Thank you. I... If you’re here, then I should be getting back.’ Which would come as a major blow to Amy, who was probably, right now, in full-blown domestic-goddess mode.
‘Nonsense,’ Stefano said smoothly. ‘I insist.’ He stood up and dialled his driver, whose lodgings were in a cottage on the grounds. ‘I’ve tried meals out with my daughter,’ he admitted with a trace less of his usual self-assurance, ‘and the success rate has been zero. When my mother comes, the situation is slightly less fraught but I’ve noticed small changes in Flora and I can only thank you for that.’ He gave his words time to sink in. ‘I think,’ he continued honestly, ‘if you came there might be a marked change of atmosphere.’
Why did the thought of having a meal out with him make her feel so jumpy? Flora would be there! Yet the thought of getting dressed up...turned it from a casual chat into an occasion.
But she’d told him about herself, had mentally reinforced the differences between them. Hadn’t she killed off all stupid notions of romance? She wasn’t tempted by bridal magazines and she didn’t peer at engagement rings in the windows of local jewellers. She’d sharpened up her act over the years and, anyway, she’d been born streetwise. She knew that there was a big difference between finding a guy attractive and knowing that he would be rubbish as a long-term investment and she would never allow herself to get wrapped up in anyone who would turn out to be a rubbish long-term investment. Her financial long-term investments were carefully thought out. Her emotional ones would be the same. She’d made that her life’s work.
So she was safe as houses when it came to Stefano Gunn, and sparing him no detail about her background—so very, very different from his—was just another safeguard in place.
Just for one bleak moment she stood back and looked at herself. So tough, so sensible, head always screwed on...
It made sense!
It was important to have full control... She’d lived a life where there had been no control; she’d seen how complete lack of control had destroyed her mother...
So here she was, letting her head work through her life options instead of her emotions...
Yet...
For just a few fleeting seconds she was shaken and disconcerted by a sort of raw envy of Amy’s trusting outlook on the world, her open, hopeful view of men, the enthusiasm with which she flung herself into relationships which Sunny could see would never work.
For a few fleeting seconds she wondered whether she hadn’t sacrificed too much in her quest for stability and her distrust of basic relationships. She’d watched her mother and had sworn from a young age that she’d protect herself from ever getting like that. She’d never let a parade of unsuitable men influence the outcome of her life. She’d never let a weakness for passing fun get the better of her good judgement. She’d never think that salvation could be found at the bottom of a glass or after getting high.
But now it crossed her mind that in her rush to learn her life lessons she’d written off a lot more than just those things.
Had she written off fun? Amy pretending to be a domestic goddess for some guy she would get bored with after two minutes...wasn’t that fun? And how much could you protect yourself from getting hurt? Without becoming a rock, isolated and set apart from the rest of the living, breathing, hurting human race? With John, she’d dipped her toes in the water only to hurriedly yank them out because the temperature hadn’t been right. So what happened next? The dry, sterile, clinical life of someone who refused to...dare?
‘Fine,’ Sunny said abruptly, annoyed with herself for the foolish tangent her thoughts had taken. She smiled stiffly and politely. ‘I’m sure Flora will be pleased. What time do you...want me back here or will we be going to somewhere in London? In which case I can meet you both there...’
‘Eric will wait for you. Somewhere here, I think. I know a couple of places and it’ll be far less tiresome than making the journey into central London, even if Flora and I can overnight in my apartment in Mayfair.’
He thought she didn’t have fun. Sunny’s thoughts were still whirling in her head even though she’d tried to snuff them out with a stern talking-to.
He thought she was an ambitious and probably bitter young woman who didn’t know how to do anything else but work. She had no boyfriend, she’d had a sad and challenging life, and now...she worked late every night, did a second job in her free time to earn money and on the weekends caught up on her sleep...when her head wasn’t buried in her books.
She recalled him saying that he worked hard but he played as well...
She imagined that, deep down, he would expect her to turn up in work clothes if they were going somewhere where the dress code wasn’t jeans and a T-shirt and some trainers.
Was that why he had kindly warned her that they might be going somewhere dressy? Because he feared that she might show up, whatever the occasion, in her stiff little suit and crisp white blouse?
‘Okay—’ Sunny shrugged ‘—but I hope he doesn’t mind waiting. Girls can be...er...indecisive when it comes to choosing clothes...’
Stefano raised his eyebrows wryly and she flushed because she had the annoying feeling that he could see straight through her—which made her want to carry on protesting.
Yes...girls take time getting their appearance right! And that includes me, whatever you might think!
She was stubbornly determined to prove him wrong and to prove to herself that she hadn’t forgotten what it was like to dress up and think of something other than her long-term plans and passing exams.
* * *
She’d expected Amy to be horrified at her unexpected arrival but instead the plump, good-natured brunette dimpled smugly and pulled her to one side when she was through the front door.
‘The meal was a disaster,’ she whispered, giggling. ‘Honestly, Sunny, I swear I followed every instruction in the recipe book, more or less, but it was an absolute disaster!’
‘Why are you grinning?’
‘Because Jake thought it was hilarious! He said he’s a brilliant cook and he’s been looking for a woman who can be impressed by his culinary skills! Anyway, he’s disappeared to the Thai down the road to get us a takeaway and then we’re going to watch a movie. You’re not staying, are you? I mean, that’s fine, but would it be awful of me to ask if you could hide out in your bedroom? Just for a bit?’
‘I’m not staying!’ Sunny laughed. ‘But I need you to do me a favour and I need you to do it before Jake gets back with your Thai...because I need your undivided attention...’
* * *
Half an hour later, Sunny looked at herself in the full-length mirror in her friend’s bedroom.
Her selection of dressy clothes was pitiful. She had casual and she had work and then, in between those two polar opposites, she had a paltry array of drab skirts and jumpers that seemed to be neither one thing nor the other.
She’d become accustomed over the years to playing down her looks. Her looks had always earned her the sort of unwarranted attention she’d hated. As far as she was concerned, what mattered was what lay beneath the surface and the only way she had ever
