Page 15 of Trusting His Heart
Susan nodded, “Yes, Derek filled me in. His wife heard her speak at a fundraiser for partners of people with cancer. Apparently, she gave up everything to be at his side and has experienced a tough time with rebuilding her career.”
“I know how she feels.”
“Geoff,” her hand stopped him from moving away, “She is ready to move on, but I need to ask - are you? She isn’t one of your little play things. She is very sweet and vulnerable. Don’t ask her to go out with you unless you are ready to fall in love again.”
“I appreciate your concern,” as frustrating and insulting as her concern appeared, it came from a good heart, “But how the hell am I supposed to know? I’m here tonight, I’ve asked her out and I am waiting around like a love-struck fool hoping she says ‘yes’. All I can say right now is I want to get to know her more but she has to meet me half way.”
Geoffrey walked off, fuming. Why bother putting himself out like this for some woman who he barely knew? Now, a room full of people heard him ask her out on a date and her mock his reputation with other women.
If only his heart didn’t race at the thought of her.
“I can’t avoid you anymore.” Bec joined him on the verandah, shivering in the cool air.
“Why would you want to?” Geoffrey placed his own jacket around her shoulders.
“I don’t know what to say to you. You are in my head and I keep thinking about you, wanting to reach out and say ‘hi’, but not knowing how you would react.”
“You removed your wedding ring.”
“Someone made me realize I didn’t need to wear it anymore.”
“Oh. How are you finding Australia?”
“I haven’t seen a lot of it, Derek’s got me busy with a number of his clients looking to restructure.”
“Your consultancy work?”
“I help companies going through change to ensure they bring their staff with them.”
“How do you help them change?”
“I don’t help them change, I help them understand the impact change has on them and their life, and then help them adjust.”
“So they can leave their past behind and look forward.” Geoffrey guessed. The halter neckline of her dress kept drawing his eyes to the fall between her breasts. Glamorous. Graceful. The complete opposite of the flustered mess standing before her. Normally, he was the master of seduction with a well-rehearsed routine with a high success rate. Now he wanted to impress this amazing woman but found himself at at a loss how to make the first move to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her.
“I’m buying a house,” he blurted.
“Good for you, but why now?”
“I bought a painting at a fundraiser a week ago and I need somewhere to hang it.” Stupid, arrogant, such a lame excuse even to him, yet it was the truth. The dragon painting rested against a wall in his loungeroom, taunting him to find a wall in a home he owned.
“Where have you been living?”
“When I came back to the university, they offered me short term use of one of the residences.”
“How long ago?”
“Almost ten years.”
“I see,” this time, she made the first move, reaching out to his cheek. “I’ve missed you. We had a moment on the plane, didn’t we?” In the way she looked up at him, Geoffrey knew she shared his fears about moving on.
His hands reached for her under the jacket, running down her back until they rested on her lower back. Pulling her close, he nestled soft kisses on her neck.
“We certainly did.”
“It is disconcerting I can’t read your face, or your eyes. They are so dark and hidden and don’t give anything away.”
“What would you like to see?” His lips were close to hers and he felt it would take less effort to kiss them than to resist the lips that intrigued him since he watched her sleep on the plane.