Free Sympathy for the Devil (International Bad Boys Book 4) by Kelly Hunter

can safely say that regular intimacy is good for a relationship. Tell your partner what you want. Communicate and explore. You may well receive permission to gorge.”
    “I’d cut out my heart before I hurt him again.”
    “That one right there.” Her father smiled a little sadly. “That one’s love.”
    Bree digested that one in silence as her father picked up his coffee and sipped. He looked out over the tidy old garden with its bird bath and its lemon tree and she could almost see him thinking about what it would be like to let go of the ones he loved most. His beloved wife, and the daughter he didn’t see enough of.
    “Did I mention that Ed asked me about doing the photography and layout for a new brochure for the caravan park the other day?” she said, wanting to make the wistfulness go away.
    “You did not.”
    “Or that Amelia Bishop from the local paper rang up and asked me if I had any shots of the bay that the paper might be able to use in their lifestyle section?”
    “That’s news too.”
    “And then there’s Zoey Jackson’s costumes and her need for a photographer.”
    Her father smiled.
    “There’s work here.” Bree was making up her mind as she spoke. “But there’s also a lot of unfinished work back in Sydney. More than I can handle. Maybe it’s time I took on an associate and gave myself a little more leeway to come and go from here as I please.”
    “You know I’d love that. Your mother would too. We’d get to see more of you. And you’d get to see more of Caleb Jackson.”
    “No, I—” Bree closed her eyes and remembered the sweetness in Caleb, and the devil in him too. “Yes. All those things are drawcards.”
    Her father eyed her speculatively. “There’s a place down by the river for sale. Northeast facing. All the light in the world. Sloping lawn all the way down to the river bank. Shall we take a look?”
    “Woah! Moving very fast here, Dad.”
    “Will your decision to base yourself here more often depend on how things turn out with Caleb?”
    It would hurt her father’s feelings, for sure, if she said yes. “How about I just say that if this thing doesn’t work out with Caleb, I’m pretty sure I’m going to want to run.”
    “Is that what you did all those years ago? Were you so scared of your feelings for the boy that you ran?”
    “I had big dreams back then. Ambitions. I was angry with you and mum for not supporting them. And I was mixed up with the wrong brother. The timing was all wrong.”
    “What did you feel for him, Breanna?”
    “I felt . . . ” Honest answer. “I felt that if I let him, he would become my whole world.”
    “And now?”
    “It’s a big world. I’ve carved my place in it. I’m hoping that this time I won’t get swallowed whole.” Breanna shrugged awkwardly and looked away from the concern in her father’s eyes. “Thanks for the chat.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    “I should check on the cake.”
    “Breanna—do tell the older boy that you’ve accepted a date with Caleb. As a courtesy.”
    Bree nodded. “Do you think I should take the Zoey Jackson job?”
    “It’s one job, and you’re good at it. It doesn’t tie you to Zoey Jackson forever. I don’t see why not.”
    *     *     *
    Breanna parked her car outside Jackson’s boat building complex some two hours later. The place had changed plenty in the ten years since she’d last visited. They’d expanded the boatshed itself and it was twice as long as it had once been. They’d lengthened the boardwalk on the seaward side to match the length of the building, and widened it at the end. Three wooden walkways now jutted out into the water and boats lined either side of them. Pleasure craft and fishing trawlers, a dive boat tucked in close to the big shed doors—that would be Caleb’s. There was a lot of money gently bobbing on the serene blue waters of the Sinclair River. It was the closest marina to the estuary where river mouth met the sea. Five to