‘It was. But I learned to cope. My great-aunt did the best she could but I wasn’t the easiest person to be around at times.’
‘Do you have any photos of your parents?’
‘I guess I have them somewhere.’
‘Why don’t you have them out on show?’
‘I’m not the sentimental type,’ he said. ‘It’s in the past and I’m only interested in the future.’
Mia decided to step out on a limb. ‘Your great-aunt said you used to hide any photos of your parents when she put them out. Why did you do that?’
He gave her a hard little glance. ‘You sound as if the two of you had a very cosy chat.’
‘I just wanted to find out a bit more about the man I was marrying.’
‘And did she enlighten you?’
Mia frowned at his sharpened tone. ‘There’s no need to be so defensive.’
‘I’m not being defensive. I just don’t appreciate you interfering in things that don’t concern you.’
‘I think I have the right to know what has made you the way you are.’
‘Why? So you can reform me, to make me more user-friendly?’
‘You’re way beyond reform,’ she snapped back irritably. ‘I wouldn’t even bother trying.’
‘Good. Then at least we know where we both stand.’
Mia frowned as she sat back in her seat with a sigh of frustration. He was like a closed book. As soon as she tried to prise open the pages he would just as quickly snap them shut. She knew he was hurting—she could almost feel it coming off him whenever the subject of his childhood was raised. It was like an aura surrounding him. He didn’t trust life not to hit him from the left field again when he was least expecting it.
He reminded her of Ashleigh’s gorgeous husband, Jake. He had hidden his inner pain behind a façade of cynicism that had very nearly destroyed her sister’s life and his own as well. But Ashleigh’s enduring love had found a healing pathway to his soul.
Did she have what it took to do the same for Bryn? And more to the point—did she even want to try?
‘I think you’ll like my house,’ Bryn said after another lengthy silence. ‘I had it designed specially.’
As olive branches went it wasn’t quite what she had been hoping for but she realised he was making an effort and she forced herself to accept it in the spirit in which it was given.
‘I’m looking forward to seeing it,’ she said.
Mia looked around her a few minutes later in awe. She had been expecting Bryn’s beach hideaway to be luxurious but nothing had quite prepared her for the sheer brilliance of the design that gave him sweeping views over the Noosa River on one side and the beaches and national park on the other. The house was on three levels and was tucked in the bush land that fringed the area, offering a level of privacy that was unbelievable. There were no curtains at any of the main windows—they weren’t necessary as the house was set higher than the rest of its neighbours and the thick surrounding bush was an effective screen.
‘What do you think?’ Bryn asked as soon as he’d shown her the entry level where the main lounge was situated as well as the kitchen and spacious dining area.
‘It’s…wonderful…’ She turned to look at him. ‘No wonder you love coming here. It’s like a private paradise.’
‘Come and I’ll show you the rest of the house from the top floor down,’ he said, leading the way to the open-plan stairs.
Mia followed him as he showed her the three large bedrooms on the top level. A wall of built-in wardrobes gave each room a feeling of space, as did the minimalist décor and pristine white bed linen on the beds. Each en suite had a large, free-standing bowl-like white basin on top of a simple vanity and a big walk-in shower, and the floor and walls were tiled with marble the colour of flecked sand.
He led her back down the stairs to the lower level, where an impressive gym was set up in a large room that led out through French doors to a lap pool in the private garden in which frangipani trees scented the balmy night air.
‘Wow…’ Mia breathed in wonder as she looked around. ‘You sure know the way to an exercise junkie’s heart.’
Bryn chuckled as she bent down to trail her fingers in the water of the pool to test its temperature. ‘I was wondering how you maintained that stunning figure of yours. Now I know.’
Mia felt his compliment wash over her like the warm silk of the water around her fingers. She straightened from the pool and tried to hide her reaction but he caught one of her hands and brought her to a standstill right in front of him.
He stroked the backs of the knuckles of one hand over the heightened colour of her cheek in a movement so gentle her breath came to a stumbling halt right in the middle of her chest. Her stomach gave a little flutter, just like the wings of a trapped moth inside a tiny confined space.
She moistened her suddenly dry mouth at the dark intensity in his midnight-blue gaze as it locked with hers.
The perfumed air swirled around them, wrapping them in a sensual mantle of summer warmth, the exotic atmosphere tipping the balance of distance Mia had desperately tried to maintain between them ever since their marriage was formalised that afternoon.
She felt sure he was going to kiss her. She could feel it along the exposed skin of her arms and legs, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck lifting in anticipation as his head came inexorably closer. Her eyelids fluttered closed as his mouth touched down on hers with breath-like softness, as if the moth from inside her stomach had somehow escaped and landed ever so gently on her lips.
Bryn lifted his head a mere fraction, his mouth still so close she could feel the movement of air from his breath over her acutely sensitive skin.
Two beats of silence passed before he lowered his mouth back to hers, the pressure increasing subtly and tantalisingly. Mia felt the full rush of her blood surging through her veins at the first stroke of his tongue over her lips. She parted her lips and he entered her mouth with gentle but firm insistence, searching for her tongue and mating with it possessively.
Mia felt the prickling of her breasts as he drew her closer into his embrace, her nipples tightening, while her legs and spine felt as if they had been instantly liquefied when one of his hard thighs slipped between hers. She leaned into his hold, her body craving more of his touch, her senses on fire where his hardness probed her softness. Desire exploded inside her, running like a hot stream that threatened to get out of control now it was finally unleashed. She tried to pull it back, tried to get her responses under some semblance of control, but it was impossible. His mouth was like a lighted taper to the spilled fuel of her need, sending hot, licking flames to every single part of her body. She could feel the fullness of her breasts aching for his touch and almost unconsciously began to press herself closer. His erection burned and pulsed against her and she heard his low groan of spiralling need as he deepened the kiss even further.
Without taking his mouth off hers he pressed her back against the wall of the house, one of his hands going to her breast, cupping it through the thin fabric of her top, his thumb rolling over the hardened point of her nipple. Mia felt her breath trip over something invisible as he lifted his head from her mouth, his dark eyes glittering as they held hers for a tiny pause.
Her stomach gave a complete somersault as he slid his hand beneath her top, the warm glide of his fingers over her bare flesh sending her senses into a tailspin. He pushed aside her lacy bra and brought his mouth down to her breast, his lips closing over her nipple and suckling gently until she felt as if he had pulled on an invisible string that was attached to her feminine core. She felt each delicious tug on her sensitised flesh, the tiny arrows of delight like spot fires being lit throughout her quivering body.
His