edgy. He looked... simply stunning.
Or perhaps that was just the stars in her peripheral vision. But good looks were no excuse for barging into her space.
Hell, she’d come to terms with him leaving her, and what he thought of her. She didn’t like it but it had happened. And, as always, she was dealing with the fallout. Work helped. Mojitos helped more. But she was still raw. He hadn’t given them time to talk things through more. He hadn’t even given her the time of day.
It was bad enough that she bumped into him at work, but having him in her room again? Cruel. ‘It’s six-thirty in the morning on my day off. This had better be important.’
‘It is. It’s a matter of life and death.’ He bent down and produced a cardboard box containing the most pathetic collection of droopy geraniums she’d ever seen. ‘We need help.”
‘You can say that again. It’s about time you realised.’ Examining the state of the plants, she moved sideways and let him in, taking care not to inhale too closely. Lord only knew what would happen if she breathed in that smell of his too. It was intoxicating. Lethal.
But he’d come here at the crack of dawn because of plants? He’d clearly joined her in the crazy stakes.
She carried the geraniums through to the kitchen and placed them in the sink. Then turned on the cold tap in an attempt at resuscitation. ‘You need intensive care. Or at least they do. I don’t know what I was thinking, giving you sole care of these.’
‘I neglected them.’ He studied her and gave her a nervous smile. ‘Look, Gabby, I neglected a lot of things.’
‘Oh?’ Now this was getting interesting. Her heart restarted its weird axe-murderer lumpy rhythm. ‘Like what?’
‘Like telling you how very sorry I am that we lost our baby.’ And that you can’t have any more.
He didn’t have to say it, but it was there in the silence and in those startling Maitland eyes. She pressed her lips together to hold the hurt inside.
They’d never had a chance to grieve together and come to terms with the pregnancy and the loss. Everything had happened so quickly. Including falling in love with him. ‘Me too.’
He took a deep breath. ‘And I neglected to tell you I understand about Joe.’
‘Oh.’ Her hand instinctively went to her necklace. ‘Max, I don’t need—’
He gently placed his finger on her lips. ‘I said I understand. I really do. I’ve thought about the hell you must have gone through so young. I couldn’t see that. I just judged you because of what happened to me. The words “adoption” and “fostering” left me cold, and I couldn’t see past that. I’m so sorry. I was a jerk.’
She shrugged, trying to find words, but nothing seemed adequate. So she smiled instead. ‘Yes, you were. A capital jerk.’
He smiled too. ‘Gee, thanks.’
‘I was only agreeing with you.’
His smile grew serious. ‘I do know how much you’re hurting. Losing someone is tragic. I know.’ His fingers went to the diamond. ‘This is something to do with Joe, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, it’s his birthstone. I never take it off.’
‘I noticed.’ His eyebrows rose and she saw his eyes were warm, sparking with a gentleness that melted that hardened corner of her heart. ‘That first night in the bar?’
‘Was his birthday.’ The day she celebrated and regretted in equal measure every year. Now the hurt meshed with the love she felt for her child and for Max. She didn’t know if she was strong enough to take any more.
Then his palm caressed the necklace, stroked her throat. Heat zipped between them. ‘It’s beautiful. Like you.’
Her need for him was shooting off the scale. Being so close to him was torment. She stepped away. ‘Max, please, don’t do this. I can’t take these games.’
‘Will you ever stop interrupting?’ He laughed and filled the space she’d left. Kissing distance. That’s all. ‘Hear me out, Gabby. I neglected to tell you that I’m crazy mixed-up and only just beginning to get sorted out. I’m trying, I honestly am. I wasn’t looking to fall in love with you, but it just happened, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. And then the ectopic pregnancy clouded everything and I was scared for you... Eugh— What the hell?’
He tapped his foot and made a splashing sound.
Together they looked down at the lake of water lapping towards their feet.
‘Shoot! The tap!’ Gabby jumped to the sink, where the plants bobbed