She’d wished for this, Naomi realised.
Standing in Central Park, she’d wished for one more night in his arms.
And she felt a jumble of things.
Nervous.
Reluctant.
Yet also incredibly, terribly excited.
This was a real black-tie ball and it was the only time she would ever get to attend one.
And she’d dance with Abe.
Even one duty dance from him she would take.
Naomi knew, absolutely, that she must not get ahead of herself. It wasn’t a date. This family did this sort of thing all of time and clearly Jobe had been angling for it.
She felt sick.
A little dizzy.
But she was starting to get excited now.
‘Bernard’s going to take you to the spa now, and don’t be shy when you’re there,’ Merida warned.
‘No.’
‘Naomi, I mean it. I had a hell of a time when I first got here. I had this stylist, Howard, and he talked down to me all the time. Don’t let them.’ She held her friend’s hands. ‘Be yourself and just enjoy it.’
‘I have to get some presents...’
‘I can get something for you for Barb. Who else?’
‘Jobe.’
‘I’ll think of something. Anyone else?’
Naomi shook her head. She certainly wasn’t going to let on to Merida that she’d wanted to get something for Abe.
It was too late for that now.
Naomi would not be intimated at the spa.
Hell, that part came later when she stood with Abe alongside Manhattan’s finest.
And so she walked into the spa with her head held high.
Blushing, but her head high.
‘Ah, yes.’ The receptionist didn’t really smile when Naomi gave her name. ‘Jobe asked that we squeeze you in. Come this way.’
It was impossible to relax as she sat down in the chair and was eyed up by the colourist and the skin technician.
Together they looked at her hair, her nails, her bone structure. The only thing they didn’t do was pull back her gums and check her teeth.
‘So, you’re one of the nurses?’ the skin technician said, and made her a charity case straight away. ‘Jobe is so-o-o generous.’
‘Actually, no, I’m...’ Naomi chose not admit to being the nanny. ‘I’m a friend of the family.’
Ms Skin Technician did not raise her eyebrows, Naomi wasn’t sure she’d be able to, but her glance to her colleague said it all.
‘And do you have a date tonight?’ the colourist asked.
‘I do,’ Naomi said. ‘Abe.’ There was a not-so-tiny pause and Naomi found out she wasn’t such a nice person after all as she suppressed a self-satisfied smile, and just for a moment she lived the dream.
‘Abe Devereux?’ they both simultaneously checked.
‘Yes.’ Naomi nodded. ‘Abe’s taking me to the ball tonight.’
Now they got out their wands because, at the dropping of his name Naomi went from squeezed-in charity case to seriously spoiled.
First oil was placed in her hair and she was sent to relax in a small pool with an eye mask on.
Then another pool.
And then she was massaged from head to toe with rough salt and after their that she was rinsed off and then pummelled and plucked and trimmed in places even Abe, despite their tryst on the couch, had never seen.
It was, though, the best gift she’d ever been given and despite feeling so shy at first, it turned out to be an amazing day.
As she lay having her shoulders rubbed, there was an oil they used that was so utterly fresh and relaxing she asked if she could buy some.
There was actually a very exclusive gift shop and, wrapped in a dark robe, waiting to be made up, Naomi browsed, deciding to purchase a bottle of the oil and a vaporiser.
For Jobe.
For Barb she got the biggest bottle of bath oil and some scented candles and at the last minute she added a pretty tin of extraordinarily expensive mints to her pile.
‘They’ll fit nicely in my purse,’ Naomi said to the sales assistant.
But, yes, it was in case he kissed her.
‘Tell us about your dress,’ she was asked as she moved to the final chair.
‘It’s black,’ Naomi said, because it was the only one she had.
‘By whom?’
And she would not admit to having bought it online so she fudged instead and gave the name of a designer she knew Merida had worn.
‘What look are you aiming for tonight, Naomi?’
And she looked in the mirror and didn’t know how to answer that for a moment.
She didn’t know how to be beautiful and she didn’t think she could ever look as if she belonged.
‘Do you want to leave it to us?’ the senior clinician checked. ‘We’re very good.’
They were.
Naomi had never known her hair could be so smooth and glossy and it was gently pinned up, so that some curls fell at the front.
It was a look she had tried several times herself and failed to achieve.
Then the make-up artist set to work.
Her skin was incredibly pale, and they left it at that, just smoothed her complexion out. Her make-up was, in fact, very subtle, with neutral colours and soft lips, the only exception to that being her eyes. Though initially delicately shaded, the look was finished off with lashings of eyeliner, and when Naomi declined false lashes, they went to town with the mascara.
It was odd looking back at her reflection, but there was no big reveal because time was running out.
Instead, she put on a robe and was bundled into the car, like a child in pyjamas being taken home from her parents’ night out.
Only Naomi’s night was just starting.
Merida was waiting for her and it would seem the countdown had started because she practically raced her up the stairs.
‘Happy birthday,’ Merida said, once they were in Naomi’s rooms and she handed her another parcel.
‘You already got me a present.’
‘Well, I got you another one,’ Merida said.
They were silver knickers and the most amazing lacy silver bra.
‘Abe is not to see them,’ Merida warned, and Naomi laughed. ‘I mean it, Naomi. You look stunning, even in a robe. And I know he’s devastatingly handsome, but trust me when I say he’s wrong for you.’
‘I’ve already worked that out, Merida.’
‘No, I know I’ve told you but you have to listen to me—’
‘Merida,’ Naomi interrupted. ‘Leave it, please.’
‘Naomi?’
And Naomi had seen it more times than most—the utter fog a new mother descended into, and the frown that formed when they first came blinking out of it and found that the world as they had once known it had completely changed.
‘What am I missing here?’ Merida asked.
‘Not much,’ Naomi said, and she tried not to cry on her new eyelashes as she held her friend’s hands. ‘But I know his reputation, and I also know why women fall so easily for him. He can be wonderful. So wonderful that you could choose not to believe the warnings and very easily believe you were the only girl in the world. I know all that.’
‘Oh, Naomi. I’d never have agreed to this if I’d known. I—’
‘No,’ Naomi interrupted. She’d had the whole day to think about it. ‘I’m so happy we get tonight and for a minute I can dance with him, and...’ Well, she didn’t go into detail but she wanted this night. Even if Abe had been put up to it by his father, even if she was a bit of a charity case, Naomi wanted a night on and in his arms. ‘I want to go the ball.’
‘Then you shall.’ Merida smiled and held open the bedroom door. ‘And I don’t get fairy godmother stat
us for this. It was Abe...’
On her bed was the very dress she had tried on that day while he’d been fitted for his suits, and Naomi offered silent thanks to Felicia, who must have remembered her size.
‘Oh, my...’
She had never owned anything so heavenly before and then she checked herself. ‘Is it on loan?’
‘No,’ Merida said. ‘It’s yours.’
And where would she keep it? Naomi thought as she held up the decadent garment. The top was boned so it would fill up half a case, but she’d pay excess luggage for the rest of her life rather than ever let it go.
Merida left Naomi to get dressed but, once alone, Naomi stood staring at the gorgeous dress. Beside it were shoes and a bag. Every detail had been taken care of and she had never felt so looked after before.
The deep violet of the dress and the stunning make-up brought out the blue of her eyes and her porcelain skin, and her new silver earrings gleamed at her throat.
‘My bust looks huge,’ Naomi said, and if there was one detail she could change, she wished the dress had straps because she felt as if her breasts might fall out.
‘It looks amazing,’ Merida assured her. ‘You look amazing.’
‘I need a wrap...’
‘I’ve got a black one that will go beautifully,’ Merida said. ‘Oh, Naomi, you look completely stunning.’
‘Honestly?’
‘Absolutely. Abe’s not going to know what’s hit him.’
On the contrary.
Abe had always known she was a beauty and when she came to the top of the stairs and he saw her, it was simply confirmed.
From her hair to the paleness of her arms and the spill of creamy cleavage, he drank in the view.
She lifted the skirt of her dress and on unfamiliar heels walked down and then paused. Not from nerves, more that she too could take in his absolute splendour.
The wanted-poster look might be gone—his black glossy hair had been cut to perfection and he was cutthroat-razor shaved—but she had never wanted someone more in her life.
His suit was divine, and he stood tall and elegant and utterly still except for the glint of desire in his eyes.
And when it was just them, when he looked at her like that, all self-doubt ceased.
That he wanted her, still.
That he always had, made her feel beautiful.
And when she came to the foot of the stairs and inhaled his cologne, Naomi had to dig her newly neutral, manicured nails into her palms so as not to lift her hand to feel his smooth jaw.
And then she looked down and over his left arm was draped violet velvet. Abe had taken care of every detail tonight. ‘Happy birthday,’ he said, and wrapped her in the cape she had not dared to try on that day.
The lining was silk and she felt its coolness as he draped it around her and then the weight of the velvet.
Naomi found out then how it truly felt be taken care of.
With this single moment he made up tenfold for the million lonely moments she had known in her life.
And even as she warned herself not to go there, it was way too late.
Naomi knew then that she was in love.
‘Ready?’ Abe checked.
And she hesitated, because the private realisation of the depth of her feelings was confronting, but there was no real time to examine it. Merida was dashing down the stairs with the wrap she no longer needed and Ethan had come out from the drawing room to see them off.
‘Bernard’s waiting...’ Ethan told them.
‘I can’t wait to hear how it all went.’ Merida smiled. ‘If Ava’s up when you get in...’
And her words incensed Abe.
How dared they wait up.
They were carrying on as if she were a lamb being led off to slaughter, and having seen Naomi into the waiting car he marched back up the steps to where his brother and sister-in-law stood.
‘Do you insist that your staff be back at a certain time?’ Abe demanded.
‘Of course not,’ Merida gritted. ‘But Naomi’s a friend.’
‘And yet you give her one night off in seven and then dictate how she spends it.’
Yes, he was still a bastard.
‘Abe,’ Ethan warned. ‘Don’t take it out on Merida. With your reputation, she has every right to be concerned.’
‘And yours is so lily white?’ Abe checked, and he looked at them both. Hell, he loved them but he would be dictated to by no one, especially in this. ‘Butt out!’
He turned and walked briskly down the steps and he could see Naomi’s anxious face peering out of the car, making sure that everything, everyone was all right.
And she just stopped him in his tracks, for how could he be angry at two people who were looking out for Naomi?
Abe knew his own reputation after all.
He turned on the steps and, swallowing his pride, he walked back up them.
‘You have nothing to worry about,’ he told them. ‘I’ll take perfect care of her.’
Abe fully intended to.
CHAPTER TEN
IT SHOULD HAVE been a gorgeous drive to the hotel.
The snow was falling lightly over a snow-capped Central Park and had he held her hand it would have been utterly perfect, except he silent drummed his fingers on a long, suited thigh.
‘Do you have to greet everyone?’ Naomi asked.
‘God, I hope not,’ Abe said. ‘Don’t worry, there’ll just be loads of air-kissing for you. You don’t have to remember anyone’s name.’
He was trying to put her at ease, but she could feel his tension.
Perhaps, now they were near, he was rueing the fact he’d agreed to take her, Naomi thought, because while he’d been lovely at the house, he was on edge now.
Naomi went into her bag and prised open her tin of mints, more for something to do than because she wanted one.
Except they weren’t mints!
It took a second to register they were mint-flavoured condoms.
Oh, God, Naomi thought, stuffing them back in her bag, terribly glad she hadn’t offered him one!
And then, as she stepped out of the car, she suddenly thought how she’d, oh, so casually added them to her purchase, explaining how they’d fit in her purse. Maybe it was nerves but she suddenly stifled a laugh and arrived smiling on the red carpet.
It was Abe who was tense.
She felt as if she had stepped into Christmas when they entered the hotel.
There was a huge scarlet Christmas tree centrepiece in the main foyer that looked as if it were made of velvet. But as her cape was removed and she was handed a single red rose, Naomi saw that the tree itself was made entirely of the most exquisite red roses, each bloom perfect.
‘It’s beautiful.’ Naomi would have loved to linger and just take it all in, but there wasn’t time to as Abe was quietly informed her that they were to go straight through.
She held onto Abe’s arm as lightly as she could, and tried to slow down her heart rate as they entered the ballroom. It was stunning. The chandeliers dripped Icelandic-looking crystals and despite the warm air she felt as if her breath should blow white. It was so breath-taking that for a moment Naomi simply drank it all in and tried to forgot her nerves.
But as guests arrived, heads turned in her direction.
Naomi tried to tell herself that they were all looking at Abe. After all, a lot of the women here tonight had eyes only for him, yet she could not fail to see the slight surprised reactions at his choice of date for the night.
When she had been introduced to, shaken hands with and been air-kissed by more people than she could possibly remember, Abe told her he had to go and speak to someone. ‘I’ll leave you in Khalid’s safe hands.’
Oh, please, don’t, Naomi thought, because she didn’t know if her nerves could
take it—Khalid was a sheikh prince.
Except he was completely charming.
Dressed in a long gold robe, he looked both exotic and formidable, yet he was delightful.
‘It is a pleasure to meet you, Naomi.’ His smile was warm and unexpected. ‘I have heard a lot about you.’
‘I’m a good friend of Merida’s,’ she replied, assuming that Merida, or perhaps Ethan, must have mentioned her when they were talking about Ava.
‘Merida?’ he checked. ‘Of course. Abe did say you were from England. Ah, so that is how you and Abe met.’
Naomi nodded.
‘I have to thank you,’ he added.
‘Me?’
‘For pouring oil on trouble waters. I never thought Abe would agree, but—here we are.’
Naomi assumed he had mixed her up with someone, or that she had lost the thread of the conversation, given how hard it was to concentrate. She could feel eyes on her and sometimes she caught the raised hands as people spoke behind them and asked each other who she was.
The women were absolutely stunning and must have taken rather more than a day to prepare for tonight. They reminded Naomi of tiny hummingbirds, and not just because of their elegant clothes and glittering jewels, but from the dainty sips of their drinks.
Naomi realised she had already drained her glass.
Khalid gestured for another.
‘I’d better not,’ Naomi said.
‘Relax,’ Khalid said. ‘Enjoy yourself. You look wonderful.’
‘I’m not used to wearing...’ She didn’t want to go into detail, but the bones of her gorgeous dress were digging in just a little and she kept reaching for a strap that wasn’t there, and wanting to check her cleavage was behaving, but then Khalid made her laugh.
‘I too feel awkward,’ he told her. ‘Usually in New York I wear a suit, not a robe of gold. But it is a national holiday in my country and so it is appropriate that I represent it.’
Naomi doubted he knew what it was to feel awkward, even for a moment, but it was so nice of him to try and put her at ease that Naomi found she did relax and speak more easily. And it was a blessed relief because she did not want to look as if she needed rescuing. The last thing she wanted was to be a drag on Abe tonight.
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