Serina didn’t object. She was still shaking inside when he pulled over into a lay-by and turned off the engine.
‘Now,’ he said firmly as he undid his seat belt and turned towards her. ‘What’s all this nonsense about revenge?’
Serina stared into his beautiful blue eyes and saw nothing dark or deceptive. Only confusion. Which confused her.
‘Revenge for what?’ he demanded to know.
‘For…for what I did that night,’ she spluttered.
‘Ah,’ he said, and nodded. ‘You’re still feeling guilty about that, are you?’
‘Of course! What I did that night…it was very wrong.’
‘Are we talking about what you did to me? Or what you did to your husband?’
Serina stiffened. ‘Greg wasn’t my husband at that stage.’
‘That’s semantics, Serina, and you know it. You were unfaithful to your soon-to-be husband that night. And you deceived me.’
A guilty frustration swamped her, making her head whirl and her heart twist. ‘I didn’t mean to do either,’ she blurted out. ‘I…I just couldn’t help myself.’ Tears of dismay and despair filled her eyes. ‘It all happened by accident.’
Nicolas’s expression was sceptical. ‘You just happened to be at my concert. Is that what you’re saying?’
‘No. Yes. I mean…I came to Sydney for a couple of days shopping for my wedding and I saw you being interviewed on television. One of those morning programs. I heard you were playing at the Opera House that night and I thought…what would be the harm? I just want to see him one more time,’ she choked out, as though she were talking to someone else. Confessing, perhaps, to a priest. ‘But then I watched you perform and I…I knew I had to do more than just see you….’ The tears spilled over then and trickled down her cheeks. ‘I couldn’t help it, Nicolas. I’m not a bad person. And I’m sorry, truly sorry.’
He reached over and gently wiped the tears from her face. ‘I won’t say that what you did didn’t hurt me. It did. Terribly. But I can see that I hurt you, too, by staying away in the first place. I should have come back for you earlier.’
‘Why didn’t you?’ she said with a tormented groan.
‘Male pride, mostly. You said you didn’t want me.’
A small laugh escaped her lips. ‘And you believed me?’
Nicolas smiled a rather sad smile. ‘Yes, Serina, I believed you. But that’s water under the bridge now, isn’t it? We can’t go back and undo anything in the past. All we can control is the here and now. So let me redress something I told you a little while ago, about why I’m here. Yes, it was because of your daughter’s letter. But not for the reason I let you think. I haven’t come all this way to help Felicity raise money for your local bushfire brigade. I could have easily sent a cheque to do that. I came because your daughter told me that her father—your husband, Greg—is now dead. I came because of you, Serina. Let’s not have any misunderstandings about that.’
Serina tried to work some saliva into her suddenly dry mouth. It was what she both craved and feared.
‘But it’s too late,’ she told him.
‘Too late for what?’
‘For us…’
‘It’s never too late, Serina. Not whilst we’re still alive.’
‘You don’t understand.’
‘Are you saying that you don’t want me anymore?’
She could not help the sensual shudder that rippled down her spine.
‘You have to give me another chance, Serina,’ he proclaimed.
‘I won’t leave Rocky Creek,’ she insisted wildly. ‘I won’t, I tell you.’
‘I’m not asking you to,’ he said. ‘Just come back to Port Macquarie for the afternoon.’
She stared at him, her eyes wide.
‘I can’t!’ she protested huskily.
His smile was sexy. ‘Of course you can. We’re already going there for lunch.’
‘You’re not talking about lunch, though, are you?’
‘No. No, Serina, I’m not.’
The image his words evoked took her breath away. ‘You’re wicked. You were always wicked!’
‘Oh, come now, Serina, don’t go all holier-than-thou on me. I never did a single thing you didn’t want me to. Or beg me to.’
‘I never begged!’
‘Then perhaps it’s high time you did. Shall I make you beg this afternoon, my love?’
Serina knew she had to fight the insidious desires that were already invading her. For if she gave in to what he wanted…