Summer Sins

‘I’m sorry about Dave,’ he said. ‘He’s a bit full on at times.’

‘I thought he was nice.’

He looked down at her, his dark eyes suddenly intense in the subdued lighting. ‘Hayley …’

‘Yes?’ She kicked herself for answering so quickly and with such pathetic hopefulness in her tone.

His dark, unfathomable eyes held hers for endless moments.

‘I’m sorry to do this to you, but I have to see someone tonight on an urgent matter,’ he said.

She swallowed against the disappointment rising from deep within her. ‘I see.’

‘I don’t know when I’ll be back. I just got a call a moment ago.’

‘Was it from a woman?’ The question burst out before she could stop it.

She saw the answer in his eyes before they moved away from hers. ‘It’s not what you think, Hayley,’ he said heavily.

‘Spare me the sordid details.’

He took her arm. ‘Come on, I’ll drive you home.’

She pulled out of his hold and sent him a glittering glare. ‘Please don’t go out of your way. I’d hate to keep you from your terribly important late night business. I’ll get a cab.’

Jasper watched her stalk back into the restaurant, but he didn’t have time to call her back, even though he wished to God he could explain.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

HAYLEY WAS JUST thinking about going to bed about an hour later when she heard the front entrance intercom chime signalling someone was seeking entry. She tied her wrap a little tighter around her middle, and, going to the intercom panel on the wall, asked who was there.

‘It’s Daniel,’ a young male voice said.

She activated the security system and opened the door to see a tall gangly teenager with mid-brown hair walking up the pathway. As he came even further into the light her gaze immediately went to the blue-black bruise covering his right eye and then to his cut and swollen bottom lip.

‘Oh, my God!’ she gasped. ‘What on earth happened to you?’

He shifted from foot to foot in an awkward and self-conscious manner, his hazel eyes falling away from hers. ‘I’m fine,’ he mumbled. ‘It looks much worse than it is.’

She ushered him in and closed the door. ‘I’m Hayley, by the way,’ she introduced herself. ‘You must be Jasper’s son, Daniel Moorebank.’

His eyes met hers briefly, something in their brown-green depths suggesting to her that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with being identified as such.

‘Is he home?’ he asked after a slight but telling pause.

‘No, I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘He had some … er … business to see to.’

‘Do you know when he’ll be back?’

Hayley felt a bit of a fool for not being able to give him a straight answer. ‘I’m not sure, Daniel. He didn’t put a time on it. But why don’t you stay and let me put some ice on your eye? It looks terribly sore.’

‘I don’t want to be a bother …’ He shuffled from foot to foot again, his thin shoulders slightly hunched.

Hayley pulled out a chair for him. ‘Here, sit yourself down and I’ll get an ice-pack. I’m sure your dad has one in the freezer somewhere. I think I saw it when I had some ice cream the other day.’

She came back with it wrapped in a hand towel and handed it to him. ‘Just hold it against your eye for a while to take the swelling down,’ she said. ‘Would you like a glass of orange juice or something?’

His thin cheeks flushed with colour. ‘I shouldn’t even be here,’ he said with a downturn of his mouth.