The Domville 7 (The Domville #7) (11 page)
Read The Domville 7 (The Domville #7) Online
Authors: C. J. Fallowfield
When I finally looked at my watch, I was surprised to see
that over an hour had passed. He’d done as I’d asked, and hadn’t banged on the
door, giving me the space I needed to mull over my options. I’d felt like a
weight had been lifted off my shoulders when I’d arrived in London earlier.
Leaving my crappy job behind, heading towards fresh adventures, was what I
needed right now. But I also felt like I needed Devon. He’d always been my
anchor. Grounding me, keeping me steady. After sex, I’d always run from men,
moving on to the next, then the next, until him. I didn’t want to keep running!
I wasn’t getting any younger, and where was I going to find another man who
made me feel the way Devon did, who treated me the way he had? I stood up and
tilted my head from side to side, easing out the tension in my neck, then headed
to the door and unlocked it. I walked through the bedroom to find him still
nursing his whiskey by the fire in the lounge. He looked up at me, uncertainty
on his face as he waited for my response.
‘I understand what you did, why you did it, and I even
forgive you, but you need to understand that I can’t agree to just jump back
into a relationship with you after that.’
‘So you’re still leaving?’ he asked, his voice breaking
as his face fell.
‘Yes, but … I want you to come with me. I’m not ready for
you to propose again, I’m definitely not ready for sex and I’ve no idea when I
will be again, but I’m not ready to let you go either. I love you, Devon. I
probably love you even more knowing what you went through and how hard you
tried to squash that anger for years. Now I’ve processed it, I even love that
you felt you owed it to yourself and me to be honest now, rather than doing it
years down the line. I respect the fact that you were honest with me, when you
could have lied. That means a lot.’
‘You really mean that?’ he choked, setting his whiskey
down as he stood up to face me. ‘You still love me, even after what I did?’
‘Love isn’t conditional, Devon. I’m not rejoicing about
what you did, but I understand that you were just trying to come to terms with
your past, finding a way to cope. But if anyone’s going to help you to do that,
it’s going to be me, not a guy. I want to be the one you turn to, I want to be
the one you can talk to, cry with, and rely on. I want to be all that you need,
sexually and emotionally.’ I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his
waist, breathing him in, focussing on memories of all of the happy times with
him and pushing thoughts of him with Todd in that bathroom out of my mind. He
gently put his arms around me and we clung on to each other in silence for a
few minutes.
‘Thank you,’ he eventually whispered. ‘You are, Nadja,
you’re all of those things to me and I’m sorry it took me hurting you to
realise that. I want to come away with you, I really do, but what about my business?
Bugsy could handle getting the contracts, updating clients, quoting, and the day-to-day
management of the lads, but when it comes to brain power, sorting out the
financials and paperwork, running a tight ship, he’d bankrupt me in a week.’
‘If you’re serious, I have Tanya on speed dial. She hates
her job as much as I hated it. Top saleswoman she certainly isn’t, but she’s
intelligent and organised, as well as being a wife and a mother. If anyone can work
hard, multi-task, organise budgets, finances, and whip people into shape, she
can. She’s been doing it for years at home. You’d be doing her a massive
favour.’ I looked back up into his gorgeous blue eyes and held my breath. A new
job that she was good at would really boost her confidence. Barry, our boss,
had beaten it out of her, not to mention the way her husband Dave was neglecting
her. Confidence at work would give her confidence at home to get her marriage
on track. It could be a new start for us all.
‘I don’t have anything with me, I got in my car and drove
straight here as soon as she told me where you were.’
‘So, we book you a ticket now, you can use the express
laundry service to do your shirt, socks, and boxers tonight, so you have clean
stuff for the morning. You can borrow my toothbrush and razor, so in the
morning, we just get on the plane and go. We can buy a suitcase for you and
some new clothes and toiletries when we get there.’
‘Get where? I’ve no idea where you’re going,’ he laughed,
not releasing his grip on me.
‘Dubai first, for Christmas and New Year, then wherever
the mood takes us. You asked what you could do to make up for what happened,
Devon, this is it. I’m going, regardless, for a year, that’s my plan, and I
can’t promise how I’ll feel after twelve months away from you, if I even decide
to come back to England. I’d really like the chance for us to start again
though, free of day-to-day worries and stresses and strains, where we can have
fun and focus on each other and deal with our issues. I hope that one day, I’ll
be ready to say yes when you ask me, if you still want me to marry you.’
‘I’ll always want you, Nadja, I just got temporarily
blindsided along the way. I think reading your anxiety in Paris made me doubt
us, then doubt myself after my past, but I’m seeing clearly now. We’re just two
emotionally scarred and damaged people who are scared of moving forwards, even
though we know deep down that we’ve found our soul mate. Dial Tanya and give me
the phone. Let’s go on this journey and find our way back to each other.’
I did as I was told, my heart soaring with hope as his
words soothed some of my fears. Maybe it would take a year, maybe less, maybe
longer, but the point was we both wanted to get there and that was all that
mattered.
Our pasts didn’t have to define our future.
That was down to us.
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The Domville 7?
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CJF x
Until We Collide
Writing as Charlotte Fallowfield,
this is CJ’s first romantic comedy novel.
“I’ve never
laughed so hard at a book.” - The Next Great Read.
What do
you do when the guy you’re in love with is seeing someone else?
That’s the dilemma facing Paige Taylor. All of her
life she’s only ever had eyes for the gorgeous Alec Wright, but despite their
undeniable chemistry, their timing has always been off. Fast approaching her
thirtieth birthday, Paige despairs of ever finding love and a happy ever after.
Her best friend Poppie tells her that she can either watch life pass her by, or
grab it with both hands. She convinces Paige to throw herself back into the
dating pool, or she could be waiting for Alec forever.
What Paige didn’t expect was the catalogue of
dating disasters to follow. A neck brace, jelly fish, stitches, flashing and an
encounter with a gorilla were some of the most memorable. Despite some
downright hilarious, humiliating and cringe worthy dates, her biological clock
is ticking and Paige is determined to keep trying until she finds the one. Was
Alec Wright always her Mr. Right, or is he still out there waiting to be found?
Join
Paige in her quest to find the ultimate prize. Love.
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