Persuading Spring: A Sexy New Zealand Romance (The Four Seasons Book 4) by Serenity Woods

say,” she said in answer
to his query about her life story.
    “I don’t believe that.” He stretched out
his legs. “How long had you been dating—what was his name? Mal?”
    “Seven years.”
    His eyebrows rose. “And he’d only just
asked you to marry him?”
    “It must seem positively glacial compared
to the speed of your commitment,” she teased.
    “A bit. But seven years is ridiculous.” She
was gorgeous. Why would a man not want to get his ring on her finger as soon as
he could to tell every other guy she was his?
    She shrugged and brought up her feet so she
could rest her heels on the edge of the seat, her knees against the table. “It
was a very on-off relationship.”
    “You’ve broken up before?” He remembered
her brother’s words: She’s always gone back for more.
    “Several times. It became a thing—I don’t
know why.” She stared out the window, where the light had now faded and stars
were beginning to pop out against the darkening sky. “After the first couple of
times, neither of us took it very seriously. We’d argue, I’d walk out, we’d
wait a week, then he’d beg me to come back, and I’d give in. It was just what
happened. A game we played, I suppose.”
    “What did you argue about?”
    “Usually him not being committed enough. It
makes me sound like an awful nag, but I’d watch my friends with their partners
and see how their guys didn’t seem to want to be apart from them—like you said,
love is wanting to be with someone all the time. He was never like that. He
would much rather have been with his mates than be with me, unless it was an
event where he needed a girlfriend, and then he’d want me. It all sounds so
bloody immature and childish now.” She took a mouthful of wine, color touching
her cheeks.
    “But he did propose in the end?”
    “Only because I gave him an ultimatum.” Her
eyes had dulled and lost their shine. “I told him that if he didn’t grow up and
make a proper commitment, we were done for good. I refused to see him for
several weeks, and I think he got into a panic. He proposed over the phone.”
    “Jeez.” At least Aaron had done better than
that. He’d arranged a romantic dinner in an expensive restaurant, and had the
waiter bringing the ring over with the dessert on a tray. Not that it had made
any difference to the final outcome of the relationship, obviously, so maybe he
was the mug.
    “I should have known,” Bridget said. “He
was halfhearted about the whole thing. He didn’t want a church wedding, didn’t
want any guests or fuss. He even stated that he didn’t want me to buy a big
dress. I was so pleased he’d finally proposed that I went along with
everything. But I should have known.”
    She rested her lips on her knees, looking
down at the table. Aaron could feel the embarrassment and anger radiating from
her.
    “You said you were more upset by the
humiliation of being jilted than about losing him,” he pointed out. “So why did
you keep taking him back?”
    Without moving her head, her gaze rose to
meet his.
    “I’m not accusing, by the way,” he added.
“I suspect your answer will be the same as mine, but I’m interested to know.”
    Her gaze dropped back to the table. “He was
safe. The devil I knew, I suppose. He’s the only guy I’ve ever dated.” Her eyes
met his again.
    His eyebrows rose. “Really?”
    “Yeah. I suppose some kids might have gone
off the rails after having both parents die, but not me. Hitch had to battle to
keep me—he was only eighteen, and he put off going to university so he could
look after me. I was always very grateful for that. I knew what he’d had to
sacrifice. He did his best, but he was never very good at hiding his
frustration. Those years when he should have been going out with his mates,
meeting girls, getting drunk—he stayed at home with me and made sure I did my
homework. Or he worked, in part time jobs here and there, whatever he could
get. I adored him for that,