If only he knew…
‘Of course I’ll come with you,’ she said. ‘Text me the address and the time and I’ll be there.’
‘You’re an angel,’ Samantha said. ‘I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you.’
Eliza took an uneven breath and slowly released it. ‘I thought you were calling about the stuff in the press…I guess you’ve seen it by now, otherwise you wouldn’t have known I was here. I should have called you first to warn you. I’m sorry. It all sounds so horribly sordid.’
‘Oh, sweetie, don’t worry about that,’ Samantha said. ‘I know what the press are like. They make up stuff all the time. You can’t believe a word you read these days. It’s just pure sensationalism. I know you would never leave Ewan.’
Eliza felt guilt come down on her like a tower of bricks. But I had left him! The words were jammed in her throat, stuck behind a wall of strangling emotion.
‘See you tomorrow, darling,’ Samantha said. ‘Love you.’
‘Love you, too.’ Eliza gave a long, heavy sigh as she switched the phone off. And, taking a deep breath, she got to her feet and walked back to where Leo was waiting for her.
He stood up when she came back to the table. ‘Is everything all right?’
Eliza gave him a brief forced smile as she sat down. ‘Of course.’ She picked up her wine glass and cradled it in both hands to keep them occupied.
‘Who was it?’
‘Just a friend.’
‘Eliza.’
She brought up her gaze and her chin. ‘Yes?’
‘I don’t need to remind you of the rules, do I?’
‘Would you like to screen all my calls while you’re at it?’ She put her glass down with a little clunk. ‘Or how about you scroll through my emails and texts?’
He frowned and reached for his own wine glass. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t want to spoil our truce.’
‘Truce? Is that what you call this?’ She waved a hand to encompass the romantic setting.
‘Look, I don’t want to spend the only time we have alone together arguing. That wasn’t the point of going out to dinner this evening.’
‘What is the point?’ Was it to make her fall in love with him again and then drop her cold? Was it to make her feel even more wretched about her other life once this was over?
He took one of her tightly clenched hands and began to massage her stiff fingers until they softened and relaxed. ‘The point is to get to know one another better,’ he said. ‘I’ve noticed we either have mad, passionate sex or argue like fiends when we are alone. I want to try doing something different for a change.’
Eliza looked at her hand in his, the way his olive skin was so much of a contrast to her creamy one. She felt the stirring of her body the longer he held her. Those fingers had touched every part of her body. They could make her sizzle with excitement just by looking at them. It was becoming harder and harder to keep her emotions hidden away. She wasn’t supposed to be falling in love with him again. She wasn’t supposed to be dreaming of a life with him.
That was not an option for her.
She raised her gaze back to meet his. ‘What did you have in mind?’
He smiled a slow smile that made his eyes become soft and warm, and another lock on her heart loosened. ‘Why don’t you wait and see?’
An hour later they were on a dance floor, not in an exclusive nightclub or a hotel ballroom, but on the balcony of their hotel suite. Champagne was in an ice bucket, romantic music was playing from the sound system and the vista of the city of London was spread out below them in a glittering array of twinkling lights and famous landmarks.
Eliza was in Leo’s arms, dancing like Cinderella at the ball. The clock had moved way past midnight but this was one night she didn’t want to end. She had never considered herself a particularly good dancer but somehow in Leo’s arms she felt as if she was floating across the balcony, their bodies at one and their footwork perfectly in tune, apart from a couple of early missteps on her part.
She leaned her head against his chest and breathed in the warm citrus and clean male scent of him. ‘This is nice…’
His hand pressed against the small of her back to bring her closer. ‘Where did you learn to dance?’ he asked.
She looked up at him with a rueful smile. ‘I know, I’m rubbish at it, aren’t I? I’ve probably mashed your toes to a pulp.’
He gave a deep chuckle and kissed her forehead. ‘Don’t worry. I can still walk.’
Eliza laid her head back down against his chest as she thought of Ewan sitting in that chair, his legs and arms useless, his once brilliant brain now in scattered fragments that could no longer connect.