Marcus stared at her for a moment, trying to clear the lust from his brain. ‘We were twenty-two,’ he said after a moment. ‘She got pregnant, we got married. She had a miscarriage. The whole thing was a disaster. We got divorced.’
She laughed. ‘So that’s the nutshell version?’
He shrugged. ‘It was a long time ago.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Men! I just tell you all my gut-wrenching stuff and you give me nutshell? I want more,’ she demanded with a smile.
‘All right,’ he sighed, resigned to a full dissection of a time in his life he’d rather not remember in too much detail. ‘What do you want to know?’
She looked at him exasperatedly. ‘I don’t know...’ She searched around for something to start with. ‘What’s her name?’
‘Tabitha.’
‘How long were you together before she got pregnant?’
‘A year.’
‘Did you love her?’
‘I think so, in the beginning. But I think I was more besotted with her than anything. She was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. It wore off kind of quickly, though. I was about to call it off when she discovered she was pregnant.’
‘Ouch!’
‘Yup.’
‘But you married her anyway?’
He nodded vigorously. ‘No way in the world was a kid of mine growing up without a father. Been there, done that. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I insisted we get married.’
Madeline nodded. That made sense, knowing what she knew about his childhood and his bond with Connor. ‘How long after that did she miscarry?’
‘About a month. She was sixteen weeks.’
Madeline whistled. ‘Late. She must have been devastated.’
He nodded. It had been so unexpected. Tabitha had been well into the second trimester — it had been a shock.
‘And how did you feel?’
‘Truthfully?’ She nodded. ‘Relieved. Sure, it was sad, too, but I wasn’t ready for a baby. As much as I ranted about my child having a father, I lived with this constant feeling of dread. Like my life as I knew it was at an end. I mean, we were so young and we’d tied ourselves down to marriage and children and I was in med school and trying to study and work to support us. And then I felt guilty that I was relieved and stayed for another two years, trying to assuage my guilt.’
She gave him a sad smile and reached her hand across the table to lie on top of his. ‘Poor you.’
He smiled back. ‘Poor Tabitha. I think I stayed in Melbourne for so long because I still felt that guilt years later. I’ve tried to be there for her since. You know, do some DIY stuff, helped her move house a few times, checked in on her from time to time.’
‘She’s not remarried?’
‘No. She’s had a few relationships that haven’t worked out.’
‘And neither have you,’ she said speculatively as she withdrew her hand.
He laughed. ‘I’m a fast learner.’
A waitress came and removed their plates and took orders for another drink. They moved onto other topics and Madeline found herself relaxing. The music was good, the company was very good and her third glass of wine was amazingly good.
With their angsty conversation behind them, the thing between them flared again and Madeline enjoyed her newfound power. Her every move, every gesture was followed intently by Marcus’s interested gaze. She pushed the envelope purposefully. Her fingers caressed the fine chain at her neck, fiddled with her wristwatch and her arms folded and unfolded, drawing his gaze repeatedly to her cleavage.
Marcus was charming and easy to talk to and, when he laughed it lit up his whole face and emphasised his dimples, and the noise was rich and deep and soothing. As the night settled around them and the flames from the garden torches danced shadows across his jaw stubble, the feelings he had stirred with his massage intensified. The longer she spent in his company, the surer she was that Marcus was just what the doctor ordered.
Rebound sex.
‘Dessert?’ he asked.
Only if she could be it. She looked him straight in the eye and shook her head.
Rebound sex.
‘Coffee?’
She held his gaze steadily and shook her head again.
Rebound sex.
Marcus felt his groin tighten. He looked at his watch. Nine p.m. ‘Then I guess we should probably go.’ They were at one of the last remaining occupied tables, most people having left as soon as they’d eaten.
She nodded and stood, draping her jacket over her arm and retrieving her purse, passing over some cash.
‘I think I can manage it,’ he said.
She considered him for a minute. He looked like he could manage it very well indeed.
Rebound sex.
She shrugged. ‘OK. Thanks.’
They walked past the markets, now closed for the night, and back towards the river. They ambled down the walkway in silence, the fairy-lights in the trees a subdued glow. They didn’t talk.
Madeline’s heart pounded in her chest as she debated ways to proposition him. It had seemed like a good idea in the pub but thinking it and doing it were two different things. She could hear the gentle lap of the river and the warm evening air was filled with the fragrance of summer blooms.
But his arm brushed hers occasionally and she could smell his aftershave and the faint whiff of beer, and when he walked slightly ahead of her his gait was all man and his butt was as cute as hell.
‘Actually, I wouldn’t mind a coffee,’ she said. ‘Why don’t we go up to your place?’ Her heartbeat thundered in her ears and she held her breath.
Marcus stopped. His loins exploded into flame. He knew what she was suggesting. He turned back. ‘There’s plenty of coffee-shops still open,’ he said, holding her gaze.
‘I haven’t seen your place yet.’
Marcus sighed. ‘Maddy...’
Madeline almost groaned out loud at the way he said her name. Her muscles clenched. ‘Please, Marcus,’ she said quietly.
He walked over
