‘The man is a paragon.’
‘Who are you here with?’ Charlotte asked in an attempt to steer the conversation away from her paragon non-fiancé. He would be there with someone, or more probably several people, all of them high profile and ultra-glamorous. Riccardo was not a man to indulge his love of jazz by coming to a club on his own.
‘A very attractive blonde, as a matter of fact.’
Charlotte felt a jab of pain. ‘And you’ve left the poor woman on her own, to dance with someone who doesn’t want to dance with you?’
She felt his hand tighten fractionally, and that felt good because she knew that her remark had got to him. The great Riccardo di Napoli wouldn’t like being told that a woman didn’t want his company. The great Riccardo di Napoli, with his attractive blonde who was probably sulking in the corner at being left on her own. Well, Charlotte only hoped that it would point the poor thing in the right direction, namely the nearest door through which she could exit as fast as she could if she knew what was good for her.
‘He’s exactly as I imagined from what you said,’ Riccardo drawled. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lucinda focus on them, and even in the subdued mood lighting he could detect her frown of displeasure. She was getting demanding and that, didn’t sit well with him. He would have to deal with that, but later. Right now, all he could think of was the woman he was holding, the one who wanted to get away. He moved them expertly around, so that his back was to Lucinda’s pouting face. ‘Looks like a sensitive guy.’
‘I’m not going to have this conversation with you.’
‘You used to believe in fate. Do you remember?’
‘That was then and this is now, Riccardo.’ So that was his date! Hard to miss, Charlotte thought sourly, considering her height. Six feet at least, with those lethal-weapon stilettos, and hair down to her waist. The sort of woman accustomed to turning heads, several of which were obeying the primitive laws of attraction and swivelling predictably in her direction. Charlotte wished she had worn heels now, if only because they were brilliant at bolstering confidence. But she wore heels every day to work, sensible pumps, and on weekends she liked reverting to flats.
Unfortunately she felt at a depressing disadvantage as she looked up at Riccardo’s lean, dark face and met black eyes staring right back at her.
‘I gave up believing in fate roughly eight years ago, as a matter of fact. I thought that fate had prompted me on that journey to your house and I couldn’t have been more wrong. These days I prefer to make decisions a little more rationally.’#p#分页标题#e#
‘So you don’t think fate had a hand in bringing us together at this point in time?’
Was he flirting with her? Voicing some kind of academic question? Playing with her like a cat plays with a mouse, just to see what it will do? She stiffened.
‘Only if fate has a sick sense of humour.’
The music came to an abrupt halt and she quickly pulled away as the leggy blonde Lucinda weaved a dramatic path through the little crowd on the dance floor.
‘I think your date’s calling, Riccardo!’ Charlotte sniggered. ‘And she doesn’t look too impressed. I should watch out if I were you. Looks like she can pull a mean punch.’
There was nothing more satisfying than getting the last word, she decided as she headed back to Ben, who had obediently got her the cocktail which she no longer wanted.
Before he could say a word, she sat down and leaned closely towards him.
‘Small problem,’ she said as casually as she could. ‘It’s really about that man.’
‘The man who twirled you across the dance floor? He’s very good on his feet, isn’t he? I always think that’s the problem with Englishmen. They can be a bit stiff when it comes to dancing. Bit like me.’
‘You’re great, Ben.’ She had visions of Riccardo swooping over with the blonde draped on his arm, asking the ridiculous but obvious question ‘so when is the big day?’ She gulped down a generous mouthful of her Up Against The Wall cocktail. ‘But that man is Gina’s father…’
Ben’s mouth dropped open, and into the surprised silence Charlotte quickly gave him the bare bones of her little white lie.
‘I’m truly sorry, Ben. I know I shouldn’t have involved you in this, but I honestly didn’t know what to do. He doesn’t know about Gina and I can’t risk him finding out, and…and…’