Page 67 of The Secret
“Can you forgive me for not telling you about my father? I don’t know how to make this right.”
“There’s nothing to make right. Seeing you here …” I press my hand to my chest. “God, it’s so much better than where my imagination took me. And I get it, Dan. I have an asshole father, not as bad as yours I think, but he tried to straitjacket me. It’s not the same but …”
“No, no. I understand.” He wraps his fingers around mine. “Comehere, Liss,” he says.
I stand, and he pulls me forward onto his lap. As I sink down, he hardens under my leg, and a smile curves over my lips.
“Stop laughing at me, woman. I’ve just told you how long it’s been for me,” he growls.
My whole body is hot. I want to take him upstairs and strip him naked, but we’re rushing things here. He buries his face in my neck, letting out a long groan. His broad back is thinner than it used to be, but he’s still so big, solid andreal, oh soreal. My eyes drift over the lobby. Half the people are staring at us out of the corners of their eyes.
“Tell me this is not a dream right now,” he mumbles.
I pinch his bicep.
“I think the pinching thing is an old wives’ tale.” He draws in a sharp breath. “Can I come upstairs with you?”
Oh God, I want it. But I’m hollowed out, wobbly. What would sex with him do to me?
“It’s too soon, isn’t it?” he says into my neck, and I hug him closer as he groans. “I’m sorry, I’m just … you’re here and it’s been so long.”
“I can’t believe you won’t disappear in a puff of smoke again.” I drag up my deepest fears. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”
He pulls back and squints at me. “I can’t say I’m not still worried, but at least you know now. I won’t disappear again. I promise.”
I nod, but how can he say this, given what’s happened? “Okay, but you’re going back, right?”
He nods and sighs. “Yes, I have to.”
“So, what are we talking about here, trying to do something long-distance?”
Suddenly, I wanteverything to be clear. I know he had his reasons, but now that I know what happened, I want to make up for all the direct questions I didn’t ask last time.
He narrows his eyes at me. “Maybe to start with? Until we can find a way to be in the same place together. Does that sound okay?”
It sounds like a dream.
“I’ll come up as often as I can,” he says.
“Or I can come to you,” I say, watching his face.
He grins. “That sounds amazing. I can show you the farm.”
“You’re running it?”
He nods. “With my brother.”
“I can’t believe you have a brother. How big is the farm?”
“Twenty thousand hectares.”
“Oh my God, Dan.”
He chuckles. “It’s in the Western Cape. We’ve only been back there for five months. For me it’s a big learning curve, but the workforce is committed.” He runs his hands through his hair. “It’s been badly managed for years. My father was never interested. We’ve started working on a way of improving the crops and the profit and sharing it out. My brother, Jed, has a degree in agricultural management.”
“What happened to your father’s business interests?”
His face darkens. “When he died, the government sequestered his assets, and we’ve only been able to start a legal process in the last five months. The farm was in Jed’s name, and there were some other company holdings in Jed’s name that we’ve been able to sell and we’re using the money from that to pay lawyers. It’s not good, Liss. I’ll take you through it all some time.”
