‘You aren’t the first man to go to bed with one woman when you’re actually in love with another one. I very much doubt that you’ll be the last, either!’ she added with a rueful smile.
Gabriel’s jaw tensed. ‘You believe me so utterly dishonourable?’
‘I believe you were a man surrounded by Formula One groupies who were only too happy to go to bed with defending champion Gabriel Danti, whether he was in love with someone else or not,’ Bella explained practically.
‘Formula One groupies?’ Gabriel exclaimed.
‘Oh, stop being obtuse, Gabriel,’ Bella teased gently. ‘Women of all ages find that macho image as sexy as hell, you know that.’
‘Did you?’ He sounded amused now.
‘We weren’t talking about me—’
‘Why did you go to bed with me that night, Bella?’
He had called her Bella again! Her defences were already in tatters after the momentous recognition earlier of her love for this man, without that!
‘Because you were sexy as hell, of course,’ she said brightly. ‘Now could you just—’
‘Past tense, Bella?’ Gabriel cut in softly, an edge to those husky tones. ‘You no longer find me sexy?’
If Bella found Gabriel any sexier she would literally be drooling down her chin at how gorgeous he looked this evening with the dark thickness of his hair flowing onto his shoulders and the way that cream silk shirt emphasised every muscled inch of his chest.
If Bella found him any sexier she would be ripping that shirt from his back just so that she could touch bare flesh.
If she found Gabriel any sexier she would be on her knees begging him to make love to her again!
And again.
And again…
Just thinking about it made Bella’s breasts firm and swell, the nipples hardening against the soft material of her dress, and an aching warmth begin to start between her thighs.
She shot him an irritated glance. ‘You should have a public health warning stamped on your forehead!’ She scowled as he began to smile. ‘I’m glad you think it’s funny,’ she muttered.
Gabriel continued to smile as he regarded Bella across the width of the table. Without Bella realising it—or particularly wanting it?—they were becoming easier together in each other’s company.
He sat forward slightly. ‘Your public health warning should be on your breasts.’
Colour suffused Bella’s cheeks. ‘My breasts…?’ she choked.
Gabriel nodded. ‘They are beautiful, Bella. Firm. Round. A perfect fit in my hands. And your nipples are—’
‘I’m not sure this is altogether polite after-dinner conversation, Gabriel!’ she gasped when she could once more catch her breath.
Gabriel allowed his gaze to lower to the part of her anatomy under discussion as they pressed firm and pouting against the material of her gown. A clear indication that their conversation had roused Bella as much as it had him.
Yet he could not—no, he dared not—make love to her. The fear of further loss and trauma in his life made Gabriel determined not to put Bella’s life at risk with a possible second pregnancy.
His mouth tightened as he realised the disastrous predicament he’d landed them both in. ‘You are right, Isabella, it is not.’ He stood up suddenly.
‘I—Where are you going?’ Bella frowned as Gabriel strode off towards the beach.
He turned on the pathway, the moonlight turning his hair to ebony and reflecting in his eyes. ‘I require some time to myself,’ he said distantly.
Gabriel needed some time to himself…
He couldn’t have told Bella any more clearly that after only two days alone together he was already bored in her company!
‘Fine.’ She nodded abruptly. ‘I’ll see you in morning, then,’ she added lamely, still slightly stunned by the way Gabriel’s mood had changed so swiftly from seduction to a need to go off by himself. After spending so many weeks resisting him, Bella was also shocked by the fierce desire that she wanted to be seduced.
‘No doubt,’ he answered curtly.
And, Bella realised painfully, he looked far from pleased at the prospect…
The two days it had taken Gabriel to find himself bored with her company was the same two days it had taken Bella to realise she was more in love with him than ever!
CHAPTER TEN
‘BREAKFAST, Bella.’
Bella felt as if she were fighting through layers of fog as she roused herself from a deep and troubled sleep, inwardly wincing as she remembered exactly where she was. And who she was with…
Once again Bella had pretended to be asleep the previous night when Gabriel had finally come to bed about two hours after her, and had known by the restlessness of Gabriel’s movements as he lay beside her that he was no more asleep than she was.
Still they hadn’t spoken. Hadn’t touched. Had just lain there, side by side, awake but totally uncommunicative.
‘Your coffee is becoming cold, Bella,’ Gabriel told her sharply.
Bella could smell that coffee, and warm buttery croissants, finally opening her eyes to frown up at Gabriel as he stood beside the bed holding a breakfast tray. He was already fully dressed, his hair still damp from the shower, evidence that he had been up for some time.
‘Why the breakfast in bed, Gabriel?’ Bella sat up against the sumptuous pillows, having decided attack was her best form of defence after the way the two of them had parted the previous evening.
He shrugged. ‘It seemed like something a new husband should do for his bride.’ He placed the tray across her knees and stepped back.
‘No one has ever brought me breakfast in bed before,’ Bella muttered uncomfortably, keeping her gaze averted from him to instead look down at the pot of coffee and the freshly warmed croissants with a deliciously tempting pot of butter.
‘As we are leaving later this morning I thought it best if I ensure you have something to eat—’
‘Leaving?’ Bella cut in incredulously, the breakfast tray forgotten as she stared up at Gabriel. ‘As in going back to England leaving?’
He gave a haughty inclination of his head. ‘As in going back to England leaving,’ he confirmed evenly.
Bella was completely stunned as she watched Gabriel begin to take his clothes from the wardrobe obviously in preparation for packing them.
Gabriel had decided they were leaving. After only two days of their planned week-long
