tune and looking everywhere but in his direction. Pathetic really. She had been here every morning since she joined; he had checked her records to find out when that was precisely. The date alone had made it pretty obvious why she was pounding away on the treadmills, although she wasn’t going to lose a lot of weight building up a mad sweat and then going off and eating half the restaurant like he had caught her about to do on what he now realized was her first day. Yeah, great start .
Her friend’s hair had looked infinitely better then, he had noticed. In fact, she looked quite a classy piece, having got rid of the weird pink. She had had hers done too, but he so wanted to drum it loudly into her obviously less than bright skull that it wouldn’t do any good. She should have thought of making such improvements before she drove her man away. Did she think she was seriously going to lure him back by cutting off a few dead ends? Not when facedwith the mighty attributes of his beloved Jo. She could not even hope to come near to Jo, who could knock any woman off the planet with her looks. She would be far better following his plan of action but she wasn’t going to listen to him, she had made that perfectly clear. In fact, from her snotty attitude, he actually had the impression that she thought some of this might be his fault! How, he hadn’t worked out yet, and he wasn’t going to ask the little madam how she’d drawn that conclusion. Well, he just hoped she didn’t cock up his plans for reclaiming his woman. He was going crazy without her. He could hardly sleep for the nervous excitement that her homecoming tomorrow was giving him.
Stevie went into the gym with a heart that was stuffed full of blame and looking for a target, but Matthew was as protected and cloaked as the starship Enterprise during a Klingon attack. Her head just wouldn’t let her attack him, because surely he was a victim in this–emotionally outmanoeuvred, a sitting duck. She wasn’t even starting to allow herself to think what she wanted to do to Jo, but she had to grudgingly concede that even Joanna MacLean was a sort of victim too, and you didn’t need to be a genius to point to the source of all this heartache: that Scottish animal, masquerading as something human and respectable behind that desk, the wildman who had come into Stevie’s life and tried to wreck it. Oh yes, she had seen the blame in his eyes, the belief that this was somehow her fault. She didn’t know how he worked that one out, but then again, his type never took responsibility for their own actions.
That cocky look he was giving her just made her want to storm over there and tell him that if he hadn’t been such a psycho-nutter, if he had treated his wife like a woman should be treated, if he hadn’t brought her low with mental torture and physical violence, she would not have had that air of vulnerability which had been obviously irresistible to her soft-hearted, gentle, uncritical Matthew. In comparison with him , Matthew had looked like a knight in shining armour, and no woman could resist that.
This mess was all Adam MacLean’s fault. She despised him.
MacLean was trying to pretend he hadn’t seen her, which was good because she didn’t want to talk to him either. What on earth could they possibly have to say to each other? Besides which, she didn’t want to talk to anyone today, not even Catherine. She was too busy with her preparations for tomorrow, and trying to cling onto her dwindling reserves of inner strength. The house was extra-sparkling clean, the fridge was stocked up with lovely goodies and treats, and all Matthew’s favourite nibbly things. The bills due had all been paid, the banking was done, although the joint-account status had been a bit of a shocker, but she would sort that one out with Matthew later. All that was left was to get on that treadmill and start running, in the hope that by some miracle she would have lost a stone by
Her friend’s hair had looked infinitely better then, he had noticed. In fact, she looked quite a classy piece, having got rid of the weird pink. She had had hers done too, but he so wanted to drum it loudly into her obviously less than bright skull that it wouldn’t do any good. She should have thought of making such improvements before she drove her man away. Did she think she was seriously going to lure him back by cutting off a few dead ends? Not when facedwith the mighty attributes of his beloved Jo. She could not even hope to come near to Jo, who could knock any woman off the planet with her looks. She would be far better following his plan of action but she wasn’t going to listen to him, she had made that perfectly clear. In fact, from her snotty attitude, he actually had the impression that she thought some of this might be his fault! How, he hadn’t worked out yet, and he wasn’t going to ask the little madam how she’d drawn that conclusion. Well, he just hoped she didn’t cock up his plans for reclaiming his woman. He was going crazy without her. He could hardly sleep for the nervous excitement that her homecoming tomorrow was giving him.
Stevie went into the gym with a heart that was stuffed full of blame and looking for a target, but Matthew was as protected and cloaked as the starship Enterprise during a Klingon attack. Her head just wouldn’t let her attack him, because surely he was a victim in this–emotionally outmanoeuvred, a sitting duck. She wasn’t even starting to allow herself to think what she wanted to do to Jo, but she had to grudgingly concede that even Joanna MacLean was a sort of victim too, and you didn’t need to be a genius to point to the source of all this heartache: that Scottish animal, masquerading as something human and respectable behind that desk, the wildman who had come into Stevie’s life and tried to wreck it. Oh yes, she had seen the blame in his eyes, the belief that this was somehow her fault. She didn’t know how he worked that one out, but then again, his type never took responsibility for their own actions.
That cocky look he was giving her just made her want to storm over there and tell him that if he hadn’t been such a psycho-nutter, if he had treated his wife like a woman should be treated, if he hadn’t brought her low with mental torture and physical violence, she would not have had that air of vulnerability which had been obviously irresistible to her soft-hearted, gentle, uncritical Matthew. In comparison with him , Matthew had looked like a knight in shining armour, and no woman could resist that.
This mess was all Adam MacLean’s fault. She despised him.
MacLean was trying to pretend he hadn’t seen her, which was good because she didn’t want to talk to him either. What on earth could they possibly have to say to each other? Besides which, she didn’t want to talk to anyone today, not even Catherine. She was too busy with her preparations for tomorrow, and trying to cling onto her dwindling reserves of inner strength. The house was extra-sparkling clean, the fridge was stocked up with lovely goodies and treats, and all Matthew’s favourite nibbly things. The bills due had all been paid, the banking was done, although the joint-account status had been a bit of a shocker, but she would sort that one out with Matthew later. All that was left was to get on that treadmill and start running, in the hope that by some miracle she would have lost a stone by
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