Forbidden Surrender

Why? Did he expect her to act jealous? Was he one of those men who liked to have more than one woman interested in him? Most of all, did he like having twins interested in him?

‘The dress!’ she suddenly exclaimed as they were leaving. ‘I still have your dress on, Marie.’

‘Well, that’s all right,’ her sister giggled. ‘I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.’

‘Oh yes, yes, of course.’ She gave a jerky smile.

The silence in the car was uncomfortable, Sara not knowing what to say to Dominic now that they were alone.

‘You didn’t—’

‘I hope I—’ Both of them began talking at the same time, both of them breaking off at the same time. Sara gave a nervous laugh. ‘Go ahead,’ she invited.

‘It wasn’t important,’ he dismissed.

She sighed. ‘Neither was what I had to say.’

‘You don’t like being with me, do you?’ he guessed bluntly.

‘Not much,’ she answered with the honesty she had told her father her mother had instilled in her.

‘Because I kissed you?’

She blushed in the darkness. ‘No,’ she answered tautly.

‘Liar!’ his voice was harsh.

‘No lie,’ she shook her head. ‘You weren’t kissing me, you were kissing Marie.’

Dominic’s laugh was bitter. ‘If I kissed Marie like that I’d frighten the hell out of her! I was kissing you, Sara. Fool that I am.’

Now he had thrown her into even more confusion. Could her surmise be correct, was he a man who liked more than one string to his bow? And yet he seemed to love Marie very much. Maybe he did love her, but that certainly didn’t prevent him being attracted to someone else!

‘Then I would appreciate it if you didn’t do it again,’ she told him tightly.

‘I’m trying, Sara,’ he revealed grimly. ‘I really am trying.’

‘Then try a little harder. It’s bad enough for me here without having to fight off passes from my sister’s boy-friend!’

Dominic’s mouth tightened with suppressed anger. And she wasn’t surprised. It must be years since anyone had called him a ‘boy’. He was thirty-five, all man, and no one could mistake him for anything else. But Sara knew that her only weapon was verbal attack, she was powerless against him physically.

‘It wasn’t a pass,’ he rasped. ‘I—I couldn’t stop myself.’ He obviously hated admitting the weakness. ‘But if you’ll stay in England I promise it won’t happen again.’

‘If I go back home it won’t happen again either!’

He gave her a sideways glance. ‘I could always follow you.’

Sara gasped. ‘That wouldn’t be very practical,’ she scorned.

‘For once in my life I would like to act unpractical!’ He was gripping the steering-wheel so tightly his knuckles showed white.

‘When is the wedding?’ Sara asked with pointed sarcasm.

Dominic drew a shaky breath. ‘No date has been set yet.’

‘Then perhaps it should be. Maybe if you had a wife to keep you busy you wouldn’t chase other women.’ Her eyes sparkled angrily. ‘Marie would be very distressed if she knew about the way you’ve been acting with me. I believe my father would be too.’ There was a threat in her voice, and she knew it had gone home.

A white ring of tension appeared about Dominic’s mouth. ‘I would prefer you not to tell them.’

‘I bet you would!’ she scorned.

‘Not for the reason you’re thinking,’ he snapped. ‘There’s something—a reason you don’t understand. If you tell them what happened between us then you’ll be causing more damage than you realise. And Marie, and of course your father, are going to need you in the very near future.’

That feeling of foreboding again! Wasn’t Dominic just confirming what she already guessed—her father was dying?

‘And what about me?’ she asked shrilly. ‘Who’s going to help me?’

His hand moved to grip hers in the darkness, strong and sure, and wholly dependable. ‘I’ll always be around to help you, you can be sure of that.’