‘We are not stepbrother and sister,’ she protested hotly, ‘or at least not any more.’
‘How is your mother, by the way?’ he asked. ‘What number husband is she on to now? Is it four or five?’
Six, actually, Hayley was tempted to say, but didn’t, knowing it would only make things worse. She hadn’t seen her mother in months but there was no way she was going to tell him that. ‘You are such a jerk,’ she said instead.
‘I’ll be around in twenty minutes to pick you up.’
‘Don’t you dare!’
He chuckled again. ‘Don’t dare me, sweetheart. You know how much it gets me all worked up.’
‘I won’t go out with you!’ she shrieked at him. ‘I won’t!’
He didn’t answer. She wanted to throw the phone at nearest wall, but she stopped herself just in time.
But only just.
She snatched up her car keys instead and bolted out the door.
The popular new harbourside restaurant was crowded but Hayley saw Myles as soon as she came in. He was sitting at one of the tables at the back, his hands holding those of a buxom blonde woman who was looking adoringly into his eyes. He was smiling as if he had just won the lottery, his round cheeks flushed with pleasure as he leaned forward across the table to plant a smacking kiss to the woman’s pouting scarlet-painted lips.
Hayley was so shocked she didn’t register at first that someone had come in the door behind her. She felt a solid warm presence at her back and, turning, looked a long way upwards into the dark, fathomless depths of Jasper Caulfield’s gaze.
‘Hey, baby girl,’ he said softly as he reached for her hand, his larger one totally swallowing hers. ‘Let’s get it over with. I booked the spot three tables from theirs.’
Hayley felt her legs following him even though everything else in her screamed to get out and get out now. She gulped back her anguish as Myles swivelled his head sideways, his eyes widening in shock and a good measure of shame as she and Jasper came to a standstill in front of them.
‘Hayley …’ Myles choked, his face flushing a deep beetroot. ‘W-what are you doing here?’
‘I … I …’
Jasper squeezed her hand in encouragement.
‘Myles … I’ve come to a decision,’ she said, briefly tightening her fingers around Jasper’s. ‘I—I want to end our engagement.’
Myles’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. ‘You can’t mean that!’
‘She does,’ Jasper said firmly. ‘She’s marrying me instead.’
‘You must be joking!’ Myles said, his throat moving up and down like a piston.
‘It’s over, Myles,’ Hayley said, handing back her engagement ring, feeling as if she was handing back her chance for a secure, predictable future as well.
Myles’s jaw dropped. ‘But you have to marry me! You have to!’
‘Why?’ Jasper asked before Hayley could speak.
‘Because …’ His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down again. ‘Because you love me … you do, don’t you, Hayley?’
‘Actually I don’t,’ Hayley said, biting her lip for a moment. ‘I thought I did but … but all this time I’ve been secretly in love with Jasper.’
‘Jasper?’ Myles’s jaw dropped. ‘But you’ve always said how much you hated him. How he made your teenage years miserable and—’
‘That’s all sorted out now,’ Hayley inserted hastily, determined to walk away from Myles with at least some of her pride intact. ‘We’ve fallen in love and are getting married as soon as possible.’
‘But what about the wedding arrangements?’ he said. ‘My mother has invited so many people. I’ve paid a fortune for the reception booking and—’
‘Actually,’ Hayley interrupted him again with a hard set to her mouth, ‘I’ve paid for everything so far, including the honeymoon.’