‘Eight years.’
‘And how much time have you spent there?’
‘Not a lot.’
‘That would explain the emotional neglect.’
His expression tightened. ‘I’m busy.’
‘That’s no excuse.’ Laura sniffed. ‘I bet you wouldn’t let one of your businesses slide into neglect.’
‘True. But then I’m not looking to make a profit on the house.’
‘Just as well. You know,’ she mused, ‘if I owned something like that I wouldn’t be able to stay away.’
‘Unfortunately I don’t have that luxury,’ he murmured, his gaze dropping to her mouth.
‘It breaks my heart to see something like that drifting into decline. If you’re not going to maintain it, and if you’re hardly ever there, what’s the point of having it?’
Matt lifted his gaze. ‘I like having it.’
Her eyes widened. ‘It’s a status symbol?’
His eyes went bleak and Laura’s heart squeezed. ‘If you like,’ he said.
‘Oh, the poor thing,’ she murmured. ‘No wonder it was so lonely.’
‘Lonely?’ His tone suggested he thought she was nuts.
‘Yes, lonely. A house like that should be alive. Filled with laughter and activity and a family. There should be hordes of children running all over the place.’
He tensed and she sensed barriers springing up all around him. ‘Perhaps.’
‘Do you have any family?’
‘Not much. I’m an only child. My father died of cancer when I was sixteen. My mother lives in London.’
‘Don’t you get lonely?’
He froze beneath her. ‘No,’ he said gruffly. ‘I’m better off alone.’
Her chest tightened at the bleak look that haunted his eyes. ‘That’s sad,’ she said softly.
And then he rolled over, trapping her beneath him and Laura’s heart began to thump and her breath began to quicken. ‘So make it better,’ he muttered, lowering his head and covering her mouth with his.
Matt watched Laura sleeping. Stared at the fingers of moonlight turning her blond hair to silver and listened as her breath whispered across his chest.
And with every rise of her breasts, every fall, every soft breath he felt another tiny strand of his carefully controlled life unravel.
Dammit, how could he have been so careless? What was it about Laura that had him lowering his guard and revealing so much about himself like that?
He didn’t do feelings. Hadn’t done for years. He didn’t need her making him question decisions he’d made years ago. So why was he?
Why did she have him suddenly doubting his role on Sassania? His belief he was better off alone? And what was all that nonsense about his house needing to be loved?
Matt’s heart hardened and he told himself not to be so absurd. His role on Sassania was clear. He liked being alone. And just because he hadn’t ever got round to sorting out the house he’d bought intending to live in it with a wife and family, it didn’t mean anything.
Laura and her pseudo-psychiatry could take a hike. He really didn’t need it. He was fine the way he was.