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It went straight to voicemail.
She tried again—without success.
Tilly stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, studying her face, bracing her hands on the counter.
She’d promised Cressida she’d help, and generally she wouldn’t even think of letting someone down. But she’d never known a man like Rio before, and the sense that she would stuff everything up if she kept lying to him was like a snake tightening around her chest.
She tapped out a quick message to Cressida.
We need to talk. I have limited email access. Please get in touch.
She made her way back to the table, her mind overflowing with erratic, confused thoughts as she eased herself back into the seat.
‘You said you’ve known lots of women like me?’
It was out
of left field, but he caught her drift immediately. ‘And then I said you are unique.’
The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Pleasure was dancing through her.
‘You have an active social life?’ she asked, moving back to her original subject.
He seemed to allow the shift, and she was utterly relieved. She reached for her wine and drank thirstily. But when she placed the glass back on the table she felt woozy. She had barely eaten, she chastised herself inwardly, reaching for a piece of cheese and popping it in her mouth.
He was watching her. More specifically, he was watching her lips. Her mouth.
He picked another piece of cheese off the plate and lifted it to her lips, brushing it across them, waiting, watching. She parted her mouth just enough and he pushed it inside. His thumb stayed at the corner of her lip and she chewed, but her heart was like thunder in her breast.
‘Yes.’
Confusion swirled inside her. ‘Yes, what?’
‘Yes, I have an active social life. I presume that’s a coy way of referring to my sex life?’
More wine. No. More food. Her wine glass was empty anyway. She needed water. She looked around, searching for a waiter. There were none nearby.
She nodded. It was a confession she might never have made if it hadn’t been for the two decent-sized glasses of Pinot Grigio she’d just consumed in rapid succession and on an empty stomach.
‘Have you ever been serious about anyone?’ she asked, the question escaping as if blurted out by accident.
His eyes shimmered with an emotion she didn’t comprehend. ‘Si.’
Jealousy fired in her soul.
‘Really?’
He nodded. ‘A long time ago.’
‘What happened?’
His laugh was light-hearted enough. ‘She broke my heart.’
‘Really?’
‘No, cara. Not really. At the time she betrayed me I was angry. I thought I might be falling in love with her.’ He shook his head, his smile natural. ‘I wasn’t. I couldn’t have been. Everything she was turned out to be a lie.’
Acid was bubbling down Tilly’s spine. She stared at him with a sense of deep panic.
