Page 42 of Royally Promoted

She was wearing a light pashmina over her dress and Malik scooped it off her and handed it to someone who appeared from nowhere to relieve him of it. Despite the number of people all there to make this evening memorable, it still felt incredibly private and intimate.

Lucy was frantically thinking while she rustled up a smile and gazed around her appreciatively. Okay, we’re here and there’s no going back. The main thing is...keep your feelings to yourself. They’d laid their respective cards on the table and no way was she going to suddenly kid herself into thinking that anything more would come of this than what he’d said from the start.

‘You’re the first person I’ve ever done this with,’ Malik confided.

‘That’s a shame. It’s so beautiful out here. If I could think of anywhere comparable, then I’d say, but I honestly can’t. In fairness, as you know, I don’t have much credit in my holiday destination account. A few places in Europe, and here and there in England and Wales—nothing like this. The only sand I’ve ever experienced has been on a beach filled with people getting lobster-red.’

She loved him and she wanted him and, short of making up some excuse to leave the country, she was here for another couple of weeks. She’d always known that it wasn’t going to last. She’d set the deadline herself!

‘Can I say something?’

‘Sure.’

Plates of nibbles were brought to them, along with iced water and iced champagne in a silver bucket. The cork popped, the bubbles fizzed and she took a sip and looked at Malik over the rim of her glass.

He was devastatingly handsome, in a white shirt and grey linen trousers. She tingled when she looked at him, couldn’t bear to tear her eyes away.

‘When you return to London, I think you should consider going to university.’

‘Huh?’

‘You’ve explained why you didn’t go all those years ago and, when I think about that, I see red. But that was then. Now, you could climb any ladder you wanted with the right ducks in a row.’

‘You mean a ladder up the money tree?’

‘Nothing wrong with that.’

‘Not really who I am,’ Lucy said truthfully.

God, he was so beautiful. Her heart was already breaking but at the same time she was already deciding that a broken heart now was going to be the same as a broken heart in a couple of weeks’ time, so why not enjoy what she had? Why not live in this moment and feast on what was on offer instead of trying to find ways to make a martyr of herself?

She relaxed. It was under-cover love... But, while she remained here, yes, she would have her fill of this beautiful man.

‘Can I hold your hand?’ she whispered, and looked furtively over her shoulder. ‘Or is that kind of thing out of bounds for VIPs like you?’

‘Of course you can,’ Malik said gently.

‘Good.’ She briefly linked her fingers with his and squeezed his hand. ‘Great nibbles, by the way. Honestly, I’m going to return to London a thousand pounds heavier than when I came here.’ She thought that reminding herself frequently about London and returning to it would be a good idea, would keep things a little in perspective and would stop her daydreaming about stuff that was never going to happen.

‘Promise me you’ll never go on a diet,’ Malik said seriously. ‘I like your curves.’ He shot her a wolfish smile that made her go hot with a sudden urge to hold more than his hand.

‘I’ll have to see how that stacks up with the hunk waiting to meet me in a few months’ time.’

‘What hunk?’

‘Haven’t found him yet,’ Lucy said airily, mentally crossing her fingers at the lie. ‘But the search will definitely be on when I get back to cold, wet London. Maybe I’ll set one of my sisters on it. They all fancy themselves as matchmakers.’

‘Doesn’t do to rush into anything.’

Lucy looked at him with an amused expression whilst thinking that that was rich coming from the guy who was about to rush into marriage with a woman he didn’t know from Adam.

‘I’m not getting any younger! Last thing I want is to end up playing Fun Aunty at the age of sixty to a thousand nephews and nieces.’

‘I’m going to miss your talent for exaggeration.’

Then hold on to me!

Lucy killed that treacherous thought and sat back as more food was brought and glasses were refilled.

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