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‘Want to head back and catch up with them?’ Faith asked.
Dominic didn’t even need to think about his answer. ‘No.’
‘So what do you want to do?’ She was close again, too close. Closer even than she’d been as they’d looked out over the river, talking about Kat. Close enough to make him crazy. ‘It’s your turn to choose.’
‘I want to spend tonight with you.’
So close he could see her eyes darkening, even in the faint moonlight under the trees. ‘I thought that’s what we’ve been doing.’
He shook his head. ‘This was just the evening. I want the whole night.’
And he did. He wanted it so badly he ached. And he didn’t care if she couldn’t stay, didn’t care if it could never go anywhere. Didn’t care what the risk was. He just wanted her.
‘Are you sure?’ Faith asked, her lower lip caught between her teeth.
‘Absolutely.’
‘I’m leaving—’
‘I know. We both know what this is, and what it isn’t. What it can’t be. I don’t know what you’re hiding from me, but I trust you it’s better that way. And I can’t let you leave without...’ He stopped, trying to find the words. Wrapping his hands around her waist, he pulled her closer, close enough that she had to be able to feel every line of his body through that hideous dress. ‘You’ve shown me your world tonight. All the things you love about a city I’ve lived in for years and never got to see.’ No, that wasn’t right. ‘Or, worse, all the things I’ve seen every day and never felt the way you do. I want one night to see everything through your eyes. Just one night.’
Rising up on tiptoe, Faith pressed her lips against his and his whole body almost sagged with relief. Then his brain caught up and he hauled her closer again, practically lifting her off the floor as he kissed her properly, thoroughly. The way a woman like Faith deserved to be kissed.
‘Back to the hotel?’ Faith asked when he finally pulled away.
Dominic nodded. It was past time to take Faith home to bed.
* * *
They caught a cab back to the hotel, Dominic’s hand at her waist the whole way, and Faith could feel the blood thrumming through her veins too fast, driving her on. He was Lord Beresford again now, she could tell, so there was no inappropriate behaviour in the taxi, much as she considered just climbing into his lap and kissing him speechless.
Or maybe she’d be the one without words. But the man could kiss! One touch of his lips and she’d forgotten anything she ever knew about any city in the world. If someone had asked her where she was right then, she’d have struggled to answer.
In a way, she was almost glad of the reprieve his propriety gave her. She needed a moment to gather her thoughts, to enjoy the anticipation of what was ahead. And besides, with only one night to enjoy with him, she wouldn’t have wanted him to be pretending to be anyone else.
No, against the odds, and despite everything, it was Lord Dominic Beresford she’d fallen for, and Faith didn’t want to even pretend otherwise.
The taxi pulled up outside the hotel, and Dominic handed over a couple of notes to the driver—too much, probably, not that Faith cared right then. She glanced around to check before getting out of the car, but there was no sign of the service she’d arranged to collect the clients from the theatre. She checked her phone quickly; no one had called, so hopefully that meant they were all still having fun at the after-show party, somewhere they wouldn’t see her and Dominic heading up to his suite together.
Perfect.
Dominic took her arm as they headed into the hotel, and she felt a certain relief that he wasn’t hiding this. Wasn’t hiding her. She’d worried he might be...embarrassed, if not ashamed. After all, as far as he was concerned she wasn’t in his social strata and besides, she was his employee. Dominic wasn’t the sort to blur the lines of propriety that way, even without the secrets he knew she was keeping.
The doorman at the hotel foyer gave no sign of anything out of the ordinary when they walked in. The concierge nodded politely, but otherwise kept a blank face. The receptionist barely even looked up. Faith held her breath. This might really happen. One night: one perfect night. She’d earned this much over the last few years of voluntary exile, surely? He never had to know who she was. What she’d done.
They were silent in the lift, a respectable few inches between them. She wondered if Dominic really felt so keenly about keeping up appearances and respectability that he wouldn’t even touch her in an empty lift. Or was he just afraid, as she was, that if they touched again they wouldn’t be able to stop...?
