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‘Don’t we all,’ she said shakily, suddenly thinking of some of the other sleazy things that Ross had said. Given his penchant for distorted fact and jealous fiction, should she give any credence at all to his vicious words? Or should she rely on her instincts, and wait for Luc to trust her enough to bring up the subject himself?
She shifted restlessly in his hold, remembering his words about her paying for someone else’s sins. Did she really want to get involved if he was on the rebound from some disastrous entanglement? Or worse?
‘He’s envious of you,’ she said. ‘He wants to be like you, but he knows he can never match up.’
His bitter-chocolate eyes melted to a glossy, dark smile of sultry intent. ‘I’m glad you think so.’ His hands slid to her hips and slowly moved her back against him.
She splayed her hands against his chest and tipped her head back to focus on his face. ‘Because a man who thinks it’s OK to cheat on his commitment to a woman is likely to cheat in other ways, too…’
‘I agree,’ he murmured, pressing his mouth to a teasing freckle at the side of her mouth. ‘With me it’s either all—’he steadily pushed his hard thigh between her bare legs, lifting it to ride tightly against her feminine dampness ‘—or nothing…’ He slowly withdrew it again, and snuggled her against his chest and hips, his hands roaming her long, naked back, moulding her pliant body to the straining contours of rigid muscle.
‘So tell me you want it all, Veronica…’ he invited in a velvety-dark tone, gathering her between his spread thighs, and shifting her so that her back was to the bed. ‘And let me show you that what happened in Paris was only a tiny taste of what we can give each other…’
It was an answer of sorts, she persuaded herself, giving up to the delicious falling sensation and giving a little squeak when it proved to be real and her back landed with a bounce on the mattress.
He laughed as he followed her down, his hand moving to the centre of his body. She heard the metallic slide of a zip, and at the same time a tapping at the front door, and a high, treble voice.
‘Veronica? Are you there? Gran says she’s just about ready to go to the Jarditrain.’
Luc slumped for a brief second on top of her, his full weight pressing her into the covers, his dark head buried between her lush breasts, then with a virulent curse under his breath he rolled off the bed and stood rigidly, his face twisting in a wry grimace as he eased himself uncomfortably back into the clammy denim and, with great difficulty, drew up the zip.
He looked at her, lying dazed on the bed, and leaned over to give her a deep-mouthed, possessive kiss. ‘Hold that thought for tonight, chérie!’ he whispered roughly, and strode out the door.
‘Give her a few minutes, Soph. You know what women are like about their hair,’ she heard him say coolly as he stepped outside. Moving away down the path, he added in a raised voice, clearly intended for her ears: ‘If she’s not down by the car in fifteen minutes we’ll both come back and fetch her.’
In the event, Miles came with them too, confessing an interest in model railways that had been sadly thwarted by Luc and Justin both exhibiting boyhood preferences for building with Lego or constructing model cars rather than messing about with trains. Luc, Veronica learned, had built working miniature robots from scratch when he was twelve and sold them to his friends, starting a rage for robot battles that had spread through the neighbourhood and then the school like wildfire.
‘The more robots that were destroyed by the fighting, the better for my profits. I was a stark-raving little capitalist even then,’ he admitted as they bought their tickets at the gate.
‘He sold his idea to a toy company and put the money away for his education,’ revealed Zoe. ‘By the time he got to Oxford he had more than enough to pay all the expenses that weren’t covered by his scholarship and have seed money for his investments.’
‘I also had Dad’s life insurance money, which you were supposed to put towards my keep,’ he said to Miles, his respect and affection for the man who had a hand in bringing him up very obvious.
Miles clapped him on the shoulder. ‘If we’d charged all our kids for their upbringing we’d be richer than you right now.’ He laughed. ‘You were the least expensive of the lot! He was always too busy studying to bother about anything but books and his computer, which he mostly built himself,’ he told Veronica. ‘The lad had very spartan tastes.’
She flicked a startled glance at Luc, trying to visualise the ardent sensualist she knew as an ascetic.
‘I would have become a monk,’ he said blandly, ‘but I do require a modicum of luxury in my life. I found I couldn’t hack the rules about celibacy.’
‘What’s sella-bussy?’ asked Sophie, who was following the adult conversation with her usual alertness.
Luc opened his mouth, but Zoe was too quick for him.
‘Never getting married,’ she said. ‘Or engaged,’ she tacked on, thinking she had covered the field
‘Luc’s not married or engaged,’ Sophie instantly responded.
‘Or ever having any girlfriends,’ added Zoe firmly.
Sophie looked at Luc and covered her mouth, a giggle escaping between her fingers. He grinned back and waved an admonishing finger at her knowing face.
Along with their tickets they were given a list of objects to spot amongst the miniature landscape of villages, farms, mountains, bridges and rivers and an hilarious competition ensued, with Sophie proclaimed the final victor when she realised that the eagle no one could find was part of a carved Indian totem pole.
‘How come you didn’t win?’ she demanded suspiciously of Luc, who had come in a narrow second.
‘I would have, but Veronica kept distracting me,’ he claimed. ‘I think you two were secretly working together.’
Sophie pursed her lip, eyeing Veronica’s flushed face. ‘Are you sure I won fair and square?’
