Page 109 of Outback Secrets

‘So you went to the prom together? Did your school yearbook say “couple most likely to get married” or something? All that American shit?’

‘Hey! It’s not shit. I’ll have you know we not only went to the prom, we were crowned prom king and queen.’ He still had the sash in the bottom of his wardrobe to prove it.

‘Do you have photos? I’d kill to see them.’

‘No,’ he lied.

‘So, how long were you guys together?’

‘Eight years. We did long-distance too, while we were at college, but we both came back to work in my family business.’

‘Oh my God.’ Henri’s smile faltered and she slapped a hand against her chest. ‘Katie didn’t die in the shooting too, did she?’

‘No. Nothing like that. She was at the Monument store when it happened as well.’

‘Thank goodness,’ she breathed, then reached out and squeezed his hand. ‘You know, you don’t have to tell me any more if you don’t want.’

‘It’s fine. There’s not much else to tell.’ He withdrew his hand and yanked it through his hair. ‘Long story short, Katie found someone else. She married him and I sold up the businesses and moved to the other side of the world. Happy ending for both of us.’

‘She found someone else after the shooting? She left you after you’d lost all your family?’

The incredulity in her voice had Sheila lifting her head to see what the fuss was about. He could tell Henri thought Katie was no better than Max.

‘It wasn’t her fault,’ he said, feeling defensive on the part of the woman who’d been the love of his life for almost a decade.

‘If you think that, you’re far more charitable than I am,’ Henri said, and then tried to stifle a yawn.

Liam reached for his phone to check the time. He couldn’t believe it was almost 3 am. What on earth had possessed him to spend half the night sitting in bed with a woman, eating apple pie and talking about his damn feelings?

That simply wasn’t something he did, yet here they were.

And he was the one who’d fetched the pie and opened the conversation about previous relationships. His chest cramped at the realisation.

‘Guess it’s time we call it a night. I need my beauty sleep.’ He tried for lighthearted as he slid down the bed to rest his head on the pillows.

What he really felt like doing was tearing back the sheet and going to sleep on the couch, but what kind of a dick would that make him?

Henri reached over to switch off the bedside lamp and then snuggled into him. ‘Goodnight,’ she whispered before placing a quick kiss on his bare chest.

The room went black, and the only noise was the distant waves coming in through the open window and his own heavy breathing as Liam lay there, unable to get to sleep.

‘You awake?’ Her question startled him about five minutes after they’d said goodnight.

He swallowed. ‘Yeah, why?’

Maybe she wanted to jump his bones one more time before dawn. And maybe he’d let her. It might help the tension currently pulsing through his veins.

‘I just remembered something I need to ask. Do you have any food allergies?’

‘Huh?’ That was the last thing he’d been expecting. ‘Why?’

‘Mum wants to make sure there’s nothing on the menu Christmas Day that could give anyone an anaphylactic shock. Ever since she accidentally—’

He pulled sharply away from her. ‘I’m not spending Christmas Day with your family.’

‘What? But that’s part of pretending to be in a relationship with me.’

‘I never agreed to that.’