‘Um...’ She hesitated, merely because this turn of events was so completely unexpected. He lifted one thick, dark brow, his expression otherwise unmoving. But that was enough to jolt her out of her state of surprise. ‘Of course,’ she said with a quick nod of her head. She turned around, almost bumping into Carina.
Lucinda read the question in her stepsister’s eyes, but pretended not to. She didn’t want to introduce Thirio, and somehow she just knew that the reclusive man didn’t want his name being passed around. Sure enough, as they left the front office, Lucinda heard the receptionist whisper, none too quietly, ‘I don’t know! He wouldn’t tell me who he is.’
Lucinda’s breath came in tight little spasms. She walked up the stairs, conscious of him behind her, at around the height of her bottom, conscious of his nearness, of the fact that if he reached out he could touch her waist, oh, so easily, conscious of how badly she wanted that.
‘We can speak in here.’ She pushed open the door to the filing room, ignoring the prickle of despair that ran down her spine as he regarded the space.
‘You don’t have an office?’
‘Why would I?’ she asked with a grimace, turning to face him slowly, because she needed that time to brace for this.
‘Right. You’re not an events planner.’
Something bristled inside Lucinda. ‘Not technically.’
‘No.’ He was staring at her as though seeking answers, but rather than asking her any question specifically, he just continued to stare, until the tension knotting inside Lucinda became almost unbearable.
‘So,’ she said after what felt like hours. ‘What can I do for you, Mr Skartos?’
That same dark brow lifted skyward. ‘That’s a little formal, isn’t it?’
Given what we did.The unspoken words hovered in the air, making Evie’s skin tingle. ‘Fine, Thirio,’ she brushed aside, her voice shaking only the slightest amount when she said his name. It still filled out her mouth in a way that made her nerve endings tremble. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘I came to talk about Evie’s wedding.’
Lucinda’s pulse ratcheted up a gear. ‘I’m still working on another proposal,’ she said after a beat. ‘But I can get it to you by the end of the week.’
‘No.’ The word sliced through the air, thick and heavy.
Lucinda’s brows drew together. ‘Don’t tell me you came all this way to ask me not to submit anything? This can’t be because of what happened in Switzerland?’
He looked at her thoughtfully for several seconds. ‘It’s not.’
‘Then why can’t I offer a proposal? I have other ideas that I think your sister will love.’
He crossed his arms over his chest, and Lucinda had the sense he was fighting a war within himself. ‘I doubt it,’ was all he said, finally.
‘Then why did you come here?’ Frustration bubbled over into anger as Evie stared at the prospect of failure. This wedding had been her ticket to a better life, and she wanted, so badly, to be able to gain the account and know that the fee would enable her to buy out her stepmother.
‘You misunderstood me.’
He took two steps, which, with his long stride, carried him to the wall opposite, then turned his back on her, his head tilted towards the top of the dark filing cabinets.
‘I read your proposal,’ he said after a beat.
Lucinda’s brain scattered. It was the last thing she’d expected him to say. She couldn’t even recall having left it. ‘Did you?’ she managed, eventually.
‘Yesterday.’
She waited, her heart in her throat. She knew what he thought of it. He hated the idea. The castle was private. Lucinda had been so carried away in creating the dream event for Evie that she hadn’t even stopped to consider how invasive her plan would seem to Thirio. Realistically, it had been doomed to fail.
‘I’m sorry—’ she said.
At the exact time Thirio turned to face her, and muttered, ‘It’s perfect.’
So Lucinda almost didn’t hear him, and then she questioned if she’dmisheard him, because there was no way the same guy who’d refused to listen beyond the suggestion of turning his castle into a wedding venue for a weekend was now describing her plan as ‘perfect’.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said again, with a different intonation this time. ‘Did you just say—?’