Page 31 of 2 Books in One Bundle
MATTEOSTOOD,WAITING.Glass of Scotch in hand. His phone buzzed an alert, which he checked. The car would be here soon to take them to his favourite little restaurant in town, tucked away in a cobbled alley. He’d asked the owner to set up a table for a celebration. Initially they’d thought it represented an engagement until he’d disabused them. He’d told them it was a special night nonetheless, and the owner seemed somehow pleased, promising a table in a quiet corner.
His plans seemed to be working. Louisa’s talk of how the sunshine helped her pictures. He’d known getting her away from the UK would work, though the reasons seemed a little hazy right now. The raging desire for revenge not quite as sharp. He mused why that might be. Working seven days a week for months might be the cause. Likely he’d needed a break too. To simply stop and enjoy the sunshine himself...
Matteo downed the last, short sip in his glass, settling the strange sensation in his gut that had overcome him. Almost like anticipation, but that couldn’t be right. He checked his watch. Almost time to go. This was a simple meal, nothing more. Another step in showing Louisa that there was more to life than living in the rainy old English countryside. She could chase the sunshine all round the world, if she wanted, he just needed to make her feel as if it were her idea.
‘I’m ready now.’
Louisa. It was as though his imagination had conjured her. He turned, ready to let her know the car was about to arrive, except his voice was stolen. Simply dying in his throat.
She was unlike he’d ever seen her before. Dressed not like someone who’d stepped out of the past, but like a woman who slammed him straight into his future. A vision in green. The dress still long, soft and flowing, but cinched at the waist with a golden chain. The fabric vibrant and silky, lovingly caressing her curves. The front dipped into a tantalising vee between her breasts. Round her bare shoulders she wore a sheer wrap in the same colour as the dress, yet threaded through with gold like the chain, so it shimmered under the lights. Her hair tumbled round her shoulders and down her back in gleaming copper waves.
He froze, struck silent. As if this was a moment in time he wanted to stay captured in for ever. Like a scene from a movie, the type written about in books. A realisation that this woman was nothing like she seemed.
The blood in his veins rushed low as if he were some teenager, and he willed his body under control. Why was he so surprised? She was a stunning woman. He’d known that. Yet something about tonight seemed to have woven her in a kind of magic.
She gave a tremulous smile and tightened the wrap round herself. Was she still insecure about how she looked? In that moment, Matteo wanted to hurt whoever had ever made her doubt herself, her appearance. Her style.
‘You look exquisite.’
His voice ground out all rough and dark, as if he’d just found it after years of silence. Her eyes widened, cheeks flushed a glorious pink. If he had buttons to push, she was activating every single one with her soft, alluring innocence. Completely unaware of how she affected him.
‘Thank you.’
Her own voice sounded breathless. As if she couldn’t believe what he was saying now. What he’d told her before.
‘You are beautiful. That’s a fact and not open for discussion.’
‘I—I wasn’t sure about the dress, but it was a celebration so...’
‘It’s magnificent on you.’ That earned another flush of pleasure. He wanted more. To capture every one all for himself.
‘And I’m surprised. It’s not like what you usually wear.’
‘Sylvana suggested it. For fun, to try out something different. She said the green would look lovely with my hair...or something.’
Yet another thing she’d been prepared to try that was new. What he’d been hoping for. Soon, she’d want to explore the world without him. Yet why did that thought give him the sense of a deadline? One he never wanted to meet.
‘You lookbeyondlovely. You always do. But tonight, you could be a siren, luring a man to his doom.’
‘Oh, I’m not sure about that.’
‘Trust me. I’m a man.’
She gave him a small smile that was imbued with a shy kind of pleasure. ‘And I’m luring you to your doom?’
‘Right now, I’m hungry. Dinner first, doom later.’
Louisa threw back her head and laughed, the sound lighting up the room like a firework. He could listen to that unrestrained sound of pure joy, every day. His phone buzzed another alert and he pulled it from his pocket.
‘Car’s here.’
‘I’m a little bit excited about this. I’ve never been to a restaurant before,’ she said, almost like a throwaway line as they headed for the front door and he locked up.
Never been to a restaurant? It seemed inconceivable and yet there was no doubt in his mind she told the truth. It underscored once more how sheltered she was. How little he understood of her, or her life.
A driver held the car door open for them and Matteo helped Louisa in. Her hand soft and warm in his. She lifted her dress and he glimpsed a hint of golden shoes as she slid into the seat. Her slender ankles.
What was happening to him? When did the hint of cleavage and the sight of shapely ankles ever attract him before?
