* * *
Edie knew Sebastio was coming to meet her, but she was still unprepared to see him striding through the magnificent and imposing mausoleum gravestones of Recoleta Cemetery with his jacket off, hooked over his shoulder by a finger, and his other hand in his pocket. Her heart went wild and she heard a collective appreciative gasp go up from a group of female tourists from America nearby.
He stopped in front of her and he was dazzling. Never more so than in this place which commemorated the dead. His vitality was intoxicating.
‘Did you pay your respects to Evita?’
Edie nodded, giddy that he’d come to spend time with her.
He said, ‘Good.’ And then he took her hand and led her away.
They spent the afternoon wandering around the local colourful districts. She loved exploring the wide streets, and almost cried when they stopped to watch a couple of street performers dance a tango to the most melancholic, soulful music she’d ever heard.
She caught Sebastio rolling his eye and muttering something like ‘Tourists...’ under his breath and she punched him in the arm.
He responded by stopping and kissing her very thoroughly in the middle of the street, much to the appreciation of the passing crowd. Someone even threw a coin their way.
Edie’s face was still flaming after that very unexpected public display of affection when he took her into a very exclusive-looking boutique down a side street.
She caught his arm, whispering, ‘What are you doing?’
He said, ‘Remember I mentioned a party? Well, it’s a New Year’s Eve party being thrown by friends of mine at their house tomorrow evening. You’ll need a dress.’
Immediately Edie’s bubble burst a little. It was one thing spending time alone with Sebastio, but another thing entirely actually meeting his peers. Friends. She wasn’t one of them.
He seemed to read her mind and tipped her chin up so she had to look at him. ‘They’re nice people. I promise.’
Edie smiled weakly, just as a stunningly beautiful dark-haired woman approached and spoke in rapid Spanish to Sebastio. Edie was whisked away before she could protest, and when she looked back he was sitting on a wide chair, being handed a newspaper and a cup of coffee by another equally beautiful assistant.
For a moment something icy trickled down her spine. It was obviously a scenario he was used to, because he looked as at home here as he did in his apartment. And evidently the staff knew him from before. Him and his lovers.
As the women fussed around Edie she told herself she shouldn’t be feeling hurt. This was just a timely reminder of how finite this all was.
* * *
Sebastio’s levels of arousal were dangerously high by the time Edie emerged from the dressing room in yet another dress. So he almost exploded when he saw the very short, thigh-skimming dark blue sequinned dress. On anyone else it might have looked cheap. Tacky. But Edie’s innate elegance and long slim legs elevated it to a couture gown.
It had a high neck and elbow-length sleeves, so it was positively demure on top—apart from the fact that it clung to her body like a second skin and showed off her slender curves and the high, firm thrust of her breasts.
‘We’ll take it—and all the others,’ Sebastio said, sounding slightly strangled.
Edie looked shocked. ‘Sebastio, that is really not necessary—’
He stood up and ignored her, instructing the sales assistant to pack up all the dresses before paying.
When Edie was dressed in her own jeans and T-shirt again—which felt like rags compared to the dresses she’d been trying on—she came out of the dressing room to find Sebastio’s driver had somehow miraculously appeared and was carrying out what looked like hundreds of bags. Sebastio must have bought even more clothes.
She turned to Sebastio outside the shop. ‘First of all, thank you—you’re being far too generous. But that was really unnecessary. I don’t need all those clothes—where would I even wear them?’
Suddenly Edie couldn’t read his expression and it made her nervous. He put his sunglasses on, hiding his eyes. ‘Do with them what you will, Edie. They’re a gift.’
&nb
sp; Of course. It was no big deal because he’d done this before. They were just clothes to decorate his latest lover and he was a billionaire so he could afford it.
The thing that bothered Edie most, though, as Sebastio helped her into the back of his car, was that she didn’t want to be like his other women...
* * *