The From Paris With Love And Regency Season Of Secrets Ultimate Collection. Кэрол Мортимер

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СКАЧАТЬ in Venice she looked up the timetable for the Orient Express going from Venice back to London and when the dates were perfect she said it was meant to be and I couldn’t say no because it was well up the bucket list.’

      ‘The bucket list?’

      ‘You know…’ Charlotte really smiled this time, as she looked up and caught his gaze. ‘The list of things you really, really want to do before you kick the bucket?’

      ‘Kick the…? Oh…’ Just occasionally, the fact that English was a second language tripped him up. ‘Sì…’ The Italian word slipped out unconsciously as he contemplated the euphemism for dying. ‘I understand.’

      Her eyes were grey. A dark, stormy sort of grey at the moment. He always expected blonde women to have blue eyes so the colour struck him as different. As unusual as this woman was herself, perhaps?

      ‘But it’s a crazy idea. How can we take a slow train trip across Europe when she’s so sick? We should fly back to London tonight. I could have her in a hospital by tomorrow, getting the kind of investigations she needs to plan treatment.’

      ‘Is that what she wants? Your grandmother?’ It was a relief to be given a problem to solve at last and Nico was more than ready to focus on it, but he needed more information. ‘What is her name?’

      ‘Geraldine. Her friends call her Jendi.’

      ‘And what are the symptoms of her illness?’

      ‘I don’t really know. She’s kept this from me. I wouldn’t have known about it at all yet except I found her resting and could see she had abdominal pain. And…I could feel a mass…’

      ‘She has medication for the pain?’

      ‘Yes. She seems fine now. She totally refused to consider cancelling the train trip and getting a flight to London. She told me to go away so she could have a bath in peace and get ready for the dinner tonight. She wants to dress up.’

      ‘If there are no obvious signs that it would be detrimental to her condition, then maybe that’s exactly what she should do.’

      Charlotte’s jaw dropped. ‘And the train trip? You think that’s a good idea, too?’

      ‘Another day or two will not make any difference to the course of her illness,’ Nico said. ‘And look at it from her point of view. What would be better? To be lying in a hospital bed waiting for possibly a painful procedure or being able to forget about what lies ahead for a brief time and enjoying a wonderful experience in the company of someone you love?’

      ‘But…’ Charlotte caught her bottom lip between her teeth and tugged on it. It was another childish gesture that caught Nico in that soft spot in his heart. But then she let go with her teeth and soothed her lip with her tongue and suddenly it was quite another, very unexpected spot that Nico could feel waking up. ‘How could I forget enough to help her enjoy it?’

      ‘Because you have that kind of strength.’ This time the compliment was completely sincere. Nico already knew enough about Charlotte to be convinced of it. ‘You can choose the part of you that you want other people to see and the rest you can keep hidden.’

      Something very odd flickered across Charlotte’s face. The kind of expression that suggested…guilt? As though she’d been caught out trying to hide something huge and important?

      No. The expression was gone as fast as it had appeared. And now Charlotte was turning away. Nico wasn’t ready to let her go. Not just yet.

      ‘I think you should make the most of any time you can have together. Be proud that you can help her achieve this bucket-list thing. Maybe you can find out what the other things on her list are too and tick another one off soon.’

      A rueful laugh escaped Charlotte. ‘Oh, I know what’s on the top of that list and it’s not something that’s ever going to be ticked off.’

      ‘Oh?’ Nico tilted his head encouragingly. ‘They say that nothing is impossible.’

      ‘This is.’ Charlotte was looking up at the sky now. Assessing the clouds to see if the forecasted snow might arrive or was she seeking divine inspiration? She flicked Nico the briefest glance. ‘Gran’s greatest wish is to see me get married. Settled down and ready to present her with her first great-grandchild.’

      ‘Ohhh…’ Nico nodded slowly. ‘That could be tricky.’

      ‘Impossible.’ The word was final.

      ‘Hmm.’ He had solved the problem of the train trip. Surely there was a way of at least getting around this one? ‘Would there be any harm in letting her think it might be possible?’

      ‘Gran’s not stupid. She knows perfectly well that I’m not in a relationship. I haven’t been for years. I’m hardly likely to get away with pretending I’ve met “Mr Right” within the next few months, am I?’ She took a step away from him, raising her hand to smooth her already perfect hairstyle. ‘And I really can’t believe I’m having such an astonishingly ridiculous conversation.’

      Nico had been distracted for a split second, wondering again what Charlotte’s hair would look like if it wasn’t so tightly coiled and clipped into place. He wanted to pull out some of those pins. To force her to loosen up a little.

      ‘Because it’s not so ridiculous,’ he said. ‘What if you attended this dinner tonight with…with your new boyfriend? How happy would that make your grandmother?’

      This time it was real laughter that escaped. A delicious, totally unexpected chuckle of real mirth. ‘Is there a “hire a boyfriend” agency in Venice that you know about?’

      ‘There’s no need to hire anybody.’ Nico’s grin stretched his mouth. ‘It’s the least I could do to make up for this morning’s unfortunate happenstance.’

      It was perfect. Here it was on a plate. The opportunity to not only make up for contributing to any distress caused by this morning’s incident but to do it in a manner that would be fun.

      Except that Charlotte was looking at him as if he was totally crazy.

      This was surreal.

      Just having a personal conversation with a professional acquaintance would have been weird enough but this incredibly good-looking stranger seemed to be offering to pretend to be her boyfriend for an evening.

      Imagine that!

      Unfortunately, Charlotte could imagine it. She could imagine herself introducing him to her grandmother as a…as a friend…and Nico turning on his most charming smile and Gran putting two and two together and letting wishful thinking make the impossible a reality.

      Oh…God…how happy would she be?

      The distraction of a train trip to take her mind off what was coming was nothing compared to the joy she would have if she thought Charlotte had finally found ‘the one’.

      It was crazy. Wasn’t it?

      ‘That’s crazy,’ she said aloud, hoping the spoken words would confirm it.

      ‘It’s only for an СКАЧАТЬ