Page 27 of Shy Innocent In The Spotlight

Elspeth got the feeling he wasn’t comfortable talking about that aspect of his life. The hopes and dreams he had left behind in order to protect his family’s assets. It would have taken great courage and commitment to pull his family’s finances out of the red. He had done it and done it brilliantly, but at what cost to himself?

After Mack gave her a quick tour of the villa, Elspeth wandered around on her own while he brought in their luggage. She was eager to explore all of the quaint rooms in more detail but even more eager to wander about the garden. She walked out of the kitchen door to a paved courtyard where pots of fresh herbs grew as well as a long row of purple lavender. Bees were busily taking the pollen from the lavender heads; numerous small birds were twittering in the trees and nearby shrubbery. It was easy to see why Mack loved coming here. The setting was so serene and restful, especially when the abbey’s bells began to toll in the distance. She closed her eyes and listened to the rhythmic peels of the ancient bells, a mantle of peace settling over her.

Elspeth turned at the sound of a footfall to see Mack coming out of the villa carrying a bottle of champagne and two glasses. ‘You really know the way to a girl’s heart.’ She could have bitten her tongue off for the vocal slip. He wasn’t after her heart. He wanted no emotional commitment from her. All he wanted was a fling and she was fine with that because she had to be.

There was no other choice.

‘When in France, do as the French do,’ he said with a smile. He popped the cork and poured the bubbles into the two glasses and then handed her one. ‘Á votre santé.’ His perfect French accent almost made her swoon. Was there no end to this man’s heart-stopping charms?

Elspeth returned the toast in French. ‘Á votre santé.’ The champagne was exquisite, the bubbles exploding in her mouth and tantalising her taste buds. She couldn’t help thinking it was going to be hard to go back to drinking cheap sparkling wine once their fling was over. Her old life seemed so staid and boring and uneventful after just a couple of days in Mack MacDiarmid’s company.

‘What are you thinking?’ Mack asked.

Elspeth gave him a self-conscious smile. ‘I was thinking how hard it’s going to be for me to go back to my boring life after this.’

A small frown pulled at his forehead. He put his champagne down. ‘Why do you think your life is boring?’

She gave a one-shoulder shrug. ‘Because it is. I work. I eat, I sleep. Alone.’

‘You have friends though, don’t you?’

‘Yes, but I don’t socialise much.’ Elspeth plucked one of the lavender stalks off and twirled it beneath her nose.

‘Because of your allergy?’

She glanced at him to find him watching her steadily. ‘Not just because of that. My twin is the social butterfly, not me. I’m happy in my own company. As long as I have a good book, I’m content.’

Mack came closer and lifted her chin so her gaze met his. ‘Have you always lived in Elodie’s shadow?’

Elspeth let the lavender stalk drop to the ground. ‘Mostly. She’s way more outgoing than me. I can’t compete so I don’t bother trying.’ She twisted her mouth and added, ‘She’s everything I’m not.’

Mack stroked her chin with the pad of his thumb. ‘But you’re you. And that’s all you ever need to be.’ He bent his head and lowered his mouth to hers in a kiss that stirred a deep longing in her flesh and in her heart. A longing for more than physical connection.

A forbidden longing.

He lifted his mouth off hers and stroked her chin once more. ‘Have you ever switched places with her before?’

Elspeth put her champagne glass down, deciding that the delicious champagne was messing with her head and her heart. ‘A few times when we were kids.’ She gave a little half-laugh and continued, ‘Our mother was never fooled but our father could never tell us apart. Not even when he lived with us.’

‘Your parents are no longer together?’

‘No. They divorced when we were five. We’d stopped being cute by then, so he decided to move on. He had a second family with another woman. A boy and a girl, neither of whom have allergies, for which he is mightily relieved.’

Mack frowned so deeply it formed a trench between his eyes. ‘You think your allergy had something to do with your parents’ divorcing?’

Elspeth wished she’d kept her wayward mouth shut. What was it with her? A mouthful or two of champagne and she was spilling all. Spilling things she had told no one, apart from her twin, before. ‘It contributed, certainly. I had almost lost my life three or four times by then. My father doesn’t handle stress too well.’

‘It’s not your fault he didn’t have the maturity to handle a sick child. That’s on him, not you.’

‘I know but it can’t have been easy, you know? My mum was a worrier at the best of times. My allergy diagnosis turned her into a nervous wreck. She has no life apart from me.’ She grimaced and turned to pick up her champagne again, staring down at the vertical necklaces of bubbles rising. ‘I sometimes feel like I ruined her life.’

His hands came down on the tops of her shoulders from behind. ‘Don’t say that. I’m sure she doesn’t think that at all.’ His voice was deep and low and husky.

Elspeth leaned back against him, drawn to him as an iron filing was drawn to a magnet. ‘You have to stop giving me champagne.’

‘Why?’

She turned in the circle of his arms and handed him her glass. ‘Because I keep telling you things I’ve never told anyone else before.’

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