Cinderella's Christmas Secret - Sharon Kendrick Page 0,24

much he hungered to recreate that night he’d spent in her arms? If he was cold and indifferent towards her, she would soon realise how much better off she was without a man like him. ‘You’d better come inside,’ he said.

‘Don’t worry. I’ll be sure not to keep you for any longer than I have to.’

‘Let’s go to the library,’ he said, shutting the door on the icy blast outside. ‘Unlike most of the castle, at least it’s warm in there.’

‘Whatever,’ she said, with a shrug.

Hollie’s heart was heavy as she followed Maximo through the wood-panelled corridors, thinking he couldn’t have been more unwelcoming if he’d tried. She thought how abrupt he seemed and she wished she weren’t here. In fact, she wished she were anywhere but here—but the instant she entered the library, her concerns were briefly forgotten.

She’d only ever seen the place deserted, when Janette had brought her round to view it just before it went on the market. The fire exit signs from its days as a hotel were faded and the place had always appeared so lacklustre and uninspiring. But not today. Today she found herself noticing the perfect proportions of the room—the intricate carvings of cherubs and sailing ships, and the huge mullioned windows which overlooked the grounds. Was that Maximo’s influence? she found herself wondering. Did he have the ability to transmute dull surroundings and turn them into a place which breathed beauty, as he had done the night when she’d taken him home?

Maybe it was just the roaring fire in the grate which had brought the ancient room to vibrant life—illuminating the detailing on the stone fireplace and the bare wall above it, which was just crying out for a painting. A rich landscape in oil, Hollie thought longingly. Or a portrait. You could put a comfortable chair underneath—two chairs, maybe—and sit there in the evenings watching the shadows fall. She felt a wistful wrench of her heart. Couldn’t someone turn this castle into a home?

It was unlikely to be Maximo.

She turned to find him studying her, his black gaze fixed on her intently, as if he had never really seen her before. Hollie’s heart missed a beat, because wasn’t she feeling a bit like that herself? As if this were the first time they’d ever been alone. She felt awkward in his presence, which was slightly ridiculous, when you considered all the things they’d done together.

Or maybe it wasn’t ridiculous at all. What did she know? She’d thought that what they’d shared had been intimacy, but she had been wrong. In her innocence she had confused sex with real closeness. But you could be naked in a man’s arms and it counted for nothing, because right now Maximo Diaz seemed like a stranger. A stranger whose child she carried.

‘What exactly do you want me to sign?’ he questioned, putting the unopened box down on the table.

‘It’s right here.’ Her hands were trembling as she scrabbled around inside her briefcase and she wondered if he’d noticed as she walked across the room towards him. ‘It’s the release form concerning the fixtures and fittings. It’s just a formality.’

He was reading it. Of course he was. He wasn’t the kind of man who would put his signature to something he hadn’t studied first. And because he was reading it, it was taking much longer than she had anticipated.

The silence in the room seemed immense and Hollie pulled out her phone and began to look at it, as if there were loads of missed calls she needed to attend to, though in truth the screen was just a blur of mangled words. As a distraction technique it was pretty useless because she couldn’t escape the troubled whirl of her thoughts as the minutes ticked slowly by. His dark head was bent and when eventually she heard the scratch of his pen, he looked up, his smile brief and perfunctory.

‘I think that’s everything you need.’

He can’t wait to get rid of you.

He was rising from the chair and Hollie couldn’t hold back her shiver as he handed her the document.

‘If there’s nothing more, I’ll see you out.’

‘There’s really no need. I know my way around.’

‘I insist.’ He shot her a brief look and something like pain filtered through his black eyes. ‘How are you feeling?’

It might have been funny if it hadn’t been so sad and Hollie only just managed to keep a burst of hysterical laughter from her lips. To say there was an elephant in