'Then you'll have to go shopping for plants with me,' he said decisively. 'Guide me into buying the best.'

More sharing. Laura's cup of happiness was suddenly bubbling to the brim. 'No problem,' she a.s.sured him, revelling in allowing herself to love this man all over again.

The waiter returned with their cappuccinos. Jake released her hand and they sat apart again, but another journey had begun-one that shimmered with the promise of far more than the first they'd taken together. Laura couldn't remember a coffee ever tasting so good.

Jake could scarcely believe this incredibly fortunate turn of events. Laura hadn't moved on. Not from him. And the time apart had not been wasted. She had achieved complete independence from her father and quite clearly would never allow herself to be subjected to his influence again. It was now totally irrelevant that she was Alex Costarella's daughter. She was simply herself-the beautiful, strong, giving woman he had come to love. And since her mother no longer needed her in any protective sense, the way ahead for them was free of any insurmountable complications.

He could throw caution to the winds, share whatever he wanted with Laura without any sense of guilt over how hurt she might be from a.s.sociating with him. The whole truth was out in the open now. There was no reason to hold back on anything. Where the future might take them as a couple was entirely in their own hands. The most important thing was he could have her again. Nothing else really mattered.

Froth from the cappuccino coated her upper lip. He wanted to lick it off. Her tongue slid out and swept it away. Her beautiful blue eyes twinkled at him teasingly as though she knew what he'd been thinking.

'I haven't wanted any woman since you, Laura,' he said softly. That was the truth, too, and he needed her to know it. The d.a.m.ning photographs could have left doubts in her mind about how deeply he'd felt connected to her. This was a new start and he couldn't bear anything marring it.

She smiled, happiness lighting up her lovely face. 'It's been the same for me, too, Jake, though I did have a lot of bad thoughts about you.'

'The woman in the photographs...she said she was being stalked and pleaded with me to walk her home from the gym. It was an act of kindness, Laura, nothing more.'

The smile broadened. 'I like kindness in a man. Nick is very kind to Mum. She never had that from Dad.'

Neither did you. Only demands and abuse if they weren't met.

Jake understood where Laura was coming from, why marriage was not an attractive proposition to her, but maybe he could change her view of it, given enough time together. She was certainly seeing the difference for her mother.

He wanted a family in his future. The loss of it had driven him all these years and now that the goal he had set himself had been reached, he could plan a different scenario for his life, hopefully with Laura. It was like a miracle that it was possible at all.

She put down her cup and gave him a look of eager antic.i.p.ation. 'Are we done here? Ready to go?'

Desire roared through him like an express train. He couldn't get her out of the coffee shop fast enough. They started the walk towards Town Hall hand in hand, a joyous bounce in their step. It was rush hour, people crowding past them either way. They came to a building with a recessed entrance and Jake instantly pulled Laura out of the melee on the sidewalk and into his embrace against a sheltered side wall.

'I've been wanting to do this ever since I saw you yesterday,' he murmured, his eyes blazing with naked need.

'Yesterday?' she echoed quizzically.

'I thought you'd come for your father. If I'd known you'd come for me...'

He couldn't wait. Like in the garden the first day they'd met, like on their first date on the way to the hotel...he had to kiss her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him right back, their pa.s.sion for each other as wildly exhilarating as ever, more so with the freedom from all restrictions.

But they couldn't give it full expression in this public place.

They had to move on.

And they did.

Together.

ISBN: 978-1-4592-1407-1.

Books by Emma Darcy.

Harlequin Presents 2977-WIFE IN PUBLIC 2942-THE BILLIONAIRE'S HOUSEKEEPER MISTRESS 2878-THE MASTER PLAYER Emma Darcy THE COSTARELLA CONQUEST.

THE COSTARELLA CONQUEST.