And the Bride Wore Red by Lucy Gordon Page A

have no chance to guard against it.’
    â€˜Do you want to guard against it?’
    â€˜Sometimes.’
    She waited, sensing that he had more to say, and at last he went on. ‘Sometimes you take fright and want to flee back to your old, safe life where things follow a pattern and nothing is too unpredictable. But then you realise that that’s a kind of death; the safety is an illusion, and there’s nothing to do but take the next step—whatever it brings. And sometimes—’ he made a rueful face ‘—you can’t decide between the two.’
    â€˜I know,’ she murmured, awed by his insight.
    â€˜I’m a coward,’ he said. Looking up, he added, ‘But maybe I’m not the only one.’
    She nodded.
    â€˜Now and then,’ she said slowly, ‘what passes for common sense is only cowardice in disguise.’
    â€˜Does that mean you’ll come with me or not?’ he asked urgently. ‘We could leave for Xi’an tomorrow, and go on to Chongqing afterwards, if you wouldn’t mind my joining you on the cruise. And after that, well, we go wherever we fancy and do whatever we fancy.’
    â€˜Whatever we fancy,’ Olivia murmured longingly. ‘I wonder…’
    He drew her down the far side of the bridge and under the trees. There in the shadows he could take her into his arms and remind her silently of the things that united them. She came willingly, letting her own lips speak of feelings for which there were as yet no words.
    She ought to refuse; she knew that. Step by seemingly innocent step he was enticing her along a path she’d sworn never to tread again, a path on which the delight in one man’s presence would silence all warnings until her life spun into turmoil. How virtuous it would be to be strong. How sensible. How justified! How impossible!
    With every caress his mouth begged her to trust him with her heart and follow him to an unknown destination. Except that it wasn’t really unknown. It was the place where he wanted to be with her, and no questions were needed.
    He kissed her again and again, breathing hard as his urgency and need threatened to overcome his control.
    â€˜We’ll have the whole summer together,’ he managed to say. ‘That is, if the idea pleases you.’
    â€˜It pleases me,’ she said softly.
    A violent tremor went through him. He was resting his forehead against her, his eyes closed while he fought to subdue himself. She held him with passionate tenderness, waiting, wondering what was happening behind his eyelids, and half-convinced that she knew.
    At last he drew away and spoke in a shaking voice.
    â€˜Then let us make the arrangements quickly.’
    He led her back to the table, took out his phone, and in a few brief calls changed her flights, booked her into his hotel in Xi’an, and just managed to grasp the last available place on the Yangtze cruise.
    Then a silence fell. Both suddenly felt embarrassed, as though the emotion that had brought them thus far had abandoned them, leaving them stranded in alien territory where nothing looked the same.
    â€˜Perhaps we should go home and start getting ready,’ he said awkwardly.
    â€˜Yes—packing.’
    Lang had recovered his composure and gave her a mischievous look. ‘Don’t forget to include that dress you’re wearing.’
    â€˜Oh, do you like it? I wasn’t sure it suited me.’
    â€˜Stop fishing. You know exactly what it does for you. And if you didn’t know at the start,’ he added, ‘you do now.’
    â€˜Yes,’ she said, feeling her heart beat faster. ‘I know now.’
    â€˜Let’s go.’
    At her door he said, ‘I’ll be here for you at midday tomorrow.’
    He gave her a brief peck on the cheek and drove away.
    She began her packing in a dissatisfied frame of mind and grew more dissatisfied as she lay wakeful overnight. Her mood was