CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ALLYHUNGUPher damp towel in the tiny hotel bathroom and wrapped a cotton robe around herself.
Tonight was her last night in Provence. She’d spent a week exploring the countryside, the quaint stone-built villages, seeing the fields of lavender and other flowers and visiting a perfume factory.
It had been exciting, memorable and poignant. Because it made her think of her beloved gran and the plans Ally had had for the future.
When she returned to Australia her life would change. She’d have to look for work in the city. Uncle Ben couldn’t afford to employ her. He planned to run the farm alone with his wife till their finances were better. Ally didn’t want to live nearby, hankering for what she couldn’t have.
She shook her head and grabbed a comb, pulling it through her hair. It was the story of her life right now, clearing out of places because she couldn’t bear to be close to what she couldn’t have.
Angelo.
The name feathered into her brain like a waft of beckoning lavender-scented breeze from the surrounding fields.
She’d left him nine days ago and the yearning hadn’t subsided. Would it ever? She’d so wanted to stay with him, until he spoke of looking after her, as if she were yet another responsibility he’d taken on. A duty. Not because he couldn’t bear to be without her.
‘You have to give it time,’ she told herself.
No more thinking of Angelo, who’d left her in Naples with such a severe, brooding expression that she guessed some problem had arisen at his bank. She’d cut short their goodbyes, not trusting her emotions, giving him a quick handshake and running into thepensionewhere she’d stored her luggage before he could say anything.
Of course, that hadn’t been the end of it. He’d been on her mind every hour since.
She’d imagined she saw his gleaming dark sports car as she’d made her way through the thronged Naples streets. Her spirits had soared at the railway station when she thought she saw him, head and shoulders above the crowd, as if he’d come for her. But, whoever the man was, he’d kept his distance. There’d been no one and nothing to stop her getting on the northbound train.
She looked in the mirror and grimaced at her shadowed eyes and pinched mouth. She’d better get out her make-up.
Tonight was her last night. Tomorrow she’d leave for Australia. She was determined to put on a pretty dress and treat herself to a nice meal and a glass of wine at that cosy restaurant across the square. She’d pretend she was just another tourist enjoying a night out.
Instead of a woman with a broken heart.
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip but Ally refused to cry. She’d be strong because she had no other choice.
A rap on the door made her swing around, frowning. She didn’t know anyone here except the staff and they’d have no reason to come to her room at this time.
She unlatched the door, opened it and sucked in a hissed breath. Her pulse thundered in her ears.
‘Angelo?’
In the dim light of the hall he was little more than a silhouette, yet totally unmistakable. Proud head, broad shoulders and that utterly masculine frame in a dark suit tailored to his superb body.
Ally’s mouth dried and she swallowed convulsively, trying to make sense of him, here, when her brain told her she must be dreaming.
Was she hallucinating? Was this some delayed reaction to her head injury? Maybe she’d begun seeing things.
‘Ally.’
Her skin tightened all over and something swooped low in her belly at the sound of her name on his tongue. It wasn’t his rich, melting caramel voice. It was rough-edged and a little husky as if he hadn’t spoken much lately. Yet that single word undid her. It made her think of midnight loving and raw desire. Of warmth, passion and the love welling up inside that she couldn’t suppress.
Ally’s eyes widened and her knees weakened with the force of that emotion. She tightened her grip on the door to keep upright.
He couldn’t be here.
‘Can I come in?’
He stepped forward and she knew something was wrong. His straight shoulders were unbowed but lines grooved deep around his flattened mouth and the chiselled features that usually looked proud and beautiful seemed too angular.
Instantly Ally stepped back, admitting him.