ten or twenty years time I’ll still feel this strongly about you.”
But Kate could.
She pulled open the door and picked up her suitcase.
“Goodbye Daniel,” she said.
Chapter eleven
Daniel walked up the plank leading into the building and in through the open doorway. A labourer with a wheelbarrow full of rubble walked past him. As the man turned a corner in the corridor, a half-brick slipped off the top of the pile to land on Daniel’s toe. The man apologised immediately.
Daniel looked down at his Italian leather shoes, covered in dust, the leather toe on one shoe dented from the brick which had landed on it. Leaving his office in a hurry, he’d forgotten to take the steel-toed boots he wore on building inspections and now his new shoes were ruined.
Not that it mattered. They were only shoes.
“Don’t worry about it, mate,” he said to the labourer, and kept walking.
The smell of concrete dust filled the air. As a property developer, Daniel had been on many building sites and the smell reminded him of the excitement of seeing projects in progress. But that wasn’t why he was here.
Kate Henry stood at the far end of the central corridor that ran through the building. Wearing tailored sage coloured pants and a matching jacket over a simple tee shirt, she looked like she’d pulled on a pair of work boots to come to site.
Her blond hair brushed against her shoulders, peeking out from beneath a hard hat. Daniel wondered how it was possible for a woman to look so damn good wearing a bright yellow construction hat.
She seemed to have spotted him through the corner of her eye but kept talking to the tradesman with whom she was dealing. The man appeared to be arguing with her but she pointed to the plans in her hands, her expression firm. Seconds later, the workman raised his hands as though giving up, nodded and walked away.
It was clear this was her playing field, her area of expertise, and she meant business.
She looked Daniel in the eye as soon as he neared her. “This is a construction site.”
“I go on site all the time,” he said.
“I’m at work.”
“I know. That’s why I came. It was the only way I could catch you when you wouldn’t return my calls.”
“There’s a reason for that. There’s nothing left to discuss. We’re through.”
“No we’re not.”
She turned, walked away and opened a steel framed glass door leading to an internal courtyard. Swinging the door open and closed repeatedly, she appeared to be checking the hinges. Whatever she was doing, she was avoiding him.
How many times had she told him she’d made mistakes in her past? Now, he’d made a big one. He’d thought he could play by his rules, have everything his own way, and it was painfully obvious he’d been wrong.
Daniel hadn’t realised how much Kate meant to him until she’d walked away. It was such a cliché. It was also the truth.
In the last ten years he’d got everything he wanted. Every woman. Every business deal. Each interaction made him more experienced, more accomplished, better equipped to handle the next challenge.
He’d been called arrogant more than a few times, but so what? As far as he was concerned, he had reason to be.
It hadn’t helped prepare him for this. Women didn’t walk away from him. Damn it, they came to him, not the other way around. He had an ego and plenty of pride but that wasn’t what this was about.
He loved Kate.
It was as simple as that.
He just hadn’t known it before.
Daniel leaned against the wall behind her, his arms crossed. “I can wait until you’re ready.”
Planting her hands on her hips, she turned to face him. “I’m never going to be ready.”
“I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”
She frowned. “I’m busy. You can see that.”
“I didn’t want to badger you at work.”
“Fine. Then don’t.”
“I’ll go if you agree to see me tonight.” She pursed her lips so he added, “I can stay here all day and try to get your attention or I can come to your apartment tonight.”
She scowled. “That’s blackmail.”
He shook his head. “It’s not that bad.”
She closed the steel-framed door and walked away. “Eight o’clock.” She glanced back at his feet, and added, “Shame about the shoes.”
Daniel didn’t give a toss about the shoes. He’d got what he wanted.
For now.
* * *
Kate pulled open the door to her apartment. Perhaps she should have answered Daniel’s calls and spoken to him on the phone, after