One Night On The Virgin's Terms - Melanie Milburne Page 0,54
maybe it was she who had shifted. She felt more confident in her sensuality, more at ease in expressing herself sexually.
His eyes darkened. ‘You can’t guess?’
A shiver coursed down her spine and sent a soft flicker to her core. ‘You’re not the easiest person to read but I’m guessing you’re thinking about what happens after dinner.’
A slow smile spread across his face and he reached for her hand across the table and held it in his. ‘Those diamonds look fabulous on you. The colour reminds me of your cheeks when you blush.’
Ivy touched one of the droplet earrings before placing her hand back in her lap. Her other hand tingled where it was encased in his. ‘I’m not sure what Millie is going to say when I come home wearing diamonds from a high-end jeweller. Did I tell you she’s a jewellery designer? She lets me wear her stuff for free.’
He pulled his hand away and picked up his glass of champagne, his expression difficult to read. ‘They’re a birthday gift, that’s all.’ He took a sip of his drink and placed the glass back on the table with a little thud that seemed to serve as an underline to his statement.
Ivy chewed one side of her mouth. ‘Are you cross with me?’
He sighed and gave a forced-looking smile that faded almost as soon as it appeared. ‘No. It’s just I don’t want your friends to get the wrong idea about us. I would have preferred they didn’t know about our...arrangement.’
‘Well, I get that, but what am I going to say to Ronan or Mum when they see these?’ She touched the pendant hanging around her neck.
His mouth tightened. ‘I’ve bought you birthday presents before. What’s the big deal?’
‘Book and cinema vouchers aren’t quite in the same league as diamonds, though, are they?’
Louis picked up his glass and drained it, placing it back down again with a heavy sigh. ‘Just for the record, I don’t give my ex-lovers diamonds, or any other jewellery when it comes to that.’
‘Maybe that’s my point.’
A frown settled between his brows. ‘And your point is?’ His tone was guarded, and his gaze had ‘keep away’ written in its smoke and sky hues.
Ivy wished she hadn’t started this conversation but felt compelled to continue it regardless. The clock was ticking on ‘their arrangement’, as he called it. An arrangement that was passionate, exciting and thrilled her senses but was doomed to bring her heartache in the end.
Why hadn’t she realised that before now? She was on a road that came to a dead end. It would be crazy to keep driving along it knowing she would never get from Louis what she most wanted. Yes, he’d bought her diamonds and treated her like a princess. He’d made love to her as if she was the only woman in the world he ever wanted to make love to. But he was not willing to open his heart to her.
She took a prickly breath, her heart thumping, her stomach bottoming out. ‘My point is I want more than you’re offering.’
Not a single muscle moved on his face, but something shifted at the back of his eyes like a furtive shadow at the back of a stage. ‘What? Diamonds aren’t enough?’ His tone had a sarcastic edge.
She sent him a reproving look. ‘Louis, I think deep down you want more too, but you’re not ready to admit it. You wouldn’t have bought me such a beautiful gift if you didn’t feel something for me.’
He signalled for the waiter to settle the bill. ‘Now is not the time or place to have this conversation.’
‘I think it’s a perfectly good time,’ Ivy said. ‘What’s the point of us being here together in Paris if we go our separate ways in four days? We have only four days now, Louis. Do you realise how clinical that sounds? You can’t put a time limit on your feelings, or at least I can’t.’ She swallowed and continued, ‘I have feelings for you that can’t be turned off by a date on the calendar.’
His mouth was so tight, white tips appeared at the corners. ‘Look, you’re getting confused by the sex. You’re new to physical intimacy. People can fancy themselves madly in love with a lover but what they’re in love with is the endorphins that good sex sets off. You’ll see that I’m right in a few days. Once we stop having sex, you’ll—’
‘What? Forget how you make me feel? Pretend none of it