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He changed the subject ‘This isn’t what I expected’

She raised an eyebrow ‘What did you think my flat would be like?’

‘Girly Full of pink, glittery, fluffy things’

She smiled ‘I’m thirty, not thirteen’

‘Which doesn’t uided tour?’ he asked

‘Sure This is the living room, and you’ve seen the kitchen I’arden, which leaves you with the bathroom, here…’ She led him into the hallway and opened a door to reveal another restful roohthouse on one wall and a mirror decorated in shells ‘And my room’

Now, that wasMadison’s bedrooh the walls and curtains and carpets were plain and neutral, just like the rest of the flat, there was a huge pile of cushions on the wrought-iron bed in a variety of textures from soft velvet to smooth silk, some of them embroidered and others with decorative beadwork and sequins There was a haphazard pile of books on her bedside table—frons on the covers, he could tell that they were the kind of romantic comedies his oldest sister loved—but the bit that silenced hihts around thetable

‘Did you just telltowards the lights

‘They were a joke present from Katrina But, actually, I like theetting up in thewith a smile on your face’

Her blue eyes were lit up with laughter, and Theo found hi why on earth Madison’s husband had ever let her dohy he’d been ht and funny and full of the kind of joie de vivre that would light up the life of anyone whose life she shared If she were his, he’d never let her go

But she couldn’t be his

Not permanently

Because she wanted children and he really, really couldn’t take that risk

And it wouldn’t be fair to offer her anything less than her dreams