Free An Unbreakable Bond by Kalia Lewis Page B

with a loose button on her bright pink shirt. She’d dressed in a daze this morning. The thrown together ensemble was odd to say the least, old khaki linens with silver stilettos and a frazzle of wild auburn hair fanning around her face. She felt how she looked, out of control.
    Why did it have to be him?
    What was it about him that drew out the worst in her and also the best? He irritated her, yet at the same time he made her want to fling herself at him and rip his clothes off! If only she’d reached out to him sooner ten years ago. Leaving it until his last night had not given her enough time to share her feelings. If she had, maybe he would have realised that he felt something for her?
    Looking at a picture of April on her desk, she followed the contours of her daughter's face with her fingertip.
    Moping about the past won’t change anything. In her perfect dreams he would never have left or he would have taken her with him, but he hadn’t loved her back then and he didn’t love her now. For God’s sake he was about to get married to someone else! There was nothing she could do and she had to accept that and let it go. A sob escaped from her and she put her hand to her mouth to keep down an unexpected torrent of pain.
    Turning the picture face down so she wouldn’t have to see him staring back at her through the image of April, she blew her nose, squared her shoulders and mentally shut a door on the past. Maybe they did need closure? Maybe his marriage to someone else will set her free to live and find someone of her own. Her lip wobbled at the thought and she picked up a file. Burying herself in work was just what she needed to put him completely out of her mind.
    It had just turned eight-thirty when she heard the shop bell go. Lifting her head to smile at the prospective client and let them know that she was closed until nine, her heart lurched forward and the smile froze on her face. Looming in the doorway was Tristan and he had a dangerous look in his eyes. He shut the door behind him.
    This was not good. Not good at all.
    “Annabelle, we have to talk.”
    “If I give you an apology will you go away?”
    “No”
    “I thought not.” She felt vulnerable and her abdomen tightened in anxiety. The reality of their situation was that he was getting married and she’d hid a huge secret from him. If he found out he would want to be in April’s life, but him being married to someone else, living another life and maybe having further children was more than what she could handle. It was time to take control of the situation and play it cool, be business orientated and leave the past in the past. “So, what do you want this time?”
    He leisurely leaned his tall muscular frame against the door and watched her as she blinked in quick succession. “Perhaps what I want will need a little coaxing and taming?”
    Her breath quickened. It was folly for her to think that his relaxed appearance actually meant that he was calm and collective. No, she was acutely aware of the waves of potent magnetic heat pouring from him, filling the room. Attempting to swallow past the dry lump forming in her throat she watched him as he slowly and deliberately crossed his arms.
    Taking in the movement, her eyes leisurely roamed down the expanse of his wide chest, savouring every contour of his body encased in a black Italian cut suit. If she opened her mouth now she would be virtually panting! He reminded her of a powerful black panther as it silently and calmly creeps upon its prey. She shivered, all that male testosterone packed into one form, utterly lethal, it really shouldn’t be allowed!
    In her mind there was only one way to deal with a powerful black panther. It took observation skills, watching it for signs of a strike, then, just as it is about to pounce, picking up the biggest stick and whack it!
    Coughing nervously, she raised her eyebrows in a questioning look. “Tristan..?”
    Tristan was in no hurry to answer her.