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

a good relationship with his son, and
he’s a vet. That’s kind of like someone saying they’re a doctor or a fireman,
isn’t it? There’s something trustworthy about people in those professions. I
think it must be rare for there to be any serial killers who are vets or
ambulance drivers.”
    “Yeah.” Hitch’s lips curved up. “Well… if
you’re sure you know what you’re doing…”
    “No, I’m not sure, but apart from Mal I’ve
always been sensible and predictable, haven’t I? I’ve always done the right
thing. I’ve never rebelled against you, or gone off the rails. I’ve only ever
gone out with one man, for Christ’s sake, I’m hardly a slut. I’m not saying I’m
going to the bay to… you know… be with Aaron—I’m not even sure I’m going to see
him yet. But if I do, it will be nice to do something different. To be
somewhere else. To talk about different things. To be with a man who doesn’t stir
up my emotions like someone sticking their finger in a drink and swirling it
around.”
    “All right. So when are you flying up?”
    “I’m going home now, and I’ll check out the
flights and see if they have any seats left today or tomorrow. I’ll have my
phone, and we can stay in touch. Please don’t worry about me,” she begged. “I
am an adult now.”
    “It’s not about being grown up.” He leaned
forward, elbows on his knees, to look at her with a furrowed brow. “You’ve been
to university and lived on your own for years. I don’t doubt that you can take
care of yourself physically. That’s not in question at all. And I don’t doubt
your judgment, even though it must sound like it to you. What happened
yesterday was horrendous—I can’t explain to you how it felt to look into your
eyes and have to tell you that the man you wanted to marry thought so little of
you that he hadn’t turned up. It nearly killed me, Birdie. I love you, and I
wanted to put my hands around that fucker’s throat and strangle the life out of
him.”
    “Who hit him?” she asked.
    Rowan chuckled. “Rhett. Everyone had come
around here to talk, and Mal knocked on the door—I don’t know who let him in
the front door, one of the neighbors, I guess. Gene answered, and he immediately
had him up against the wall with an arm across his throat. Mal pushed him off,
so Rhett decked him. We all cheered.”
    “I couldn’t get to him,” Hitch grumbled.
“Otherwise he would have been meatloaf.”
    “What did he say?” she asked. They
exchanged a glance. “Aaron told me that you said Mal said something about still
wanting to marry me.”
    “Jesus. Clearly there was no point in
asking him not to say anything.”
    “He was on my side,” Bridget said, and the
thought gave her a little glow inside.
    “Well anyway, yeah, Mal blubbered on about
being sorry and said that he still loved you and still wanted to marry you.”
    “I hope you said that it was up to me and
you wouldn’t dream of interfering.” She met Rowan’s gaze and winked.
    “I told him to fuck off and die,” Hitch
said. “Sorry about that.” He didn’t look sorry.
    Bridget gave a small laugh. “Yeah, well,
I’m glad. I don’t care if I never see him again.”
    She tried to inject vehemence into her
voice, but it wasn’t easy. He’d hurt her terribly—but she wasn’t sure how she’d
feel if she saw him again. She’d invested her life in loving him, and it was a
huge wrench to give all that history up overnight.
    If he crawled to her on his knees with that
sexy smile and his big green eyes and told her he was sorry and that he loved
her… Would she tell him to get lost? Or would she cave and hear him out?
    Her brain said no—she’d never exchange
another word with him—but her heart had never done what her brain told it, so
she didn’t know why it would start doing it now. She didn’t want to find out.
She wanted to go away and hide where he couldn’t find her.
    “Do you have my stuff?” she asked.
    “Of course.”