Swinging the wheel, he turned and headed back the way he’d come. Half an hour later he was finally getting somewhere—both in the car and with the project he had in mind. He was already calling Lizzie’s number by the time he joined the traffic heading back into London.
‘Where are you?’ he demanded when she picked up.
‘Where am I? Eating.’ She sounded surprised to hear from him.
He could hear plates clattering in the background. ‘Eating where?’
The silence continued until impatience was banging like cymbals in his head. ‘Where are you, Lizzie?’ he repeated tensely.
‘In an Italian restaurant close to home—’
He cut the line and gunned the engine.
Some things were worth getting a speeding ticket for.
* * *
She’d been moving food around her plate for so long the waiters had started glancing anxiously at her. They had a reputation to uphold. The food at this restaurant was supposed to be the best in London outside of Italy. It certainly smelled good, but Lizzie hadn’t managed more than a mouthful, and even that seemed to stick in her throat.
The wine helped, but she waved away the offer of another glass with a polite, ‘No, thank you.’
What she should have done was tell Damon to come here, so they could talk things over before she did anything as rash as going back with him to Greece. It would have been easier here, surrounded by strangers in a busy restaurant.
‘Penny for them...’
Breath shot out of her lungs. ‘Damon?’
Framed in the doorway, Damon looked like a dark angel on a mission to seduce. Everyone in the busy restaurant obviously agreed with her, as every head had instinctively turned his way.
‘May I join you?’ he asked.
Who was going to stop him? She was as transfixed as every other sentient adult in the place. He looked vital and dangerous and a whole lot tastier than the pizza she’d been moving around her plate.
‘Please.’ She indicated the seat opposite hers in the secluded booth.
Within moments of him settling waiters were swarming.
‘What are you doing with that pizza?’ He stared with disapproval at her plate. ‘Were you planning to re-sole your shoes with it, or maybe save it for a midnight snack? We’ll have two more of whatever this was,’ he added, smiling at a waiter. ‘It smells delicious. And a bottle of your best red, some olives, and a plate of antipasti to pick at...maybe some prosciutto and melon, grilled veggies, and a bowl of meatballs—’
‘Damon!’
He put a restraining hand over hers. ‘I’m a big man with a huge appetite, and I didn’t realise how hungry I was until I walked through that door and smelled the food.’
Blood rushed to her cheeks. Damon was a game-changer. She should have remembered that. She tried not to blink or react at all when he nestled his legs comfortably against hers. Space was the problem. Space would always be the problem with Damon. And the booth was an intimate, secluded oasis—ideal for people who wanted a little privacy with their meal.
‘Damon—no!’ she said as his expression changed from genial, when the waiter was around, to something else as he studied her face.
‘What do you mean, no?’
The tug at the corner of his mouth was the only warning Lizzie needed that things weren’t going to go to plan. At least not to her plan.
‘I’m not going to hear any more of these trust issues, am I?’ he demanded. ‘Because I’ve got something for you.’ He settled back. ‘And there’s someone who wants to speak to you before I hand it over.’
Her heart started thumping as Damon brought out his phone.
He punched in a number on speed dial. ‘Is that okay with you?’ he asked, glancing at the phone in his hand as he waited for the call to connect.
‘Depends on who it is,’ Lizzie admitted.
Damon’s expression brightened as the person he was calling answered the phone. ‘Thea?’
Damon had Thea on speed dial? Lizzie blenched. Change she could cope with—but change this fast was something else again.
‘What’s going on?’ she demanded, before taking the phone.
‘Chill!’ Thea exclaimed. ‘I heard you. Don’t be angry with Damon. I’ve got something to tell you.’
‘Obviously...’ Lizzie tried to sound bright, and only succeeded in sounding tense and concerned.
‘Don’t sound so worried,’ Thea said, reading Lizzie with her usual ease.
‘I’m not worried,’ Lizzie said, still tense.
‘You’re going to like this—I promise,’ Thea said confidently.
Right now, Lizzie doubted it. ‘Just tell me what it is,’ she prompted, forcing a smile into her voice.
‘Surprises are always the best, aren’t they?’ Thea enthused, giggling and obviously surrounded by her friends.
‘I do love surprises,’ Lizzie agreed, trying not to sound as if surprise right at this moment equated with a visit to the dentist.
‘But that all depends what the surprise is, doesn’t it, Mama?’
‘Do you always have to be so smart?’
As Thea broke into peals of laughter Lizzie shot a keen look at Damon, trying to read his face.
‘Damon’s got it,’ Thea announced, almost choking on her giggles. ‘Let him show you the surprise. He wanted to get you something to say sorry, and I told him what you’d like. You will give him a chance to say sorry, won’t you? Like in the last scene of all the best movies?’
‘What have you done?’ Lizzie mouthed, staring at Damon, who merely shrugged.
‘Sorry—I have to go now!’ Thea yelled. ‘We’re having movie night at school.’
Hence the reference, Lizzie thought as she clutched the phone, wishing she could give Thea a hug instead.
‘Won’t be long until school breaks up for summer—and then we’re off to Greece again,’ Thea announced with excitement. ‘Night-night!’ she exclaimed, before Lizzie could ask any more questions.
And with that the line was cut and Thea was gone.
Thea and Damon were not only in contact with each other, they were arranging holidays together now...
‘You should have told me,’ she said quietly. ‘You have to keep me in the loop, Damon.’
He huffed agreement. ‘I guess I’ll get there eventually.’
‘Damn right you will,’ Lizzie said, getting up to leave the booth.
Damon grabbed her wrist, stopping her. ‘Our food’s on its way—’
‘So?’ She stared angrily at his hand on her arm until he removed it.
‘Sit down,’ he murmured, almost winning her over with a smile. ‘I want to give you the gift I told you about.’
‘It will have to wait,’ she said coolly. ‘I need time to—’
‘To do what, Lizzie? You’ve had all the time in the world, as far as I can tell.’
She ground her jaw and then sat down again. ‘This had better be good.’
‘I hope you think so,’ Damon agreed as he delved into the pocket of his jacket.
When he pulled out a battered ring case she was speechless.
‘I want you to have this—whatever you decide to do next.’ He pushed the black velvet box across the table towards her.
She hardly dared touch it.
‘Thea would never forgive me if I didn’t sort this out for you,’ Damon explained. ‘I felt so bad about the incident with the violin that I asked Thea how I could make up for it, and she said with this. She said she’d promised to get it back for you one day, and that this was her chance to make good on her word. It was the first time she called me Dad,’ he added softly.
Lizzie closed her hand around the ring case. There was so much to take in.
‘To be exact,?
?? Damon added wryly, changing the mood and brightening it, ‘Thea told me to, “Go get it, Dad. And remember this is just your first test.”’
‘That does sound like Thea,’ Lizzie admitted as she caressed the ring case with her fingertips.