Page 34 of Her Dom's Secret Past

“This sounds serious. Maybe you should come to my place. I don’t think I want to have a serious discussion in the middle of a restaurant.”

“Okay, probably a good idea.”

She wriggled free from my arms and went to her desk, and then scribbled an address down on a card.

“This is my business card. It has my number here and don’t worry, the numbers are in the right order. I’ve written my home address and my mobile number too.”

“Asquith? That’s near here, isn’t it?”

“Yes, about five minutes away, going towardBerowra.”

“I think I remember seeing a sign for it. I came onto the M1 at Mount White.”

“Thank goodness the Marlow you live in is not the one in Victoria. Mount White’s about thirty minutes from my place.”

“Well, I live on the water about six minutes from Mount White.”

The doorkeeper arrived, giving a discreet cough.

“Excuse me, Anabelle, but your midday appointment has arrived.”

“Thank you, Charlie, I’ll be right there.”

Mm, he had a name. He actually gave me a friendly nod as he left the room. Maybe he wasn’t that bad after all.

“Don’t think your doorkeeper was impressed with me turning up without an appointment this morning. He reminded me of Cerberus and I didn’t have a reed pipe to put him to sleep, or a lump of steak.”

“Ha, Charlie? Well, he’s rather protective of me, and I actually don’t know what I’d do without him. He’s been here since the year after I opened and he is my most valuable employee. He’s also my dear friend.”

“Ah, in that case, I shall forgive him for any misgivings I may have had.”

She laughed again, a bright tinkling sound that entered my heart. Was I being silly? Could she possibly be my soul mate? She’d said she thought I was hers. Tonight would tell. If she could handle my background, then maybe we had a chance of happiness together.

I followed her down the stairs, stashing her address in my pocket. Walking along the hall, she stopped just before an entrance into the salon and turned to face me. I stopped, close enough to smell the perfume from her shampoo. She put a hand to my chest.

“I’m truly glad you found me, John. I’ve missed you so much these past few months, I thought I would die.”

I covered her hand with mine. “And I’ve missed you.”

“I’ll see you tonight. About six-thirty okay?”

“Sure. I’ll see you then.”

She peered up into my face and I wanted to sweep her into my arms, but I knew this was neither the time nor the place. Then she stood on tippy-toes and kissed me softly.

“Tonight.”

I nodded and we went into the salon. I noticed Charlie had seen the kiss, and his face was a picture of curiosity. I said goodbye to him as Anabelle held out her hand to greet three young women. When I went out onto the street, grinning, I wanted to act silly like a young teenager. I wanted to run and sing and shake hands with everyone I passed. I only hoped she wouldn’t turn against me when she learned what I’d done for a living and how I’d actually gotten my injuries.