[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.For one thing, I believe children should grow up with two parents who are committed to each other,’ she explained, when her uncle gave her an incredulous look, ‘and as I never want to get married I’m just going to have to enjoy being a godmother.’ She gave Lily a hug, and was rewarded when the little girl squeezed her so hard that her ribs felt in danger of cracking.It wasn’t that she did not like children, she mused.She adored Lily, and loved spending time with her, but music and her career put huge demands on her time and she had always thought it would be selfish to have a child when she spent five or six hours a day playing.‘Well, there’s plenty of time for you to meet a chap and change your mind,’ Uncle Rex assured her cheerfully, patently believing she needed reassurance that she wouldn’t end up a childless spinster.But she wouldn’t change her mind, she thought fiercely.She accepted that not all marriages were the route to hell—Rex and her mother’s sister, Aunt Lorna, had been happily married for thirty years—but they were the exception rather than the norm.Many of her friends had divorced parents and split families, and she would never put herself or a child through all that misery.But if she was certain she did not want to get married, what did she want? Ella brooded later that afternoon, asking herself the same question that Jenny had posed when Vadim had sent her the bouquet of red roses.Until now music had dominated her life and she hadn’t given men or relationships much thought.But all that had changed when she had met Vadim in Paris.Since then he had invaded her mind far too often, and when he kissed her and touched her… She bit her lip and tried to dismiss the erotic fantasy of their naked bodies intimately entwined.Suddenly her life, which had been plodding along quite nicely, was in turmoil, and she no longer knew what she wanted.She could not remain at Kingfisher House when Vadim would be an unnervingly close neighbour, but she had no choice until she found another flat, she debated with herself.There was only one way to deal with the confused thoughts in her head, and that was to lose herself in music.Her violin was a faithful friend, and a sense of calm settled over her when she settled her chin on the chin-rest and drew her bow across the strings.For the next hour or two there was no danger that she would disturb the new tenant of Kingfisher House.Shortly after Uncle Rex and Lily had left Vadim had announced that he was going to a nearby pub for lunch.She had turned down his invitation to join him, citing the need to get on with some household chores.She would spend an hour running through the piece by Debussy that she hoped to include on her next album, and after that she would no longer be able to put off visiting the supermarket to restock her fridge.‘Do you realise you’ve been playing virtually without a break for three hours?’ Vadim’s deep voice came from the French doors, which Ella had left open.‘Maybe longer,’ he added.He had arrived back at the house after lunch to hear the strains of Elgar drifting across the garden, and instead of a reading an important financial report, as he had planned, he’d spent the afternoon listening to Ella play.‘It’s time to come and eat,’ he told her, when she lowered her violin and frowned at him.‘Eat?’ she said vaguely.‘What’s the time?’‘Almost seven.’‘Damn!’ Ella came back to reality with a thump.The supermarket shut at four on Sundays, her fridge was a barren wilderness, and the growl from her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten all day.A delicious smell was drifting in from the terrace.She sniffed appreciatively and Vadim’s lips twitched.‘I ordered dinner.Do you like Thai food?’Hunger battled with the decision she’d made earlier that, for the few weeks until she found another flat, she and Vadim would lead completely separate lives.Hunger won.‘I love it.’‘Good.’ His brief smile broke the stern lines of his face, but she noticed that it did not reach his eyes.He seemed remote, almost sombre tonight, and for a moment she sensed an inner loneliness about him that tugged on her heart.It was gone before she could define what she had seen.His mask slipped back into place and his smile widened seductively, causing her heart to flip in her chest.‘Come through when you’re ready,’ he invited, and disappeared back to his part of the house.There was no reason why she should not eat with him dressed as she was, Ella acknowledged, glancing down at her jeans.But the sultry June evening provided a perfect excuse to change into the delicate silvery-grey silk dress she’d bought recently, after Jenny had persuaded her that it brought out the colour of her eyes.It took mere seconds to darken her lashes with mascara and apply a pale pink gloss to her lips, and she left her hair loose, sprayed Chanel to her pulse-points and swiftly appraised her reflection in the mirror, dismayed to find that the eyes staring back at her were as dark as woodsmoke, and her cheeks were flushed with the rosy glow of unbidden excitement.It was just dinner, she reminded herself when she slipped out of the French doors and walked a few steps along the terrace to the second set of doors leading into the main house.Tonight she would be on her guard against Vadim’s seductive charm.She paused in the doorway, her eyes drawn to the table set for two, the tall candles in elegant silver holders casting soft light over the centrepiece of white roses.It was intimate, romantic… Ella swiftly dismissed the idea.Vadim was not interested in romance.She had thought that he wanted to sleep with her, but now she wasn’t sure about that—any more than she was sure about what she wanted, she admitted to herself ruefully
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]