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He held his thu ‘A little But you seemed to know exactly what you wanted’

‘No regrets’ Not one Right, they’d got that out of the way ‘Tell me about your time in New Zealand’

He filled her in on where he’d lived and worked, and hoell he’d got on with his cousin ‘Have you ever been there?’

‘I’ve never left Britain’ Not enoughoverseas ‘I’ve been to Scotland to see where randparents came from Loved all those mountains and lochs’

‘You’re a stay-at-ho?’

‘Angus wasn’t into holidays, preferred working on projects, and I guess it rubbed off No point getting wound up about it when he’d never change his ness to sacrifice her own dreams for his

Noah atching her closely again ‘I’ve been married’

Her stomach lurched ‘You have?’

His nod was abrupt ‘Divorced two years before I met you’

‘What happened?’

His one too far But he wouldn’t have raised the subject if he wasn’t going to tell her ht she was Looking back, I don’t think she ever loved me She wanted the comfortable lifestyle I could provide and in return she offered to have two children in quick succession so we couldthe perfect, wealthy life’ Bitterness er in his voice, and when Stacey looked into his eyes she saw the same emotions there ‘Like I wanted to have children in those circumstances, without any say in the matter’

Did he mean he didn’t want children, full stop? Or not with his ex? ‘I’m sorry That must’ve been hard on you’

‘It’s fine I’ht I needed to put it out there’

Right He was over his ex? He ot over what she’d done to hiht they’dher news dropped This wasn’t looking good for her and Holly He ht not believe her when she said Holly was his ‘Thank you for telling me’

What else could she say? I’m here and I wouldn’t do that to you Give me a chance to prove it

Noah glanced at his watch ‘I’ll have to go shortly’

Already? ‘No proble at the wall clock, she saw they’d spent nearly an hour here The ti her hyper and happy, and a little worried Learningwith hi over her skin had her wishing they could find another hotel room for a few hours She so wasn’t ready to leave Noah, but she was a big girl She’d get over her disappointment She hadn’t said what she’d come to say either

‘Can we do this again?’ Hoould he take the news of Holly? Until he’d said that about his ex-wife planning on having children in quick succession and hadn’t sounded too enthusiastic, she believed he’d accept being a father without too , and what else wasn’t as she thought

‘Absolutely’

So he was still keen to see her She exhaled slowly That had to be good ‘Great’

‘I’ll walk you to the station’ Noah stood up

Brilliant A few more minutes with him Despite the children problear ‘Thanks’ Bundled up in thick jackets, they braved the cold air after the heat of the bar ‘I can’t wait for winter to be over’

‘It’s been a shock after leaving summer behind down under’ Noah strode out beside her

Upping her pace to keep up, she shoved her hands deep in her pockets, for war hi back there?’

‘It’s te, but I own family property here that I would never sell Other people used my house while I ay and I’m now stuck with a massive redecoration project’

The Bloomsbury house spoke of other-world wealth No one lived there on a budget Noah h nothing like that ca able to live in a country he really liked His life was nothing like hers, and never would be It would be great to have a spare few thousand pounds in the bank, but she wasn’t in need of a fortune