‘But it can’t change the facts, Jen,’ he’d warned her. ‘You’ll still be on the other side of the world.’
‘I’ll come back. Soon. I promise.’
With that promise calming his fears, they’d made love for the last time, and if Seth closed his eyes he could still see the morning sunlight rimming Jennifer’s auburn hair with fire…could still see the rainbow flashes from the diamond he’d put on her finger.
He’d let her go home.
To America.
She’d been so sure she would simply wind things up in New York and come hurrying back to marry him.
‘I love you, Seth. I promise, darling. I don’t need the city, when I’m with you.’
I promise…
She’d been sincere at the time—he’d give her that. Jennifer had never dreamed she would find the pull of her hometown impossible to resist. In all innocence, he’d let her go back and, inevitably, she’d been seduced by the exciting bustle and buzz of the Big Apple. She’d found herself clinging once more to the security of familiar faces, to the reassurance of well-loved sights and sounds, to the comfort of crowds.
It had only taken six weeks before she’d come to her senses. She’d cried so hard when she’d telephoned Seth that he’d barely been able to make out a word she was saying, but eventually he’d understood that she wasn’t coming back, and, no, he shouldn’t fly over there to be with her.
It couldn’t work, she told him. Their worlds were too different.
For Seth, the lesson was clear.
Love, alone, was not enough.
The softest breath fanned Seth’s cheek. Startled, he turned to find Bella’s blue eyes half an inch from his.
‘What are you doing here, little one?’
‘Up!’ the little girl demanded, and before he realised quite what was happening she gripped his bed sheets, slung one leg high and hauled herself, like a tiny commando, up into the bed beside him.
‘Should you be here?’ he asked as he flung one hand out to prevent her from tumbling back to the floor. ‘Where’s Amy?’
Bella didn’t answer.
Somewhat alarmed, he scooted over to make room for her in his king-sized bed. She merely giggled and began to bounce on the mattress, sending her dark curls flying.
She was a cutie—no doubt about that—this tiny human being who was, amazingly, related to him.
Seth knelt on the bed, ready to catch her if she bounced too high, and he marvelled at her incredible energy and enthusiasm. She was such a happy little thing, so full of life, and, thanks to Amy, she had no sense of the tragedies that had robbed her of her parents.
The word orphan had always horrified Seth.
When his father died and his mother disappeared to the far side of the world, he’d been haunted by visions of storybook orphans, starving and freezing in the snow.
But he’d had his mother’s letters. Inadequate, but tangible, they’d arrived on his birthdays—and he’d had his uncle, whose kindness and love had saved him and kept him afloat.
Now, as he watched this giggling, bouncing little girl, he choked up, thinking about the man who’d fathered her.
I owe you one, mate. I owe you big time.
Except that Amy had picked up the baton. She’d assumed responsibility for her friend’s daughter and, as far as Seth could tell, she loved the kid unreservedly, as if she were her own.
He supposed the security and stability of Amy’s happy family had given her the grounding she needed to reach out without fear. Seemed she was doing damn fine splendid and she didn’t need his help.
‘You’re a lucky kid,’ he told Bella. ‘You’re much better off with her.’
Within seconds of waking, Amy saw that Bella’s bed was empty.
She bounced out of bed in a panic. Bella usually climbed straight into Amy’s bed for a morning cuddle and she’d never wandered off before.
Amy darted into the hallway. ‘Bella!’
‘She’s in here.’
In mid-dash down the hallway, Amy skidded to a halt. Seth’s voice had come from his bedroom.
Zap. Heart thumping, she turned in at his doorway.
Part of her brain must have registered that Bella was bouncing in the middle of Seth’s huge bed, but almost all of her attention was caught by his bare chest.
Oh, help.
Amy had to stare; she simply had to. Seth’s chest was so fabulously toned, so amazingly muscly and masculine and naked.
The sight of him now in his bedroom was such a different matter from seeing him by the pool yesterday. It was totally unexpected, for one thing. But now, after he’d kissed her…After her night of restless tossing and turning…
‘Bella marched in here and took over my bed,’ Seth explained, with an apologetic grin that didn’t quite hide the fact that he was checking Amy out.
It was only when she saw the unmistakable spark of appreciation in his eyes that she remembered she was in her nightdress. Her thin white cotton nightdress. Again. Which meant she was even more scantily clad than he was.
This was becoming an embarrassing habit.
Surreptitiously, she attempted to cross her arms over her chest as she backed out of the room. ‘Bella has so much energy first thing in the morning. Thanks for taking care of her.’
Frantically, she tried to beckon to the little girl. ‘Come on, now, Bella. That’s enough bouncing. Time to get dressed.’
Bella continued to bounce.
‘Hey!’ Seth caught the little girl in mid bounce and swept her so high she squealed with delight.
Amy watched the rippling sheen of his muscles and felt the oxygen sucked from her lungs.
Grinning, Seth turned to her, holding the giggling, wriggling child. ‘Here you go. She’s all yours.’
Struggling to breathe, she prepared to take Bella from him. Their forearms bumped, of course, and for a heady moment she found her hands squashed between Bella’s squirming body and the solid wall of Seth’s bare chest.
He was warm and satiny and hard…and touchable…She could feel his heat, smell his skin…
Pulling away, she blushed hotly, and turned to dash for the safety of her room, but she was distracted by a silver-framed photograph on the dresser near the door.
Clutching Bella, Amy took a second look. It was a close-up portrait of an incredibly handsome man approaching middle age.
His dark hair was feathered with silver and his face had the kind of tan that came from years of living in the outdoors. White creases showed at the corner of his eyes, but, despite the slightly weathered look, there was a breathtaking, filmstar quality about him.
‘Is this your uncle?’ she asked.
Seth’s eyes followed the direction of her gaze and she saw a flash of pain in their blue depths. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘That’s Seth. Everyone around here called him Boss, so there was no confusion about our names.’
‘He looks younger than I expected. When was the photo taken?’
‘A few years ago. Not long before he died, actually.’