One Night On The Virgin's Terms - Melanie Milburne Page 0,13

her mouth, could still feel the brush of his hand against her face, his fingers buried in her hair.

She shivered and buried her head in the menu, wondering if her cheeks were as warm as they felt. ‘Let me see, now... Snails? Frogs’ legs? Steak tartare?’

‘Tell me you’re joking.’ His tone was so dry it could have mopped up an oil spill.

Ivy gave him a cheeky smile. ‘I’m joking. But, hey, what sort of Frenchman are you to turn your nose up at escargots?’

‘I’m only half-French. My mother is English.’ He picked up the wine list and opened it. ‘The only time I ate snails was when my father insisted on it when I was six years old.’

‘And?’

He didn’t stop looking at the menu, but she had a feeling he wasn’t registering a single word written there. His features tightened as if he was trying to keep an unpleasant memory contained. ‘I was violently ill.’

‘Are you allergic to them or something?’

Louis put the menu down and met her gaze with a now bland expression. ‘No. But, since they’re my father’s favourite dish, I was left in no doubt of how much I’d disappointed him.’ He tapped the wine menu with his fingers. ‘Champagne or white wine...or how about some brandy?’ His grey-blue eyes glinted and something between her legs fluttered like the wings of a moth.

Ivy shifted in her seat, winding her mind back to his earlier comment rather than examine too closely what her body was currently doing. ‘I’ll have white wine. What are your parents like? You’ve never told me anything about them before. Are you close to them?’

He gave a soft grunt that said everything that needed to be said. So too did the bitter twist of his mouth and the ripple of tension along his jaw. ‘I have very little in common with either of them other than DNA.’

The waiter came for the drinks order at that moment and it gave Ivy a chance to surreptitiously study Louis. It occurred to her that she had known him for years—close to a decade—and yet there was still so much about him she didn’t know. He was a reserved type of man, similar to her brother Ronan, which had strengthened the bond between them during her brother’s difficult time in finally embracing his sexuality. But she hadn’t known anything about Louis’ relationship with his family other than he was an only child and that his father ran a large international accounting firm with branches throughout Europe. The unknown aspect of Louis’ character was a timely reminder not to allow her feelings to get involved. But, perversely, it made her all the more fascinated by him. Who was he behind the Mr Amazing One-Night Stand persona?

The waiter left and Ivy picked up the conversation again. ‘Do your parents live here or in France?’

‘They split their time between the two,’ Louis said. ‘My father inherited my grandparents’ chateau in the Loire valley when they died a few years ago. It’s been in our family for five generations.’

‘So, being their only child, you’ll inherit it one day?’

He gave her an inscrutable look. ‘Perhaps.’

Ivy wrinkled her forehead in a frown. ‘Perhaps? What does that mean?’

He let out a slow breath and moved his water glass a quarter turn. ‘It means my father is likely to change his mind after some perceived slight from me, so I don’t have any expectations in that regard. I’ve made my own money. I don’t need his.’

Ivy picked up her own glass of water. ‘Gosh, and here I was thinking my father was a pain in the butt.’ She took a sip of water before putting the glass back down. ‘Not that he was always like that...’

Louis met her gaze. ‘Do you miss him? Ronan told me you used to be really close to him before your parents divorced.’

She found it hard to hold his gaze and looked at the small flower arrangement on the table instead. Her parents divorcing when she was thirteen had been tough, but her father’s rejection of her because of her loyalty to her brother had been the hardest thing she had ever faced. Her father’s love was something she’d thought she’d always be able to rely on, but she’d been wrong. His ultimatum that she cease all contact with Ronan otherwise never see him again had totally blindsided her. To be made to choose between her adored older brother and equally adored father was beyond cruel.

‘I thought he loved me. I