Untouched by His Diamonds

‘I didn’t date for a year afterwards—until I met you and took a chance. You fit the profile, Serge. Money, charisma, the sort of guy who owns the world.’ She shook her head in disgust. ‘But I thought, He’s a good guy. I should look beyond the outer trappings to the man underneath. But in the end, Serge, you’re worse than he is because you made me believe you cared about me. All that other guy did was make a fool of me.’

Serge was silent, then he said roughly, ‘You should have told me.’

‘I’m telling you now. I just wanted to go on a date,’ she said stonily. ‘I wanted to be a normal girl for a change, who gets dated instead of propositioned.’

‘I never propositioned you.’

‘Sure you did. You asked me to come with you to New York and my first thought was, Great, another jerk. And guess what? I was right.’

‘We ran out of time,’ he said softly.

‘I know. That’s why I said yes. Because I thought just maybe I’d give you the benefit of the doubt. I thought you saw me, Serge, the real me. More fool me.’

‘I do see you.’ Serge touched her cheek, and when she flinched turned her face to make her look at him. ‘I do see you,’ he repeated, his finger curling possessively under her chin.

‘No, you don’t see me at all. All you see is what everyone else sees—sexy Clementine working her stuff,’ she said bitterly. ‘You made that very clear yesterday. It’s about sex, you said. Just sex.’

‘That is not true, Clementine. I lied to you.’

She went very still.

Serge’s whole body had drawn taut. ‘I didn’t want to feel this way about you. My parents had passion in their marriage, Clementine, and it wiped out everything else. My father thought loving meant annihilating the other person. I vowed I would never do that, and whenever I found myself getting close to a woman I would pull back. Until you.’

His eyes softened on her. ‘Everything about you has been different. From the moment I saw you in that little shop, saw that smile of yours, you invited me in. It was like being a kid again, following you down that road, and when you wouldn’t let me look after you I was stumped. I couldn’t leave you there.’

His green eyes, so fierce as she’d flung her accusations at him, grew tender and their gazes locked.

‘I’ve been chasing you ever since.’

She blinked.

‘I’m in love with you, Clementine.’

She felt her legs give. She sat down heavily on her suitcase and Serge dropped to his knees beside her. In the middle of an airport terminal, under harsh, unforgiving lights. But all Clementine saw was the man she loved in front of her, on his knees, declaring himself.

‘Then why did you push me away?’ she whispered hoarsely, not really believing what he was saying.

‘Fear.’

Her chin came up. It was a huge admission for a man like Serge to make, and she met the sincerity in his eyes and believed him.

‘I didn’t want to be like my father,’ he admitted tautly. ‘I didn’t want to destroy the woman I loved. But, God help me, Clementine, when I woke up and found you gone I knew I’d destroyed what we had anyway. I was exactly like my father.’

He took her hands and held them between both of his—a strangely formal gesture that shook her to the ground.

‘You tell me I don’t see you, Clementine, but I do. Because we’re alike, you and I. I see a girl who has been on her own far too long. I see a girl who takes chances and not all of them work out.’ He swayed in against her until they were eye to eye. ‘I see a girl who when she gets scared runs away. I’m not going to let you run away from me, Clementine. I will chase you to the ends of the earth if I have to. I love you. I will always love you.’

He took a deep, sustaining breath, as if making a declaration of intent. ‘I’m a Marinov, and that is how we love our women.’

Clementine’s heart stuttered, and then began to thrum to a deeper beat. Hope was blooming inside her and it hurt too much—because she’d been disappointed so many times in the past. People promised to love you, but love wasn’t always enough. Careers and personal desires got in the way. She’d learned that with her parents.

Serge seemed to sense her reticence. He let go of her hands and reached around her waist instead, suddenly so close he was her whole world.

‘I’ve been in hell, Clementine, because I knew I’d driven you away. At the château I wanted to take my words back. In the car I wanted to take them back. I tried to show you in the hotel but it wasn’t enough. When I woke up and found you gone I knew it wasn’t enough. I didn’t give you the words you needed because I found them so difficult to say—because I knew once I said them there was no going back for you and me. It’s for ever. You do understand it’s for ever, Clementine?’