Summer of Love by Marie Ferrarella (easy to read books for adults list .TXT) 📕

‘Good. The last thing I need is you thinking that I’m holding out for a reconciliation.’ She gave a sharp laugh. ‘Last night was fun and I enjoyed it but that’s as far as it went. It certainly wasn’t the start of something more.’

‘That’s how I feel too,’ Daniel said thickly. Even though he knew he should be relieved that she felt this way, he couldn’t help feeling hurt that their love-making had meant so little to her.

‘It seems we’re in agreement, then.’ She gave him a cool little smile and went to switch on the kettle.

Daniel finished his coffee in a couple of quick gulps and excused himself. Emma was making toast when he left the kitchen, acting as though everything was completely normal, and maybe it was for her. Maybe she’d had a string of lovers in the past few years, men she had enjoyed the odd night of passion with. She’d mentioned her boss, hadn’t she? Richard something-or-other. Maybe he was one of them, although there could be a long line of past and present suitors for all he knew. Although he hated the idea, what right did he have to criticise how she lived her life? The truth was that he had forfeited any rights where Emma was concerned five years ago. She was free to do whatever she wished.

The thought was so agonising that Daniel knew he had to get out of the house before he made a fool of himself. Unhooking his coat off the peg, he let himself out of the front door. His car was parked in the drive so he got in and started the engine. When he reached the main road, he headed towards Harrogate purely because it was somewhere to aim for. He wasn’t heading to somewhere but away from a place where it was too painful to be. The trouble was that no matter how many miles he put between himself and Emma, it didn’t stop him thinking about her, definitely didn’t stop him wishing that things could have been different.

Emma managed to maintain her composure until she heard Daniel’s car driving away. She sank down onto a chair, feeling sick and shaken by what had happened. She had known the moment she had seen him sitting at the table that he had regretted what had happened the night before. It had been pride that had helped her deal with the situation, pride plus the fear of what might happen if he realised how much it had meant to her.

She bit her lip, overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of dread. Making love with Daniel had been everything she could have wished for but she wasn’t foolish enough to think that it had meant anything special to him. Maybe he had desired her but that was all it had been. Whilst she had tried to convince herself that it would be the ideal way to draw a line under the past, she doubted if Daniel had viewed it that way. He hadn’t needed to because he had got over her a long time ago. There was no way that had he been celibate for the past five years, and last night she had been just another in a long line of women willing and eager to give him pleasure.

The thought of Daniel making love to all those other women was incredibly painful, so Emma tried not to dwell on it. There were just two weeks left of her stay and after that she would return to the life she had built for herself. It had taken her a long time to get over Daniel the last time and she couldn’t bear to think that she would have to go through that kind of heartache again, so she would make sure he didn’t gain any kind of hold over her. And that meant there must never be a repeat of what had happened last night.

Daniel was snatching five minutes’ break in the middle of what had turned out to be an extremely busy Monday morning surgery when Emma knocked on his door.

‘Ruth said you didn’t have a patient with you at the moment,’ she explained as she came into the room.

‘I was just taking a breather,’ he replied, hoping he sounded calmer than he felt.

He had managed to stay out of her way for the remainder of the weekend. It had been almost midnight when he’d got back to the house and she’d been in bed. There’d been no sign of her when he’d got up that morning either, although he hadn’t lingered. He had skipped breakfast and come straight to the surgery, making do with a cup of coffee to tide him over. If he’d had his way he would have avoided seeing her for the rest of the day too, but obviously that wasn’t to be. Now all he could hope was that the decision he’d made yesterday to behave calmly and professionally around her for the next couple of weeks would see him through.

‘It has been busy,’ she agreed evenly. Closing the door, she came over to his desk and handed him a file. ‘Would you mind taking a look at this for me? I’m afraid it’s got me stumped.’

‘Of course.’ Daniel took the file and quickly read through the patient’s notes. His brows rose when he noted how many times the man had visited the surgery in the past two months. ‘Alistair Grant is either an extremely sick man or he’s a complete hypochondriac. You could fill a textbook with the variety of symptoms he’s presented with recently.’

‘Exactly.’ She leant across the desk and selected a sheet from the file. ‘Uncle Jim sent him for a whole battery of tests last month and they all came back clear.’

‘Hmm.’ Daniel placed the file on the desk, trying to ignore the leap his heart gave when her hand brushed his as she passed him the test results.