by Marinelli, Carol; Hayward, Jennifer; Stephens, Susan; Anderson, Natalie
‘Less of the Cinderella, please. I’m all out of glass slippers.’ He was close enough for her to feel his heat warming her, and to smell the faint scent of his exclusive cologne.
‘We need to talk,’ Damon insisted.
‘I agree,’ she said. ‘But why now?’
‘Why not now?’ Damon argued. ‘We can’t keep putting this off. Neither of us wants Thea to be confused, and she will be if we don’t get things straightened out between us.’
Thea was the magic word. He must know it would work. She could see the change in his eyes when she made her decision. ‘I’d need to go and get changed first.’
‘Okay.’ Damon shrugged. ‘You do that and I’ll wait.’
‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’
And only because it involved Thea, Lizzie thought as she raced upstairs to change out of her work clothes, with her heart hammering off the scale.
* * *
He drew the car to a halt on top of the cliff overlooking the bay, where there was no sound other than the cicadas chittering and the ocean breathing rhythmically below. Lizzie was freshly showered. He could still smell the shower gel she’d used. She’d changed into casual jeans and a top, but she was still strung out.
‘You need to relax,’ he told her.
‘How can I, when everything I care about is under threat?’
‘Not from me.’
She didn’t say anything, but her silence was a response in itself.
‘So, what do you want to discuss?’ she said at last. ‘Because I think I need to see a lawyer before we decide to do anything.’
‘Does it have to be so formal between us?’
She turned to stare at him steadily. ‘Yes. I think it does.’
‘Would it upset you to know that my asking you out tonight isn’t all about custody and visitation rights?’
She stared at him blankly. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘I needed to see you,’ Damon said bluntly, ‘and not to talk—not tonight.’
‘You’ve got me here on false pretences,’ Lizzie protested, clearly not impressed. ‘We can talk, or you can take me back. Please,’ she added as a tense afterthought.
‘You have to have a life too.’
‘You’re my counsellor now?’ She didn’t wait for him to answer. ‘For your information, I already have a life.’
‘Do you? Do you allow yourself to?’
She laughed that off. ‘I have the life I want.’
He let that pass, and reassured her by explaining that he wanted to get to know Thea slowly, and always with Lizzie around to help break any possible tension between them.
‘I know this is going to take time. And I know you think I’m impatient, which I am, but this is something different. I do understand that.’
‘For which I’m very grateful,’ she said.
He smiled at her spikiness. It reminded him of the old Lizzie, full of fire and defiance. He knew that Lizzie was still in there somewhere. It was just that this Lizzie had devoted her life to Thea at the expense of her own.
‘I want the two of you to come back to Greece and spend more time here. So you can both get used to the idea of having more options,’ he explained.
That was as far as he thought it wise to take it while Lizzie was so tense and insistent upon seeing everything as a threat.
‘Yes,’ she agreed, and this time she didn’t look away, but held his gaze steadily.
A different type of tension had been building between them while they’d been talking. Being enclosed in the confines of the car had something to do with it, and that tension would need an outlet soon.
‘What?’ he prompted, sensing that something else was troubling Lizzie.
‘Your life will remain largely unchanged,’ she pointed out, ‘while ours will be massively changed.’
‘You don’t think my life will change? Of course my life will change. How could it ever be the same again? And your life will be better—and easier,’ he insisted.
‘I won’t take your money!’ she exclaimed. ‘You seem to think that money is the answer to everything, but it can’t even come close.’
‘I have a daughter to think about now,’ he argued firmly. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked as Lizzie fumbled with the door handle.
‘Don’t!’ she warned when he leaned across to stop her. ‘I need to get out and have some space to think.’
‘On a cliff-edge?’ he cautioned.
* * *
She had to get out of the car—she couldn’t think straight with Damon so close and her whole being yearning for him. It could only lead to disaster if she stayed. How could she trust Damon? How could she trust anyone?
Part of her wanted to go back to the enclosed world she’d built with Thea, while the other part of her knew that that wouldn’t be fair to Thea, or even healthy for Lizzie. First and foremost she had to calm down. She’d never been a coward. She’d always faced things head-on.
She turned to face Damon. They were still touching. His hand was resting on hers as he tried to stop her getting out of the car, and his body was pressed tightly against her. Fighting him was never going to be a good idea. They didn’t have to do much to light the fuse between them, and there was far too much at stake now. Combine that with the passion Lizzie had been bottling up inside for eleven years, and this was a recipe for disaster.
‘Have you ever made out in a car?’ Damon asked, smiling faintly at her.
‘No. And I’ve no intention of ever doing so,’ she assured him, pulling back.
‘Really?’ Damon murmured, sounding not in the least bit dismayed ‘Sometimes I find a release of tension helps to clear the mind.’
‘I bet you do,’ she agreed dryly, straightening her clothes.
She’d barely done that when Damon adjusted her seat in a way that made it instantly flat, and she shrieked with surprise.
‘Well, it’s definitely possible,’ he observed, frowning as if he didn’t know that throwing that lever would result in landing Lizzie on her back.
‘I’ll just have to take your word for it,’ she said tensely, starting to struggle up.
‘You can do more than that…’
As she was about to discover.
‘Brute,’ she whispered shakily as Damon dropped kisses on her neck. ‘This is so totally unfair.’
‘I suppose it is,’ he agreed, working magic with his hands.
When Damon’s mouth closed on hers and his tongue plundered all the dark, hidden places, she felt the response spread throughout her body like wildfire. Moving into the footwell on his knees in front of her, he nudged her legs apart and continued with the teasing.
‘I think you like this,’ he observed as his hands worked lightly, skilfully and steadily.
‘You on your knees in front of me? What’s not to like?’ she somehow managed to gasp out.
He laughed, and she closed her eyes so she could only feel and listen to the sounds of pleasure.
He swiftly disposed of her jeans and underwear and, lifting her legs, rested them on the wide spread of his shoulders, giving her just enough time to grab hanks of his hair before plunging deep.
The sensation was incredible. There might be very little room for manoeuvre, with Damon’s powerful frame taking up all the space, but he didn’t need it to prove how proficient he could be even in the confines of the car.
‘Theos! I’ve missed you,’ he growled.
‘It hasn’t been that long—’
‘Too long,’ he argued fiercely.
She wasn’t going to argue as he continued to move in the way she loved. Damon was a master of pleasure, and he knew her body far too well. He brought her to the edge in moments, and he kept her hovering until he commanded, ‘Don’t hold on.’<
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She needed no encouragement, and fell instantly, noisily and gratefully. Each pleasure wave stunned her, and she gorged herself on that pleasure. It was only when they both surfaced, with the moon acting as a spotlight, that they could see how far the car had moved forward.
‘I’m really glad you didn’t park on the edge,’ Lizzie commented with relief.
Damon laughed, and then they were both laughing, still entwined in each other’s arms.
If only life could be this simple and go on like this for ever, Lizzie thought.
‘Could it be that you’re starting to trust me?’ Damon asked, and she levelled a long, considering look on his face.
Trust was such a big issue for Lizzie, and she didn’t answer right away. Then, ‘Yes, I am,’ she said at last.
Drawing her into his arms, Damon held her and kissed her. ‘Don’t ever lose the faith again.’
‘I won’t,’ she promised, snuggling close.
She only wished the little niggle of doubt inside her would go away.
‘I know we’ll move forward from here,’ Damon said confidently.
‘Not over the edge of the cliff, I hope?’
He pulled back to smile down at her and she smiled contentedly.
‘I’m being serious,’ Damon insisted. ‘I hope you’re not suggesting that I don’t play fair?’
‘Well, do you?’ It was Lizzie’s turn to lift her head and stare at Damon.
‘I play to win,’ he said.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NOTHING WAS EVER completely straightforward, Lizzie thought as she climbed into Damon’s SUV outside the restaurant the next morning. Still intensely aware of him, thanks to a night that had left her wanting more, they were now on their way to the school to pick up Thea—just as regular parents picked up their children.
They had planned a return to the beach house to try and make a better go of things than they had last time. Thea would have a home in Greece as well as in England, Damon had told Lizzie before he’d dropped her off last night at the restaurant, and a music studio all her own. That had really chimed with Lizzie. Yes, she might have everything to lose—including her heart, to Damon—but she couldn’t keep an opportunity like that out of Thea’s reach.
‘Good night’s sleep?’ he asked dryly as they turned onto the main road.
‘Yes. You?’ she asked in an innocent tone, knowing she hadn’t slept a wink.
She’d told Damon to drop her off at the restaurant the previous night, but he’d wanted to take her back to the beach house, where they would be able to make love in comfort. She had shied away from that level of involvement. To wake up beside Damon and find herself wanting things she couldn’t have wouldn’t help anyone, and she needed to keep a clear head if she was to try and work out how to keep things running smoothly for Thea in their utterly changed lives.
Thea was waiting for them outside the school, and everything seemed to be going well to begin with. Thea was excited at the thought of going to the beach, and Damon was buzzing too.
‘I’ve got a gift for you,’ he told Thea, the moment they walked through the door of his beachside mansion.
‘For me?’ Thea said excitedly as Damon led the way into the house.
She was still a child, Lizzie thought, feeling more than ever protective. Thea loved presents, and Lizzie couldn’t afford nearly enough of them.
Damon took them into the room that Lizzie had already planned in her fantasy world would be Thea’s music studio. There was the grand piano, in one corner, and a new addition…a violin case…was resting on the piano stool.
‘It’s for you,’ Damon explained when Thea remained hovering uncertainly by the door. ‘The violin’s for you, Thea. Call it an early Christmas present.’
‘It’s only June,’ Thea said in a small voice.
That short comment was the only warning Lizzie needed that things weren’t all right with Thea. She knew her daughter’s moods.
Thea proved her right by being uncharacteristically subdued as she walked across the room. Reaching out one small hand, she tentatively trailed her fingertips across the violin case.
‘Well? Aren’t you going to open it?’ Lizzie asked, glancing anxiously at Damon, who had also tensed, she noticed.
Thea didn’t say anything. She snapped the catches, lifted the lid—and stood back.
‘Is something wrong?’ Damon asked.
Thea was pale when she turned around, and instead of saying any of the things they might have expected, asked simply, ‘Is everything going to change now?’
‘No, of course not!’ Rushing to Thea’s side, Lizzie gave her a hug.
‘What do you mean, Thea?’ Damon asked quietly.
They looked at each other over Thea’s head.
Breaking free of Lizzie, Thea explained, ‘I know this is a very valuable instrument, and I know I should be grateful. It’s a very thoughtful gift…and I thank you,’ she added in a small voice. ‘But it’s far too good for me—especially when I don’t even know if I’ll still be playing the violin when I grow up.’
This hammer-blow struck at Lizzie’s heart. It took all she’d got not to show how shocked she was by Thea’s remark. She couldn’t believe she’d never sensed this doubt in Thea before, and felt immediately guilty. Had she urged Thea down the wrong path? She couldn’t put her hand on her heart and be sure of anything.
Even Damon seemed lost for words for once, and Thea hadn’t finished yet.
‘My mother worked very hard to buy me my first full-sized violin,’ she explained patiently to Damon, with all the seriousness a ten-year-old could muster. ‘She worked long hours and put small payments down until she’d paid enough for me to take the violin home. We’d seen the violin I wanted in a pawnshop window, and my mother begged the owner of the shop not to sell it to anyone else,’ she explained. ‘And there’s something else… Can I tell him?’
‘No,’ Lizzie said, flashing a warning glance at Thea.
‘Tell me what?’ Damon prompted.
‘Nothing,’ Lizzie said quickly.
‘You speak for your daughter now?’
For an instant Thea looked as if she’d like to kill Damon and, pleased as she was at the way her daughter had leapt to her defence, Lizzie knew this was hardly helpful when it came to bringing the three of them closer.
‘Thea, please…’ she cautioned gently, but Thea refused to be stopped.
‘My mother had to sell things at the pawnshop,’ Thea said bluntly, with an angry frown on her face as she remembered. ‘Special things she really cared about. She did that so she could buy me all the extras I needed at school and pay for my violin. Why would I want another instrument when mine was bought with so much love?’
A long silence followed.
‘Maybe when you’re older?’ Lizzie suggested in the awkward break.
‘No,’ Thea argued. ‘If I play the violin at all, no other violin could ever mean as much to me. The only reason I play so well is because you bought my instrument for me. I might not even want to be a professional musician when I’m older. I might want to be an airline pilot, or an engineer—or maybe a comedian?’ Thea raised her chin as she considered this last option.
‘You can be anything you want to be,’ Lizzie agreed.
Damon’s face remained expressionless throughout, and Lizzie almost felt sorry for him. Once again it came down to the fact that not everything could be bought with money and a gap of eleven years could not be easily filled. That was something they both had to come to terms with.
‘You’re right, Thea,’ Damon conceded. ‘I should have asked what you wanted before I bought the violin.’
‘No—it’s good. It’s lovely,’ Thea said quickly, obviously eager to make amends.
She wasn’t a cruel child. The
a was sensitive, which showed in her music, and she knew when someone was hurt. Lizzie had never been prouder of Thea than she was right now.
‘Can you return it to the shop and get your money back?’ Thea suggested with concern.
‘I’m sure I can,’ Damon said confidently.
They were all on a steep learning curve, and no doubt they’d all make more mistakes, Lizzie thought as Thea turned to her. ‘You’re not upset that I might not want to be a professional violinist, are you?’ she asked, staring into Lizzie’s eyes with concern.
‘It’s your life,’ Lizzie said gently. ‘You have to follow your star.’
‘I knew you’d understand!’ Thea exclaimed, relaxing into a happy smile at once. ‘And you will get your mother’s wedding ring back one day, I promise. I’ll get it back for you—Oops.’ She glanced at Damon, and then at Lizzie. ‘I shouldn’t have said that, should I?’
Lizzie reassured Thea with a smile. This was exactly what she’d dreaded—that Thea would end up like Lizzie, feeling guilty all the time. So what if her secret was out? Thea hadn’t meant any harm by it. And it was the truth. There had never been enough money for Lizzie to buy back her mother’s ring.
She wanted Damon to know that she appreciated his gesture—that she understood that he was trying to make up for all the lost years by wrapping every birthday and Christmas present he’d missed into one fabulous gift. He’d done a really great thing, and for all the right reasons, but because he didn’t know Thea his gesture had fallen flat.
* * *
A week later Damon watched Lizzie and Thea’s plane take off into the mid-afternoon sky on its way to London. He’d worked hard in the intervening days to make up for his gaffe with the violin, and his reward had been seeing Thea gradually return to the ease they’d shared before they’d known they were father and daughter.
He understood Thea’s stout defence of her mother, and could only admire her for it. As Lizzie had said, it would take time to reassure Thea that things would be better now, not worse. And he was prepared to wait for as long as it took. For the first time in his life he couldn’t afford to be impatient. Thea was too important for him to get this wrong.