* * *
Del rested her forehead on Blake’s and he listened while her breath slowly returned to normal. “That was worth waiting for.” She smiled as he rubbed a rough hand over her bare butt. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I enjoyed it as much as you did.” He slipped his other hand over her back and slid them both sideways so they were laying together, heads on the same pillow. His lids lowered over dark eyes and he sighed. “Ready to talk? I know you’re churning things over in your mind, Del. May as well spit it out.”
“Guess you can read me like a book, hey?”
“You do have that kind of face, you know.”
“I heard from John. It doesn’t look like things are going to go in my favour. There doesn’t seem to be an out in my contract.” His hands tightened around her.
“So where does that leave us then?” His breath fanned over her face and he was loath to break the contact.
“Paul Steenburg, the studio boss, has asked for a meeting.”
Blake rolled away from her, lifting his arm to rest on his forehead as he glanced at the ceiling. “I take it you said yes?”
“I have no choice, you know that.” She sat up, letting the sheet fall from her breasts. “I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with you.” She winced at his sudden intake of breath and he cursed silently for getting sideswiped. Del swung her feet to the floor and reached down to the floor for her underwear. Blake watched as her hair fell around her shoulders baring her back to him. “If we are going to have a chance together, I have to sort out my life in Sydney. You have to let me go and do that.”
“Seems you’ve already made up your mind anyway. What does it matter what I think? You aren’t giving us a chance, and that hurts. Six weeks isn’t enough, Del. We deserve more.”
She stood up and rounded on him. “Now that isn’t fair, Blake. I’m doing the best I can here. I can’t just walk away from everything I had before I came out here. If I break my contract they can sue me, and I don’t have the money nor do I want to end up in court.” She huffed out a breath. “I was kind of hoping if I meet him face to face, we could work something out.”
“How long would that take?” Her words cut through him like a knife.
“I have no idea. I’ve never done this kind of thing before. It all depends on whether or not they make me write the rest of the series or not. It usually takes me a couple of weeks an episode, times that by six…”
“So you’re prepared to leave us for three months? That won’t work. I can’t let you go for that long. It’ll kill me.” Because you will find yourself slipping back into your old lifestyle and the kids and I will be forgotten.
“I’m hoping he’ll let me write here. It’s a possibility I want to put on the table, but I have to do it face to face. It’s something I have to do, Blake. I’m not the type of person to leave a career move this important hanging.”
“But you can leave our relationship hanging. That doesn’t seem to be worrying you.”
“No, that isn’t what I meant and you know it. You’re being stubborn because I’ve hurt you.” She leaned down on the bed and reached out to stroke a finger down his cheek. “I love you, Blake, you must know that.”
“I thought so but when you talk of going away, it doesn’t seem like it.” He grabbed her hand, winding his fingers between hers. “Anything else you want to get off your chest while you’re breaking my heart here?”
“Actually, there is.” She withdrew her hand and curled up on the bed out of his reach. “If there is any chance of us being together I don’t think we should have secrets, so I need to tell you something.”
He opened his mouth to speak and Del held up her hand. He eased back into the pillows, a sinking sensation filling his gut. Whatever had put the haunted look in her beautiful green eyes couldn’t be good. The words flowed from her mouth. Her boyfriend was a manipulative ass, but what Delilah had gone through was something he could not comprehend. The lives of his children meant everything to him and he couldn’t imagine himself in her position.
“I’m sorry, Del. That must have been awful for you.”
“You don’t hate me for it?” Her chin wobbled and he sat up to pull her into his arms.
“No, of course not.” A tear dropped from her cheek onto his shoulder. “You did what you thought was right. It’s all we can do at the end of the day, but still it was your choice.”
“I was so worried you would be horrified I put my career first.”
“I get that and it was a decision you had to make. You were young and it wasn’t the right time for you.” He looked into her eyes. “I’ve seen the way you are with the kids, and I know you love them. You’re different now and I’m sure if you had to make the decision again, it would be different, right?”
She nodded her head and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“I don’t want you to go back to Sydney, you know that, but I understand it’s what you feel you must do. Just don’t expect me to like it.”
“Thank you for understanding, Blake. I’ll come back as soon as I can, that I promise you.”
He pulled her back under the
