She rushed up the stairs and stood behind Will’s chair.
‘I need to ask you something.’
Will’s brow creased into a frown.
‘OK.’
‘Last week Celine informed me that she’d spent the night of the party in your bed. Is she lying?’
Will turned his head to look up at her and reached for her hand.
‘Grace, we need to be honest with each other now…’
Her heart was in her mouth.
‘Celine is telling the truth.’
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Grace pulled her hand away and backed out of the bedroom through the open door. She made it to the top of the stairs before he called out to her.
‘Grace. Please let me explain.’
There didn’t seem to be a lot to explain. He’d obviously slept with Celine just two days before their night on the beach. The night she’d believed was so special. The night Will had told her was like no other. But for him, it looked like a case of any port in a storm. If it was on offer, he’d grab it with both hands, literally. She mustn’t let him see how hurt she was.
‘Grace. I beg you. Just give me two minutes. Please. I’d get up and come after you if I could.’
She was torn between running down the stairs and out of the door to the beach, and considering the welfare of the man she’d agreed to look after. If he tried to follow her, he could fall down the steep stone stairs. He’d not gone further than his room, his en suite and the balcony yet. They might not be going anywhere romantically, especially if Celine had anything to do with it, but she’d promised to look after him. She owed it to him to hear him out.
As soon as she hesitated, she was lost. She’d listen to what Will had to say, but anything else was firmly on hold.
Grace took her usual chair next to him. Will tried to hide a smile.
‘You look like a sulky teenager.’
Grace shot up out of the chair.
‘Right, that’s it, I’m going for a swim.’
‘No, I’m sorry, please wait. Give me a moment.’
Grace rearranged her features.
‘I’m listening.’
‘What I was about to say, before you rushed off, is that I got so drunk after you left the party in a hurry…’
‘Ah, you’re blaming it on drink, the easy way out.’
‘No… if you’ll let me finish. I was so drunk that at some point I must have crawled upstairs to bed. When I woke up, Celine was in the bed with me.’
Grace gave him an ‘I’ve heard this one before’ look.
‘Oh, poor little you, having an attractive Frenchwoman in the bed beside you, all primed and ready to go.’
Why had her voice gone up two octaves in the space of a sentence?
‘Look, I didn’t invite her into my bed, I didn’t want her there, and absolutely nothing happened as I called her a cab and asked her to leave.’
