In fact, a new contract would get him out from under all of this confusion quite well. He could enjoy a fling with Bella and jet off to another continent. Like always.
Obviously, there was no reason to give any more credence to the heavy weight in his chest.
* * *
There was a huge crick in Bella’s neck, but she actually welcomed the pain. Because she’d gotten it sleeping in James’s arms on a blanket spread over a hardwood floor.
That had been delicious. And wonderful. And a host of other things she could barely articulate. So she didn’t, opting to see what the morning brought in this unconventional affair they’d begun.
Once they were dressed and had the curtains thrown open to let sunlight into the musty great room, she turned to James. “I don’t know about you, but I’m heavily in favor of finding a café that’ll give you a mountain of scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits in a takeout box. I’m starving.”
He flashed a quick grin. “Careful. That kind of comment now has all sorts of meaning attached. You better clarify whether you want me to feed you or strip you.”
Laughing, she socked him on the arm. “You’re the one who started that with the grapes. And the answer to that is both. Always.”
He caught her hand and held it in his. “I’m only teasing. I’ll go get breakfast. I wish you could come with me. Is it too much to ask that we go on a real date where I sit with you at an actual table?”
“We’ll get there.” She kissed him soundly and shoved him toward the door. “Once I have food in me, we can strategize about the rest of our lives.”
Item number one on the agenda: get this farmhouse in livable shape.
The strange look he shot her put a hitch in her stride and she realized immediately how he must have taken her comment. Okay, she hadn’t meant it like that, as if she was assuming they’d become a dyed-in-the-wool couple and he needed to get down on one knee.
But what was so bad about making plans beyond breakfast? She’d had some great lovers in the past, but what she’d experienced with James went far beyond the category of casual. Hadn’t he felt all the wonderful things she’d felt last night?
She rolled her eyes to make it harder for him to detect the swirl of emotion going on underneath the surface. “You can stop with the deer-in-the-headlights, hon. I just narrowly escaped one marriage. I’m not at all interested in jumping right into another one, no matter how good the prospective groom is at feeding me.”
Which was absolutely, completely true. Saying it aloud solidified it for them both.
With a wicked smile, he yanked on her hand, pulling her into his embrace. His weird expression melted away as he nuzzled her neck.
Foot-in-mouth averted. Except now she was wondering exactly what his intentions toward her were. A few nights together and then ta-ta?
And when did she get to the point where that wasn’t necessarily what she wanted? She didn’t do all that commitment-and-feelings rigmarole. She liked to have fun and secretly felt sorry for women on husband-hunting missions. Her mother had gotten trapped in that cycle and lived a miserable existence for years and years as a result. No, thank you.
Nothing had changed just because of a few emotions she had no idea what to do with. Her affair with James had begun so unconventionally and under extreme circumstances. If they’d been able to go out on a real date from the beginning, they’d probably have already moved on by now.
Good thing she’d made it clear marriage wasn’t on her mind so there was no confusion, though a few other things could be better spelled out.
James sucked on her tender flesh, clearly about to move south, and she wiggled away before her body leaped on the train without her permission.
“That wasn’t supposed to be a code word.” She giggled at his crestfallen expression but sobered to hold his gaze. “Listen, before you go get breakfast, let’s lay this out. Last night was amazing but I’m not done. Are you? Because if this thing between us was one night only, I’ll be sad, but I’m a big girl. Tell me.”
He was already shaking his head before she’d finished speaking. “No way. I’m nowhere near done.”
Her pulse settled. Good answer. “So, if you want a repeat of the grapes-on-the-floor routine, I’m all for it. But I’d prefer a real bed from now on. My plan is to put some elbow grease into this place, preferably someone else’s, and create a lover’s retreat where we can escape whenever we feel like it.”
“Are you expecting us to have to hide out that long?” Wary surprise crept into his tone, setting her teeth on edge.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” What, was it too much trouble to drive out here just to have a few stolen hours together? “Is what I’m suggesting so horrible?”
“No. Not at all. My hesitation was completely on the issue of hiding out. I want to be seen with you in public. I’m not ashamed of our relationship and I don’t want you to think I am.”
Her heart squished as she absorbed his righteous indignation and sincerity. He wanted their relationship to be aboveboard, just as he’d wanted to clear things with Will before proceeding. And that meant a lot to her. He kept trying to make her think he didn’t have a noble bone in his body when everything he did hinged on his own personal sense of honor.
“I didn’t think that, but way to score major points.” She batted her eyelashes at him saucily. “But that aside, I don’t even know if I’m staying in Alma permanently or I’d get my own place. I suspect you’re in the same boat.”
He’d told her he hoped to get another contract with a professional soccer—sorry, football—team, and that the team could be in Barcelona or the UK or Brazil or, or, or... He might end up anywhere in the world. And probably would.
“Yeah. I haven’t made a secret out of the fact that I don’t plan to stick around,” he agreed cautiously.
“I know. So do you really think there’s a scenario where either of us would be willing to parade the other across the thresholds of our fathers’ houses even if we do clear up the engagement announcement?”
He sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s rewind this whole conversation. Smashing idea, Bella. I’d love to help you get this place into shape so I can take an actual shower in the morning.”
That was the James she knew and loved. Or rather, the James she...didn’t know very well, but liked a whole lot. With a sigh, she let him kiss her again and shoved him out the door for real this time because her stomach was growling and her heart was doing some funny things that she didn’t especially like.
Space would be good right now.
The sound of the Lamborghini’s engine faded away as she went about taking inventory on the lower floor. Apparently most, if not all, of the original furnishings remained, as evidenced by their arrangement. Bella had been in enough wealthy households to recognize when a place had been artfully decorated and this one definitely had. The pieces had been placed just so by a feminine hand, or at least she imagined it that way. That’s when it hit her that this farmhouse had probably once belonged to an ancestor of hers. Someone of
