Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,96

day. Almost embarrassed at the comparison, she dropped her eyes.

By now, he had reached her side and gently removed the key card from the lock as the door clicked open. As if understanding her thoughts, he placed one hand underneath her chin and brought her eyes up to his, rubbing his thumb absently along her jaw.

“Don’t...” he said softly, “don’t do that. Don’t run yourself down. You are impossibly beautiful, Elise and you need to learn to believe in yourself. If that man.......” he drew in a breath, “If that man hadn’t done such a good hatchet job on you, you would see what everyone else sees – not what he wants you to see. You would see your beauty, your strength and your compassion. I need you to let me show you how wonderful you are.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple and then lightly propelled her through the door, closing and locking it behind him. He had such a way with words that Elise found herself wondering again, how he was still single. She was infinitely grateful that he was but she couldn’t believe that no one had ever fallen in love with him before. It just didn’t seem possible.

Shrugging off the thoughts, she took a moment to look around and observe her surroundings. Vaughn’s room was similar to hers although it was on the other side of the corridor so had a different view. It still looked out onto the grounds but this end of the hotel faced towards the town so in the distance, you could see the buildings and the commerce of Swindon. The curtains weren’t drawn and it was still dark in the room. You could see all of the lights of the town beyond and it was immeasurably pretty – almost like having your own private lighting display.

It was still early so most of the guests were continuing to enjoy the food and entertainment in the ballroom – the sounds of which could just about be made out drifting up from below. As a result, there was very little movement or sound from any of the adjoining rooms and Elise closed her eyes momentarily, almost believing that they were completely alone in their own private paradise.

Vaughn moved across the room and lit a couple of lamps, giving it a cosy, golden glow and Elise took the opportunity to move across the room and sit down on the sofa which was adjacent to the bed. She felt the sofa dip and Vaughn dropped down next to her, gently taking her hand and then following her gaze to the window where the beauty and tranquillity of the lights lay beyond.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked quietly, “There are some bottles in the mini bar or we could order a bottle of wine?”

“No, I’m fine – thank you.” she said, her voice wobbling a little and she coughed lightly, in an effort to maintain some control.

“Okay. Well, if you change your mind, let me know.” He was silent again for a moment, continuing to hold her hand and gently rub his thumb across her knuckles.

“Elise?” he said after a while, breaking the silence. “Have you been with anyone else other than Dale?”

Startled, she turned to face him; the question seeming to have come totally out of left field.

“Erm... no. No, I haven’t. Came close a few times but Dale was my first. And only. Why do you ask?” she replied, suddenly terrified that he’d find her lack of experience a complete turn off.

“I don’t know really,” he answered, “I just wanted to know. Call me old-fashioned but I was kind of hoping that’s what you’d say.” She nodded, understanding his sentiment on some level.

“We married young.” She continued. ”After we met and fell in love that was the end of it really. I never thought about having anyone else - until you walked into my life.” she grinned at him, “Except for the time when I walked in on Celeste with two men in her bed – that made me think a bit!”

“Two men, eh?” he laughed, “Think you could handle that?”

“Well....not before but now – who knows?” she said saucily, “Maybe you’ve unleashed the vixen in me!” She laughed, the thought of her being anything close to a vixen was hilarious.

“Steady on! Just so you know, sharing’s not usually my thing – particularly when I’ve got you in my bed. I don’t want anyone else to have you – ever.” Vaughn suddenly became serious