‘Hunter Valley whites are second to none,’ Justin replied, sipping also.
‘Can…can I tell Isabel about us?’ Rachel asked tentatively. ‘She’ll be home from her honeymoon tomorrow.’
‘If you want to. But I’d rather you didn’t mention what we’ve been up to these past two weeks.’
‘Heavens, I wasn’t going to tell her about that!’ she exclaimed.
Rachel doubted Isabel would be shocked as such. But she would be furious. With Justin, for treating her best friend in such a fashion. At least now Rachel would be able to say that she was Justin’s proper girlfriend. They might even be able to go out with Rafe and Isabel sometimes as a foursome.
Justin’s head tipped to one side as he searched her face. ‘You have enjoyed what we’ve been doing, haven’t you, Rachel?’
‘How can you ask that?’ she exclaimed, blushing now. ‘You know I have.’
‘And your tears tonight… Did you tell me the truth about them?’
She swallowed, then looked him straight in the face. ‘Why would I lie?’
‘I was worried you might think you’re in love with me.’
‘Not at all,’ she said without batting an eyelid. And it wasn’t really a lie, because she was sure she was in love with him. ‘I…I confess I was bit upset because you hadn’t kissed me first. You just…you know…’
He grimaced. ‘You’re right. It was unforgivable of me. But I refuse to take all the blame. That perfume you’re wearing today should be banned. I just couldn’t wait.’
Rachel made a mental note to buy a king-sized bottle of that one. If she couldn’t have Justin’s love, she could at least ensure his ongoing lust.
‘So when are we going on our first date?’ she asked eagerly.
‘We’re on it now.’
‘Oh. Yes. So we are. And where to after dinner?’
‘I thought I’d take you home to my place for the night.’
Now Rachel was seriously surprised. When he’d said he would like to come home with her sometimes she’d thought he was still keeping his own place out of bounds.
‘If you like, that is,’ he added.
‘I’d like it very much.’
‘I lease a furnished apartment at Kirribilli,’ he went on. ‘No point in buying a place when I plan on setting up my future business out of the city. I’d like to buy some building with a couple of floors and then I can live above the office. I resent the time I waste travelling to and from work. Not that Kirribilli is all that far from here. Just over the bridge. But you know what I mean. Parking in the CBD is appalling and public transport is the pits.’
‘I know just what you mean. I don’t mind my train trip too much when I get a seat. But that’s not always the case. So what’s it like, your place in Kirribilli?’
‘Very modern. Very stylish. But a bit on the soulless side. Could do with a spot of colour. Everything’s in neutral shades.’
‘Sounds like the place I live in. It’s all cream and cold. I much prefer warm colours and a cosy, almost cluttered feel to a room. That’s why I’d like my own place, eventually, no matter how small. Then I could decorate it exactly as I want, with lots of interesting pictures on the walls, and knick-knacks galore.’
‘Sounds like Mum’s place. Truly, there’s hardly a spare space on the walls, or on any of the furniture. She’s a collectorholic. You’ll have to come over and see her collection of teapots one day. They fill up two china cabinets all by themselves.’
Rachel blinked her surprise. ‘You mean you’re going to tell Alice about us?’
‘Is there any reason you want to keep our friendship a secret?’
‘No. I guess not. But you know mothers. She might start thinking we’ll get married one day.’
‘I can’t worry about what she might think,’ he said a bit sharply. ‘She should know me well enough to know that is never going to happen. Now, why don’t you think about what you’re going to order for dinner? The waiter’s on his way over.’ And he picked up his menu.
Rachel was happy to do likewise, aware that her face had to be registering some dismay over his curt remark that he would never marry her. As much as Rachel tried telling herself that she was pleased with the kind of relationship Justin was offering her, deep down in her heart she knew it was a second-rate substitute for marriage and a family.
Isabel would think her a fool for accepting such a go-nowhere affair. What on earth are you doing, Rach, she’d say, wasting more of your life on another man who’s never going to marry you or give you children? You’re thirty-one years old, for pity’s sake. Soon you’ll be thirty-two. Grow up and give him the flick. And get yourself another job whilst you’re at it.
Easier said than done.
Love made one foolish. And eternally hopeful.
Even whilst cold, hard logic reasoned she was wasting her time, Rachel kept telling herself that maybe, one day, Justin would get over his ex-wife and fall in love with her. Maybe, if she was always there for him, he’d wake up one morning and see what was right under his nose. A woman who loved him. A woman who would never leave him. A woman who’d give him a good life. And children, if he liked.
He would make a wonderful father, she believed. And she…she would dearly love the chance to be a wonderful mother.
‘So what do you want?’ he asked, glancing up from the menu.
You, she thought with a painful twist of her heart. Just you.
RACHEL woke mid-morning to the sun shining in the bedroom window and the smell of fresh coffee percolating. Justin’s side of the bed was empty, but she could hear him whistling somewhere.
He sounded happy. And so was she. Relatively.
Spending last night in his bed had given her some hope that Justin hadn’t changed the rules of their relationship just so he could have more of what he’d been having at the office. When he’d brought her back to his apartment after dinner he’d been incredibly sweet, and his lovemaking incredibly tender. He’d held her in his arms afterwards, stroking her hair and back. Strangely, she’d felt like crying again at the time, but she’d kept a grip on herself, thank the lord. Justin wouldn’t have known what to make of that. She’d finally fallen asleep and here she was, totally rested and…totally surprised.
‘Goodness, breakfast in bed!’ she exclaimed as a navy-robed Justin carried one of those no-spill trays into the room.
Sitting up, she pushed her hair back from her face and pulled the sheet up around her nakedness just in time for him to settle the tray down across her lap.
‘My, this is lovely,’ she murmured, eyeing the freshly squeezed orange juice and scrambled eggs on toast, along some fried tomato and two strips of crispy bacon on the side. ‘I usually only have coffee and toast. So what are you having?’
‘I’ve already had it,’ he said, sitting down next to her on the side of the bed then leaning across where her legs were lying under the bedclothes.
He looked marvellous, she thought, despite the messy hair and dark stubble on his chin. His vivid blue eyes were sparkling clear, with no dark rings under them. He must have slept as well as she had.
‘I’ll bet you didn’t have anything as decadent as this,’ she chided.
‘I