The From Paris With Love And Regency Season Of Secrets Ultimate Collection. Кэрол Мортимер

And deeply disturbing. Powerful enough to feel like it had a life of its own and could take control. Was this what falling in love was all about?

      Nico couldn’t answer that because he’d never been in this space before. He wasn’t capable of falling in love. He knew that. But maybe he was getting a glimpse of what it might be about.

      And it was disturbing enough that he never wanted to experience it again so maybe it was time to take charge and make sure he wasn’t ambushed by any other strange emotions. The distraction of being a doctor for a little while was definitely helping. The fact that the train seemed to be coming to a halt was less helpful.

      Had something happened? Maybe there was engine trouble or something on the tracks and he’d end up being on this train for a lot longer than expected. Just how long could he keep up the level of control he might need when he was sharing a compartment with Charlotte?

      The steward, who’d been hovering outside the cabin while Nico treated Douglas, stooped to peer through the window. ‘We’re coming into Innsbruck,’ he announced. ‘I need to attend to other duties.’

      Nico nodded. ‘Thanks very much for your help.’

      ‘I can put the AED away now?’

      ‘Yes. Thankfully, I don’t think we need it.’ Nico raised his eyebrows as the train jerked and came to a complete halt. ‘Why are we stopping?’

      ‘We have to change engines whenever we come to an international border. This is a thirty-minute stop and most people like to get off the train and stretch their legs a bit.’ The steward hurried off, probably to open doors and then to stand, looking very smart in his blue uniform, to give people another photo opportunity.

      Douglas certainly wasn’t going to be jumping off the train to stretch his legs right now. Nico adjusted the setting on the oxygen cylinder and settled in to watch the progress of his new patient.

      The contents of Lady Geraldine’s larger suitcase were spread out over the seat and hanging from the edges of the bunks as she chose her outfit for dinner.

      ‘The long black taffeta skirt,’ she decided. ‘With the black, silk camisole and the velvet bolero jacket.’

      ‘Very Gothic,’ Charlotte smiled. ‘Shall I do your hair so that you’ve got a bit of fringe covering one eye?’

      ‘Don’t be naughty, Charlotte Jane. The black is merely a canvas to show off my diamond jewellery. I’m going to need my necklace and the brooch that goes on the jacket. And I’ve got my bracelet and best rings in my jewellery case. Oh…we mustn’t forget that darling little tiara either. The one I wore last night, remember?’

      ‘How could I forget?’

      Lady Geraldine eyed her granddaughter suspiciously. ‘I don’t think you’re taking this seriously, Charlotte. This is the dinner of my lifetime and I intend to look the part.’

      ‘Sorry, Gran.’ Charlotte kissed her fondly. ‘I want you to enjoy tonight as much as possible. Are you sure you’re feeling all right? Did you have a good rest?’

      ‘I had a lovely rest. And then I had an even better time having afternoon tea with my old friend, Winsome. We still have lots to talk about.’

      ‘Maybe you’ll see her again after dinner.’

      Oddly, Lady Geraldine looked evasive now. ‘Help me into my skirt, child. And then you’d better start doing something to get ready yourself. Fancy suggesting I wear my hair over my eye. Have you looked in a mirror recently? What have you and Nico been up to in your cabin?’

      ‘Gran…’ But Charlotte couldn’t help thinking about the look in Nico’s eyes just before the steward had interrupted them. About how much she had wanted that kiss to happen. Even now, the curl of desire the memory could evoke was enough to make her close her eyes for a heartbeat. To make her lips curl in pleasure at the memory.

      If that kiss had happened, would it have stopped there? Would she have wanted it to? The bite of fear that kicked in was enough to make her shake her head as if she could banish the hateful sensation.

      She needed to try and locate at least a shimmer of her old armour. To pretend to be in control. Normal. Maybe it would help to make a joke of it. ‘Have you seen the size of those bunks?’

      ‘You’re young,’ Lady Geraldine said with a smile. ‘I’m sure you’ll cope.’ She reached out and stroked Charlotte’s cheek. ‘Oh, darling. You’re so in love with him, aren’t you?’

      Charlotte had to turn away. To find something solid to focus on as she felt the ground shifting beneath her feet with a curious spinning sensation. She lifted the hanger holding her grandmother’s astonishing skirt with the ruffled hem down from the top bunk and pretended to notice some lint that needed brushing away.

      In love?

      Ridiculous. Nobody fell in love that quickly. She felt safe with Nico, that was all. He knew more about her than anyone. More than her grandmother, in fact, in a rather significant area.

      She liked him. A lot. Who wouldn’t? He was clever and kind. So kind that he’d sat, getting cramp, for hours, holding a woman in his arms because he hadn’t wanted to wake her?

      She trusted him, too. Who couldn’t trust someone who put the kind of trust in you that led to sharing the kind of secret she could so well understand him wanting to keep to himself? Not that it was true, of course. Nico was more than capable of falling in love if he’d only let himself.

      And that feeling when she’d woken up in those arms. As if she had been floating in the most blissful place on earth. She’d never felt so safe.

      So protected.

      Superimposed on that memory came that look of desire in Nico’s eyes when their lips had been drifting closer together in the moments before that rap on the door.

      That mix of safety and desire was a chemical combination that could only mean one thing.

      That…yes. She was in love with Nico Moretti.

      No. Maybe it meant two things.

      She was not only in love. She was in trouble.

       CHAPTER EIGHT

      MAYBE IT WAS her new awareness of how she felt about Nico. Or perhaps it was the incongruity of him appearing in these surroundings looking impossibly gorgeous in his dinner suit. Whatever it was, it completely stole Charlotte’s breath away when she opened the door of her grandmother’s compartment to his polite knock.

      Did her grandmother actually bat her eyelashes?

      ‘It’s been a long time since I was escorted to dinner by such a handsome young man,’ she said with delight. ‘Charlotte Jane? You can have him later but I really do need Nico’s arm while we’re walking. This train is remarkably jerky at times.’

      ‘No worries, Gran.’ Charlotte smiled. ‘He’s all yours.’

      But then her gaze caught Nico’s and the smile got stolen away like her breath had been. Oh…Lord…that look in his eyes.

      ‘I love that dress,’ was all he said. ‘I’m so glad you’ve worn it again, cara.’

      Lady Geraldine made a tutting sound. ‘I’m trying to train Charlotte to expand her wardrobe, Nico. It won’t help if you tell her you’re happy she’s worn the same thing two nights running.’

      ‘But it’s true, Jendi.’ Nico’s smile for her grandmother was so warm and genuine that Charlotte’s heart squeezed painfully. How could she not love a man who was clearly already so fond of her beloved gran? ‘And I am an honest man.’

      The comment did something strange inside Charlotte. Echoes of his voice telling her that he’d been