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

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       CHAPTER EIGHT

      MAYBE IT WAS her new awareness of how she felt about Nico. Or perhaps it was the incongruity of him appearing in these surroundings looking impossibly gorgeous in his dinner suit. Whatever it was, it completely stole Charlotte’s breath away when she opened the door of her grandmother’s compartment to his polite knock.

      Did her grandmother actually bat her eyelashes?

      ‘It’s been a long time since I was escorted to dinner by such a handsome young man,’ she said with delight. ‘Charlotte Jane? You can have him later but I really do need Nico’s arm while we’re walking. This train is remarkably jerky at times.’

      ‘No worries, Gran.’ Charlotte smiled. ‘He’s all yours.’

      But then her gaze caught Nico’s and the smile got stolen away like her breath had been. Oh…Lord…that look in his eyes.

      ‘I love that dress,’ was all he said. ‘I’m so glad you’ve worn it again, cara.’

      Lady Geraldine made a tutting sound. ‘I’m trying to train Charlotte to expand her wardrobe, Nico. It won’t help if you tell her you’re happy she’s worn the same thing two nights running.’

      ‘But it’s true, Jendi.’ Nico’s smile for her grandmother was so warm and genuine that Charlotte’s heart squeezed painfully. How could she not love a man who was clearly already so fond of her beloved gran? ‘And I am an honest man.’

      The comment did something strange inside Charlotte. Echoes of his voice telling her that he’d been honest with her and asking her to give him the honour of being the same with him. It was a bond she knew she could never have with another person. Did he feel the same? No. How could he when she hadn’t shared the most shameful part of her secret? When she’d been less than completely honest?

      But his gaze flicked past Charlotte’s again. ‘Most of the time,’ he added.

      All the time, Charlotte suspected. This pretence they were engaged in was an aberration. Sure, Nico had approached it as an amusing diversion but any control had been lost very quickly, hadn’t it? At about the time he’d pushed that ring onto her finger, probably.

      No wonder he was feeling uncomfortable but Lady Geraldine didn’t seem to pick up on the loaded comment. ‘I’m ready to go,’ she announced. ‘I want as much time to enjoy seeing everybody else dressed up as I can before I start feeling too old and tired.’

      Or before she felt too sick and sore? Charlotte followed Nico as he carefully escorted Lady Geraldine through the rocking carriages towards the dining cars. She needed a break, she said, when they reached the bar car. She wanted to sit for a few minutes and enjoy listening to the piano. And…how nice…her friend Winsome was sitting at one of the side-facing seats and seemed to be saving space for her. Perhaps Charlotte could order a nice cocktail for her?

      Charlotte perused the cocktail menu while Nico made sure her grandmother was seated comfortably. Heavens, but there were a lot to choose from. She’d never even heard of a Moscow Mule or a Planters Punch. Both her grandmother’s favourites were there, though, so all she really needed to choose between was a Singapore Sling or a Gin Fizz.

      Nico came back to the bar as she ordered a Gin Fizz. When he was only a step or two away the train gave a sudden and rather dramatic lurch. A cry rippled through the carriage as people spilt their drinks but the pianist didn’t miss a beat of the Viennese waltz he was playing. And Nico’s arm was right there to steady Charlotte as she lost her balance.

      It was the first time he’d touched her since that almost kiss when they’d been interrupted earlier and it seemed to ignite a peculiar magic. How else could Charlotte explain the fact that a steadying touch morphed into an embrace that moved in time to the music?

      They were dancing?

      Yes. On a minuscule patch of blue carpet, in the space between the bar and the piano, Nico was very competently leading her through a confined version of a Viennese waltz. Charlotte could have laughed out loud. Except that this was giving her the same kind of feeling that she’d had when she’d woken from that deep sleep in Nico’s arms, and she wanted to recapture that bliss for just a few seconds.

      So, instead of holding her head in the correct position for a waltz as she’d been trained to do in those lessons Gran had insisted on when she’d been a teenager, Charlotte let herself droop enough to put her head on Nico’s shoulder. And he tilted his head so that it rested against hers. It was no waltz now. Just a slow, close dance.

      To anyone watching, and no doubt that included Lady Geraldine and her friend, they must look like a couple madly in love. Nobody, meaning Nico, needed to know that it was actually genuine on her part now.

      And maybe that was a good thing. Maybe…just a very small maybe…this didn’t have to end when they got off the train in London tomorrow.

      No. That tiny, unbidden seed of hope died away as Charlotte remembered Nico saying he never wanted marriage or children. That she was safe because she was so completely not his type of woman.

      Oh, well…at least if Gran lived long enough for her to have to confess that the relationship wasn’t going to work long term, she wouldn’t have to pretend to be heartbroken, would she?

      Oh, God…she really was in trouble now.

      Released from Nico’s arms to a round of applause from the crowded carriage, Charlotte headed back to the bar. She was going to order one of those potent-sounding cocktails for herself because she needed something strong if she was going to cope with the rest of this journey. She needed some bottled courage. Or stamina.

      Moving towards Lady Geraldine’s seat to wait for the bartender to bring the drinks, Charlotte found that introductions were being made. Winsome’s grandson Connor was with a young woman called Kelsie, who was now sitting beside Lady Geraldine. They were discussing seating arrangements.

      ‘Winsome and I have arranged a table for ourselves,’ Lady Geraldine said. ‘We don’t want to bore you young things with our gossip.’

      The implications were immediately obvious. Nico and Connor exchanged a glance as if they were measuring each other up and considering the prospect of a foursome for dinner. Kelsie was watching the older women as if she knew there was more coming. And there was.

      ‘So, instead, we have three tables,’ Lady Geraldine smiled. ‘One for each couple.’

      Charlotte almost groaned aloud. ‘I don’t think you’re allowed to change arrangements like that, are you, Gran?’

      Lady Geraldine merely tapped the side of her nose. СКАЧАТЬ