maybe it’s the flu?’ His wife continued to fuss. ‘There’s a lot of it about at the moment, and—’
‘Cat!’
‘What is it, Rick?’ Cathy turned to her husband impatiently.
Lia winced as Rick ignored his wife and continued to look past Lia into the hallway beyond. She knew without looking that Gregorio had left her bedroom, after all, and was now standing behind her.
She just hoped he had put his clothes back on first!
‘PERHAPS I SHOULD introduce myself?’
A fully dressed Gregorio—thank goodness—looked at Lia as the four of them stood awkwardly in the sitting room of her apartment. Lia really hadn’t had any choice but to invite the other couple inside.
‘Fine.’ It was the only word she’d seemed able to say since she had opened her apartment door and found Cathy and Rick standing outside in the hallway.
‘Oh, I know exactly who you are, Mr de la Cruz,’ Cathy assured him with a sideways glance at Lia. ‘We’re Cathy and Rick Morton. Friends of Lia’s.’
Lia winced as she sensed Cathy’s censorious gaze on her after that last announcement. It was questioning why, when they were such close friends, Lia hadn’t confided in Cathy regarding her friendship with Gregorio. She was going to have some serious explaining to do once Gregorio had left. Whenever that was going to be. Because of the four of them he seemed to be the most relaxed and the least intimidated by this situation. He also showed no inclination to leave.
Lia felt bad for not telling Cathy about Gregorio’s previous visit, or that she was working for him. At the time she had thought it was the right thing to do—that she would be avoiding Gregorio as much as possible in future, so telling Cathy about him was a waste of time. Look how well that had turned out!
But at least he had all his clothes back on and had tidied himself before he’d come out of her bedroom. Although the slightly creased T-shirt and tousled dark hair indicated that hadn’t been the case minutes ago.
Lia knew Cathy was going to want to kill her once the two of them could speak privately.
‘I remember seeing you with Lia at the funeral,’ he answered Cathy as the three of them shook hands. ‘And, please, you must both call me Gregorio.’
The pleasantries over, an awkward silence once again fell over the room.
‘Wine.’ Lia had finally found another word to say. ‘Let’s all have a glass of wine. I have red or white. Which would you prefer? The white is dry, the red fruity.’
Now she’d regained her voice Lia didn’t seem able to stop babbling, but at the same time her gaze couldn’t quite meet Cathy’s or Rick’s, and she was avoiding Gregorio’s completely.
She felt so stupid. Like a child who had been caught out not being honest. Not that Cathy or Rick were in the least judgemental—it was Lia who felt as if she had somehow disappointed them.
‘You sit and chat with your friends and I’ll pour the wine.’ Gregorio spoke dryly, obviously knowing the topic of their conversation would be him.
‘I’ll help you.’ Rick hurriedly followed the other man into the kitchen area.
‘Cathy—’
‘He seems to know his way around your kitchen,’ Cathy observed softly as the two women sat down, Her brows rose as she watched Gregorio remove a bottle of red wine from the rack before taking glasses from the cupboard above.
Lia tried again. ‘Cathy—’
‘I have to say he’s an improvement on the last guy,’ her friend murmured appreciatively.
Lia’s eyes widened. It was the last thing she had expected the other woman to say. ‘You didn’t like David?’
‘He was your choice, so of course I liked him.’ Her friend shrugged. ‘Except I didn’t, if you know what I mean.’
No, Lia didn’t know what she meant. She had always thought Cathy and Rick liked David: the four of them had often gone out to dinner together, and they had always seemed to get on.
‘He could be rather condescending,’ Cathy added with a grimace.
Thinking back to those evenings, she realised David had talked down to Cathy and Rick. As if they weren’t quite of his social standing. Which was ridiculous. Cathy’s father was a politician, currently in government, and Rick’s family owned and ran a huge farm in Worcestershire. Rick himself was senior manager at a software firm here in London.
It made her wonder what else she hadn’t noticed about David during the months they had dated and been engaged. Whether Gregorio’s suspicions about him were well-founded. David had certainly proved himself to be a less than supportive fiancé after her father’s death.
Unlike Gregorio...
She might not particularly like the idea of Gregorio having his security men keeping an eye on her, but there was also a certain...reassurance—a warmth in knowing that someone cared enough about her to do that.
Lia chewed on her bottom lip. ‘About Gregorio—’
‘Don’t worry about it, sweetie.’ Cathy smiled as she leaned forward to give Lia’s arm a reassuring squeeze. ‘It’s a surprise, but not an unpleasant one. The man is gorgeous, isn’t he?’ She lowered her voice even more.
Lia glanced across to where Gregorio and Rick were chatting together like old friends—as it turned out, as she listened briefly to their conversation, they were two men who both liked football but supported opposing teams. Gregorio was laughing at something Rick had said, his dark eyes warm with humour, a relaxed expression lightening his austere features.
‘Yes, he is,’ Lia acknowledged softly.
‘He doesn’t seem at all cold and remote this evening,’ Cathy added approvingly.
Gregorio had been anything but cold and remote in her bedroom a few minutes ago. Burning hot and very close better described the two of them together. Just thinking about all Gregorio’s naked and responsive flesh was enough to cause Lia’s cheeks to warm in a blush.
Cathy gave her a knowing grin. ‘Do you want us to leave as soon as we’ve drunk our wine?’
‘No! I mean... No,’ she repeated softly as the two men turned curiously at her vehemence. ‘I think I may need saving from myself,’ she told Cathy with a groan. ‘I don’t know what I was even thinking. He’s just so—’
‘Overwhelming and sexy as hell?’ her friend supplied lightly.
Lia’s gaze could no longer meet Cathy’s. ‘Yes.’
‘Here we go,’ Rick announced in an over-hearty voice as he handed Cathy a glass of red wine. No doubt as a warning to the two women that they were no longer
