Seduced by the Billionaire

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Seduced by the Billionaire Page 13

by Alyssa J. Montgomery


  ‘Oh yes!’

  Nick shot an apologetic look to Sarah across the top of Katie’s head, but Sarah just turned her head a little and gave him a wink that Katie wouldn’t be able to see.

  From then on, he didn’t get a word into the conversation. Katie completely monopolised Sarah all the way to the private dining room.

  Everyone else was already there. Introductions were made before Sarah was seated between Luca’s niece, Christiana, and his wife, Olivia. Nick and Katie were up at the other end of the table with Max and Jenna and their almost-two-year-old son, Jackson.

  It was just as well it was a private dining room because dinner turned out to be quite a noisy affair with all the younger children present. Luca had to intervene in a small argument that broke out between his daughter Isabella and his son, Alessandro. Max needed to coerce Jackson into eating his vegetables and while Nick was pleased he could enjoy the evening without needing to actively parent Katie, part of him felt a little melancholy that the fatherhood phase Max and Luca were currently enjoying was over for him.

  He would’ve enjoyed having a larger brood of children.

  Katie would’ve enjoyed growing up with siblings.

  You’re only thirty-two. A lot of men haven’t even started having children at your age.

  As the thought hit him, his gaze flew to Sarah.

  Although she was listening to something Christiana was saying it was as though she felt Nick’s gaze upon her because she looked up at him and sent a smile his way.

  Nick’s heart rate kicked up and he felt the blood pounding through the veins at the base of his neck as he pictured Sarah with a child—with his child.

  Whoa! He hadn’t even kissed the woman and his thoughts were flying ahead to her having his baby?

  ‘Are you alright, Nick?’ Max asked.

  ‘Yes. A little jetlagged but otherwise okay,’ Nick rushed.

  ‘You looked a little pale there for a moment,’ Jenna chimed in. ‘I found myself checking Jackson to make sure he wasn’t displaying his sometimes appalling two-year-old table manners.’

  ‘No. All good.’ Although he could probably do with some fresh air.

  ‘Do you exercise a lot?’ Olivia’s question to Sarah carried to him.

  ‘Ooh, yes!’ Jenna joined the conversation. ‘Any tips for how I can get my body back into shape after baby number two?’

  ‘Not having had to do that, I’m really not qualified to answer,’ Sarah hedged.

  ‘You must have some good tummy tightening tips?’ Olivia prompted.

  ‘You ladies hardly need the tips,’ Luca said. ‘You, cara, are always beautiful and still have a sensational figure.’ He cleared his throat dramatically. ‘I would say the same about you, Jenna, except Max and Olivia might both take exception to my noticing.’

  ‘No, darling, I wouldn’t take exception.’ Secure in her husband’s love, and very firm friends with Jenna, Olivia sent Luca a smile.

  ‘Once an Italian male, always an Italian male,’ Max commented dryly.

  All the adults laughed.

  ‘Ignore them all,’ Jenna urged. ‘I’d like to hear about your exercise regime, Sarah.’

  ‘I’m afraid I don’t have one,’ Sarah admitted almost grudgingly. ‘I’m frequently in an aircraft heading off to an assignment, then when I get to my destination I’m often too jetlagged to exercise. Like most people’s, my body shape is the product of my genetic makeup. It’s the truth but probably doesn’t win me any friends to make the confession.’

  ‘I suppose a lot of people tell you they wish they had a figure like yours,’ Olivia said.

  ‘I always think it’s interesting to look back over time and see how society’s perceptions regarding body shape have changed,’ Sarah said lightly. ‘In the fifties, my body wouldn’t have been nearly voluptuous enough to have been a top model and nobody would’ve aspired to have it. In the sixties and seventies, I wouldn’t have been skinny enough.’

  ‘That’s true,’ Olivia agreed. ‘My mother has often said how Twiggy was popular when she was a young girl and everybody wanted to be stick thin.’

  ‘Think about it. I certainly wouldn’t have been considered an attractive subject for any of Rubens’s paintings.’

  ‘My gosh, I’d never thought of it like that,’ Olivia said, ‘but you’re right. Your figure isn’t anywhere near full enough for a Rubens portrait.’

  ‘And my wife, the artist extraordinaire, should know,’ Luca said proudly. Then in an aside to Max and Nick he said, ‘Under her tutelage I’ve finally learnt to tell a Rubens from a Rembrandt!’

  Nick laughed along with the others but his admiration of Sarah grew with every point she made as she went on to talk about the pressures on women to try to conform to a given body shape and how there was a move to highlight and celebrate all the varieties of size and shape.

  ‘I think it’s fantastic that plus-sized models are debunking the societal standards of being tall, slender and flawless because it’s a statement to women to celebrate our bodies the way they are,’ Sarah elaborated. ‘Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Sports Illustrated have all had plus-sized models on their covers and I think it’ll be a great day when there is no particular stereotype in modelling.’

  ‘Jocelyn has a plus-sized range as well,’ Nick put in.

  The conversation continued from modelling through to women in the workforce and some funny parenting stories.

  Mercifully, shortly after dessert was served, the toll of the excitement and the jetlag caught up with both Christiana and Katie who were visibly trying to keep their eyes open.

  Olivia declared it was time she and Luca put Christiana and their two children to bed and kindly offered for Katie to sleep in the spare bed in Christiana’s room for the night.

  Jenna, who was expecting her second child, gave Max a nudge and asked him to take their sleeping son from her arms and carry him up to bed.

  ‘How about you, Sarah?’ Nick asked. ‘Are you ready to retire or would you like to sit out on the balcony here and absorb the atmosphere of Palm Cove by night?’

  She stood and picked up her almost-full glass of champagne. ‘I’d love to do that for half an hour or so. I’ve managed to adjust to the time difference now.’

  ‘Enjoy! We’ll see you in the morning.’ Jenna’s farewell was joined by everyone else as they gathered their children.

  ‘Night, Dad.’ Katie gave him a big hug.

  ‘Goodnight, minx.’ He hugged her back. ‘Keep your snoring to a minimum so you don’t keep Christiana awake.’

  ‘You know I don’t snore, Dad.’ Katie laughed. ‘Night, Sarah.’

  ‘Sleep well, Katie. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  * * *

  Sarah enjoyed watching the love between Nick and Katie. She wondered for the thousandth time about how Nick’s wife had died. If she did an internet search, she’d probably find the answer but that felt way too intrusive. She guessed Nick would tell her if he wanted to.

  ‘Shall we?’ Nick gestured to the balcony off the private dining room as the others headed off to bed.

  ‘Absolutely.’ She walked through the door he’d opened for her and felt breathless as her body brushed against his. ‘Wow. It’s certainly a balmy night.’

  ‘A far cry from London’s climate.’ He followed her out and slid the door closed behind him.

  How long had she waited to be alone with Nick again? It seemed like years even though it’d only been a month. Every night she’d pictured him as she’d drifted off to sleep. Every night she’d imagined what it would be like to fall asleep in his arms.

  She was so attracted to him, she was sure the air around her crackled with it but if he guessed … It could be embarrassing. As much as she yearned for him to kiss her, she also enjoyed his company and conversation. She didn’t want to risk things becoming awkward between them.

  ‘I love it here.’ She broke the silence and tried to switch off the need that must surely be radiating from her. ‘The people are so fr
iendly and relaxed.’

  ‘How did the scuba diving course go?’

  ‘I sucked in air from the tank like crazy initially, but I actually did better in the ocean than I did in the swimming pool.’ It’d been an amazing experience and she was pleased she’d had the opportunity. ‘Out in the ocean I guess there was more to see and I relaxed so I didn’t deplete the air in the tank in the first ten minutes.’

  Nick laughed. ‘I think it’s a fairly common thing to breathe too much initially.’

  ‘You dive?’

  ‘Max, Luca and I all did a course in the Maldives some years ago but I haven’t dived in a while.’

  ‘Have you dived the Great Barrier Reef?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Maybe you’ll get a chance to do so while you’re here?’ She’d love to share the experience with him. She’d love to hold his hand as they explored the reef together.

  ‘Possibly, although all three of us are going to be tied up a lot in meetings with government officials and other conservation group managers.’

  Bang!

  An explosion from the street below made Sarah drop her flute of champagne, flatten her body against the wall and cover her ears.

  Her heart missed several beats.

  Adrenaline surged.

  Even while she froze, her gaze darted to the exit from the balcony as she prepared to run.

  Memories flooded her mind’s eye.

  A loud explosion.

  People screaming. People getting up from their seats and trying to escape from the stadium.

  ‘Move!’ her father yelled. ‘This way!’

  She was jostled, in danger of being trampled as they made their way to the aisle. People pushed them to run in the opposite direction to the explosion.

  Her initial confusion turned to panic. Her father lifted her out of the swelling sea of fear and the relentless press of bodies. She was up on the safety of his shoulders.

  But where was her mother?

  Was that her brother’s voice crying out for help?

  ‘Here! Take her! Take my little girl!’

  Strong arms had pulled her off her father’s shoulders and she was held securely against an unfamiliar body.

  ‘No! Daddy! I want my daddy!’

  Whoever it was who carried her struggling body started running along the higher stadium row towards the upper exit while everyone else seemed intent on taking the most direct route down towards the ice rink.

  The muscles of her neck strained as she tried to peer around the man’s shoulder to see her father.

  Before her eyes, the spot where her father stood caved in and she watched the panic on his face as he disappeared. People screamed as the lower part of the stadium collapsed. She saw the horror on the faces of strangers as they fell into a pit. She saw bodies, then debris, then dust.

  ‘Hold tight!’ The stranger’s words barely registered through her fear.

  The screams of those who remained were blocked out by a second explosion.

  Intense pain lanced through Sarah before she blacked out.

  ‘Sarah.’ Nick had moved closer to her side. ‘You’re okay.’

  His hands encased hers and lowered them from her ears. The physical contact brought her back to the present but it wasn’t easy to steady her breathing as her heart continued to thud rapidly and irregularly against her ribcage.

  Every muscle was locked rigid.

  Perspiration pricked at her scalp and between her breasts and she blinked to try to stop her eyes from being wide with fear.

  ‘It was a car backfiring.’ He spoke calmly but she saw the furrow of worry between his brows and in the creases of his forehead. ‘You’re okay.’

  Nick.

  Damn it all. The only man she’d ever been seriously attracted to was standing right there witnessing her panic.

  ‘It was just a car backfiring.’ Sarah repeated his words in an attempt to soothe herself.

  She hung her head and let her hair swing forward to try to hide her face from him, ashamed that she’d exposed her weakness. Embarrassment crept up each vertebrae. Just when she’d felt she was earning his respect, he’d think she was … God knows what he’d think of her.

  ‘Hey.’ The word was soft, as though he was comforting a child. ‘It’s alright, Sarah.’

  God, she hated these triggers—hated that she couldn’t control the reflex reactions and the flashbacks—hated how easy it was for her to embarrass herself like this.

  She could hardly blame Nick or anyone else for thinking she was crazy.

  Instead of meeting his gaze, she tucked her chin in further and it was then she saw the blood. ‘I’ve been cut by the glass.’

  He used his shoe to sweep away the jagged shards of glass at her feet before he hunkered down in front of her. ‘They’re pretty much superficial grazes. You won’t need stitches.’ He produced a white linen handkerchief which he pressed to a rather large area on her shin. ‘Sorry if that hurts. I’m wiping away the blood but I won’t press too firmly in case there’s a sliver of glass lodged in your leg.’

  Stop it, Sarah! Pull yourself together!

  Breathe.

  Calm down.

  As her breathing started to even out, Sarah became even more rattled because heat flamed through her skin every time he touched her.

  ‘I’m so sorry.’ Registering that her legs were sticky with blood and champagne, she forced herself to look at him.

  ‘You’re shaking like a leaf.’ Nick’s deep blue eyes were full of questions.

  Those unspoken questions merely added to her discomfort, making her scrape her lower lip against her teeth. Realising she still held herself rigidly against the wall, she made a conscious effort to relax her muscles and peel herself away but her legs were trembling so badly she had to lean back again.

  Part of her was still reliving the nightmare—still waiting for the second, louder explosion and the searing pain she’d known before she’d been enveloped in inky darkness.

  The fingers of one of Nick’s hands firmed against her calf as he refocused on her wound and dabbed at it with his handkerchief. ‘I need better light to check for glass.’

  While she battled against both the shock and her instinctive reaction to the warmth of his touch, his actions were purely clinical. His whole demeanour was as cool and impersonal as if he was a medical practitioner examining a patient.

  ‘Are you okay?’ He stood up. There was no mistaking his level of concern and it made her emotional.

  Trying to claw back some semblance of control she failed dismally. Her smile wobbled and stupid, irrational tears began to prick at her eyes.

  Oh damn it! Do not dissolve in front of this gorgeous man.

  You’re okay.

  You’re perfectly safe.

  ‘I’m more embarrassed than anything to have got such a fright.’

  ‘No need to be embarrassed.’ Every word was confidence-instilling reassurance.

  Sarah pulled away from the wall but her legs shook so badly she wobbled in her heels.

  ‘You’re not okay,’ Nick told her sternly. ‘You’re in shock.’ He swept her up into his arms and she looped her arms automatically around his neck and hung on as her shaking intensified. ‘I’ll carry you to up to your room.’

  ‘No! It’ll cause a spectacle!’

  ‘It’ll cause more of a spectacle if you wobble through the hotel as though you’re drunk, or fall down flat on your face.’

  ‘Then I’ll stay here until I stop shaking.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous. You’re injured. Any shards of glass need to be removed sooner rather than later.’

  ‘But what will people think?’

  ‘Any fool can see you’re injured and you won’t find any of the international paparazzi hiding behind potted palms in the lobby of this hotel.’

  ‘Okay.’ Feeling as weak as a kitten against the solid strength of Nick’s chest, Sarah couldn’t continue arguing with him. She was too spent to feel embarrassed anymo
re and all she wanted to do was hide away. Closing her eyes, she let her head rest against the comforting breadth of his shoulder, instinctively feeling protected by him.

  Perhaps she should’ve felt alarmed that the gossips would have a field day if he was intent in carrying her through a public space, but it felt wonderful to be held so close to him. It was even better than she’d dreamed it would be.

  Conversation all but stopped when Nick strode through the foyer and towards the elevators.

  His arms tightened around her. ‘Nearly there.’

  In response she buried her face deeper against him and used one hand to sweep her hair over her face to try to obscure her features from curious onlookers and the inevitable phone cameras that everybody possessed these days.

  Dear God, please don’t let this image be splashed all over the front pages of the tabloids tomorrow.

  Chapter 12

  Nick was deeply concerned that Sarah was a trembling mess in his arms. He moved as quickly as he could, trying to protect her from the open-mouthed scrutiny they received from those they passed. Inevitably they drew more interest because hers was an immediately recognisable face.

  At the moment his urge to provide Sarah with whatever support she needed outweighed his curiosity about her reaction to the car backfiring, but there was no doubt she was a puzzle he wanted to solve.

  The second she’d heard the loud noise, her eyes had widened and she’d gasped in sheer bloody terror. The champagne flute had slipped through her fingers while her body had shot back hard against the wall as if she was dodging a bullet. Then her body had frozen and she’d focused her attention on the door that led off the balcony.

  It’d seemed she was about to bolt inside. His guess was that she would’ve except that her body had assumed such catatonic stiffness she couldn’t command her limbs to move.

  Nick had known a rush of anxiety and a fierce need to shield her from danger, from embarrassment—from any negative the world might throw at her.

  He replayed the scenario and recalled the way she’d repeated his words. It was just a car backfiring.

  Sarah had sounded as though she was trying to soothe herself, but why had she reacted that way in the first place?

 

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