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Even Beatrice had not known about their relationship. “Did you used to have a crush on Leo, Aurora? Or was it the other way around?” She giggled, obviously not realising she was driving a stake of mortification into her best friend’s heart. For it had been so, so much more than that.
Be brave. “A million years ago,” Aurora said with an attempt at a smile. “That’s ancient history, isn’t it, Leonardo?”
“Haven’t thought of you in years.”
Her heart turned over in her chest, for she had no doubt it was true. She had dreamed of him every night, and imagined she’d seen him everywhere she went. She’d studiously avoided any television sets when he was racing. And, if the gossip magazines that delighted in covering his string of glamorous relationships were to believed, he had long ago forgotten her existence.
It should have given her relief. After all, the ease with which he’d moved on underscored how right she’d been to end things. But relief was a long way off from how she felt.
Whether she sensed the undercurrent of tension between them or just had a one-track mind, Beatrice reached out and put a hand over Leo’s. “Seriously, what do you think? Farnley? Or the City?”
He locked his eyes with Aurora’s, and the searing anger in them would have taken her breath away, had she any to spare. “There is always Rimini.”
Aurora could no longer meet his contempt. She closed her eyes as memories of the week they’d spent on his island swirled in her gut. Making love in the warm, shallow water at the pristine shoreline; eating local delicacies in bed, all day long; lounging around, completely naked, by the pool. She sipped from her champagne again, and for the first time in years, felt like she needed to drink more than was wise. That she needed something to blot out the pain.
She reached for the bottle and was relieved to see it was empty. “I’ll go get another,” she said without looking at any of them.
“I’ll help you.” Alec was apparently very willing to be pulled into the role he was being cast – attentive would-be lover.
“No, that’s fine.” Aurora needed to be alone. She softened her swift rebuke with an encouraging smile. “You stay here and take the wedding hit for both of us, huh?” Would she have reached down and run her fingers over his shoulder if Leonardo hadn’t been watching with blistering indolence? No. But he was, and so she did.
Though the bar was packed, people seemed to part for Aurora. She hadn’t modelled in years, but her face, and figure were still famous the world over. That swimsuit magazine cover had burned her into the nation’s consciousness; the British model who’d become an icon of the summer swimsuit scene. She ran a hand through her long, fair hair and smiled distractedly at one of the men behind the bar.
He appeared, in a flash, his eyes raking her face as recognition kicked in. “I thought it was you,” he said with wide-eyed surprise. “Aurora Jones.”
“That’s me,” she summoned a grin, but she felt claustrophobic suddenly. Too many people were pressing on her, and her history with Leo was some kind of inescapable weight on her chest. She ordered a champagne and handed over her credit card. “I’ll come back to get it in a moment, okay?”
“No need, Aurora. I’ll take it to your table.” His eyes swept down her face, to her cleavage, adding to the sense that she was being squashed alive.
She moved away from the bar with a small nod of thanks, her face pale, her eyes showing her pain. It was October, and the Autumnal night was fiercely cold. Aurora had dressed for her best friend’s engagement party as people expected her to, in a stunning couture slip that was glamorous but brief. As a rush of ice wind blew past her, she wrapped her arms around her shoulders. She wished she still smoked, but that was another habit she’d given up years ago. Along with boozy nights out, modelling, and gorgeous boyfriends with a sado-masochistic death wish.
When she returned to the table, ten minutes later, Leonardo was still there. She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or secretly thrilled, but her body was awash with emotions.
Alec reached over and topped up her champagne for her, earning a flicker of disapproval from Leonardo. It sent a shiver of immature pleasure down Aurora’s spine. If she could annoy Leonardo, so much the better. She lifted the glass in a silent cheer and drained more than half of it. “Is there anything better than champagne?” She felt emboldened to ask.
“Aurora only drinks champagne,” Beatrice leaned forward and explained to Alec. “The fancier the better.”
“I seem to recall she drinks Prosecco also,” Leonardo interjected smoothly, earning not a flicker of response from anyone but Aurora. After all, no one else would remember the way he’d poured it over her naked body and used his tongue to chase the bubbling liquid.
“I’ll make do with Prosecco, if I must, but champagne is far more my thing,” she said with a cold note to her voice. “And it’s probably better if we stick to talking about the wedding, rather than my drinking preferences.”
He bent his head forward, and said so that only she could hear him, “Your drinking preference right now seems to be anything that gets you hammered.”
“Funny,” she murmured back. “I haven’t felt the need to drink myself into oblivion since I saw you last.”
His smile was both dark and dismissive. He turned his full attention back to Beatrice and gave every appearance of being interested in the planning for the wedding.
Aurora finished her champagne and stood, needing to press her fingers into the table’s wood-grain surface to steady herself. “Bea, I’m going to circulate.”
Beatrice nodded. “I’m surprise you made it this far into wedding detail talk.”
“So am I.” Aurora’s smile was solely for her best friend. “Excuse me.”
“Is she okay?” Alec asked, looking after the supermodel-turned-fashion-blogger with a concerned expression.
“Oh, she’s fine.” Beatrice waved a hand through the air. “She might look like a breeze could carry her away but Aurora’s got party girl training that puts anyone to shame. She can drink a soldier under the table and still have what appears to be a straight up sober conversation.”
Only Aurora hadn’t had more than an occasional glass of wine in years, and the three champagnes she’d pounded back in rapid succession had made her feel distinctly woozy. Seeing Leo again compounded that sensation.
