Phantom Marriage

‘How do you know?’

‘I just know.’

‘Is it my playboy reputation which worries you?’

‘Partly.’

‘I’m not as bad as the media make out.’

‘If you say so.’

She didn’t sound convinced and Leonardo was beginning to despair. So he played his trump card.

‘What if you’re the right girl Laurence said would come along one day?’

He heard her suck in her breath sharply.

‘You’re just saying that,’ she bit out.

‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘I’m not. Look, I’m as surprised as you are. But surely you can see the chemistry between us is stronger than usual?’

She said nothing, though he could hear her breathing down the line. It was very fast.

‘For pity’s sake, you can’t go back to Australia without giving us the chance to find out our true feelings for each other.’

‘You promise me you’re not just saying this to get me into bed again?’

‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’

Her sigh was long. ‘If you’re playing with me, Leonardo, then you just might die. By my hands.’

Her passionate words excited him. And gave him confidence. She must care about him to feel that strongly.

‘I’m not playing with you,’ he reassured her.

‘I hope not.’

‘I can see you have had your trust in men severely damaged. I can only think some man in your past treated you very badly. A player, is my guess. Am I right?’

‘Yes and no. He wasn’t what you would call a player, just an extremely selfish man who thought of no one’s wishes but his own.’

‘And you think I’m like that, thinking of no one’s wishes but my own?’

‘Don’t you?’

‘No,’ he denied hotly. Though he suspected he was guilty of some selfishness.

‘In that case, please do not ring me again until next Sunday evening, at which point I will give you my answer about the following weekend.’

‘What harm could there possibly be in my ringing you? I like talking to you, Veronica. You don’t sugar-coat your answers. You certainly don’t fl

atter me the way most women usually do.’

‘You’re using flattery now to get your own way.’

He ground his teeth with frustration. ‘You constantly misread me.’

‘I don’t think so, Leonardo, but you could prove your good intentions by doing what I ask.’