No one wanted to be alone forever—no matter how much money they had. Expensive acquisitions, the admiration of his peers, any amount of pleasure he could buy himself hardly compensated for a lonely old age. Life had to have more meaning than that empty scenario.
He turned to leave the stunning library that had once been filled with books but whose wall-to-wall oak shelves now lay bare, and glanced back over his shoulder at the lush green vista outside the stained-glass windows. It was an exceptionally beautiful view. As he contemplated the scene he went still. Unbidden, an image of Imogen Hayes with her curling chestnut hair, pretty mouth and glossy brown eyes stole into his mind...
* * *
It was hard for Imogen to set aside the memory of yesterday and her meeting with Seth Broden. The last thing she could have anticipated was that the man would spend the night on her couch!
The arresting fragrance of his expensive cologne lingered in the flat long after he had left and it taunted her. She even found herself pressing her face against the cushion he had lain against last night to breathe it in.
Realising what she was doing, she exclaimed, ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake—what on earth is wrong with me?’
If she was honest, she knew it was the letter he’d sent to his sweetheart that had got to her. It was hard to stop thinking about it. The words had been so tender, so full of love—how could she be anything but entranced by them? Especially when her own experience of falling in love had all but ripped her heart from her chest after her fiancé had waited until their wedding day to demonstrate that he didn’t love her at all...that he actually preferred someone else.
The cruel event had happened well over a year ago now, but the pain of it still had the power to wound her afresh whenever it crept up on her unawares. One thing was for certain: she would never make herself so vulnerable to a man again. Her guard would be well and truly up if anyone showed so much as a smidgeon of interest in her.
But as soon as she had that thought the recollection of Seth Broden’s lips brushing her cheek as he said goodbye made her grow worryingly warm.
A man like him was way beyond her league, she told herself, and it was pointless to fantasise about him. But there couldn’t be many men in the world capable of loving someone so much that when they died they knew they would never love anyone else as deeply again. He was a real one-off.
Sighing, and seeking a diversion, she moved into the kitchen to collect the vacuum cleaner. Then she drowned out her restless and ultimately pointless thinking with a frenzied bout of vacuuming. When she was done she sat down with a cup of tea and the local paper to search through the small ads for kittens for sale.
Imogen might not expect to have another man in her life but there was nothing stopping her from having a pet as a companion, was there? She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of it before.
The loud banging on the front door that evening, when she had just settled down to watch the period drama she’d been following, immediately annoyed her. Pressing the pause button on the remote, she made a half-hearted attempt to tidy her newly washed hair, then went to see who had the audacity to interrupt her programme.
She guessed it might be Rowan, the scatterbrained nurse who lived in the upstairs apartment. She was always forgetting to take her key with her when she left the house.
She’d guessed wrong. The culprit was none other than an impeccably suited, clean-shaven, delicious-smelling and smiling Seth Broden. Dumbfounded, Imogen stared.
Bypassing the usual niceties, he said casually, ‘How long has your bell not been working?’
Wrapping her arms round herself in the black V-neck jumper she wore with jeans, she answered automatically. ‘For about two weeks now. I suppose I should really put a note on the door...’
‘If it’s not just a question of a new battery, then I would get your landlord to fix it.’
She sensed herself blush profusely as he stated the obvious. She blushed even more when she felt one side of her thin jumper slip down over her shoulder. Quickly yanking it back, she said, ‘It’s not the battery. I checked that. I did ring to ask him to come and sort it out, but his wife told me he was in bed with the flu.’
Seth frowned. ‘And you believed that, did you?’
‘Why shouldn’t I?’
‘Because I’ve learned that you’re far too trusting for your own good. That’s why. What are you doing this evening? If you’ve got company I’ll turn around and leave. If not, then can I come in?’
Again Imogen stared. She could hardly believe that a man as handsome and rich as Seth Broden would even entertain asking her such a question. It couldn’t possibly be because he was interested in her as a woman...could it?