘I’m sorry I hurt you,’ he murmured quietly, apologising for the first time ever to a woman. ‘That was never my intention. I’m afraid I didn’t spend any time thinking about how that little confrontation would impact on you.’
‘We don’t need to talk about that any more,’ Amy told him uncomfortably, her facial muscles tightening for she saw no point now in going back over still-sensitive subjects, but she was relieved that he had ultimately recognised his mistakes. ‘I think we did the topic to death and it’s behind us now.’
‘What would you like to drink?’ Sev asked as a waitress appeared by the edge of the table and stared at Sev as though he had walked off a movie screen in front of her.
‘Just a water for me, please.’ With his attention momentarily distracted, Amy feasted her attention on him, noting the shadow of dark stubble accentuating his sculpted jaw line and beautifully full sensual mouth, and suppressing a shiver to stare down at the leopard-print table surface instead. Remembering his mouth on her body, she felt hot all over and she pressed her thighs together, fighting to shut out those embarrassingly intimate memories, which now felt inappropriate.