Even a Diamond can be shattered...
After the owner of a security company is murdered, his sharp-edged wife goes on the run. Forced to abandon everything she holds dear - her home, her friends, her job in special ops - she builds a new life for herse...
"Do you want to stay over again tonight?" Luke asked once I'd rinsed the sweat from the gym off in the shower.
"Tempting, but I've got to start work at seven tomorrow. I'm better off going back to the farm."
"Don't remind me about work. I've got a conference call with a Japanese supplier at eight. Last time, the translator didn't turn up, and it was a nightmare."
I nearly offered my services, but I bit my tongue.
"Sounds like it," I said. So damn lame.
"At least stay for dinner?"
Another day off cooking? "Deal."
Our pizzas arrived an hour later, delivered lukewarm by a dude on a moped. We skipped the formality of the dining room and opened the boxes at the breakfast bar.
"Ugh, Hawaiian?" I crinkled my nose in disgust when Luke flipped his lid back.
"What's wrong with it?"
"It has pineapple. Fruit doesn't belong on pizza."
"Tomatoes are a fruit, and yours is covered in them."
"Okay, technically they are a fruit, but they're also not."
"You're using women's logic."
I grinned. "It's the best kind."
After we'd eaten, Luke offered to drive me home, and as I climbed into his car, I almost changed my mind and stayed for the night. My trailer didn't have Netflix or a shower with three nozzles.
It didn't have Luke, either.
"Better stop at the end of the drive," I told him as we got close to Hazelwood Farm.
If Susie or Hayley noticed me getting out of his car, I'd never hear the end of it.
"Can we do this again next weekend?" he asked as we sat in darkness. "It's... It was... I had a good time."
"Me too. I'd like that."
It may have been difficult to admit, but I sort of liked him. Luke was totally different to any of the men in my past, but he was kind. Sweet. Gentle. And right then, that was exactly what I needed.
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Despite the miserable weather and the amount of mess the owners had left over the weekend for me to clear up, I was smiling on Monday morning.
"What's made you so cheerful?" Hayley asked.
"I won fifty quid on the lottery on Saturday." I held up Coco's rug in front of me. "Honestly, how does somebody get lipstick all over a horse blanket?"
"Practice."
I wouldn't have been so cheerful if I'd known a steaming pile of horse shit was about to hit the fan. The day passed uneventfully, and even when Tia and Arabella showed up after school, dropped off by Arabella's mum, it didn't dampen my spirits. Had Luke spoken to Tia about paying more attention to her horses? She was still there at five when I went in to catch up on the TV news. Please, don't let her leave the place a tip. I shook my head as I settled onto the couch. She was sixteen and hated getting her hands dirty—surely she couldn't wreak too much havoc?
