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“SO TELL ME THE truth,” she said, scooping some more spaghetti into her mouth and then reaching for her napkin, wiping her lips.
He studied her curiously, waiting for her to elaborate. When she didn’t, he prompted, “About what?”
“Why are you here in England instead of with your family?”
He didn’t visibly react. “To look after my wayward ward, remember?”
“And you’re looking after me very, very well,” she winked. “But I don’t buy it. As you’ve pointed out again and again, I’m always in the papers. Why now?”
He sipped his wine, his eyes hooded when they met hers. “I wanted to be here.”
“You didn’t want to be there,” she corrected.
He dipped his head forward in silent agreement.
“Ah ha!” She leaned closer without realizing it. “Why not?”
“It’s … complicated. Family stuff.”
“Family stuff? What’s that like?”
He shifted a little. “Do you regret not having siblings?”
“I can’t regret it. It’s not like it was my decision.”
“Right.” He frowned. “Do you wish you had siblings?”
“Nope. Don’t change the subject,” she said with a small smile. She reached for a piece of garlic bread and took a bite. Warm butter oozed out of the corner of her mouth and he reached over and caught it with his fingertip, taking it to hi
s mouth and tasting it. She followed the gesture with her eyes, her stomach churning with desire.
“Is that what I was doing?”
“Yeah. And trying to distract me with how much I want you,” she said with mock criticism.
He laughed. “Is it working?”
“Almost.” She pouted. “But I really want to know.”
“How do you know there’s anything more to it?”
“I just do. So? What family stuff?”
He kicked back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head and regarding her for a long moment before nodding slowly. “Okay, if you really want to know.”
“I do.” She hadn’t even realized she’d been holding her breath.
“My brother is getting married.”
“You have four brothers?”
He nodded. “And one sister.”
“So one of your brothers is getting married. Isn’t that a good thing? I mean, you seem kind of pissed about it?”
“Yeah.” He laughed. “That’s because his fiancé is my ex.”
Something strange flared inside of Claudia. She didn’t want to analyse the dark emotion that overtook her senses, filling her with ice and fire all at once. “Your ex?”
