Lucy already knew that—contrary to her rather formidable appearance—Beatrice was something of a ‘dizzy brunette’, but it still bemused her to hear Beatrice expressing such sentiments when the only reason Lucy was here was so that they could talk about George’s surprise birthday party without him knowing.
‘I can definitely recommend the food here, Lucy,’ Beatrice told her. ‘Especially the fish. Although perhaps not the bouillabaisse—it is rather an acquired taste.’
The menus arrived, and while Marcus and Beatrice talked, or rather Beatrice talked and Marcus listened, Lucy studied hers.
‘Have you had any thoughts about George’s party, Beatrice?’ Lucy asked, once the waiter had taken their orders.
‘What? Oh, not really. George wants something small—just a few family and friends. He has this thing about castles, and he did wonder if we might hire one somewhere. What do you think?’
‘Well, that’s certainly possible,’ Lucy agreed, mentally rolling her eyes.
Their food had arrived, and Lucy eyed her plate hungrily. It must be all the sex she was having that was giving her such a good appetite, she decided, and then went bright red as the thought of sex and appetite somehow led to thoughts of those two elements combined together, and all the ways that Marcus might satisfy her hunger for him.
‘Goodness, Lucy, you look quite flushed. Are you all right? It is warm in here. I think we can talk more about George’s party once I’m back in London. After all, I’ve got until next year, and right now these wretched workmen have got me in such a state I can’t think about anything else.’
They had all finished eating, and Marcus turned to Lucy and asked calmly, ‘What about pudding?’
‘Not for me. But I would love an espresso.’
‘An espresso? Lucy, my dear, is that wise? All that caffeine in your system will have you chattering non-stop for the rest of the day.’
Lucy had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from giggling, and then she made the mistake of looking at Marcus. He looked every bit as amused as she felt, and when he gave her a small, rueful and very private smile Lucy felt as though she had been handed the keys to heaven. She and Marcus were sharing an intimate moment of understanding and humour, just as though they were really in a
proper
relationship.
Suddenly Lucy felt as though she could touch the sky and reach for anything—even one day, perhaps, Marcus’s love.
‘I can’t wait to ring Mother and tell her that I’ve seen you both,’ Beatrice announced twenty minutes later, after they had walked her back to her car. She then not only hugged Lucy but also kissed her affectionately as well, before saying meaningfully, ‘Mother is going to be so pleased. She’s always had a soft spot for Lucy...’
‘Marcus, I think Beatrice has guessed about us,’ Lucy warned him after they had waved goodbye to her.
‘I should hope so, after all the hints I dropped,’ Marcus agreed dryly.
‘What? You said we weren’t going to tell anyone yet!’
‘I haven’t told her. I’ve just dropped a few hints. Knowing Beatrice the way I do, it won’t be very long before she’s convinced herself that she guessed about us ages ago—and that should help to ease away any uncomfortable questions about the speed with which things have happened.’
It would also place another barrier in the way of Lucy changing her mind and backing out of marrying him, Marcus reflected cynically.
‘We’ve got another hour before the hotel chauffeur is due to pick us up. How about a walk?’
‘Lovely,’ Lucy told him, and meant it.
What she hadn’t been prepared for was that Marcus would choose to walk in the direction of a very expensive-looking jewellers and then draw her towards its windows. ‘See anything you like?’ he asked.
‘I thought you said we wouldn’t get a ring until we get home?’
‘Yes, of course—for one thing I thought you might want to choose a stone and then a setting—but I wasn’t thinking of a ring right now, Lucy. You’ve just agreed to be my wife, and, whilst your engagement ring will be a public acknowledgement of that fact, I would like to celebrate it with something rather more personal—a pair of earrings, perhaps? Something like those?’ he added, indicating the very pair of diamond studs Lucy hadn’t been able to stop gazing at.
‘Marcus, you don’t have to buy me anything,’ she protested.
‘That’s right. I don’t have to,’ he agreed blandly as he rang the bell for admittance to the shop. ‘But I do want to.’
They were inside the shop—all thick carpets, glass display cases, the quiet and very serious hum of air-conditioning and wealth, and immaculately groomed young male and female sales assistants.
As soon as Marcus told one of them what he wanted, they were taken to a small private room and offered comfortable seats.
‘Perhaps you would care for a drink—water, coffee?’ the sales assistant offered.
‘Oh, coffee please.’ Lucy thanked him, ignoring the way Marcus lifted his eyebrow. ‘Okay, so you don’t do caffeine,’ she hissed, as soon as they were alone. ‘But I do.’
‘Caffeine and champagne,’ Marcus agreed dryly.
The salesman was returning, carrying Lucy’s coffee and accompanied by an older, obviously more senior member of the shop’s staff. It was too late for Lucy to defend herself on the champagne charge.
‘You have an excellent eye if I may say so,
señora
,’ the senior salesman told Lucy approvingly as he spread the roll of fabric he was carrying on top of the immaculate glass and then placed the earrings on it.
‘These stones are excellent quality, and without any blemish. They are D quality, which means they have exceptional clarity and purity. They are one and a half carats each, and set in platinum.’
And they would cost a fortune, Lucy recognised, as she mentally said goodbye to them.
‘They are lovely,’ she began ‘But—’
‘Why don’t you try them on?’ Marcus overrode her.
Reluctantly, Lucy did so, and then looked at her reflection in the mirror the salesman gave her. The stones burned with blue-white fire and were, as he had said, of exceptional purity.
‘Please excuse me a moment,’ the salesman murmured, getting up and leaving the room.
‘Marcus, you mustn’t buy me these,’ Lucy told him as soon as they were alone.
‘Why not? Don’t you like them? Personally, I think they suit you very well.’
Not like them? Was he kidding? No woman could possibly not like diamonds such as these.
‘Of course I like them. But that isn’t the point.’
‘No? Then what is?’ he challenged her.
‘The cost, of course. Marcus, these are going to be dreadfully expensive.’ She looked so worried, with her forehead creased in that small frown and her eyes shadowed with anxiety, that it actually made him frown himself. She was the first woman he had ever bought jewellery for who had begged him not to do so because of its cost.
The salesman had returned, carrying a small square box.
‘We’ll take the earrings. My fiancée loves them,’ Marcus announced coolly.
The salesman beamed. ‘Ah,
señor
, you will not regret their purchase, I do assure you. They will more than keep their value. And it occurs to me that you might like to see this bangle, which has the same quality of stones, but of only one carat each. The bangle itself is made of platinum and white gold. The design is modern but delicate,’ he enthused, removing the bangle from its box so that they could see it.
Once again Lucy found that she was holding her breath. The bangle was beautiful, simple and elegant, its simple curving lines set with three diamonds all offset from one another.
‘Try it on,’ Marcus urged her.
Lucy shook her head. ‘No,’ she told him firmly, standing up with a determination that rather astonished her. ‘It is beautiful,’ she agreed, turning to the salesman. ‘But I don’t wear very much jewellery, other than my watch. The earrings are more than enough.’
Lucy waited discreetly in the main part of the shop whilst Marcus paid for her earrings, then automatically fell into step beside him as they walked back outside into the late-afternoon sunshine. She longed to move closer to him, to slip her arm through his, or even better for him to take her hand in his. But of course he did no such thing. A small, unexpectedly sharp pang of pain seized her.
‘Thank you for my earrings, Marcus,’ she told him quietly, fighting back her longing to turn towards him and kiss him. ‘They are beautiful, but really you shouldn’t have.’
She watched as he gave a dismissive, almost uncaring shrug. ‘Of course I should. Is there anything else you’d like to look at? Only our car should be here in another few minutes.’
Lucy shook her head. If she was honest, what she wanted to do right now, more than anything else, was to go back to their hotel so that she could be on her own with Marcus.
The ache that had begun earlier in her bedroom, when he had kissed her, had gradually but very determinedly been increasing in intensity all the time she had been with him, and it was now an urgent pulsing female need that was overriding any other desire she might have had. She wanted Marcus and she wanted him desperately, eagerly, completely and utterly. And, what was more, that wanting had nothing whatsoever to do with the diamonds or anything else he might buy her.
* * *
‘How do you feel about having dinner here on the terrace this evening? We can go out, if you like, or dine in the hotel restaurant. But I thought in view of the fact that we shall be returning to London tomorrow morning, in our new role as an engaged couple, this evening might be a good opportunity to discuss any concerns you might have about the future.’
‘Dinner on the terrace sounds wonderful,’ Lucy told Marcus truthfully. They were in her suite, having just returned from Palma.
‘We’re going to have to talk about Prêt a Party, and how you visualise its future at some stage,’ Marcus continued.
Prêt a Party! Lucy realised with shock that she had barely given her business a thought since she had Marcus had stepped onto their flight to Palma.
‘Oh, you don’t—’ She began immediately to reassure Marcus that he did not need to worry that she would be expecting him to rescue her ailing business from debt, and then stopped. Andrew Walker had said that he didn’t want her to mention their discussion to anyone at this stage, and until he actually came back to her with a firm offer there wasn’t really anything to discuss, was there? If she told Marcus now that her problems with her business were over, that Prêt a Party had a potential investor, and then had to tell him that she had been let down, she was going to look very silly and gullible. Just as she had done when Nick had cheated her. She could still remember how angry and contemptuous Marcus had been then. She didn’t want that to happen a second time.
‘Must we talk about Prêt a Party tonight?’ Lucy asked him. ‘Only...’
‘Only what?’ Marcus probed.
‘Only I thought that tonight could be for...us,’ Lucy whispered, pink-cheeked. She could feel her blush deepening as she saw the way he was looking at her.
‘For us? Well, it certainly might be a good idea if we discuss some of the practical issues we need to sort out.’
Disappointment filled her. That was not what she had meant at all.
‘Practical issues?’ Did he mean things like contraception? Lucy wondered uncertainly. If so, she would have to find the words to tell him that she relished the experience of feeling him inside her without anything between them so much that she would prefer it if she made herself responsible for that side of things and took the contraceptive pill.
‘Yes. Practical issues,’ Marcus repeated. ‘Such as where we are going to live. I’d prefer to keep my Wendover Square house as our London home. After all, it’s been in my family for nearly two hundred years.’
‘It is a lovely house,’ Lucy agreed, ‘especially with the garden. But I’ll want to redecorate it. And I’ll definitely want an espresso-maker in the kitchen,’ she added teasingly.
‘The decorating I do not have a problem with,’ Marcus returned dryly. ‘The espresso machine might require some in-depth discussion and a compromise. Perhaps even some compensation. But I like the idea of us looking for a house in the country,’ he continued.
‘Mmm, I’d like that too. Though I’ll want to continue to work, Marcus.’
‘Of course. So shall I,’ he agreed drolly, before looking at his watch and telling her, ‘but remember, since we have been having sex without contraception, you could already be pregnant. Running a business and caring for a new baby wouldn’t be easy. Look, it’s six o’clock now and I need a shower. Why don’t I go to my own suite, order dinner for eight, have a shower, get changed, make a couple of phone calls and then meet you outside on the terrace at, say, seven-thirty?’
‘Perfect,’ Lucy told him, although she was disappointed when he walked over to the communicating door, opened it and walked through it without kissing her before he left.
She would have a shower herself, she decided. Then a small smile curled her mouth as she glanced towards the bath. The thought of enjoying a long lazy soak was very tempting, especially with her memories of the erotic pleasure it had led to later.
She hadn’t brought any ‘occasion’-type clothes with her, which was another reason to prefer having dinner on their own terrace.
She reached for the telephone and pressed the numbers for Room Service, so that she could order some coffee, then closed the shutters and pulled out the folding door that enabled her to close off the shower and bathroom area from the rest of the bedroom. Being surprised in the bath by Marcus was one thing; having one of the waiters walk in whilst she was in the shower was something else again—and something that she most definitely did not want to happen.
It didn’t take her long to shower. She loved the luxury of thick, fluffy and constantly replenished hotel towels and bathrobes, she reflected, as she dried herself and then smoothed her body with delicious-smelling lotion before pulling on her robe and folding back the sliding doors.
Her coffee had arrived, and she went over to the occasional table to pour it, pausing with a small frown when she saw the dark green, gold-embossed gift-wrapped box lying on the table next to the coffee tray, beside the complimentary hand-made chocolates provided by the hotel. She recognised the name embossed on the ribbon immediately. It was the name of the jewellers they had been in that afternoon.