Page 67 of Prelude To You

She looked away. At least she didn’t say no outright. I was too scared to move, afraid I might break the spell. The glare was gone when she looked at me again. “I don’t understand. What for? I’m not going to the penthouse with you.”

“That was already settled in the wine-tasting room,” I said. “I asked, and you said no. It’s not the end of the world. Please come to the auction with me. Then I’ll get the car service to take you home.”

“I didn’t say no,” she said softly. “I never answered you.”

“I had to chase you down on the lawn as you tried to flee. That was answer enough. And I respect it, you’ll never have to worry about that. Not for a single second.”

She lifted her chin, a defensive lilt in her voice. "For future reference, if you want to seduce a woman, you should know better than to make her feel like she’s disposable, or on the losing end no matter what.”

Her voice cracked on those last words, and I felt a jagged tug in my chest. “It wasn’t my intention to make you feel like that, Isabel. Not at all.”

“I get that I might have given you the impression that I was just here for a thrill,” she said quietly. “But that’s not really true. The hallway was a crazy impulsive moment.”

“And one that’s forever burned into my memory,” I said softly, drawing my thumb along her jawline. She didn’t object.

“Do these sweet nothings you croon work on all women, or am I the only fool?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“One thing you’re not is a fool. And I don’t do sweet nothings. I mean whatever I say. Granted a few things I said tonight surprised even me, but here we are.”

Her finger circled a button on my shirt, as if she were appreciating the craftsmanship. “Yes, here we are. And sadly doomed forever, apparently.”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way,” I said, “but why did you come here tonight?”

She lost interest in the button and stole a glance at the stars. “Well, that’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? I don’t know, there was no plan. Meg made it sound like a good idea. After last night I was probably hoping to find out you’re an insufferable fool. That way I wouldn’t have to give you another thought.”

Same here, my sweet, same here. But it turns out you’re fucking perfect.

“And how did that work out for you?” I asked.

“Can’t really say. Except for the few intensely pleasurable moments we shared, I know nothing about you, Roman. And from the look of things I never will. So about being an insufferable fool, I guess the jury is forever out on that one. All I know is that you’re a very charismatic man who uses money and charm to satisfy your whims. Which of course in itself is not a crime.”

Her opinion stung a little. Then again, what did I expect? For her to swoon and buckle at my proposal that a few hours with me should mean the world to her? Looking at myself through her eyes was painting a picture. And not one that was especially flattering.

She took a small step back. The cold air infected the space between us, and it felt like something vital had been torn from me. Something that I needed to breathe. I wanted her back against me; her softness, her warmth, her delicate scent.

She tried to remove my jacket from her shoulders, but I kept it in place and shook my head no.

“Take your jacket,” she whispered. “You must be cold and it might end up smelling of me.”

That launched a slew of unsaid thoughts and feelings. And before I could follow the script and tell her it was fine because that’s what dry cleaning was for, I drew her closer, my lips to herear. “There’s nothing in the world I would love more than your smell on my jacket. Nothing.”

And there it was, the little quiver at the base of her spine where my palm rested. It caused heat to pulse through my veins, which I ignored with every ounce of willpower I possessed. Now was not the time to show raging lust, because even I had to admit that whatever was going on here went deeper than that.

Isabel averted her gaze toward the night sky strewn with stars. “Did you know the Milky Way is a medium-sized galaxy with approximately 200 billion stars, and the largest galaxy we know of is called IC 1101, which has over 100 trillion stars?” She told me in this in that plush, throaty voice of hers. “Imagine, 100 trillion stars. We’re so small in comparison to what’s out there, aren’t we?”

Her green eyes flicked back to me, the hint of a smile tugging at those perfect lips. “Not that you wanted to know that.”

“Of course I wanted to know that,” I said, puzzled by an urgency lodged inside me—to wrap Isabel in my arms and keep her there. That’s when I realized she was still standing with bare feet on the lawn. “Let’s put your shoes on before you get sick.”

“You don’t get sick being out in the cold,” she corrected me. “You get sick from a virus, the rhinovirus being the most common one for colds. So unless you transferred that virus to me, all I have to worry about is hypothermia.”

I bit a smile. “Then let’s put your shoes on before you get hypothermia,” I said.

She allowed me to lead her to the bench, and leaned against it. I fished out the handkerchief I’d used before, hunched down and wiped her feet before putting on her shoes.

Her eyes followed my every move. Her finger unexpectedly traced my talking vein, which I presumed was telling her things I didn’t want her to know.

“Is it giving away my secrets again?” I asked. No one was more surprised than I was by how at-peace I felt, now that she was by my side again. For however long that might be. It felt like a missing piece slipping back into the space where it belonged.

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