A Perfect Stranger by Danielle Steel

him with something sad and wise and yet also something happy lurking in her eyes. “My mother adored you, you know.”
    “I don’t know why she would. But I also adored her. What a lovely woman she is, Alex. She has all the qualities a woman should have.”
    “Yeah, she’s a pretty nice old girl.” He said it in teasing fashion, but he wasn’t thinking of his mother as he looked into Raphaella’s eyes. “When am I going to see you again?”
    But she looked away nervously before she answered, glancing into the street to see if there was apassing cab. And then she looked back at Alex, her eyes dark and troubled, her face suddenly inexplicably sad. “I can’t Alex. I’m sorry. I must be with my mother … and—”
    “You can’t be with them day and night.” He sounded stubborn, and she smiled. There was no way that he could understand it. He had never lived a life like hers.
    “But I am. Every moment. And then I must go home.”
    “So must I. Then I’ll see you there. Which reminds me, young lady, there was something you forgot to tell me when you told me you were staying at the Carlyle.”
    “What?” She looked suddenly troubled.
    “Your last name.”
    “Did I do that?” It was difficult to tell if her innocence was real or feigned.
    “You did. If you hadn’t shown up today, I would have been forced to sit in the lobby of the Carlyle for the rest of the week, waiting until you walked by, and then I’d have thrown myself at your feet in front of your mother and embarrassed you royally, begging for your name!” They were both laughing as he said it, and he gently took her hand in his own. “Raphaella, I want to see you again.” She looked up at him, her eyes melting into his, wanting everything he wanted, but knowing that she had no right. He bent slowly toward her, wanting to kiss her, but she turned away, burying her face in his shoulder and holding tightly to the lapel of his coat with one hand.
    “No, Alex, don’t.” He understood that if her world were filled with duennas, then she wasn’t likely to kiss a man in the street.
    “All right. But I want to see you, Raphaella. What about tonight?” There was a brief chuckle in his shoulder as she moved to look at him again.
    “What about my mother, and my aunt and my cousins?” He was impossible, he was so stubborn, but he was also one of the nicest men she had ever met.
    “Bring them along. I’ll bring my mother.” He was only teasing and she knew it, and this time she laughed out loud.
    “You’re impossible.”
    “I know. And I also won’t take no for an answer.”
    “Alex, please!” She looked at her watch again and suddenly panicked. “Oh, my God, they’ll kill me! By now they must be back from lunch.”
    “Then promise you’ll see me tonight for a drink.” He held tightly to her arm, and then suddenly remembered. “And what the hell is your last name?”
    She flung a hand away from him and hailed a cab passing nearby. It shrieked to a stop next to them, and Alex held the one arm more tightly. “Alex, don’t. I have to—”
    “Not until—” It was half a game and half in earnest and she laughed nervously and looked into his eyes again.
    “All right. All right. Phillips.”
    “Is that how you’re registered at the Carlyle?”
    “Yes, your honor.” She looked meek for a moment and then nervous again. “But, Alex, I can’t see you. Not here, and not in San Francisco, and not ever. This must be good-bye.”
    “For chrissake, don’t be silly. This is just the beginning.”
    “No, it’s not.” She looked serious for a moment as she stood there, and the cabbie snorted impatientlywhile Alex glared. “This is not the beginning, Alex, it’s the end. And I must go now.”
    “Not like that!” Alex looked suddenly desperate, and then regretted that he hadn’t kissed her. “What? You just had lunch with me so you could meet my famous mother? Is that nice?” He was teasing but she looked at him in confusion and he