The Virgin Bride (The Australians) by Miranda Lee Read Free Book Online Page B

see.’ And he did.
    When he’d told Adele he was leaving her, she’d been angrier than he’d ever seen her. How could he leave her when they loved each other so much? Whenshe loved him so much? She’d tried everything to persuade him differently. She’d appealed to every weakness she thought he had. His ambition. His greed. His supposed love of city life.
    And sex, of course. She’d thrown everything at him in that regard, tried everything, done everything.
    And he’d let her, to his discredit. But he’d still walked away in the end. No, he’d run, before she could persuade him differently.
    What would he have done, he wondered now, if she’d come after him? If she’d shown up during his first few weeks here in Tindley, when he’d thought he’d made the biggest mistake in his life, before he’d got used to the slower pace, before the town and the people and the peace and quiet had seeped into his soul.
    Maybe—just maybe—he’d have allowed himself to be seduced back to Sydney, despite his better judgement.
    So he did understand how Emma felt.
    But people like Adele and Ratchitt didn’t love as deeply or as long as others. Adele hadn’t run after him, and Ratchitt had not come back.
    He looked at Emma’s depressed face and decided a change of subject was called for.
    â€˜Do you want dessert, perhaps?’ he asked. ‘I can see you’re not going to eat that. But something sweet usually goes down easily.’
    â€˜All right,’ she agreed, brightening. ‘I wouldn’t mind some ice-cream.’
    â€˜Is that all?’
    â€˜Yes, but with lots of flavouring.’
    â€˜Your wish is my command.’ And he signalled the waitress.
    He kept the conversation off lost loves for the rest of the night, and the drive back to Tindley was much more relaxed than the drive over. He regaled her with tales of his days at university, including some of the jobs he’d done to pay his way through.
    By the time he eased his car into the kerb outside the sweet shop, Emma was laughing. ‘You really worked in a gay bar?’
    â€˜For one evening only,’ he returned drily as he switched off the engine and unclicked his seat belt. ‘I didn’t know it was a gay bar when I applied. I was walking past and saw a sign in the window saying ‘Drinks Waiter Wanted’. I went right in and was hired on the spot.’
    â€˜When did the penny drop?’
    â€˜I realised my mistake pretty quickly that night, but I decided I could cope when I saw the size of my tips.’
    â€˜And?’
    â€˜I lasted three hours before I admitted defeat and quit. It seemed I wasn’t as money-hungry as I’d thought I was. I had to leave, or end up in jail. Because, believe me, if one more guy had squeezed my buns as I walked past, I was going to give him a mouthful of fist.’
    â€˜Oh, that’s so funny! Still, I’ll bet you were a very cute young man.’
    â€˜Cute!’ God, but he hated that word.
    She laughed some more, her mouth falling open and her eyes dancing over at him.
    He didn’t mean to do it. He really didn’t. But she was so lovely and he’d been so lonely. Before he knew it he was twisting in his seat, leaning over the gear lever, cupping her face and kissing her.
    She didn’t resist him, despite the firm pressure of his mouth on hers, despite his tongue taking advantage of her parted lips, despite all those old-world values of hers.
    Oh, yes, there was a fleeting moment when she froze beneath his kiss, and her hands did flutter up from her lap to lie, palms flat, against his chest. But she didn’t press him away, or try to shut her mouth. She accepted the intimate invasion of his tongue, and even moaned a soft moan of pleasure.
    It was that soft moan of pleasure which opened the floodgates of his suppressed passion and showed Jason that his notion of always wanting to