‘There they are—the newlyweds.’ As Serena and Caleb made their way through the front door of the property, they were greeted by the welcoming smiles of their hosts, Thierry and Mathilde Clement, faces that Serena vaguely remembered from their wedding. ‘We’re so pleased that you were able to come and celebrate with us, interrupting your honeymoon, no less.’
‘We wouldn’t have missed it,’ Caleb smiled smoothly, showing none of the nerves that were writhing in Serena’s stomach as they embarked on their first public appearance as a married couple. The evening was important to Caleb, and she didn’t want to do anything to disappoint him. ‘Would we?’ Caleb asked, gazing down at her with eyes that sparkled like starlight, and her heart leapt in response.
‘Not at all. I cannot wait to see all the work you’ve done here. Caleb told me you’ve been renovating for two years, so I’m sure it’s going to be spectacular.’
‘Your wife is as generous as she is beautiful, Caleb,’ Thierry remarked smilingly. ‘There’s no question why, after a lifetime, of bachelorhood you wasted no time putting a ring on her finger.’
‘What can I say? Serena got under my skin the moment we met and I just couldn’t let her go.’ Serena glanced up at him, warmed by his words. She knew they were a key part of their narrative, but there was a sincerity to them and an ease to their delivery that made her wonder if they could be more than just a soundbite. If they contained some kernel of truth. She knew it was true for her, that Caleb had affected her, in spite of her dogged pretence to the contrary, right from the start, but was it possible that she burrowed just as deeply under his skin? The thought thrilled her, sparking hope that was dangerous, but too potent to be extinguished. ‘I was always told it would happen one day and I never believed it, but…here we are.’
His eyes stroked over her again, rousing tingles everywhere, and as their gazes caught, a deeper and richer light started to smoulder, something that seemed to speak only to her, the deepest, most secret part of her. A message that only she would see and understand. Everything in her responded. Was that another sign of his feelings changing, deepening in spite of what he had said about not wanting anything real or was he just a far better actor that she was? Playing the performance of his life for their hosts to eat up?
Serena didn’t know. But she wanted to know. Itmattered. And yet it shouldn’t matter. She shouldn’t care. She certainly shouldn’t be feeling cold and wobbly at the thought that he was only pretending when it was what they’d agreed. But when he looked at her like that, when his fingers moved against her waist in that subtle, tender, exquisitely powerful way to soothe her nervousness, because he knew without her having to say anything that she was nervous, everything felt confused and she couldn’t keep her mind, or her heart from forming questions that she’d be safer and smarter not asking, not wanting to ask.
But the thought that he could possibly feel more for her, that it wasn’t all a pretence—that was dizzying. Electrifying. Heart-stopping.
‘Serena,’ Caleb prompted and she realised she’d been so deep in her thoughts that she’d lost the thread of conversation.
‘I’m so sorry. I was too busy admiring everything, and I stopped listening for a second. Forgive me.’
‘Please admire away,’ Mathilde encouraged. ‘That is why we invited you. Admiration and compliments, as many as you wish, none too grand.’ Serena smiled at the other woman’s playfulness, liking her immensely and feeling a little more at ease. ‘How about a tour, my dear? You and I can get to know each other better, since you’ll be regular visitors out here with the new beach club. You can tell me all about how you and this glorious man met.’
As Mathilde drew her away, she was aware of Caleb tensing and keeping hold of her. ‘Do I not get the tour too?’ he asked with a laugh.
‘If you are unable to part from your bride for all of thirty minutes, then by all means join us,’ she offered airily.
He pretended to consider for a second when Serena knew by the look in his eye his mind was already made up. ‘I think I will. Thirty minutes is far too long for us to be apart.’
Mathilde flashed them an indulgent smile. ‘Young love. So beautiful.’ Her eyes moved to Thierry with fondness. ‘I remember when that was us,ma chérie.’
‘I would say it still is us,’ he drawled, dropping a brief kiss to her lips before she beckoned them to follow her.
Caleb stayed close, his chest pressing against her back, his hand resting on her waist as though he couldn’t bear for their contact to be severed. Serena’s heart soared with the thought, but remembering her pledge to keep a tighter rein on her thoughts, she brought herself back down with the caution that it could be nothing more than foolish, wishful thinking to indulge in the romantic notion that he couldn’t bear to part from her, when really it was all for show, Caleb playing role of a besotted and attentive husband? And if she let that notion take root, she could be leading herself towards heartache again, the same kind of heartache she’d opened herself up to with Lucas, ignoring all the red flags around him and seeing only what she wanted,needed, to see.
But I’m not that desperate young girl anymore,Serena reminded herself.
But if that was true, why was she hoping Caleb’s feelings were growing as much as hers?
Her head suddenly aching with confusion, it occurred to Serena then that she should insist on going on the tour with Mathilde alone and send Caleb to mingle with Thierry. That way she’d be able to find some perspective amongst her jumbled thoughts and get herself back on the page she was meant to be on. The page sheneededto stay for her own protection. And she was never going to find that composure, or rationale, fizzing with delight at his nearness and with his every touch frying her nerve endings. But as she looked back at Caleb with that intent, she found she couldn’t say the words.
How was she meant to chase him away and enforce that much-needed distance when all she wanted was exactly what she had, his closeness?
Caleb couldn’t remember ever being as proud as he was of Serena that evening. She shone like the treasure she was, drawing everyone to her and alternately charming them with anecdotes about her siblings and impressing them with her extensive appreciation and knowledge of art. He hadn’t been worried at all, but he knew she had been nervous about fitting into his world. Her body had been twanging with nerves as they’d arrived but she had overcome them to show off her beautiful self—just as she had overcome so much else. There wasn’t a day that passed when he wasn’t in awe of her strength, of the grit she had displayed to survive the traumas she’d suffered and remain a steady port for her siblings in the face of adversity from her stepmother. But he loved that she was now regaining her life, and herself.
Stealing her away the first moment he could, he led her outside to the gardens, a manicured paradise of lantern-lit stony pathways and low succulents. As soon as they were alone, he pulled her against him, satisfying as much as he could the need to have her taste on his tongue.
‘I’ve been desperate to do that for an hour, but there were too many other people around,’ he breathed as he pulled back and read the happiness and confidence radiating from her eyes. ‘I think you’ve been an even bigger success tonight than the hotel. I told you there was no reason to be nervous.’
‘I just didn’t want to let you down,’ she confessed.
‘That would never happen. I didn’t know you knew so much about the art world though.’
She shrugged. ‘Marcia may have kept me from studying it at university, but I kept up learning as much as I could.’
‘You caught Roberto Paloma’s attention, and that’s not easy,” Caleb said, making reference to one of the other guests at the party, a renowned art gallery owner whom Serena had recognised the moment she set eyes on him from across the room. ‘I watched him as you were speaking in there and he was impressed,’ Caleb shared, hoping that she would draw further confidence from having gained the attention of a man she respected.
‘I cannot believe you know him. Or that I was in the same room as him. I’ve admired him for years, Caleb.’
He smiled at her excitement. ‘I think you mentioned that earlier.’ Along with how she’d dreamed of visiting his galleries across Europe and loved the variety of artists he worked with. ‘His next big venture is opening a gallery in London.’
