Page 34 of The Housekeeper's One-Night Baby
Outside, the wind was strong and icy as he led her towards the car.
‘So. Where’s the chauffeur today?’ she questioned as he opened the passenger door for her.
‘There is no chauffeur. I’m driving.’
‘And are you any good?’
‘What do you think, Lizzie?’ he challenged softly and the way she bit her lip did something strange to his heart.
As he started the engine, neither of them spoke—but as they drove through the muddy lanes, he heard her give a sharp intake of breath and she turned to him.
‘We’re on the way to Ermecott Manor!’
He kept his eyes on the road ahead. ‘Yep.’
‘Why?’
‘Why don’t you wait and see?’
‘I’m not sure I want to,’ she moaned. ‘I was up there the other day. They were away for Christmas but they’re probably back by now, and I don’t want to be spotted lurking around the place like the Ghost of Christmas Past.’
But as the car swished down the driveway, the ancient house was still in darkness, the pale winter light of dusk surrounding it like a halo. Niccolò stopped the vehicle and went round to open the passenger door, and she got out and stared up at the impressive old house.
‘Why have you brought me here?’ she whispered, the sting of emotion in her voice.
‘Because I’ve bought it.’
‘Boughtit? What are you talking about?’ She shook her head. ‘It isn’t for sale. Sylvie sold it to a family from Scotland. They own it.’
‘Not any more they don’t.’ There was a pause. ‘I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.’
‘Are you for real, Niccolò?’ she demanded. ‘People don’t say things like that outside gangster films.’
‘But it’s true,’ he said unapologetically. ‘So why don’t you come inside?’
Lizzie hesitated, filled with confusion, unsure why Niccolò had purchased the ancient property, yet overwhelmed by a very human desire to revisit a house which had meant so much to her. She could see it first, and then ask him. ‘Okay,’ she agreed grudgingly. ‘Why not?
Once inside, he pressed a master light switch and an instant glow illuminated the historic interior with a soft, apricot light. Lizzie scanned the immediate vicinity, reacquainting herself with all the nooks and crannies she knew so well. The bare bones of the beautiful structure remained intact. The carvings and moulded ceilings were just as she remembered them, as were the tiled floors and panelled hallways. But that air of faint neglect still existed and, of course, it was completely empty.
And there was that stupid broom cupboard down the hallway. A lump constricted her throat as memories of that sultry afternoon came flooding back. The feel of his fingers on her flesh and the taste of his lips. She could barely relate to the woman she had been then, who would behave so impetuously with a man she had only just met. Lizzie could feel herself flushing but now wasn’t the time to be thinking about sex, or to remember how joyous and carefree everything had seemed on that golden afternoon when their child had been conceived. This was a different time, she told herself fiercely. And they were both in a different place.
Yet nothing had really changed in her feelings towards the man who had joined her in that crazy dance of passion, had it? She still felt the same potent pull of attraction—only now she knew him better, which complicated things even more. She actuallylikedhim, even though she had tried very hard not to.
She turned to him, to find him studying her intently. ‘Tell me why you’ve bought it,’ she said.
‘Because you love it. I remember you telling me so, that night we spent together here.’
Her hand crept up to her neck, as if to hide the pulse which was flaring so rapidly there. ‘And what does that have to do with anything?’ she questioned huskily.
He shrugged. ‘I thought you might want to live here. Bring the baby up here. You’d have a generous budget to do up the place as you saw fit. I sensed how much you’ve always wanted to restore it, only you didn’t have the necessary funds before.’
It was a gross distortion of her secret dreams but, no matter how painful it might prove to be, Lizzie knew she had to pick it apart. ‘Just the two of us?’ she verified. ‘Me, and the baby?’
‘Well, yes.’ There was a pause. ‘Unless you were prepared to consider an alternative scenario.’
‘Go on.’
‘I miss you, Lizzie,’ he said. ‘The apartment has felt empty without you, and I don’t want you out of my life.’
