Page 158 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 5-8

‘This I know,’ she cut back, puzzled by the emotions she could feel rolling off him.

‘But I’ve always been alone.’

She knew what he meant without him explaining. Their eyes connected and clung and the moment stretched, emotion buzzing in the air between them.

Was the longing she felt inside her or in his eyes?

Then the vibration of the phone in his pocket broke the spell.

Joaquin forced his taut facial features into something approximating a smile and ignored the buzzing.

‘Wear what you like—and, yes, I know you will anyway. But it is a very nice dress...’

She stood there, her arms folded across her chest, wondering what had just happened.

‘Just look at it,’ he said.

She gave a tight nod as his phone started buzzing again.

‘All right, I will look at it,’ she said, showing that she could be a grown-up too.

It occurred to her to ask how he’d conjured up a dress, presumably in the right size, but thinking about the trip here, and her brief taste of the world he inhabited, it didn’t seem worth the effort.

He snapped his fingers and things happened. Or more likely he just typed some terse instruction into his phone that endedMake it happen.And it did!

Joaquin acknowledged her concession with a nod minus any air of triumph and walked away to refresh his glass. ‘I don’t want to argue.’

He sounded... Not tired... He sounded... She couldn’t quite put a name to it.

‘No...?’ she said.

‘No, I want to make love to you.’

His stare shecouldput a name to.

Smouldering.

‘That works for me,’ she whispered, walking into his arms.

As much as part of her wanted to reject the dress she found wrapped in layers of tissue, with a discreet hand-sewn label inside, she knew it was beautiful.

Everything about it was beautiful.

The buttery silk texture, the colour—which was one shade deeper than her eyes—and the elegant simplicity of it. It was sleeveless, high at the neck, and dipping low at the back to reveal her shoulder blades.

It was simply a beautiful thing, and when she tried it on and saw that it clung in the all the right places, the bias-cut skirt swishing beautifully when she walked... Well, the choice was made.

But if he said a single word, or even gave her anI told youso look, she would wear jeans!

He hadn’t mentioned the new shoes, which were soft silver leather, with a heel higher than she would normally have chosen. But the slim jewelled diagonal strap made them surprisingly comfortable to wear.

She sat down at the dressing table to add a second layer of gloss to her lips. She had kept her make-up to a minimum—just a touch of blusher to her cheeks and a swipe of mascara. She put the finishing touches to her hair, which she had chosen to pin up loosely. It was less about allowing tendrils to fall casually round her face and more a matter of going with the flow.

She had just finished when she heard a door in the suite open and close. Fastening a pearl stud in her ear, she walked towards the door and paused to view the back of her dress in the mirror.

She raised her voice to say, ‘I still couldn’t contact Mum. I’m starting to get worried.’

‘She sent a message through my office,’ he called back. ‘Rose just gave it to me. Your mum is in a black spot. The phone signal is intermittent and there’s no Wi-Fi connection to speak of.’

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