Modern Romance Collection: January Books 5 - 8. Jane Porter

from him and looked at him, as if trying to read his thoughts, find out just what this really meant. Then she sat down in front of the fire and slowly opened the wrapping, and lifted the lid on a large silver box.

      ‘Oh, Max,’ she said and he looked over the lid of the box, wanting to know if his instructions had been followed. ‘It’s lovely.’

      She lifted out a black dress.

      ‘For Angelina’s twenty-first party.’

      ‘There’s more,’ she gasped as she laid the black dress over the arm of the chair and picked up the green silk dress Lydia had assured him in their phone conversation would be perfect for her. ‘It’s beautiful, but how?’

      ‘With a little help from my new sister-in-law,’ he jumped in, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the idea of clothing as gifts. He was far more used to a parting piece of jewellery. ‘Lydia assured me you would look stunning in it on New Year’s Eve.’

      ‘We may not be together then.’ She dropped the terse statement between them and he clamped his jaw hard together.

      ‘After last night, I think that particular scenario is unlikely. I’m not letting you go just yet, not when you promised to be mine until New Year’s Eve, which includes the party.’ He kept his voice light, but from the uncertain look on her face he knew he hadn’t fooled her.

      ‘But what if we don’t work this out?’

      ‘We can only do that if we give it a chance.’ He turned and picked up one more gift from beneath the tree, wanting to distract her. ‘There is also this.’

      She took the present from him slowly; for a moment he’d thought she wasn’t going to take it. Then she opened it. First the ribbon, then the gold paper revealing a dark blue box. Cautiously, she opened it.

      * * *

      ‘This is too much.’ Lisa almost dropped the box as she looked up at him. Why was he giving her such an expensive gift? It should mean that he loved her, but she knew it was far from that.

      ‘Diamonds,’ he said as she looked back down at the necklace, earrings and ring. ‘To wear with the green dress.’

      ‘But...’ she said, her voice a hoarse whisper as she touched the coldness of the glittering necklace, lying beautifully against the blue velvet of the box. Her hand was shaking as she slowly moved it away from the dazzling jewels. This was a parting gift. It was the tactic she knew men like Max deployed when they wanted to sweeten a lover and encourage them to move on in life, move on from him.

      ‘They will look amazing with the green dress,’ he said, standing over her as if he thought she might just throw the box aside and bolt from the room, from the cottage and from him. ‘Or so Lydia informs me.’

      Lydia knew about these? Did she know how much trouble their marriage was in? Would Max have confided in Raul that he didn’t want to remain married, much less be a father to a child he didn’t want?

      ‘She has wonderful taste.’ Lisa’s mouth dried as she looked up at him, seeing the satisfaction on his face. If he thought his plan had worked, he was very soon going to find out how mistaken that was.

      ‘I wish my wife to be adorned with diamonds that will sparkle brighter than any fireworks on New Year’s Eve.’

      Why? To mark her as his or to ensure she quietly slipped away once the show of being together, because of the media interest in them as a couple and Raul and Max as brothers, had died down?

      Could she continue with this and act the part of loving wife when his seduction last night had proved she couldn’t resist him at all? He was counting on that, using it as a way of keeping her on display as his wife.

      She closed the box and looked up at him. ‘I don’t know what to say.’

      ‘You don’t have to say anything, just be at my side when we attend Angelina’s party and again on New Year’s Eve. Show the world we are a couple.’

      Lisa tried to read what he was thinking but failed. If she agreed, at least she could move on with her life and know that she’d tried with Max, that she’d be able to look her child in the eyes later on and say with honesty that she’d done just that.

      ‘In that case I will be at your side and wearing the diamonds as midnight strikes on New Year’s Eve.’

       CHAPTER EIGHT

      AS THEY HAD driven the short distance to the hotel, through frost-covered countryside, Lisa had tried to put all they’d just talked about from her mind. At least for now. Despite everything, she wanted to be able to enjoy her time with Max and the Christmas he’d arranged, although the real motives for that were now becoming clearer. It was all a façade, a show of being the man she needed him to be for their child, but why, when she was making it easy for him to walk away as he had done from their marriage?

      The hotel was beautifully decorated for Christmas and the food had been amazing. Lisa felt like a small child as she sat on a large sofa in front of the heat of a log fire. All through her meal she’d been thinking about the gifts Max had given her, in particular the diamond jewellery. The diamonds were about not only showing he could, but showing that he held power over her, forcing her to accept his command, his control. It was the last thing she wanted. Power and command did not equal love.

      ‘You’re lost in thought.’ Max’s voice interrupted the circles her mind was wandering and she looked away from the orange flames of the fire and into his handsome face as he sat at the other end of the sofa. It wasn’t that big, but he felt far away, isolating himself from her as much as he could. His long legs stretched out before him, snagging her attention, and he looked relaxed and at ease, but from the expression on his face she guessed this was not the case as he pulled at the berry-red tie he’d opted for with his almost black suit.

      ‘I still can’t believe how lovely it has been today. The meal, waking up in the cottage on Christmas morning and the gifts.’ She wanted to ask him outright about the diamonds, ask him what he really hoped to achieve with them, but the day had almost been spoiled once by the conversation that had sprung out of nowhere that morning; she wasn’t going to risk it again.

      He put down his after-dinner coffee cup and moved toward her, closing the gap between them as if he’d read her mind. Had her thoughts been so blatantly emblazoned on her face?

      She sucked in a deep breath against the tangy aroma of his aftershave, the unique maleness that was Max, shyly looking away, suddenly very self-conscious. Only Max had ever made her feel this way, like a lovesick teenager on a first date. How, after all they’d been through, all they’d learnt about one another, could he still have that effect on her?

      His voice was low, deep and very sexy. ‘You are my wife, Lisa, and this is the first time we are celebrating Christmas. I wanted to make it special for you because I remembered that passing remark about Christmas always bringing trouble and upset within your family. How it was never what others seemed to experience.’

      She looked at him from beneath her lashes, desperate to hide her feelings and the way hearing that made her feel. She wanted to believe him, but she couldn’t quite shake off the idea that he was just trying to disarm her—or the shock that it was working. ‘Well, this is a pretty special place.’

      She looked around the hotel lounge, with the small groups of comfortable chairs and sofas where families were now gathered, relaxing after Christmas dinner. The fire was warm and she could feel herself becoming less tense, less on edge, but after last night and then this morning’s discussion, which had felt at the time like an opening of hearts, she was wary.

      ‘This is my first taste of a British Christmas.’ He smiled at her and her heart flipped over. How could he melt her so easily?

      Because you still love him.

      ‘Where do you normally spend Christmas?’ she asked, before realising