Wanting What She Can't Have by Yvonne Lindsay Read Free Book Online Page A

been wrong on so many levels she couldn’t even begin to enumerate them. She knew everyone coped differently with grief, but he’d become a slave to his, and that hadn’t done anyone any favors—not Raoul and certainly not Ruby.
    She watched him a moment longer, relishing the warm sensation that coursed through her as she looked her fill. Laughter suited him. Happiness suited him. And somehow she had to make sure he had his fair share of both back in his world. He reached for another drink from the cooler, a can of soda this time, and she watched the play of muscles along his shoulders beneath the fine knit of his lightweight sweater.
    Warmth soon became something more complicated as she felt her body react in a far more visceral way, her breathing quickening and a pull of desire working its way from her core to her extremities.
    “He’s easy on the eye, isn’t he?” Laura’s voice intruded from right next to her.
    “What? Oh...um, yes.” Alexis felt her cheeks flame in embarrassment at being caught out staring at the man who was essentially her boss.
    “Don’t worry,” Laura said with a gentle smile. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
    “Secret?”
    Alexis deliberately played dumb, only to be on the receiving end of a gentle smile and a painfully understanding look.
    “How long have you felt this way about him?”
    Alexis sighed, the other woman’s compassion breaking down any barrier she had thought to erect.
    “A few years now,” Alexis admitted, shocked that she’d given up her secret at the first sign of empathy from another person.
    For so long she’d held the truth to her chest, fearful that anyone would find out how she felt and judge her for it. You didn’t get attracted to your best friend’s partner—it just wasn’t done—and you certainly didn’t act on it. That was a no-go area in every aspect.
    It was terrifying to know that her secret was now out. Not even her parents had known how she felt about Raoul Benoit and, here, a virtual stranger had plucked it from her as easily as if it was a piece of lint on her sweater.
    “You...you won’t say anything, will you?” she hastened to add in an undertone.
    “Of course not, Alexis. To be honest, I’m glad.”
    “Glad?” Alexis was confused.
    “Maybe you’re exactly what he needs now, hmm? To mourn someone is one thing, but he’s been hiding away from living for far too long,” Laura said, reaching out to give Alexis’s hand a squeeze. “We all deserve a bit of happiness, right?”
    “Right,” Alexis agreed numbly.
    Happiness. Could she bring that elusive ingredient back into Raoul’s life? While her aim had been to reunite father and daughter, could he find room in his broken heart to consider love again?
    She pushed the thought away. If he could accept Ruby into his life, she’d be satisfied. She had no right to hope for anything more.

Five
    A fter everyone had eaten, the group of adults sat around watching their kids at play. Alexis kept her eye on Ruby as she crawled a couple of meters across the grass toward the playground where Laura and some of the other parents had taken their babies for a turn on the swings. The grass would be hell on those pink dungarees, she thought ruefully, but it was good for Ruby to be out in the fresh air and interacting with everyone else. It wouldn’t be long before tiredness would set in—she was already overdue for her nap—but Alexis wanted to prolong the fun for as long as possible.
    A cry of anguish from behind her dragged her attention off the little girl, distracting her for the moment it took to return a clearly much-loved piece of tatty muslin to its stroller-bound owner. She turned her eyes back to where Ruby had been, only to feel her stomach drop. She lurched to her feet, her eyes anxiously scanning the crowd for the little splotch of pink. Her feet were already moving, taking her over the grass and toward the playground. Ah, there she was. Relief flooded Alexis with the force