Page 219 of Modern Romance March 2025 (5-8)

Desmond was the only person who’d tempted her for so long. And here she was, in his home. After knowing him for only two days. Wanting to comfort him.

Perhaps, she thought, knotting her hands in the towel clutched tight round her shoulders, it was the pain she’d seen weigh him down this evening. It was the pain of loss, but something more, too. He had the look of a man who knew he couldn’t fix what was wrong.

That, she understood, if nothing else.

“I’m taking you to one of the guest wings,” he said as the lift doors opened.First floor.This hallway was also lined by paintings, though she didn’t recognize the artists of these. The ones downstairs were meant to impress; these were meant to add atmosphere. “You’ll find everything you need there. Have a hot shower if you want, and get out of your wet things.”

Despite herself, the words were finding their way under her skin, warm and sinuous.

“Will you—?”

“I’m going to do the same. Do you think you can find your way back down to the main floor?”

She nodded.

“Great. Meet me there. Half hour.” And then he was gone, leaving just a faint suggestion of warmth, sweat, rainfall and cloves.

Val stood there silently for a long moment, wrapped in her towel. It was so quiet in the house.

In the bathroom, she stripped off her soaked clothing and quickly showered to warm herself up. She got out and wrapped herself in a crimson dressing gown that had been folded on the foot of the bed and which smelled faintly of mint and eucalyptus. The silk fabric was light and luxurious, the sleeves rolled back into heavy, embroidered cuffs. She wadded the hem in her hand to keep from tripping as she went to the vanity to inspect her hair. It had frizzed completely, haloing her face with soft dark fuzz.

“Get it together,” she hissed to her reflection. Her eyes looked wide and questioning, and the fabric clung to her body. She barely recognized herself. Val straightened to her full height and left in search of the lift.

When she stepped out onto the main floor, Desmond was there, his hands folded behind him. His hair was wet and coiling tightly against his head, and he wore a simple black crewneck and knit trousers hanging low on his narrow hips. He was more casually dressed than she’d ever seen him.

He’s beautiful.

The thought came without her permission.

“Hey,” he said.

She looked up.

It was a mistake. She could feel heat suffusing her face. This was too intimate. She’d barely had meaningful human contact in years, and she’d shared so much with this man in only two days.

Silence thronged between them for one second, two, three…

“Thank you,” was all he said when eventually he spoke.

She nodded, her mouth dry.

“Shall we get something to eat, then?”

CHAPTER TEN

“COME WITH ME.”

She tightened her robe across her chest, feeling rather silly in it, but her clothes were hanging in the bathroom and still soaked through. She trailed her companion through the house while outside rain lashed the roof and windows, and the occasional tree branch made a tapping noise against the glass. They emerged into another part of the house, one that immediately looked more intimate.

“This is where I spend most of my time—the part you saw earlier is for entertaining. My office is there.” He gestured at a closed door. “I eat in here.”

The room in question was delightful, rendered in shades of muted rust and gold, and featuring a sunken floor with enormous cushions around a low table. Candles flickered on the table enhancing the soft warm light spilling from lamps around the room and the glow from a fire that sparked and crackled in the ornate fireplace. Val lowered herself onto a squashy cushion on the floor. The slippery fabric of her dressing gown was hard to manage and she pulled it round her legs and back up over her breasts just in time.

His eyes flickered over her, and she felt a familiar flush of heat when she realized he had noticed.

“Sorry about the dressing gown,” he said. “My stepmother keeps them for guests, but it’s not very practical, is it?”

“It’s fine. It’s beautiful,” she said, and forced a smile.

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