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‘You’re seeing another side of life, I think,’ Roman said with his usual perception. ‘You appeared to be enjoying yourself and now you’ve gone all serious again.’ He stared at her keenly.
‘I’m having a lovely time,’ she admitted, ‘though I’m curious as to why everyone makes such a fuss of you.’
‘My good points are buried so deep you can’t see past my disreputable appearance?’ he suggested with amusement.
She opened her eyes wide. ‘Do you mean you have some good points? What I really want to know,’ she said, changing tack, ‘is why do some of the older villagers kiss your hand?’
‘Would you rather they spat in my eye?’
She rolled her eyes, knowing she wasn’t going to get anywhere like this. ‘I’m just curious, that’s all.’
And Roman’s look said she could remain that way.
CHAPTER SIX
HE’D SEEN THE looks the old ladies in the village were giving him. He knew they were impatient for him to find a bride. They still thought of him as the rightful heir, the son of the Don who always would be their leader. He wasn’t that son, and the business his cousin now ran was wholly legitimate, but the elders of the village still looked to Roman to care for them and to provide them with an heir. He did care for them, and he would always protect them, but sadly he had to disappoint them where attending tonight’s party with an attractive stranger was concerned.
It was ironic to think he used to resent this tight-knit community, believing he could never be part of it, and yet he now felt at the heart of it. But then his confident belief in who he was and where he belonged had been shattered on his fourteenth birthday—
‘Roman?’
‘My apologies, Eva, I was distracted for a moment.’
‘Please don’t let me disturb you.’ She was being sarcastic, he gathered as she added, ‘I’m quite happy scowling and staring into space too.’
He matched her look with one of his own. ‘Why don’t I introduce you to some more people?’
‘Get me off your hands?’ she suggested.
‘Oh, no. I’ll be close by, watching you.’
‘Great.’ As promised, she scowled.
This was a unique event for him. He was used to women who knew where they stood and what they wanted, and who went straight for his jugular. They made no call on his emotions, and up to now he hadn’t wanted them to. Their interest in his body and his bank balance had always been enough for him, but Eva really wound him up. He might even say some long-forgotten protective instinct had kicked in when his friends had clustered round.
Eva thought she knew what she wanted, but she didn’t have a clue. Her body language told him one thing, while her worried eyes told him something else. She looked sensational, but hardly seemed aware of the admiring glances she was getting. All the men wanted to sleep with her, but took it for granted he was already there.
He hadn’t felt anything remotely like this since he had screwed up his youth and vowed never to have feelings again. Caring was a pointless waste of energy, he had decided at age fourteen. And feelings hurt like hell. He had softened since then, but doubted the shame of returning home to his adoptive parents after being shunned by his blood family would ever leave him. After the love and care his adoptive parents had given him, he had betrayed them in the most terrible way. And for what?
‘You’re doing it again,’ Eva exclaimed, jolting him back to the present. ‘Only this time I suppose I should be glad you don’t have a weapon to hand.’
‘What do you mean?’ He knew, and shrugged the bad mood away.
‘We should enjoy the party, now we’re here,’ she pointed out.
‘You’re stealing my lines.’
They almost smiled at each other.
The moment passed. He controlled himself and relaxed. Eva had caused him more than enough trouble in Skavanga, but beneath the bluster he could see now that she was just a shy, awkward girl, out of her comfort zone, trying to do the best she could for other people. In that they weren’t so different. And whatever else he thought about Eva Skavanga, he had to admire her pluck. They should forget their differences tonight and see where that took them. To smooth the path, he led her towards more familiar territory. ‘Tell me something about your family,’ he suggested.
‘Why do you want to know?’ She stared at him suspiciously.
