“Don’t let him fool you. He’s good at hiding things.”
Cesare wasn’t the only one, Lana pondered, stealing a look at Matt’s profile, then turning away when he caught her gaze. He looked so handsome he quite took her breath away.
In what seemed like moments, they were parking the car in the Opera House car park. He cupped her elbow as they walked to the elevator that would take them up to the concourse area, but she broke contact with him when they stepped around a crowd of people chatting.
“We might run into some people I know,” he said in a clipped tone, cupping her elbow again. “So do you think you could look like you actually want to be with me?”
She tried to ignore the tingle of his touch. “You don’t have to put on a show tonight, Matt. Everyone must have figured out by now why you married me.”
“I don’t give a damn what everyone thinks they know, but I do have some pride. You’re a beautiful woman and they would expect that we’re having a physical relationship.”
“Then they’d be wrong,” she said, but her mind was on his comment.
He thought her beautiful.
Just as quickly another thought replaced it.
He also thought her a thief.
They went straight to their seats. As the dance started, she got caught up in the stirring power of the ballet. The superb music accompanying the emotional tale wowed her until she forgot all about her problems and Matt beside her.
Until intermission arrived. The curtain lowered and she felt his eyes upon her.
“You’re enjoying yourself?”
It was silly to feel a bit self-conscious. “Yes, very much.”
“Good. My father will be happy.”
She was glad she could make someone happy.
She stood up. “I think I’ll go find the ladies’ room.”
He got to his feet, too. “I’ll meet you in the bar.”
They parted ways not long after and once she’d finished in the ladies room, she was walking along the corridor to the bar when she saw a wallet on the floor.
Automatically she picked it up and gasped when she saw the wad of hundred-dollar bills inside. The name “Arthur Taran” was on the driver’s license. She was about to go hand it into management when she caught sight of one of the staff. She gave it to her instead and the woman promised she’d find the owner.
Lana soon forgot about it on reaching the bar and finding Matt talking with a debonair young couple around his own age. He handed her a drink of wine and introduced them as Justin and Sara.
“So you’re Lana,” Sara said warmly. “I saw your wedding picture in the paper and thought you looked beautiful, but it didn’t do you nearly enough justice.”
Lana immediately liked the other woman. “And I was having a bad day, too,” she said with a wry smile.
They all laughed, including Matt, whose smile made her heart skip a beat, even with that slight hardness in the back of those eyes.
Sara turned to Matt. “Matt, she’s not only beautiful but has a sense of humor. And I bet she’s a really nice person.”
“Would I have married anyone who wasn’t?” Matt drawled.
“If she was beautiful, yes!” Justin joked, then winked at Lana. “I went to school with him.”
Lana smiled. “You clearly know him well.”
Sara laughed, then, “Oh, I’m so glad we ran into each other.”
A short time later it was time to return to their seats.
“Let’s come back here and have a drink afterward,” Sara suggested. “We don’t have to rush back home tonight. Justin’s parents are looking after our little boy.”
“Sounds good,” Matt said, drawing a glance from Lana, but his face gave nothing away.
On the way back to their seats he didn’t clarify whether she wanted to have a drink afterward with his friends. Not that she minded spending time with them. It was preferable to going home and knowing it was only her and Matt alone in the house.
Just the two of them.
She winced inwardly. There was nothing to worry about. She and Matt would have that drink, then go home and go to their separate rooms, just as they did every night.
And just because Matt kissed her in the office yesterday, and just because now there was an increasing awareness between them, didn’t mean a thing. She would concentrate on enjoying the ballet. And then she’d enjoy his friends.
And that would be that.
The curtain lifted and the performance continued, and Lana became absorbed in the movement once again.
After the ballet had finished to much-deserved applause, they met up with Sara and Justin in the bar, where the other couple had found a secluded table near a window that gave an amazing night view of Sydney Harbour.