Summer of Love Marie Ferrarella (easy books to read in english TXT) 📖

She burst out laughing and Daniel felt the cold knotty feeling that had been building up inside him for days suddenly start to unravel. He grinned at her, his hazel eyes sparkling with amusement.

‘Think it’s funny to see someone almost drowning, do you?’

‘Yes … I mean, no. Of course not.’ She bit her lip, doing her best to behave with suitable decorum.

Daniel chuckled wickedly. Turning on the tap, he scooped up a handful of water. ‘I wonder how funny you’d find it if you were on the receiving end of an impromptu shower?’

‘Daniel, you wouldn’t!’

‘Oh, wouldn’t I?’ He let a few drops of water dribble onto her bare arm, grinning when he heard her squeal in alarm. ‘Are you sure about that?’

‘Yes, I am.’ She stared up at him and he could see the conviction in her eyes. ‘You wouldn’t be that cruel!’

‘No, I wouldn’t.’ He opened his hand and let the water flow into the sink, feeling the knotty feeling start to build up inside him again. ‘It’s good to know that you don’t think I’m completely rotten to the core, Emma.’

She didn’t say anything to that and he didn’t wait around while she thought of something either. He left the kitchen, taking the stairs two at a time as he headed for his room. Why in heaven’s name had he said that, let her know how much it hurt to be treated as an outcast? It wouldn’t achieve anything, definitely wouldn’t improve her opinion of him. The last thing he wanted was for it to appear as though he was looking for sympathy!

He cursed roundly, stopping dead when he heard a knock on the door. Striding across the room, he flung it open, too angry with himself to care about putting up a front. ‘Yes?’

‘I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.’ Her voice was so low that it was a moment before Daniel realised what she had said. He frowned, unsure where this was leading. ‘You’re sorry?’

‘Yes. About the way I … I’ve behaved recently.’ She tipped back her head and looked him squarely in the eyes. ‘I agreed to call a truce and I haven’t kept to that. I apologise.’

‘I know how difficult this situation is, Emma,’ he said quietly, more touched than he cared to admit. ‘I find it hard, too.’

‘Do you?’ She looked at him in surprise and he sighed.

‘Yes. I can’t just forget what happened five years ago. You meant a lot to me, Emma.’

‘Did I?’

‘Of course you did.’ He frowned when he saw the uncertainty on her face. Surely she must know how he had felt, even though he had pushed her away? He had never tried to hide his feelings—how could he have done? She had meant the whole world to him and all of a sudden it seemed important she understood that.

‘I cared a lot about you, Emma,’ he said quickly, wishing that he didn’t have to use such a milk-and-water term to describe how he’d felt. Claiming he’d cared barely touched on the way he had really felt about her but what else could he say? Admitting that he had loved her with every fibre of his being wasn’t what she wanted to hear. His heart ached as he repeated it with as much conviction as he dared. ‘I really and truly cared about you.’

‘But not as much as you cared about your career.’ She smiled and his heart filled with sadness when he saw the bleakness in her eyes. ‘Don’t worry, Daniel, I understand. And as I said the other day, it’s probably a good thing that we parted. Oh, I won’t pretend that it didn’t hurt at the time because it did. A lot. But I’m both older and wiser, and I can see the problems it would have caused if we’d stayed together.’

‘You would have regretted giving up your dreams of becoming a surgeon?’ he said flatly.

‘Yes. I love my job and I’m good at it, too.’ She gave a little shrug. ‘It was the right decision for both of us.’

‘I’m glad you think so,’ he said roughly. Maybe he should have been relieved to hear her say that, but all he felt was a terrible emptiness. He couldn’t help wishing that he had been brave enough—or foolish enough—to take a chance and see what would happen, and it shocked him to find himself entertaining such a crazy idea. It was an effort to concentrate when she continued.

‘I do. I have a job I love, good friends and a nice home. I have everything I want, in fact.’

‘How about love and marriage?’ he asked, then could have bitten off his tongue for asking such a personal question. Emma’s love life had nothing to do with him.

‘Not on my agenda at the present time. It’s hard enough for a woman to establish herself in surgery without adding a husband and a family to the equation, although I haven’t ruled them out completely.’ She shrugged. ‘If they happen at some point down the line, that’s fine, but if not then I can live with it. How about you? Is there anyone special in your life?’

‘No. My job seems to take up most of my time, too,’ he said, not willing to admit that he had never considered the idea of marriage after they had parted.

‘Still determined to set up in private practice one day?’ She smiled but he could tell from her tone what she thought of the idea.

‘Maybe.’ He shrugged, unable to add to his guilt by deliberately misleading her again. ‘Who knows what could happen in the future?’

‘Who, indeed? But I’m sure you’ll do everything in your power to achieve your ambitions, Daniel, won’t you?’

Daniel’s heart sank when he heard the suspicion in her voice. It seemed that their brief moment of harmony was over and they were back to where they had started, with Emma mistrusting his motives. Suddenly, he couldn’t bear it any longer. He