Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,116

a sudden expression of fury flitted across his face, the anger from earlier returning and he focused directly in on the first part of her statement.

“Will that bastard force you, Elise? Will he? Shit! How the hell can I leave you now?”

“Hey...” she said placatingly, cupping his hands that were still holding her face. “I don’t know whether he will or not; chances are that he won’t – sometimes he overdoes the alcohol just a little too much if you know what I mean. Try not to worry, I’ll be fine.” She hoped rather than believed that that would be the case. Christmas always meant sex but she wasn’t about to tell Vaughn that. She had coped with it every year up until now and she would cope with it again. This year would be different though because maybe this year, she would be coping with it in the knowledge that this would be her last year, and in the madness that was her life, what better Christmas present could she ask for than that?

Vaughn looked at her with disbelief and worry in his eyes but he obviously realised that there was little he could do and that he would just have to trust that she would be ok.

“I hate the thought of leaving you now.” He said, “You have no idea how much I wish things were different.”

She smiled at him. “Me too, but it is what it is and I promise it’ll all be fine. One day, this will sort itself out – it has to.”

Vaughn moved his thumbs and began gently caressing her cheeks as he continued to gaze into her eyes and she dropped her hands to her lap. For long moments words were unnecessary until eventually he broke the silence.

“Elise, why don’t you wear a wedding ring?” he asked and she could tell that he placed a lot of importance on the symbolism of this gesture.

She shrugged - the answer wasn’t anywhere near as mysterious as the effect it clearly had on him.

“A few years back I got an allergy and had really bad eczema on my hands. My fingers were sore and swollen so I had to remove all my rings. They thought it was something to do with the stress and medication.....” she stopped, realising that she had inadvertently revealed something that she wasn’t ready to go into and desperately hoped that he wouldn’t pursue it. “Anyway, by the time my hands had healed, things weren’t great between Dale and I and it just never seemed the right time to put it back on. I kept expecting him to mention it but he never did. I guess it’s because I kept my maiden name as well – perhaps he just didn’t think it was that important. We’ve never talked about it since.”

Vaughn moved his hands to cover hers and deliberately ran his finger up and down the third finger on her left hand all the while watching his actions, totally entranced.

“I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want their ring on your finger.” He said. “If you were mine, there would be no question of anyone thinking you were anything but married to me.”

His last words were spoken forcefully and Elise was surprised at the emotion behind them. Although she understood the symbolism of the ring, the fact that she didn’t wear it didn’t make her any less married than if she did. Clearly Vaughn didn’t share that view and in some ways she could see what he meant. The ring was visual and gave out an instant message and for the first time she could understand how her not wearing a ring could be a cause for confusion and misunderstanding.

Suddenly there was a loud knocking on the car window which made them both jump, and they instantly broke apart.

Elise recovered first and wound down her window. “Shit, Cole! You really need to stop sneaking up on me – I swear you are going to give me a heart attack one day!”

Cole just smiled at her with infuriating innocence. “Hey, beautiful! Good conference?” He leaned in further to address Vaughn, “They’re waiting for you upstairs. Apparently Annabel had to let them know the second you entered the building so she has been watching the security camera like a hawk. They know you’re back, mate, and they’re not too pleased.”

“Shit.” Vaughn said and reached over to give Elise’s hand one last squeeze before exiting the car. Cole opened Elise’s door and helped her out before