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‘Damn!’
Pain radiated from his face and around the back of his neck, and when his vision cleared Lulu was nowhere to be seen… And then he saw her knee. Narrow and pointy and shaking. She was crouched behind the desk.
‘Lulu?’ he said quietly, stepping carefully around the corner so as not to frighten her.
She was huddled there, looking as shocked as he was.
‘Mon Dieu!’ She pressed her hands to her mouth. ‘I’m sorry—I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.’
He just offered her his hand and after a hesitation she took it.
‘I hit you!’ she said jerkily, shaking her head as if she needed to clear it of something. Her whole body was trembling.
‘You struck out at me—there’s a difference.’ He wanted to comfort her but was careful not to embrace her. Something had spooked her, and he didn’t like the picture it was painting.
She lifted her hand to his chin and tentatively stroked him where a red mark was already appearing. ‘You’ll have a bruise.’
‘It’s all right, Lulu.’ He covered her hand and she let him.
‘No, it’s not. What sort of a maniac hits people?’
But she knew. Out of the past came a memory of her father catching hold of her mother, of the way he would shake her. Never a punch, never a slap, never anything that would leave a mark.
Only fingerprints, standing out on her wrist long after he had let her go.
Her mother had always pretended they didn’t matter. Would rub her skin. Would hide it.
‘Lulu…’ She became aware that he was saying her name. Had possibly said it several times.
She looked up at him blindly.
‘Lulu, what happened to you?’ he asked, with a quiet intensity she’d only seen in him when they were intimate. It focused her.
‘I—’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t talk about it.’
She just couldn’t, but her hands had curved over his forearms and she realised she was holding tightly on to him.
Why was she seeking comfort from the very man who’d thrown her life into such disarray?
Because…because he made her feel like a bigger person—stronger, normal. He made her feel like the Lulu she might one day be.
This man who’d brought another woman to the wedding.
Lulu stepped back, wiping at her eyes and her nose with the back of her wrist. It wasn’t very ladylike, but it was all she had.
‘Why don’t you go and dance with your girlfriend and leave me alone? I’ll let you know if there are…consequences.’
‘Madeline is not my girlfriend,’ he said decisively. ‘She’s my plus one.’
‘Plus what?’ Lulu’s voice quavered.
‘Madeline’s an old friend. We’ve never been romantically involved. I promise you, Lulu. The invitation was for two, it’s a high-profile wedding, and she asked if she could come with me.’
Lulu felt like a balloon that just had the air let out of it. She knew in a minute that she would feel relieved, but right now all she could do was stare at him.
‘I was going to tell you last night, but you rushed off. Lulu—’ He stepped towards her.
‘Non!’ She glared at him unhappily. ‘Don’t come any closer. It’s never good when you come closer.’
