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‘This one,’ the assistant said, holding up a dress in pale coral. It was a very sheer fabric with a slip dress beneath and it was very feminine and floaty and really not the sort of thing Abby would choose.
‘What about this,’ Abby suggested and held up a similar dress in grey, but the assistant shook her head.
‘Try the coral one on.’
Oh, Abby hated this.
It felt as if she was dressing up for a family photo, she thought as she stepped into a large changing room. But reminding herself it was business, she put the dress on.
‘You look very elegant,’ the assistant said after she had asked Abby if she could see it on.
‘It’s a bit much.’ Abby shook her head, thinking of it with high heels, but the assistant was far more used to this type of thing and disappeared.
‘Try these,’ she said when she returned and handed Abby a pair of flat strappy sandals. They were thin jewelled straps and yet somehow very neutral, and when she tried them on the assistant was right—the dress looked more sophisticated than it would with high heels.
‘I like it,’ Abby admitted.
‘You need to get your hair smoothed out and then tied back,’ the assistant said and, remembering Matteo’s comments last night, Abby wondered if people in Dubai just spoke their mind.
‘I really don’t have time to get my hair done,’ Abby said, given that it was well after nine.
‘I can ring over to the salon,’ the assistant pushed, ‘if you are pressed for time.’
‘Sure.’ Abby gave a tight smile as she paid.
She then went into the hairdresser’s and had her hair smoothed and there she bought a lipstick that would go better with the dress.
Abby didn’t have time to be nervous; she was far too late for Matteo for that. But even so, she managed to be as she stepped into his hotel and saw him waiting in the foyer.
‘Wow!’ he said. ‘You’re worth the wait.’
Somehow he both welcomed her and told her off for keeping him waiting.
‘We need to get going,’ Matteo said.
He really had no idea of the effort she had gone to in order to get her looking like this and Abby kind of liked that about him.
Still, she wasn’t so much nervous as they walked to the car; rather she was incredibly aware, not of her unfamiliar attire, more of the man she was with.
Very, very aware.
That was the best way she could describe it.
She was aware of the dry warmth of his hand on her arm as he led her to the waiting car.
And aware of him as he stretched out beside her and then popped a couple of painkillers and took them without water.
‘Do you have a headache?’ Abby asked, guessing he must have hit the clubs after he had dropped her off last night.
‘My shoulder,’ Matteo said.
‘You should have worn the sling.’
‘I know.’ He just shrugged and obviously it hurt to do so because he winced, but then he turned the conversation to work as the car moved through the magnificent streets. ‘How’s Pedro?’
‘He’s being moved to a better suite as we speak,’ Abby said. ‘He’s much happier than he was this time yesterday.’
‘And if Pedro’s happy, we’re all happy.’
