James put his hand on the nape of her neck as he looked down at her. ‘Where did you go just then?’
‘Go?’
‘You missed a step.’
‘So? I’m a rubbish dancer.’
He held her gaze with the steadiness of his. ‘No mask, remember?’
Aiesha chewed one side of her lower lip. ‘This isn’t easy for me...’
His thumb stroked where her teeth had been. ‘I know it isn’t.’
She looked at the knot of his tie. ‘It’s hard for me to let people get close. I push everyone away. I can’t seem to help it.’
He cupped her cheek with his hand. ‘Be yourself with me. Don’t play games. Just be yourself.’
Aiesha looked into his dark eyes. ‘I have nightmares. Horrible nightmares. About what happened to Archie. That’s why I never share a bed with anyone. It’s so embarrassing to wake up screaming or...or worse...’ The truth came tumbling out in a rush but, instead of feeling ashamed, she felt relieved to have finally told him.
His eyes did that softening thing that melted her every time. ‘Thank you,’ he said.
‘For what?’
His expression was full of tenderness, the sort of tenderness she had longed for someone to show her. ‘For trusting me.’
Aiesha wondered if he knew how hard it was for her. She felt like someone had unzipped her wide open like a body bag. Everything was on show. Her doubts. Her fears. Her terrors. Her shame. But he wasn’t repulsed. He wasn’t pushing her away in disgust. He was looking at her with understanding and concern. Acceptance. She drew in a breath that rattled against the walls of her throat. ‘How’d you get to be so nice with a father like yours?’
He gave her a twinkling smile. ‘I can be bad when I need to be.’
She linked her arms around his neck and smiled back. ‘Now that’s something I’d like to see.’
* * *
James pulled the covers over Aiesha’s sleeping form a few hours later. She was curled up like a kitten, her cheek pressed against the pillow next to his, her hair in a tumbled mass around her head. He stroked the wayward strands off her smooth brow, watching as her eyelids flickered in rapid-eye-movement sleep. She was so beautiful. So broken and yet so exquisitely beautiful it made his heart contract every time he looked at her.
Each time he made love with her he learned more about her. The way she expressed herself physically was an indication of the passionate emotion she kept hidden away. Was he fooling himself she felt something for him? How long would it take for her to feel safe enough to reveal her feelings to him? She had told him so much but not the words he most wanted to hear. He wanted to tell her how he felt but wondered if it was too soon. Would it spook her to have him reveal how deeply he cared?
She moved against him, snuggling up close, her eyes opening sleepily. ‘What time is it?’
‘Six a.m. Too early to get up.’
She rubbed one of her eyes with the ball of her fist, reminding him of a child waking up before it was ready. ‘That’s a big sleep-in for me.’
He took her balled-up fist and brought it to his mouth and kissed the knuckle of her index finger. ‘I liked having you beside me all night.’
Her expression faltered for a moment but then she gave him a slitted look from beneath her lashes. ‘At least you didn’t grope me.’
He rolled her on to her back and straddled her with his thighs. ‘That was remiss of me. Is it too late to do it now?’
She laughed as he began to nuzzle her neck and he realised it was the first time he had heard her do so naturally. ‘Stop it,’ she said, batting him playfully with her fists. ‘That tickles.’
He moved down to her breasts, kissing each one in turn. ‘You don’t really want me to stop, do you?’
She gave a little whimper as he moved down her belly. ‘Not yet.’
‘We could spend all day in bed,’ he said. ‘How does that sound?’
She gasped as he took a gentle nip of the tender flesh of her inner thigh. ‘Don’t you have terribly important work to do?’
He looked up and gave her a glinting smile. ‘It can wait.’
* * *
When Aiesha entered the ballroom on James’s arm later that evening, every eye turned to look at them as they walked to their designated table. All day, news feeds had run with the story of their engagement after the photos of them arriving at the hotel had gone around the world. Everyone was fascinated with the story of their romance. The former street kid and Vegas club singer and the Old Money talented architect falling head over heels in love. One journalist had even gone as far as calling it a modern day re-enactment of My Fair Lady.