Tomorrow, he resolved, he would rifle through his address book and see whether there wasn’t someone he could date, if only as a distraction. Bridget, oddly, had not referred back to that aborted conversation she had had with him at the pub, had made no mention of Brianna at all. She would think there was nothing amiss were he to start dating. In fact, she would think something was amiss if he didn’t.
‘Well?’ he said impatiently. ‘Will you be there? This is a going, going, gone situation.’
‘I’ll be there. See you tomorrow.’
* * *
Brianna barely slept through the night. She was having a baby! Unplanned, unexpected, but certainly not unwanted.
She was on edge as she finally landed on English soil. The weather had taken a turn for the better but, to be on the safe side, she had still decided to wear her faithful old coat just in case. The deeper into the city she got, the more ridiculously out of place she felt in her clothing. Even at nearly seven in the evening, the streets were packed. Everyone appeared to be dressed in suits, carrying briefcases and in a massive rush.
She had given the address of the bistro to the taxi driver but, when she was dropped off, she remained outside on the pavement, her battered pull-along in one hand, her other hand shoved into the capacious pocket of her coat. Nerves threatened to overwhelm her. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to hop into the nearest taxi and ask it to deliver her right back to the airport.
There were people coming and going from the bistro. She stood to one side, shaking like a leaf, aware of the pathetic figure she cut, and then she took a deep breath and entered with all the trepidation of someone entering a lion’s den.
The noise was deafening, exaggerated by the starkness of the surroundings and the wooden floor. It was teeming with people, all young, all beautiful. A young woman clacking along in her high heels, with a leather case clutched to her side, tripped over her pull-along and swore profusely before giving her the once-over with contempt.
‘Oh God, darling, are you lost? In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t the bus station. If you and your luggage take a left out of the door and keep walking, you both should hit the nearest bus stop and they can deliver you wherever you’re going.’
Brianna backed away, speechless, and looked around desperately for Leo. Right now, he felt like the only safe port in a storm and she spotted him tucked away towards the back of the room, sitting at a table and nursing a drink. A wave of relief washed over her as she began threading her way towards him, her pull-along bumping into ankles and calves and incurring a trail of oaths on the way.
Leo watched her zig-zag approach with brooding intensity. Amongst the city folk, snappily dressed and all braying in loud voices that competed to be heard, she was as natural and as beautiful as a wild flower. He couldn’t fail to notice the sidelong looks she garnered from some of the men and he quickly knocked back the remainder of his whisky in one gulp.
So she had come here on her begging mission. He would have to do a bit better than stare at her and make favourable comparisons between her and the rest of the over-paid, over-confident, over-arrogant crowd on show. He signalled to a waiter to bring him another drink. It was a perk of this bar that he was the only one to receive waiter service, but then again, had it not been for his injection of cash years previously, the place would have been run into the ground. Now he owned a stake in it and, as soon as he clicked his fingers, the staff jumped to attention. It certainly saved the tedium of queuing at the bar trying to vie for attention. It also secured him the best table in the house, marginally away from the crowds.
‘I’m sorry I’m a little late.’ Brianna found that she could barely look at him without her entire nervous system gathering pace and going into overdrive. How had she managed to forget the impact he had on her senses? The way those dark, dark eyes could make her head swim and scramble her thoughts until she could barely speak?
‘Sit.’ He motioned to the chair facing him with a curt nod and she sank onto it and pulled her little bag alongside her. ‘So...’ He leant back and folded his arms. She was pink and her hair, which had obviously started the trip as a single braid down her back, was in the process of unravelling.
‘I hadn’t expected so much noise.’ Her eyes skittered away from his face but then returned to look at him with resolve. She had to forget about being out of her depth. She had come here for one reason and one reason only and she wasn’t going to let an attack of nerves stand in her way. How much more could he hurt her?
Leo cast a cursory glance around him and asked her what she wanted to drink: a glass of water. He would have expected something a little more stiff to get her through her ‘begging bowl’ speech, but to each their own. He ordered some mineral water and another stiff drink for himself then settled back with an air of palpable boredom.