Falling for the Lawyer - By Anna Clifton Page 0,66

seriousness. “It was all very sudden.”

“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me you were leaving. You have my phone numbers.”

JP regarded her with a cool stare and shrugged. “Do you think it was absolutely necessary? You’ve only been working for me for a month, after all.”

Alex smarted at the rejection and looked away into the crowd to collect herself before going on.

It was not turning out well.

She was already picturing herself climbing into a cab to go home alone that night. Yet she was determined to speak from the heart once and for all before he vanished out of her life for good.

“You know it’s been more than just a one month job for me.”

“Has it, Alex?” he threw at her immediately. “You’ve spent most of that month telling me you don’t want me in your life. What is it that you do want from me exactly? Why are you here?”

Alex stared wildly at him. He didn’t have feelings for her after all. She was about to make a big fat fool of herself. In fact, she already had by appearing at the airport in the first place. But then without another thought she jumped into the emotional abyss of blue and bottomless icy depths lying in wait for her.

“I needed to see you one more time,” she began unsteadily but soon summoned her courage and locked her eyes with his, her voice following in its calm wake. “I know I shouldn’t be here. You’re right. I only worked for you for a month and that’s not a foundation for anything is it? Yet despite that, I’m so sad you’re leaving JP. I’ll miss you. I’m already missing you. The last month has been the worst and yet because of you, the most wonderful of my life. Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say.”

Alex swung around and began to walk towards the exit doors, hurriedly wiping away the tears rolling down her cheeks. She’d said what she came to say but couldn’t bear to linger for the rejection he was about to dish out.

But in the next moment JP had caught her arm and was swinging her around. His two hands were holding her so firmly she couldn’t have moved if she’d tried.

“If you could choose anything,” he began, his voice husky and urgent, his eyes burning into hers before he repeated himself, “If you could choose anything right now, what would it be?”

Alex stared at him but the truth filled her heart and overflowed before she replied, “To be with you.”

“Why, Alex?”

“Because I love you …”

JP gave her a half-wild look as he took her head in his hands and devoured her with his eyes.

“Then come with me.”

Alex was giddy. It was too much. It wasn’t happening. It sounded as if it wasn’t over, but she had to be dreaming. Any minute now she’d wake up from the dream and discover that JP was long gone from the country and from her life.

“What?” she whispered. “How can I?”

“This is how,” JP smiled at her, dropping his hands from her head to draw paperwork from his inside pocket and hand it to her. In a blur she could see references to E-tickets, Qantas and Alex Farrer.

She looked up at JP in startled confusion. “You want me to come with you to England?”

JP nodded and cupped her face with his hand. “More than anything in the world. Of course if you don’t want to then we’ll stay here. Somehow I’ll work out another arrangement for the London office.”

“No, I want to go,” Alex gushed helplessly. “More than you can imagine. It’s important for the firm that you’re there and it’ll be an adventure for me, and going there with you is … well, it’s like a dream coming true. But are you talking about a permanent move?”

“Maybe, but it’s up to you Al. You’ll need time to think about where you want to live and what you’d like to do in terms of work and study. Let’s go for a month or two and see how we like it.”

“Okay then,” Alex laughed, her head swimming with the exhilarating uncertainties swarming into her life. “So I’m going to get on a plane tonight, in gym clothes?”

“Do you get the feeling this relationship of ours is coming round to full circle? Here we are standing in a public place again and discussing your clothing options.”

And then Alex felt it: the cold hard slap of reality showstopper. “Oh God, JP,” she whispered portentously.