ever wanted to listen to!’
Emiliano smiled. ‘They sound like characters.’
‘They were.’
‘What happened?’ he prompted in a gentle tone.
‘Mum got hold of an idea that she had an ancestor who really had mystical powers. Dad didn’t actually believe most of what Mum wrote, but he adored her and supported her in everything she wanted to do. They took a backpacking trip in South America on the trail of this mysterious ancestor. They never found one, but they caught a tropical fever for their trouble, and I lost two in the process.’
‘I’m sorry.’
She made a dismissive little gesture with her hands. ‘It happened.’
Emiliano’s eyes were darkly reflective. ‘And you would have been...how old at the time?’
When she told him, he said only, ‘So you relinquished your career path to look after your sister, who would, no doubt, have been still at school.’
‘I had to earn some money.’
‘You have never told me this before,’ he reproached softly.
He was right. But then she hadn’t wanted to spin a sob story to a man she had only just met, reluctant as she had been to ruin the magic of those two days. When she’d mentioned losing her parents, she recalled saying that it had happened when she and Vikki were young. She hadn’t wanted to talk about the past or to dwell on anything unhappy and, highly tuned as he was to the sensibilities of those around him, he hadn’t pressed her for any more information.
‘And you have never thought about going back?’
‘To university?’ She shrugged again. ‘For a while I did, but financially it wasn’t possible. I needed to live. And then...when Vikki...’
He nodded as her voice tailed off, obviously understanding how much it still hurt to talk about the accident.
‘Of course.’
Quickly stemming emotion, she said, ‘And now there are far more important things in life.’
Like caring for his nephew, Emiliano thought, shaken to the core by what she had told him—by the compromises she had had to make. He wondered how many more surprises this lovely young woman had in store for him, because it had suddenly dawned on him how little he knew about her, despite the past intimacies they had shared.
All he had wanted two years ago, he realised guiltily, was to get her into bed and to keep her there for as long as he wanted to amuse himself with her. It had driven his libido through the ceiling when he had discovered that all she seemed to want was to indulge him in his fantasy—which was to lose himself in that glorious body of hers as much as she wanted to lose herself in his.
He had bedded a gold-digger, he had thought that day he had heard her discussing him with her sister. Or had it been the other way round? He couldn’t say with any certainty any more. But he had still been convinced she was a woman with a mission when he had turned up at her home and accused her of monopolising his brother’s child. What he hadn’t expected to find was a girl who rescued dogs and rubbed bumps on a toddler’s knees, and who had been handed more than her fair share of responsibility at a very young age. Now he wanted to know more about her beyond the purely physical, he realised, startled even to be thinking it.
A simple gesture from him summoned a waiter to their table and a few minutes later he was settling the bill.
‘Let’s take a walk,’ he said.
* * *
Lauren was far too conscious of Emiliano’s dark attraction as they walked, without touching, along the waterfront and out onto the night-shrouded jetty.
Here lights twinkled on either side of the wooden structure, throwing back distorted reflections from the dark water. But the silence was like a mocking witness to the powerful sensuality that lay between them and, unable to cope with her screaming responses, Lauren tried to still them by asking, ‘Why didn’t you get along with your brother?’
His lips were pursed as he thought about it, his profile given added strength by the night
Emiliano smiled. ‘They sound like characters.’
‘They were.’
‘What happened?’ he prompted in a gentle tone.
‘Mum got hold of an idea that she had an ancestor who really had mystical powers. Dad didn’t actually believe most of what Mum wrote, but he adored her and supported her in everything she wanted to do. They took a backpacking trip in South America on the trail of this mysterious ancestor. They never found one, but they caught a tropical fever for their trouble, and I lost two in the process.’
‘I’m sorry.’
She made a dismissive little gesture with her hands. ‘It happened.’
Emiliano’s eyes were darkly reflective. ‘And you would have been...how old at the time?’
When she told him, he said only, ‘So you relinquished your career path to look after your sister, who would, no doubt, have been still at school.’
‘I had to earn some money.’
‘You have never told me this before,’ he reproached softly.
He was right. But then she hadn’t wanted to spin a sob story to a man she had only just met, reluctant as she had been to ruin the magic of those two days. When she’d mentioned losing her parents, she recalled saying that it had happened when she and Vikki were young. She hadn’t wanted to talk about the past or to dwell on anything unhappy and, highly tuned as he was to the sensibilities of those around him, he hadn’t pressed her for any more information.
‘And you have never thought about going back?’
‘To university?’ She shrugged again. ‘For a while I did, but financially it wasn’t possible. I needed to live. And then...when Vikki...’
He nodded as her voice tailed off, obviously understanding how much it still hurt to talk about the accident.
‘Of course.’
Quickly stemming emotion, she said, ‘And now there are far more important things in life.’
Like caring for his nephew, Emiliano thought, shaken to the core by what she had told him—by the compromises she had had to make. He wondered how many more surprises this lovely young woman had in store for him, because it had suddenly dawned on him how little he knew about her, despite the past intimacies they had shared.
All he had wanted two years ago, he realised guiltily, was to get her into bed and to keep her there for as long as he wanted to amuse himself with her. It had driven his libido through the ceiling when he had discovered that all she seemed to want was to indulge him in his fantasy—which was to lose himself in that glorious body of hers as much as she wanted to lose herself in his.
He had bedded a gold-digger, he had thought that day he had heard her discussing him with her sister. Or had it been the other way round? He couldn’t say with any certainty any more. But he had still been convinced she was a woman with a mission when he had turned up at her home and accused her of monopolising his brother’s child. What he hadn’t expected to find was a girl who rescued dogs and rubbed bumps on a toddler’s knees, and who had been handed more than her fair share of responsibility at a very young age. Now he wanted to know more about her beyond the purely physical, he realised, startled even to be thinking it.
A simple gesture from him summoned a waiter to their table and a few minutes later he was settling the bill.
‘Let’s take a walk,’ he said.
* * *
Lauren was far too conscious of Emiliano’s dark attraction as they walked, without touching, along the waterfront and out onto the night-shrouded jetty.
Here lights twinkled on either side of the wooden structure, throwing back distorted reflections from the dark water. But the silence was like a mocking witness to the powerful sensuality that lay between them and, unable to cope with her screaming responses, Lauren tried to still them by asking, ‘Why didn’t you get along with your brother?’
His lips were pursed as he thought about it, his profile given added strength by the night
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