‘So...?’
‘So you didn’t paint the full, unexpurgated picture of your background because your high-achieving family make you feel insecure...’
‘Where did that come from?’ She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.
‘I’m a problem-solver. I like it when things add up.’
‘And I’m something that needs adding up?’
‘Your father told me that they pleaded with you to use their apartment in Kensington but you wouldn’t. Why not?’
‘Because I’m not a kid. I can stand on my own two feet.’
Even though it meant living in a cramped, disgusting hovel. He could only admire her tenacity.
‘You might think that you sister has it all, but she envies you...did you know that?’
Susie swung to look at him, although in the darkness she could barely make out his expression. ‘Did she tell you that?’
‘She didn’t have to. I could decipher it from the way she described you...free-spirited...taking each day as it comes...’
‘Alex enjoys her life. She’s so clever you wouldn’t believe it.’
‘She’s also the eldest. There’s a lot riding on her shoulders.’
‘I never thought about it from that point of view. Maybe you’re right.’ She sighed. ‘Who cares anyway?’
‘You do.’
‘I’m tired.’ She made herself yawn. ‘It’s been a big day. I’d quite like to get some sleep now.’
Sergio cupped her breast, liking the feel of its heaviness in the palm of his big hand. He rubbed her nipple with the abrasive pad of his thumb and felt it stiffen.
‘You wanted to tell me something,’ he murmured. ‘What was it?’
Susie stilled. This was not the right time. When she detonated that bomb she knew that she would have to take cover.
‘In the morning,’ she mumbled. ‘I’m way too tired to string a sentence together now...’
‘Too tired to touch me?’ He guided her hand to his erection and felt her whole body soften and yearn towards him.
They made love slowly, like two people dancing underwater. When she came it was a long, deep climax, and she fell asleep almost immediately, her body curled into his.
Light was streaming through the windows when she next woke, and the bed was empty. She surfaced groggily and for the first five seconds was blissfully forgetful of the daunting task that lay ahead.
Her peace of mind didn’t last long and she sat up, rubbed her eyes and spotted him at the desk, working.
‘What time is it?’
‘After ten.’
Susie yelped and flung herself out of bed. Shower. Get cleaned up. Put her dress back on—which was going to look ridiculous at ten in the morning. And of course she had no make-up with her...not even a hairbrush.
She couldn’t face having this talk until she was fully dressed. Being naked and in his bed made her vulnerable.
She locked the bathroom door. For the first time. No sexy, steamy shared shower. No touching. She wasn’t even sure she would be able to look him squarely in the face, never mind having his hands on her, exploring her body, turning her brain to mush.
‘Why the big rush?’
He looked at her as she emerged fully clothed from the bathroom. As jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof. Suddenly that vague feeling was back with him—the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. And yet...they had spent another incredible night together. What could be wrong? She had recovered from her little fit of pique at the thought that he had gatecrashed the wedding so that he could see for himself where she came from.
He shot her a slow, deliberate smile and it took all the will power in her repertoire not to fold.
‘I’m going to call a taxi to...er...take me back to London.’
She stuck out her chin and looked at him challengingly and Sergio frowned.
‘Why? Stanley’s waiting. My very lucky chauffeur was treated to a night in one of the finest hotels in the county so that he could be on standby for when I was ready to leave.’ He relaxed back in the chair, folded his arms on his chest and gazed at her.
‘I’m going to have to detour via the bed and breakfast I was booked into...get the stuff that I left in the room...change clothes...that sort of thing...’