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Mattie gri away to fill the kettle Although only a couple of weeks separated thee, she sometimes felt a thousand years old around the ebullient Dawn A point reinforced when the other girl tossed over her shoulder, ‘Play your cards right, Matts, and you could catch him on
the rebound’
Mattie dropped the rolling-pin on the floured board as a savage pain thrust its jagged way through her Closely followed by a searing anger that er-sharp ‘Sometimes, Dawn, you talk like a particularly stupid ten-year-old!’
Janificant Matilda Trent He went for the beautiful ones, the stylishly elegant ones Women like his ex-fiancée Women who stood out in a crowd, not ones who faded into the wallpaper Dawn had to know that; how could she not?
‘If you say so’ Unfazed by the rebuke, Dawn brewed coffee ‘But think about it Before I went to work in Richmond the two of us were practically joined at the hip, which means, of course, that I saw his froar ‘Around you, he always seeer on it, but there’s definitely a healthy dollop of affection there And after being du to appreciate soent, loyal, nice to know, calo when you were fourteen, you know you did, so go for it, Matts’
Cal! Dawn had stuck a knife between her ribs and was blithely twisting it—too insensitive to i!
Golden eyes narrowing behind her lenses, Mattie snapped, ‘I got a crush on James around the same tirew out of it before you switched your eternal devotion to soy pop star or other! So drop it, will you?’
Only the trouble was, she was lying—she hadn’t grown out of it at all She’d tried to, heaven knew she had But her feelings for Ja now, had stubbornly refused to do anything but grow until they were positively awesome
Jauar, locked it and pocketed the key A ht sky and the frosty air bit into his lungs as he pulled in a deep breath and felt hi on in his life he could still recognise the e, that
Lights glowed dimly from a couple of curtained s, but otherwise the stately bulk of Berrington House was in darkness On the drive out frohts about the wisdo here, in the silence, he knew he’d been right to invite himself to stay for two or three days
After the messy drama of the past week it hat he needed The flavour of that final scene with the woman he’d decided to marry was a sour taste in his ed wide, hard-boned shoulders, the twist of his one to the press even though he deplored the way she’d made the breakup so damned public
He needed to put the whole hu and painful episode behind him, and he could do it here
Over the years, this house had come to represent a second ho to talk business over a civilised dinner or long weekend with Edward Trent, co-partner in their now huge construction empire
It wasn’t the house itself—Berrington was a touch too severe for his taste, more like a showcase for traditional perfection than a lived-in home Neither was it his partner’s company that had drawn him here, at this time
It was Mattie, he recognised now Her unde presence was exactly what he needed
His frown darkened That ad he was happy with He’d learned to be self-sufficient at an early age He didn’t want to need what another living soul could give him
But her ience stimulated him, her serenity soothed him, and her foibles—such as her coently amused him It had taken her months to learn how to use the word processor he’d finally persuaded her to install and eight failed atte test Even now, she was the worst driver he knew
Then there was her refreshing lack of female vanity—she had to be the least clothes-conscious woman born, the least sexually aware She didn’t suffer frolints seductively shafted from sultry eyes