by Lena Dowling
‘So you’re saying the fact I had money meant nothing to you. It was a fortunate co-incidence?’
‘No. In the beginning I didn’t think I could care about you. I didn’t think I could care about anyone, and so to start with it was partly about the money, that, and pissing Caro off, but then I got to know you and my feelings changed. I started to…’
‘Started to what?’
‘Started to… I’m sorry I…’
‘No you don’t. You can’t always bolt when the emotions get too big.’
Georgia took a couple of steps back, but Brad stepped in closing the gap, taking her by the arm, gently, very gently, so that if she had wanted she could have thrown him off with one movement. But she didn’t try to push him away.
Brad was right about that, and so was Miriam. She ran. That’s what she did. It had started with running from Jake, a necessity for self-preservation, but then she had run from any guy who got too close. But not this time. She stopped and looked up at Brad again.
She met his eyes.
‘I started to care about you, okay. Even though I could barely admit it to myself most of the time, I started to care about you a lot. I started to think about a word that starts with L that I can’t say, and I was worried that you might say it to me.’
‘And that scared you?’
‘Yes.’
‘I had started to care for you too, you know, Georgia. That’s why I reacted, possibly overreacted, when you asked me to fund the centre. I thought I’d misjudged you.’
‘But the thing is you didn’t misjudge me, Brad, you were right. A big part of it was about the money for the addiction centre; not all of it, but I just wanted to make a difference for people growing up like me, and for people like my mother, so much that I didn’t stop to think about how you would feel about being asked for the money.’
‘You said some of it. What about the part that wasn’t about the money?’
‘It was about you. I started to — ’
‘Fall in love with me?’
He finished her sentence for her, doubtful Georgia would be able to say the word, even though it seemed to be written all over her face.
‘I didn’t say that. I said, I started to think about you in terms of a word that starts with L.’
Brad chuckled.
‘Alright, I’ll play along with you, Georgia. When was the last time you ever thought about this word starting with L that you can’t say in relation to any other person?’
‘Never. You’re the first.’
‘So what do we do now?’
‘Can we take it as read?’ she asked, looking up at him through her lashes.
He laughed.
‘Spoken like a true lawyer. So I can take it as read that we love each other, is that it?’
‘Yes. Take that as read,’ she said, still carefully avoiding saying the actual word, he noticed.
‘That’s all I’m going to get, isn’t it?’
‘For the moment. One day I might be able to say it. But I do know that if I ever do, you would be the only one I’d say it to.’
When Brad took her in her arms she did her best to let her lips do the talking in a way that would make him understand just how much he meant to her, even if she couldn’t articulate the four-letter word that terrified her more than anything.
As Georgia kissed him, Brad opened his eyes to steal a look. The way she clung to him and the urgency of her kiss told him everything he needed to know.
He pushed past her and locked the door to the office, flicking down the blinds.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Gathering evidence.’
‘Of what?’
‘Whether my conference table will hold up as well as the one in the shelter boardroom.’
She laughed, letting him walk her backwards until the tabletop pressed into the back of her thighs.
‘Now, where were we, Ms Murray? Ah yes. I remember, tabletop durability testing,’ he said, lowering her down on to the polished wood.
Epilogue
Instead of throwing her bouquet into the crowd of single women lined up outside the hotel, Georgia strode up to Miriam and held the flowers out to her. Miriam would have been hoping to catch them anyway, and Georgia couldn’t think of anyone who deserved them more. Without her friend’s prodding she and Brad might never have got together.
Miriam didn’t take the flowers straight away, hugging Georgia, forcing her to hold the bouquet of tightly bound rosebuds out of the way to save them from being crushed.
‘Georgia!’
Georgia looked back over her shoulder to see Brad impatiently holding the door of the limo open, the limo that would take them from their wedding reception to the airport, where the Spencer private jet would be waiting.
‘Someone can’t wait to get you on honeymoon.’ Miriam giggled. ‘Go on, go.’
Georgia gave Miriam a final squeeze and thrust the flowers towards her. Then she ran down the steps and jumped into the limo, managing the entry into the vehicle far more easily than she had earlier that day in a full skirted, halter necked wedding dress and veil. Now that she was in her going-away dress, the one Miriam had insisted she buy from the top floor of Castlereagh’s, she shimmied easily across the leather seat.
‘This isn’t the way to the airport,’ she said, looking around to Brad as the limo driver took a wrong turn at the first intersection, veering away from the route that would connect with the airport traffic.
‘No, we’re making a quick stop at the office first,’ Brad said.
The limo rounded the block and stopped outside the main entrance to the building that housed the law firm where they worked.
Brad leaned across her, peering out the window.
‘What are you looking for?’
‘The firm’s name plate — look.’
Brad sat back and pointed in the direction of the signage beside the revolving doors into the building.
Georgia stared at the brass lettering.
Dayton Llewellyn.
The plate only the day before had read: Dayton Llewellyn Murray and Spencer. Someone had replaced it with the old sign, the one from before the time she and Brad had joined the firm.
‘What’s going on? What have John and Roger gone and done?’
‘It’s not what they’ve done. It’s what I’ve done. Look down, Georgia.’
For as long as she could remember, underneath Dayton Llewellyn’s name plate, there had been a similar brass ornament for an accounting firm, but now it was gone, replaced by a bigger, shinier sign in the same golden metal.
Spencer and Spencer.
‘A bit presumptuous of me, I know. If you want to keep your own name, I can have it changed, no problem.’
‘No, Brad, it’s perfect. Everything is just perfect.’ Georgia pulled her hands into fists, drawing them up to her mouth as if to head off the thrill that was moving up through her body looking for an escape route.
She couldn’t believe it. Her own firm, something that had seemed so impossible she had not ever even dared to dream it, let alone put it on her bucket list.
Overcome, she leaned over and whispered in Brad’s ear.
‘What did you say, Georgia?’
‘You heard.’
She wasn’t going to say it again. Brad knew very well what she had said, and how difficult that had been for her to even whisper it.
‘Strange you have trouble with that particular four-letter word when there are so many others you have no trouble with at all. Not that I’m complaining, of course. I’m hoping we can unleash some of that delightful vernacular of yours again soon, very soon, my love.’
She dug him playfully in the ribs.
Brad pulled her to him, dropping his head down to kiss her on the top of her head.
‘I’ll just have to say it for both of us then, won’t I?’
Georgia nestled into him, wordlessly encouraging him to continue with a happy sigh. ‘That’s right, Mrs Georgia Spencer —
I love you, and I know you love me too.’
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM ESCAPE PUBLISHING…
Black Diamonds
by Eliza Redgold
A small Australian farmer battles an enigmatic French magnate in a world of exotic locations, luxurious tastes, and the most expensive flavour in the world. For fans of Emma Darcy and Lynne Graham.
Earth’s black diamonds…
Truffles are known as one the most powerful aphrodisiacs on the planet, but when Australian truffle farmer Jacaranda Riley meets Xavier Antoine, owner of a French truffle empire, she gets more on her plate than desire.
But does the man who has taken her heart secretly plan to take her home and business too?
Forget Me Not
by Nina Blake
For fans of the sweet, emotional reads of Susan Wiggs and Kat Martin, an unconventional reunion story about love, hope, and forgiveness.
Claire and Stefan’s marriage was over. They’d been estranged for six months, living in separate apartments, leading separate lives. Until an unknown accident leaves Stefan with no memory of who he is, what he wants, and the wife he left behind.
Claire’s compassion leads her to caring for Stefan. Though he is back to being the thoughtful, affectionate man she fell in love with, she can’t let herself get too involved. The instant Stefan’s memory comes back, he’ll remember who he was and what he really wants – and it’s not Claire.
Or is it?
Once a Bad Girl
by Jane O’Reilly
A bit of glitz, a bit of glam, a bit of bargaining…and a wardrobe malfunction. In the style of Victoria Dahl, a fun, flirty contemporary romance that explores how far one woman will go to save her family’s business – and the one man that stands in her way.
It seems like a dream come true when whispers of a reclusive film star fallen on hard times meets Lottie Spencer’s ears. Desperate to save her family’s auction house, she knows that Hollywood memorabilia could be the answer to her prayers. Unfortunately, she’s about to find out that this client comes with strings attached – an overprotective son who will do anything to shield his mother from the prying eyes of the press. But Lottie is sure she can handle it.
If only being around a bad boy didn’t make it so hard to be good…
LOVED THE STORY?
WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK
Take our short survey to
claim a FREE eBook!
BEGIN SURVEY
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Sign up to our newsletter
Share your reading experience on:
The Escapades Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Watch our reviews, author interviews and more on Escape Publishing TV
ISBN: 9780857990464
Title: Legally Addicted
Copyright © 2013 by Lena Dowling
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Locked Bag 7002, Chatswood D.C. NSW, Australia, 2067.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
® and ™ are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and are used under license to the Publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in Australia, New Zealand, the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.
www.escapepublishing.com.au