‘Your timing is perfect,’ he said in a voice of pure chocolate—hot mocha with extra marshmallows and whipped cream on top. ‘And I thought you might appreciate a change from black. Just this once.’
‘Then I am truly honoured,’ she quipped with a tilt of her head. ‘And you know it suits you.’
His reply was a slow laser-focused swivel of his eyes from her strappy summer sandals to the criss-cross of her one-shoulder cocktail dress. It was a look that would set any woman on fire and it was certainly working its magic on her.
She squirmed, and he knew that she was squirming, which made her even more self-conscious. This man was infuriating! His blue-grey eyes flashed with fire and light and her pulse grew hotter. At this rate she was going to need a shower before she ate dinner.
‘You look sensational,’ he whispered in a voice just loud enough that only she could hear it. ‘And I missed your grand entrance. I don’t suppose you could just pop outside and stride in again so I could enjoy seeing you in the wonderful dress. Just for me?’
She gave him a look which clearly answered his question. ‘Ah, perhaps not. Maybe that is a good thing.’ He grinned. ‘I’m not entirely sure I could take it.’ And he waggled his eyebrows up and down several times.
‘Leo,’ Sara said under her breath, and she looked from side to side to check that no one was listening to him, even though she was grinning with delight, ‘behave yourself! This is a very respectable hotel.’
Leo instantly stood ramrod straight and saluted. ‘Of course, my lady,’ then gestured flamboyantly towards the elevator. ‘Your carriage awaits, madam.’
Sara took tighter hold of the clutch bag as a nervous shiver ran across her back. ‘Aren’t we going to the bar for drinks before dinner?’ she asked. Or perhaps we are bypassing drinks and dinner completely and going straight to your bedroom? That would be nice.
‘For you, my lady, the public bar is not nearly good enough.’ And then he smiled and presented her with the fingertips of his right hand as if he were handing her into a carriage, then seized upon her hand hungrily. ‘It’s right this way.’ He tucked her hand tighter against his chest so that they were touching from thigh to shoulder as they glided into the beautifully polished elevator, which was just large enough for two.
She was so entranced by the delicious scent of this man she was pressed against that, when the elevator started on its upward journey, she jumped and flinched away from him, only to be pulled back by a firm hand against the middle of her back. Almost as if he was determined to keep her by his side for as long as possible.
With a lurching feeling of resignation and regret, Sara realised that this was the closest that she had been to this wonderful man since they had danced together and shared that wonderful moment on the terrace that Saturday evening, and was so taken back to that dance that she could almost hear their music playing in the background.
Then she blinked hard and stared in amazement at Leo.
‘Is that a Viennese waltz that they are playing?’ she asked in amazement. ‘Elevator music has certainly improved around here.’
‘I hope so,’ he replied with a smile. ‘It took all of my considerable charms to persuade the lovely receptionist to change the tape to one of my liking.’
He breathed the words into Sara’s ear. ‘It had to be our song. Nothing else will do.’
‘Of course,’ she said with twisted eyebrows, ‘I totally agree,’ and then her face relaxed. ‘That was very thoughtful.’
‘My pleasure.’ He smiled and gave her one of those looks which were intended to entrance any female creature within one hundred miles’ radius. He must have had advanced training. Because it was a total success.
Sara was still feeling bedraggled and dazed when the elevator doors slid open and she looked out onto what should be the third floor corridor to the guest rooms, if the elevator button was telling the truth. Then her brain connected with what she was looking at. That was crazy. There were no guest rooms on the third floor. The top of the house had always been the attic storage room and the servants’ quarters—and her bedroom, of course, tucked away in the corner of the tower.
Her old bedroom. Oh, Leo.
A lump formed in her throat, so large she was in danger of never speaking again.
Leo slipped away from her side long enough to step outside the elevator, then turned back and stretched one hand towards her.
Sara looked out into the corridor over Leo’s shoulder.
The electric lights had been turned off. And in their place were two rows of tall candelabras with a full complement of tall lit candles. The breeze from the elevator created a flickering wave of warm light that floated across the golden wooden floor towards them, warm with the aroma of beeswax and exotic perfume.
The candles were lighting their way down a narrow corridor and she instantly recognised where they were going, and it knocked her sideways that her suspicions had been confirmed.
This was the same piece of flooring that she had skipped and jumped and run down for so many years to wards her old bedroom—the bedroom she had chosen as a child from every other room in the house.
‘Shall we?’ he murmured, and smiled at her with eyes transformed by the flickering candlelight into deep blue pools, and as she placed her fingers into the palm of his hand and stepped out of the elevator, she knew she had just taken a big step. She felt it in her heart and she knew it in her mind.
This was a journey she could not walk away from when Leo left her to go back to his life in the city. If she took one more step she would be resigned to a life of longing and missing Leo every minute that they were apart. A life of endless regret and emptiness until she could touch him and hold him and speak to him again.
It was a miracle that she had the strength to take that one step forward and clutch onto his fingers as though they were a lifeline being held out to a drowning woman.
His left arm rested lightly at her waist and he drew her to him as they strolled slowly down the narrow corridor in silence. It was probably only ten steps, but it was a journey she wished would never end.
Here in this carefully controlled space with Leo by her side, she felt contained and separate from the world and all the pressures and problems that lay outside both of them. With Leo she felt safe and sheltered and protected by someone who cared enough to go to all of this trouble because he knew that it would give her pleasure.
He would be an amazing lover.
It had been such a long time since anyone had actually done something so selfless for her and her heart swelled at the simple joy of it.
And she loved him for it.
She loved Leo Grainger.
It should have come as a surprise but it didn’t. She had felt the world shift over these past few days as though tectonic plates were changing the shape of the continent that lay beneath her feet and underpinned her entire small world. She would not have it any other way, not when it felt this wonderful.
They slowed outside the wooden door she had once known as the gates to the secret world she had created for herself. But this time it was Leo who turned the handle and swung the door into the room and she gasped in delight and amazement at what she saw inside.
In contrast to the dim candlelit corridor, her old bedroom was bright with late evening sunshine, which beamed through the stained glass panels at the top of the open full-length windows.
Birdsong from the trees directly opposite the window combined with the distinctive call of peacocks on the lawns and a happy chatter of guests on the floors below them to create a soundtrack she had forgotten and yet was instantly familiar.
She closed her eyes and took in the special aroma of old lavender sachets, wax polish and dusty old wooden flooring and fixtures. It was all there.
Blinking away tears of delight and pleasure at being in this place again, she was aware that Leo was standing by her side and he gave her a small tug at the waist.
Where her bed used to be was a long sofa and right i
n front of the window was a fine marquetry table laid out for dinner for two with the finest porcelain, silver cutlery and crystal glassware. A bottle of very fine champagne was chilling in a silver ice bucket. Waiting for her to enjoy.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ she managed to squeak out, scarcely able to take in the beautiful room.
‘Then don’t say anything,’ he whispered, standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist so that his chin rested on her shoulder and they could look out through the tall windows onto the trees, open countryside and her very own cottage and greenhouses below.
‘I am just content that you like it.’
All that she could manage was a gentle nod of her head and she leant back against Leo’s chest, allowing him to take her weight and revelling in the sensation of the strength of his arms around her and the warmth of his chest against her back.
‘It’s magical,’ she finally managed to whisper in a hoarse voice. ‘But how did you know that this was what I really wanted to see before everything changes?’
‘Oh, that is quite simple,’ he replied, the side of his head resting against hers. ‘This is what I would have wanted if I had been in your position. Now, I think it’s time for a beautiful lady to have some champagne and the finest food this hotel has to offer.’
She sniffed away a moment of intense embarrassment and pleasure. ‘Yes, please, and seeing as you have gone to so much trouble, I might save some for you as well,’ she murmured with a half smile, trying to be gentle and wanting so very desperately not to break the connection and the wonder of this moment.
And that really did make him chuckle, and his gentle laughter echoed around the room as she turned inside the circle of his arms and slowly lifted her hand so that she could stroke his cheek.
And then she kissed him. Her lips moved gently and smoothly across his so that, as his smile faded into surprised recognition, her fingers could move slowly to the back of his head, caressing his skin on the way. While all the time her lips were moving from the corner of his mouth over the warm and full bow of his lower lip and then taking possession of his entire mouth.
Leo’s arms wrapped tightly around her back so that he was holding her completely against him, and this feeling of his hands on her dress, burning through the fine fabric against her skin, only added to the utter delight and heat of their heady kiss as he returned her passion step by step, touch by touch and sensual movement by movement.
She had never been kissed like this before in her life or shared and given herself so completely into the passion of the moment, but she so desperately wanted this man to know how she felt and the intensity of how much she wanted to be with him. She did not need champagne to fuel her intoxication—all that she truly needed was Leo and this moment in time. Everything else was extra and unnecessary.
Whatever happened in the future or even in the next day or two did not matter. All that mattered was that they were together and she could show him how much he had come to mean to her in only a few short but remarkable days when he had opened up the doors to show her what her new life could be like.
It was almost as if she was saying goodbye to this room, this house and the only way she could survive that was to have Leo by her side.
Nobody else in the world would do—ever again.
Breathless, panting with heat and the pressure of the blood pumping in her veins, Sara rested her forehead on Leo’s chin, sensing his heart racing and his lungs drawing in cleansing breaths.
‘Hello, beautiful lady,’ he whispered, his eyes finding something totally fascinating in her hair, and holding her against him and caressing her with unbelievable gentleness and tenderness.
Sara revelled in the luxurious sensations that flooded through her body in slow languorous waves. Her senses seemed ultra tuned to every part of Leo. The soft fabric of his shirt against the warm skin that lay below, fragrant with expensive bath products blended with a subtle musk and aromatic perfume that was all his own.
She could feel powerful bands of muscle and sinew below the palms of her hands under his shirt. He was totally intoxicating.
‘Can I see you again?’ she murmured into his neck.
‘Um?’ he replied, but his mouth was too busy kissing her temple.
‘I know that you are going back to London tomorrow, but I’d like to see you again. If you want to,’ she blurted out in a rush, not wanting to break the connection but desperate for him to know how she felt. Suddenly the most important thing in the world was to make him hers.
‘Look what you have done to me, Leo Grainger! I’m wearing dresses and heels and having romantic dinners. And I like it. I like it a lot. I need you in my life, Leo. Come back—tell me that you will come back and see me.’
His hand pressed her head deep into his chest and he embraced her with such love and tenderness, but she could hear the fast beat of his heart under her head, and his heavy breathing. And then the low sigh that was nothing to do with passion and deep feeling and everything to do with the bad news he was about to tell her.
Had she made a mistake? Had she totally misread him?
Sara lifted her head and looked at his face and her grin faded. It was as though the blood had been drained from his skin.
‘What is it, Leo? What’s wrong? If you don’t want me, just tell me.’
Sara reached forward to stroke his face, but Leo closed his fingers around her wrist and slowly, slowly, started stroking the back of her hand with the pad of his thumb.
‘Oh, I do want you, very much, but there is something I have to tell you and it’s not going to be easy for you to hear. There’s no easy way of saying this, but I need you to understand that I had no idea how important it was for you to stay and work in the grounds of your old home.’
He took a breath and exhaled slowly before speaking again in a lower voice. ‘You already know that the hotel chain want to redevelop the old gardens and build a spa extension to the hotel. What you don’t know is that the designs for the spa are much larger than you might think, Sara. I’ve seen the plans, and the building work is going to extend across all of your kitchen gardens.’
She stared into his forehead and suddenly the realisation of what he was about to say hit her and hit her hard.
‘Oh, no. No, Leo. Please tell me that they won’t be building right next to the only greenhouse I will have left. The orchids need as much light and ventilation as I can get.’
He raised his blanched face and exhaled slowly before replying.
‘I am so sorry, Sara, but the architect’s plans have already been approved at the outline stage. The investment needs to use all of the space they have available to get the return they need, and that means building right up to the bottom of your garden. There will be glass—you can be sure of that. The architect wants to build a conservatory link between the house and the spa.’
‘But that means they will be building over the foundations for the Orangery and the beautiful knot garden! Once that is under cement there’s no going back. Oh, Leo, how do you feel about that after you’ve seen those original designs? Is there no way of changing their minds at this stage? And what about the old kitchen wall?’
‘It will need to be totally demolished to make room for the new conservatory link.’
Demolished. The image was so Technicolor real she couldn’t believe it wasn’t happening at that moment, and her head started spinning, dizzy with the revelation. The fruit trees and the old orchard would be gone, swept away.
‘I’m sorry. But this is not the end.’ He smiled at her, squeezing her hand and making her look at him. ‘I have given you other options, remember? I kept my part of the bargain, and I can help you find new property to rent. You can still have Kingsmede Heritage Orchids on the other side of the village. You did agree that was a possibility. Didn’t you?’
‘Yes, I suppose I did, but I was hoping that there was still a chance.’ Her voice faded away and she caught hold of Leo’s arms for support. ‘When did you f
ind out that the plans had been approved?’
‘This morning. But you have to understand, I couldn’t tell you about any of these ideas until I had spoken to my aunt. I was sworn to secrecy, Sara. I’m so sorry it turned out like this.’
‘Secrecy? I don’t understand. Why were you sworn to secrecy?’
Leo took a firmer grasp of her hands and his tongue moistened his lower lip in a nervous gesture which made the blood run cold in her veins without his need to say another word.
‘You already know that my aunt is Arabella Rizzi. What I couldn’t tell you was that she asked me to take an objective look at Kingsmede Manor and come up with some ways of increasing the profitability of the hotel. That’s why I stayed here after Helen’s party last Saturday. I was here on a secret project for the Rizzi Hotel chain.’
CHAPTER TEN
‘OH, NO, Leo. No. You couldn’t do that to me.’
‘I was telling you the truth. Aunt Arabella asked me to take a look at the hotel and come up with a few ideas on how to turn it around and make sure it had a future. But she insisted that my reason for being here should be kept a secret. That was why I couldn’t tell you.’
‘I don’t believe it,’ Sara replied in a thin, tired voice. ‘You were working for the hotel chain the whole time you’ve been here.’
And then her eyes closed. ‘Of course. How stupid of me. All that talk about how much you loved design and architecture—it was all a lie, wasn’t it? A carefully constructed plan so that you could persuade a foolish country girl to tell you everything you needed to know about the hotel so that you could feed it back to the family.’
Leo shook his head very gently from side to side. ‘No, this was not a paying job—this was a personal favour to someone who means a lot to me. And I wanted to tell you, many times, but I gave my word that I would keep the real reason for my being here a secret. I am so sorry.’
‘Did you know? Did you know that I was the only person who had access to those garden designs before you talked to me at the party last Saturday? I need to know.’
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