His gaze was on her mouth, the sexual tension between them so vivid she felt that everyone else on the beach must surely be able to feel it, too.
“You definitely weren’t interested in a one-night stand.”
He gave a slow smile and cupped her face in his hands. “Who said anything about a one-night stand?”
23
Alexandra
Alexandra was eating breakfast on the balcony when there was a tap on the door and her daughter stepped into the room.
She put her coffee cup down. “Come on in. I’m enjoying the sun and the breeze. It’s a perfect combination.”
“You’re eating breakfast?” Abby stepped onto the balcony. “You never eat breakfast.”
That was true. Alexandra glanced at the few flakes of croissant left on the plate. She’d pulled off a corner intending to sample it and somehow ended up eating the whole thing.
“I could tell you that I’m sampling Chef’s handiwork, but I’d be lying. I’m eating breakfast because I’m hungry and the rumours about Luca’s skills are all true. I was surprised to find him making breakfast.”
“We have an excellent breakfast chef, but Luca is in overall charge obviously and he believes it’s important to work withall members of the kitchen staff. And he has introduced a new breakfast menu. We’re offering brioche and granita for our more adventurous guests.”
“I approve.” Alexandra caught sight of the undisturbed bed and wished she’d had the foresight to rumple the sheets a little. “How was your evening?”
Abby flushed. “It was good. Thanks.”
The flush interested her. She remembered something Edward had mentioned the night before about the man whose family owned the pub. Tristan?
She’d never asked her daughter about her relationships before, instead accepting what she was told and never delving deeper. So why was she suddenly desperate to know more?
It wasn’t her business. Her daughter was allowed to have secrets.
But she wanted to share them. They’d shared so many other things since she’d arrived, why not this?
She stood there feeling clumsy and inept. She had no intention of betraying a confidence, which meant she needed to find another way to coax her daughter to tell her about it.
“I was thinking that maybe later we could—”
“Mom!” Abby blurted out the words. “I need to talk to you. About work.”
Work.
She felt a flicker of disappointment, although she knew that was unreasonable. Work was invariably the focus of their conversation. Up until this moment it had been the way she preferred it, but that was because she’d had so much to hide. So much she hadn’t wanted to talk about.
Now that everything was out in the open, there was no reason for their conversation topics to be constrained or restricted.
But maybe it was going to take a while to change that.Sharing with her daughter was something she needed to learn how to do, and she would.
And in the meantime, she’d listen.
“Why don’t you sit down? Have you had breakfast?”
“No, but I—I’m not hungry.” Abby sat. She perched on the edge of her seat, her back straight. “Do you have a replacement in mind for Jack?”
Alexandra finished her coffee and put the cup down. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about,” she said carefully. “Why? Do you have someone in mind?”
“Yes.” Abby looked at her. “Me.”
“You?”
