The Bedroom Surrender

His mouth tilted into a wry little smile as he commented, ‘Then you’re very fortunate…in your family.’

He turned his head, gazing out over the lake, and she sensed his withdrawal from her. He stood a man apart, strongly self-contained, yet possibly he felt very alone on his pinnacle of singular achievement. She wondered about him, whether he’d had parents who’d made the time to know him, siblings who were brought up with him, sharing. What of his ex-wife, his girlfriends…had they ever touched his heart…his soul?

Observing him wrapped in his own thoughts, she was struck by the idea he’d always walked alone, knew nothing else. A man like him had few peers, and those that were would be in contest with him. That was the nature of the beast. As for the women in his life, had any of them seen past what he could give them? Huge wealth and the power that went with it might have been enough for them.

Perhaps she’d been blinded by it herself in making her judgment of him. Impulsively she stepped closer and touched his arm to bring him back from wherever he’d gone. ‘You and Cate could form a wonderful bond if you reached out to her,’ she pressed.

His biceps muscle tensed. His gaze fastened on hers, bypassing her plea with a piercing intensity that demanded something far more personal. ‘What of us?’ he shot out, his other hand lifting to grasp her arm.

It was like an electric jolt zapping through her.

Shocked, immobilised, mind jammed, Rosalie could only stare back at him.

‘Why trust Cate with me when you haven’t taken the time to know the person I am inside, Rosalie James?’

The words punched into her heart.

The need pulsing from him took her breath away.

Then something deep and alien to her stirred inside Rosalie, a sexual awakening that she had never expected to experience, a wanting to know this man in every sense, a yearning for the kind of love she knew existed between her sisters and the men they’d married. Yet even as she felt this, panic screamed into her mind, beating up the fearful thought—it’s not safe!

‘Da…ad!’ came the exasperated call from his daughter.

His jaw tightened. His eyes bit into hers with ruthless and relentless purpose. ‘Don’t think I’ll walk out of your life, Rosalie. We’ll meet again.’

She was left shaken to the core as he released her arm. Her own hand slid limply from his as he turned to face Cate who’d started down the path towards them and now stood waiting, her arms folded with an air of impatience. Or was it resentment that he’d gone off with yet another woman instead of waiting for her?

She’d seen them touching.

Rosalie struggled to block what Adam had said to her out of her mind…focus on the child who was no longer really a child. Her legs carried her automatically, keeping pace with Adam’s. They walked apart, but the sense of an inevitable link with him could not be broken.

They reached Cate.

Adam put an arm around his daughter’s shoulders and the stiffness instantly went out of them. He hugged her close, smiling, chatting, and she glowed up at him, loving his attention.

He didn’t speak to Rosalie again, not in any personal sense. He said a general goodbye to the family, thanking them for their hospitality. All of them trooped out to watch him and Cate drive away from Davenport Hall, the car moving slowly down the avenue of giant elms, as though being gradually drawn through a tunnel to a different time and place.