N is for Night

An extract from Margaret’s book A NIGHT WITH CONSEQUENCES

Blake’s eyes caught Kara’s as she joined the conference. Her confession last night had knocked him for six. Any man who hurt a woman, whether it was physically or verbally, was the lowest of the low as far as he was concerned. And her father’s abuse had certainly left Kara with problems.

She had trembled so much when he held her that he had feared she might break down. It was a miracle that she had grown into the competent woman she was. Clearly work had been her saviour. Only when she was working was she in control of herself.

Certainly she had been on edge in his suite. He had felt her fear. But then, surprisingly, she had let him kiss her. It had taken every ounce of his not inconsiderable self-control to contain the kiss. How he had managed it he was not sure, and as delicate as it had been it had sent a raging heat through his body.

Kara had no idea how lovely she was – how sexy, how alluring. He could understand now why she always dressed down, why she never made anything of herself. If she dressed as most of the other women in the office did then she would have every man in the company lusting after her. And that, he realised now, was the last thing she wanted.

She did not know it, but after he had kissed her, her eyes had assumed a sparkle he had never seen before, and her skin had glowed. It had been the hardest thing in the world not to kiss her again. And even harder to let her return to her room!

“Are you all right?” he asked her now. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you,” she answered, her eyes meeting his shyly. “And I’m sorry about last night.”

He shook his head. Think nothing of it. You have nothing to be sorry for.” He was the one who was sorry – sorry that she had been caused such suffering at the hands of a monster like her father. His blood still boiled every time he thought about it.

“It actually helped, telling someone,” she admitted with a wry twist to her lips. “I didn’t think it would. I’ve kept it bottled up all these years. But when I went back to my room I felt a sense of relief. I slept better than I’ve done in a long time.”

“Then I’m glad I could be of service.” How any man could treat his daughter like that he had no idea. It was perhaps fortunate that he was no longer alive or he would have felt like confronting him, giving him a taste of his own medicine. He wasn’t usually a violent man, but anyone who could harm his own flesh and blood did not deserve to be treated humanely.

“And the opera tonight? Are you looking forward to that too?”

Kara nodded. “Actually, yes, I am.” After last night she felt much more at ease with Blake. Whether it was because he now knew something about her past, or because she had spent so much time with him and got to know him better she wasn’t sure. But she was beginning to see him as a man instead of her boss. A good-looking, sexy man who had lit a fire inside her. The idea that confession was good for the soul had certainly been true in her case. She felt as though a great big weight had been lifted from her shoulders and now there was a whole bright new future ahead.