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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 wi
ll 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.
