"I don't mean that," Laura said with exasperation, although she could well believe it. "I mean, how did you even know where I work?"
"Your brother told me," he said quietly.
"My brother! Steve told you? When? I mean, how . . . ?"
"You're a little overwrought. Perhaps you should sit down." He pushed her gently into a chair, removing the books from her arms and placing them on a nearby desk.
"I am not overwrought, and stop manhandling me!" Laura shook off his arm. "I want to know what's going on, that's all!"
Daniel leaned against the wall, and for the first time, Laura realised he too must have lost weight as she took in his leaner frame, the gaunt line of his jaw, the tired lines at his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair, hesitating as though he didn't know where to start.
"Steve phoned me this morning at my office," he told her.
"But why did he . . . and how did he know where . . . I haven't told him about you . . ."
"He looked up Stone Brothers on the Internet. I must say he came on a bit strong at first. Like a father brandishing a shotgun! Wanting to know what I'd been doing to his little sister to leave her in such a state, what my intentions were, that sort of thing. He demanded I come and sort things out with you but he wouldn't tell me where you live, only where you work—for security purposes, I suppose."
Laura's cheeks burned bright red with anger and embarrassment. How dare Steve do a thing like that? When she first saw Daniel standing in the doorway, for a brief moment her heart had leapt at the thought that he'd come because he wanted some sort of future for them, after all. But no. He'd come because he'd been threatened by an angry older brother who'd stuck his nose in something he knew absolutely nothing about.
"I'll kill him!" she said furiously. "This has nothing whatsoever to do with him!" Making an effort to calm down, she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Daniel. Steve should never have called you, and he certainly shouldn't have spoken to you that way. He has no idea what he's talking about. I haven't even told him about you. He's jumping to ridiculous conclusions. I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing."
She began to gather her things together, but Daniel's arm shot out to stop her.
"I haven't come for nothing, Laura. And don't be so hard on Steve. He did what he thought was best. Besides, his call came through precisely two minutes after Ben told me if I didn't come and find you, he'd do it for me."
"He did?" Laura was thrown off guard again, but she still had no idea why he'd gone to all this trouble, and it was best not to give anything away until she knew.
"I needed to see you," Daniel said in earnest, startling her with the intensity in those deep blue eyes of his.
Her defences up, not daring to hope, Laura snapped, "I don't know why. You've left it long enough!"
Exasperated, Daniel started to pace up and down the classroom. "I know, and you have every right to be angry with me."
"On the contrary, I have no right at all. You never promised anything. I haven't been in touch with you, either. I assumed you wouldn't want me to. And if you did, then I'm sorry, but as I said before, quick flings aren't my style."
"Is that what you still think?" There was surprise on his face. "That all I want is an affair with you?"
"Well, isn't it?" Laura shot back. "We've been through all this before, Daniel. You have no time for proper relationships and I understand that. But if you've come here to act on . . . on that chemistry you were always so insistent about, on a casual basis, then . . ."
"That's not what I've come back for!" His eyes blazed.
"Then why did you?"
"Because I've been going crazy and I finally worked out why. Or Ben did, because I've been so insufferable. It was only when the new office junior left and Ben told me he might have to send me to some remote outpost that I realised how impossible I've been. I blamed it on overwork, but I think I already knew deep down. Ever since I went back to the Quinta to meet with Paulo . . ." He stopped pacing and caught her gaze. "I realised how much I missed you not being there. How much I missed you, full stop."
Closing the gap between them, he hesitated a long moment as though gauging her reaction. He lowered his mouth to hers, gentle in apology, and then his lips moved across her cheeks as he tenderly kissed away the tears that had started to fall.
Laura, too tired and stunned to fight him, leaned in to breathe in his familiar scent.
"You don't know how much I've missed you," he whispered.
"Yes, I do," she murmured, "because I've missed you just as much."
When she pulled away, Daniel's brows knitted together. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head, forcing back more tears. How could she tell him how it felt to be in his arms after weeks of thinking she would never feel their warmth again? To be with the man she loved? But that was the problem. He'd said he missed her, but he hadn't said he loved her.
The door swung open and Jean burst in with an armful of books, stopping dead when she saw the two of them so close together, their expressions so serious. Blustering her way through an apology, she beat a hasty retreat.
"I'm getting tired of our affectionate exchanges happening in public places," Daniel muttered. "Don't you think this might be an appropriate moment to reveal your home address?"
Laura stared at him bleakly. What had she been thinking? For those few glorious moments, she'd revelled in the notion that
