But, selfishly, he was.
He needed her there.
‘This weekend,’ Daniil said into the darkness, ‘does your father have to be there?’
Libby frowned as she pondered the question. ‘I guess.’
‘Could he stay away?’
‘Why?’
‘I want you to come with me.’ He felt the flutter of her eyelashes on his chest as her eyes opened and he was grateful that she did not lift her head to look at him.
He couldn’t quite admit just how much he wanted her there or how important it was to him, so he tried to keep things light.
‘I want to take you because you know about my name change and things...’
‘Of course,’ she said, and then nodded. ‘I’ll speak to my father.’
Hope, foolish hope wasn’t just unfurling in her chest, it ran like magical ivy through her body, and she tried to contain it, to tell herself he wasn’t exactly taking her home to meet the parents, but she was sure there was more to it than that she knew of his name change.
‘You’ll go?’ Daniil checked.
‘I shall.’
It was then that she lifted her head and he lowered his and their mouths met and the kiss that they shared was different from any either had known—slow at first and then gently building...
Yes, it wasn’t just about sex because, on this morning, they made love.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘I THOUGHT THAT you weren’t going to get your hopes up,’ Rachel commented as Libby packed her brand-new overnight bag. Her blond hair was in ringlets, her smile painted wide and every sentence seemed peppered by the word Daniil.
‘Well, I’m trying my best not to,’ Libby admitted, and then said to Rachel what she kept trying to tell herself. ‘I don’t think that this is a meet-the-parents night. I know that I’m just there because I...’ She gave a little shake of the head rather than carry on speaking. Usually she told Rachel everything. They were very close friends, but she didn’t feel quite right sharing Daniil’s life. He was so intensely private that there wasn’t much she knew, but the little he had told her felt like a gift.
‘So it’s an overnight thing?’ Rachel asked, but Libby shrugged.
‘I don’t really know,’ she admitted.
‘Can’t you call him and find out?’
‘I don’t have his phone number,’ Libby sighed. ‘Which is probably wise of him. I’d have found ten million reasons to text or call.’
Still, she lived in a state of suspension.
She knew she had gone a little bit overboard for tonight. She’d had her hair done and had bought everything new—right down to her toothbrush, which she was packing in her new toiletry bag.
‘You know his reputation,’ Rachel said.
‘I do,’ she called over her shoulder as she popped into the bathroom to grab her pills. ‘I’m choosing to ignore it and just live in the now.’
And right now she was happy.
Terribly so.
Hopefully, Libby thought as she swiped her pills from the shelf, her period would wait until after the weekend was over and then she could start on them. It had been his comment about going on the Pill that had first given her hope and now that she was going to meet his family.
The one-night stand had spread over days and was starting to run into weeks. ‘It’s lasted far longer than I expected it to,’ Libby said, as she wriggled into neutral sheer stockings and put on her brand-new dress.
‘But you still don’t have his number?’
‘No.’
She headed to the lounge where the flowers he had bought her held prime position. They weren’t exactly in pristine condition—the roses were open and splendid and, yes, the lilies were dropping pollen, but they were still a sight to behold.
‘You should play it a bit more aloof,’ Rachel warned, as Libby sat on the window ledge like a cat, watching the street and waiting for his car to appear.
‘I know that I should but then I’d be lying to us both,’ Libby said. ‘Anyway, I’ve tried to play it all cool with him but I simply can’t—the very second that I see him my self-control is shot. I’ve decided that I’m just going to be myself,’ she said. ‘It’s all I can be.’
‘Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you...’ Rachel said, as a low silver sports car pulled up and a male model got out.