CHAPTER TWO

Not yet anyway,’ he added, when Stephanie opened her mouth to argue. ‘ Not until I’ve seen the specialist again and discussed my prognosis. I don’t want to worry them unnecessarily. Jennifer is only eighteen, and she’s too young to have to deal with any more traumas. Promise me you won’t say anything to the girls or anyone else? ‘ he pleaded.

Stephanie nodded reluctantly. ‘Of course I won’t, if that’s what you want. But I’m coming to the hospital with you on Friday. The chemotherapy made you so sick last time.’ She paused before adding hesitantly, ‘ I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that Jennifer isn’t happy about us meeting—especially now you can no longer pretend we’re discussing my designs for Luciana’s flat. If she knew your trips to London are to the hospital...’

‘No,’ James insisted again. ‘ she’d be scared witless anyway, ‘ he added cheerfully, ‘ I’ve told her I’m meeting you to discuss ideas for refurbishing Ditton Hall.’

‘Yes,’ Stephanie said slowly, ‘I’m afraid that’s what’s upset her.’ But what could she do about the situation? Stephanie fretted she had first met James Grainger when she had been commissioned to design Luciana and Liam’s flat, and had quickly realised that beneath James’s friendly charm was a man teetering on the edge of despair at the loss of his wife.

Stephanie had sympathized with James, and understood his reluctance to burden his daughters with his misery when they were greiving for their mother. And so she had taken time to chat to him whenever they had met at the flat, and had gentlely encouraged him to talk about Lilly Grainger.

A deep friendship had developed between them. and James had confided in her when he’d gone for tests to determine if he had prostate cancer. Since the diagnosis she had faithfully kept his secret, but she had been unable to persuade him to reveal the truth to Luciana and Jennifer And now she had a feeling that Jennifer resented her friendship with James.

Sighing, she let her fingers stray to her neck, nervously checking the diamond necklace that hung like a heavy weight around her throat.

‘Stop fiddling with it. It’s fine,’ James chided her.

‘I’m terrified I’II lose it. I really think I should take it off and return it to you.’

‘I’ve told you, I don’t want it back. It’s a present,’

‘And I told you I can’t accept it’, Stephanie told him firmly, ‘ please understand. It must be worth a fortune, and it wouldn’t be ...appropriate for me to keep it.’

‘I just wanted to thank you for your support these past few months by giving you something special for your birthday,’ James said stubbornly, ‘I don’t know what I would have done without you.Lilly would have liked you,’he added gruffly.

The sadness in his eyes brought a lump to Stephanie’s throat,and on impulse she leaned up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. ‘ I help because we’re friends, and I certainly don’t want you to repay me with expensive jewellery.’ She gave the older man a rueful look, Knowing that he would be deeply hurt if she insisted on returning the necklace. ‘But thank you—the necklace is beautiful and I’II treasure it.’

‘Daddy, you haven’t danced with me once this evening.’

At the sound of the faintly petulant voice, Stephanie glanced round, Her heart sank when she saw Jennifer Grainger staring sulkily at her. She quickly stepped away from James, feeling guilty that she had monopolised his attention, But as she swung round to walk off the dance floor she cannoned into a hard wall of muscle encased in silk—and when she lifted her head her eyes meshed with the midnight-dark gaze of Jennifer’s partner.

Her first thought was that she had never in her life seen a man like him. His stunning looks stole the breath from her body, and as his eyes Locked with hers she stood stock- still and simply stared at him, absorbing the impact of his perfectly sculpted bone structure and the dark olive skin stretched taut over his high cheekbones. His jaw was square, and hinted at an implacable determination to always get his own way, but his mouth was wide and sensual, and Stephanie felt a curious longing to trace the full curve of his upper lip with her fingers.

Awareness seeped through her veins until her body throbbed with a slow, deep yearning that began in the pit of her stomach and radiated out, weakening her limbs with desire that was shockingly fierce and utterly unexpected. The gleam in his ebony eyes warned her that he knew what she was thinking, and her face burned. Hopefully not exactly what she was thinking, she prayed fervently, and she hastily banished the fantasy of him carrying her off to the nearest empty room and making passionate love to her.

Tension coiled in the pit of her stomach, and heat suffused her whole body so that she was sure her face must be scarlet, He was exceptionally tall, sheathed in an expertly cut dark grey suit that emphasised his height and the width of his shoulders, and even when she stepped away from him, mumbling an apology, she felt overwhelmed by his powerful masculinity.

‘Forgive me, pumpkin, but I thought you were enjoying yourself with your friends,’ James apologized to his daughter. ‘Have you been taking care of my little girl, Alexander?’

‘Of course,’ the man replied smoothly. ‘But you know James, now that Luciana is married, and about to leave Ditton Hall, I think Jennifer feels in need of her papa.’ His accent was unmistakably Italian, his voice as rich and thick as clotted cream, but Stephanie caught his faintly reproving tone and James must have detected it too.

‘Come and dance with me, then, darling,’ he said jovially ‘Stephanie, do you mind if we swap partners? I have it on good authority that Alexander is an excellent dancer.’

An awkward silence followed,

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