‘No, that definitely wasn’t fake or you trying to please me,’ Angel murmured with roughened satisfaction in her ear as he gently tugged her hair back from her hot face and planted a lingering kiss there.
* * *
At some stage of the night, Angel shook her awake and her eyes flew open to focus on him in drowsy surprise. He was already fully dressed, sheathed in a sleek business suit, freshly shaven. He sank down on the side of the bed. ‘I’m heading back to London. There’s a stock-market crisis and I prefer to handle it on the spot with my staff around me. I’ve made arrangements for you to fly back first thing tomorrow morning…you need your sleep right now,’ he said, stroking her cheekbone with unexpected tenderness. ‘Once you’ve seen your aunt and your mother you can come and join me.’
Angel stared down at his wife, more than a little unnerved by the guilt sweeping him when he noticed the shadows below her eyes and the weary droop of her eyelids. He had been too demanding. He couldn’t get enough of her in or out of bed and she was so busy being the perfect wife and perfect mother that she wasn’t taking time out for her own needs. He was selfish, had always been selfish, was trying in fits and starts to be less selfish, but when he wanted her with him it was a challenge to defy his own need. Leaving her to sleep the night through was a sacrifice when he would sooner have had her by his side.
‘It drives me mad when you make decisions for me!’ Merry groaned in frustration. ‘I could have flown back with you.’
‘It wouldn’t be fair to take Elyssa out of bed in the middle of the night and you’re already tired out. I suggest that you leave her here with Sally unless you’re planning to stay with your family for a few days,’ Angel opined with an ebony brow rising in question on that score.
Merry sighed, unenthusiastic about the prospect of seeing her mother again. ‘Not very likely. After a couple of hours catching up I’ll probably be glad to escape,’ she forecast ruefully.
Angel sprang upright again, all lithe, sexy elegance and energy, holding her gaze like a live flame burning in the darkness. ‘And I’ll be glad to have you back,’ he declared with a flashing smile that tilted her heart inside her and made her senses hum.
Merry recalled that brief snatch of dialogue over coffee on the terrace the following morning. It was Sally’s day off and Elyssa had just gone upstairs for her nap, leaving her mother free to relax in the sunshine. She smoothed a hand down over the bright red sundress she wore, preventing it from creeping any further up her slender thighs because she didn’t want to flash the gardener engaged in trimming the edges of the lawn.
Angel had bought her a new wardrobe and it had very much his stamp on it. She thought the hemlines were too short, the necklines too revealing or snug in fit and the colour choices too bold, but then she wasn’t used to showing off her figure or seeking attention. Maybe that had been Angel’s nefarious plan all along, she reflected with wry amusement; maybe he hoped to drive her out shopping by landing her with a selection of garments she considered too daring. She certainly wouldn’t put such scheming past him. The lingerie, however, was a superb fit and very much to her taste, plain and comfortable rather than provocative or elaborate.
One of the maids walked onto the terrace to announce a visitor and a moment later Roula Paulides strolled out to join Merry, a wide smile of greeting pinned to her beautiful face. ‘I heard Angel’s helicopter taking off during the night and thought this would be a good opportunity for us to get better acquainted,’ she admitted.
Determined to look welcoming, Merry smiled and ordered fresh coffee. Roula was one of Angel’s most long-standing friends yet Merry was also conscious of the possessive vibe that flared through her whenever she relived how she had once felt seeing her husband in the glamorous blonde’s company.
Roula took a seat, very self-assured in her designer casuals, her blonde hair secured in a stylish twist, her brown eyes bright as she smiled again. And something about that second smile warned Merry that her visitor wasn’t half as relaxed as she was trying to appear.
‘I want to make it clear that I won’t make a habit of visiting like this,’ Roula assured her smoothly as she lifted her coffee cup. ‘We’re both entitled to our privacy. We’ll only occasionally meet when Angel holds a big party because that is the only time he invites me to his home.’