AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It took him a minute to place her comment and when he did he shook his head. ‘Why do you never say what I’m expecting you to say?’
Poppy sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
It was no great feat to guess what Sebastiano was thinking. He’d given in to the emotion—and alcohol—last night and slept with her, and now he regretted it. No doubt he regretted telling her about his parents too, but at least she understood him a little better now. Understood that he carried guilt and pain around for his part in their deaths, but really, he’d only been a normal teenager rebelling against the bounds of his parents’ restrictions. It was something she could easily imagine Simon doing. That it had ended in such tragedy was a tragedy in itself.
Given that last night had been the anniversary of their deaths, she was under no illusion that had another woman offered herself to him he would have chosen her to ease his burden instead. Poppy had just been in the right place at the right time—or not, depending on how you viewed it.
And she refused to view it as a bad thing. How could she, after the way he had made her feel? He was every woman’s dream man. And not because of his money, as he thought, but because of his strength, his determination, even his arrogance. He was the kind of man a woman could rely on, if he ever chose to let one get close enough to fall in love with her.
A lump formed in her throat. For a while in his arms the night before her world had seemed perfect. He had been perfect. Caring. Considerate. Passionate. He had made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world and she couldn’t regret that. No doubt it was how he made every woman feel.
Okay, time for her to get back to the reality of her life. And the reality was that the only thing she could rely on with any degree of certainty was herself. Life was harsh and people could be brutal. Why open yourself up to that kind of pain unnecessarily, as her mother had done over and over?
And clearly Sebastiano’s polite stranger routine was his way of trying to avoid a nasty scene between them now. But she had no intention of bawling him out, or blaming him for last night. After all, she had slept with him willingly, and she would put him out of his misery and show him that she was not going to be one of his women who clung and begged him to love them.
A tight, invisible band formed around her chest as if of their own accord her ribs had contracted to hold everything inside.
‘So I think it’s safe to say,’ she began amicably, ‘That last night was a mistake, don’t you?’
‘You’re damned right it was a mistake.’
‘Okay then...’ She hadn’t expected him to agree quite so vehemently but, whatever; move on.
He ran a hand through his already tousled hair. ‘What I meant to say was that I don’t bed virgins.’
‘Okay—I’m not sure how to respond to that.’ She gave a small laugh. ‘Do you want an apology?’
‘No I do not want a damned apology,’ he grated. ‘Damn it, Poppy, what kind of game are you playing? Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Didn’t we already cover this off last night?’
‘Not to my satisfaction.’
Poppy expelled a pent-up breath. ‘Look, Sebastiano, I’m not great at the whole morning-after thing so—’
‘That would be because it’s your first.’
‘Right.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Another one. Okay—’ she held her hand up as he glowered at her ‘—I don’t know why this is such a big deal for you. It was my virginity to give away. And if you’re worried that I’ll expect more from you than one night, rest assured that I don’t.’
‘I could have hurt you.’
‘I think we covered that off too...’
‘And we’ll cover it off again until I’m satisfied.’ He growled. ‘Are you sore?’
She was, but it was such a pleasurable ache it made her want to do everything they had done to cause it all over again. ‘I’m fine, Sebastiano, but clearly you’re not. And I think it’s because you’re afraid that I’m going to fall for you and start demanding rings and pre-nuptial agreements.’ His jaw tightened.
‘It’s tempting,’ she said with a slight laugh. ‘But I promise you I won’t. I know what this is, and if there’s one thing I excel at its temporary relationships. Especially fake ones.’ She’d meant that last to be humorous, but he wasn’t laughing.
Thankfully her phone chimed a message and she dove on it like a seagull on a salted chip, a soft smile curling her lips when she read the name on the screen. ‘It’s Maryann,’ she said, as if he would want to know. ‘She and Simon are feasting on pancakes and ice-cream.’
Her eyes shone just thinking about them and she realised how much she looked forward to seeing Simon and giving him a hug. ‘What time should I tell them we’ll be returning? You said yesterday it would be in the morning but I guess we’ve missed that time slot. Although I would like to take a shower if there’s time.’
‘There’s time.’
He stared at her, brooding, and Poppy forced herself to smile. An hour to get ready, two to fly to London, another hour in traffic and maybe, just maybe, after that her shoulders would no longer be pinned up around her ears. ‘Great.’
‘Because we’ve hit a snag.’
