“I thought of you when I saw these.”
She lifted the top off the first box and parted the tissue wrapped around its contents. A sigh gushed past her lips as she lifted out an exquisite mint-green nightgown, so sheer as to almost be indecent. He’d thought of her when he’d seen this? Perhaps there was hope for her after all. The next layer revealed a matching peignoir. Blair held the gossamer-fine garments against her skin. She couldn’t wait to wear them, but somehow she doubted that this would be the kind of thing that the elegant Sabina had been expecting.
Blair removed the top off the second box and pulled out a cobalt-blue gown. She held it against her and swirled in front of the mirror. The color did amazing things for her skin, she decided, and the design—a full skirt dropping from the wide Empire-style waistband—would be perfect not only now, but in the coming summer months too. She dressed quickly and slid her feet into high-heeled black pumps.
A knock at the door dragged her from the mirror where she’d been standing, admiring the fall of the gown.
“Ah, it looks even better on you than on the model,” Draco said, coming into her room and closing the door.
Her eyes feasted on him. Dressed in a tailored, charcoal-gray suit, he was both formidable and undeniably sexy. Suddenly Blair felt self-conscious. She plucked at the fabric of dress.
“Thank you, it’s beautiful,” she said softly. “It’s all lovely.”
“I’m glad. I notice you haven’t worn earrings since you’ve been here, yet your ears are pierced. I hope you don’t mind, but I bought you these.”
Draco withdrew a small jeweler’s box from his jacket pocket and opened it. All the breath in Blair’s lungs froze when she saw the platinum-set diamond ear studs there.
“May I?” Draco asked.
He put the box down on the table next to him, then gently slipped one earring from its nest and removed the butterfly clasp off the back. His fingers brushed against Blair’s neck, his touch setting a flame across her skin as he put first one earring in one lobe, then the other. He turned her to face the mirror.
Blair lifted a trembling hand to touch an earring. She’d never owned anything so valuable before. As she reviewed her reflection, she almost didn’t recognize the woman who’d returned to the palazzo just over a week ago. There was a bloom to her skin that spoke of her increasing health, and the skin under her eyes was clear of the usual shadow of tiredness. In the gown and with these earrings she could almost fool herself into believing she belonged here amongst the sumptuous furnishings, at the side of the impeccably attired man reflected beside her. But she knew that was little more than a futile dream.
“Thank you, Draco, they’re beautiful. But I can’t accept such an expensive gift. Really.”
Regret sliced through her as she spoke from her heart. No matter what her trappings, she’d still be Blair Carson, chef and restaurateur. That title, and Carson’s, were what defined her. It was what she was, pure and simple.
“They are yours to do with what you wish, it makes no difference to me.” The warm light that had been in his eyes dimmed a little. “Now, shall we join my parents downstairs?”
Blair had almost forgotten. Almost, but not quite. Butterflies danced nervously in her stomach.
“She knows, Draco. Your mother, she knows I’m pregnant. She guessed.”
“I expected as much. Don’t worry. It is not a problem.”
Blair fervently hoped it wouldn’t be, and that she wouldn’t be put on the spot by Draco’s parents over their relationship. Tonight promised to be awkward. Already, she was looking forward to its end.
Downstairs they joined Sabina and Umberto in the formal salon Blair had only glimpsed from the doorway in the past week.
“Ah, don’t you look lovely,” Draco’s mother said, rising from her chair and crossing the room to take Blair by the hand. “Umberto, come meet Blair.”
Draco’s father was clearly a shadow of the man he’d once been, one side of his body clearly difficult to move and control. Once the introductions were completed, Sabina drew Blair to one side of the room, seating her by one of the tall, arched windows and taking the chair opposite.
“We can leave the men to their business. If they get it out of the way now, they won’t disturb us with it over our meal,” she said conspiratorially.
Blair just smiled. There was something about Sabina that made her feel inadequate. Nothing obvious, just a sensation. She was probably being ridiculous, but as Sabina gently prompted Blair for information about herself and her family, she felt as if she was sinking deeper and deeper in the other woman’s estimation.