‘Not particularly. Apparently we stopped communicating. I stopped communicating.’
‘Fancy that,’ murmured Laura.
‘The less we communicated, the more we argued. The end was inevitable.’
‘Does it still hurt?’
His jaw tightened. ‘No.’
‘So why still be so against relationships? They don’t all fail.’
‘I’m well aware of that,’ he said tightly.
Laura took a deep breath and put her life in Matt’s hands. ‘So why don’t we do this properly?’
‘Do what?’
‘You and me.’
&
nbsp; ‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘I still don’t have the time.’
‘That’s such a cop out.’
‘What?’
‘Well, it is. You could make time. You know what? I think that deep down you’re scared.’
‘Rubbish.’
‘Is it? I think you’re scared that if you allow yourself to try a real relationship it’ll hurt.’
‘If that’s what you want to think, be my guest.’
Why was he being so stubborn about this? Would she ever get through to him? Would he ever give them a chance?
And why did it matter so much that he did?
The inescapable truth smacked her in the face and her heart stopped. And then began to thunder.
Her head went fuzzy and a cold sweat broke out over her entire body.
God. No. That was impossible. She couldn’t be…
She thought about the way up until now he’d made her feel. The giddy anticipation with which she’d looked forward to their nights together. The admiration and respect she had for the work he was doing, for the man he was.
She thought about the idea of leaving, of never seeing Matt ever again, or never being able to touch him again, and agony unlike any she’d ever known cut through her.
She was…
She was in love with Matt. She was head over heels in love with a man who was only interested in a fling.
And there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.