When He Was Bad... by Anne Oliver

an elaboration of sorts. ‘Mum and my grandparents died in a car accident more than eighteen years ago.’
    His knife paused midslice, a measured compassion in his dark eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Ellie. That must’ve been tough. How old were you?’
    â€˜Six.’ A misty image of her mother singing a lullaby stole through her mind and her heart twisted. Even after all this time, the pain would shoot back at the most unexpected times.
    â€˜After, it was just my father and me for a couple of years travelling country Victoria and South Australia while he took the odd job….’ Then played the odd game of chance and lost what he’d earned . She didn’t tell him her father had only come back into her life when Mum had died.
    Before Matt could ask, she said, ‘In the end I held him back.’
    He looked up sharply. ‘What do you mean, you “held him back”? He was your father.’
    â€˜He couldn’t look for work and care for me.’ But deep down that nine-year-old inside her still cried. He could have if he’d wanted to .
    Matt turned to slide the steaks onto two plates, muttering something she was probably better off not hearing. Because then she’d want to defend her father and tell Matt she’d forgive him in a moment if he ever came back. She was that weak .
    She often wondered if that’s why she felt compelled to move around the country. Was she hoping to find him? Or was she running from him? Running from any involvement that might tear open those childhood wounds that had never quite healed.
    She turned the focus to him, or rather, away from her. ‘What about your parents?’
    His lips tightened as he set the sizzling plates on the breakfast bar. ‘It’s just me and Belle.’
    Old pain. She heard it in his voice. Tight and angry. Saw it in his avoidance of eye contact. Recognised it because she lived with it herself, every day.
    He pushed the salad bowl her way. ‘Help yourself.’
    â€˜Thanks. Avocadoes too—my favourite,’ she said to lighten the atmosphere as she spooned salad onto her plate.
    So he didn’t want to talk about it. She understood that. Men didn’t delve into personal and emotional issues. Matt’s mother’s absence in his life—for whatever reason that he wasn’t inclined to share with her—had left scars. As it would, of course. But she had a feeling it went much deeper than grief. There was a bitterness and anger there too.
    They ate in silence for a few moments, listening to thesound of the rain lashing the window. The stormy weather had intensified over the past hour.
    â€˜Do you ever—’ The jingle of Matt’s mobile phone in the adjoining room cut Ellie off.
    â€˜Excuse me.’
    Matt rose, leaving her alone in the kitchen with a jumble of thoughts running through her head. The family he didn’t want to discuss and the walls he’d erected.
    He’d made no attempt to disguise his attraction to her, but obviously that was as far as it went. His interest was purely physical. Unfortunately it was becoming more and more obvious that, for her, it went beyond that. His sheer magnetism drew her, sparking an undercurrent of excitement which flowed constantly just beneath the surface of her skin, so strong she wondered that she didn’t glow in the dark, and leaving her in a perpetual state of anticipation. She’d never known anything this intense.
    But despite his unwillingness to open up, he also had a nurturing, caring side no other male had ever shown her. In fact, he could be downright chivalrous, and that was so… attractive. Seductive. Alluring as it was alarming.
    Which meant she needed to be on her guard at all times.
    His voice carried through the open doorway. She heard the name of a five-star hotel mentioned. And then the lobby at 8:00 p.m. He’d be a little later than they’d arranged. Unavoidably detained…