Once A Playboy.... Kate Hardy

to show how his continued coldness was affecting her.

      Leo helped her into one of the chairs at the end of a ridiculously long banquet table. ‘I hope you’re hungry? Maria has outdone herself.’

      Their place settings were side by side—much more convenient than having to shout across the room to one another along the length of the table.

      ‘This is quite intimate for a simple meal.’ She poured herself a glass of wine, noticing that each of the antique candelabra had been lit around the room. The overall effect was beautiful, and strangely romantic. ‘All we’re missing is a violinist and I’d feel like a real aristocrat,’ she joked.

      ‘I’ll make a note of that.’ He smiled as Maria began serving an array of delicately prepared seafood.

      The smell of lemon-drizzled prawns filled the air, to be followed by pesce spada and oven-roasted vegetables. Swordfish was her personal favourite since moving to Sicily.

      They spoke of Dara’s thoughts on the renovations, and Leo listened intently to her excited plans. By the time the housekeeper cleared their plates Dara’s hunger had been well and truly satisfied.

      Leo finished off his glass of wine, thanking Maria for her service and refusing dessert. They were both in favour of allowing the older woman to go home for the night after such a spectacular meal.

      Leo sat forward in his seat once they were alone, his green eyes darker than usual in the muted lighting. ‘I wanted to apologise for my behaviour, Dara.’

      ‘You have no need to apologise for anything. We are both entitled to change our minds.’

      ‘Is that what you think happened?’ He shook his head. ‘Dara, look at me. I haven’t changed my mind about anything. Not one bit. I just felt I had coerced you into this. Had been heavy-handed.’

      She felt something lift inside her, knowing he hadn’t rejected her. Not that it made his treatment of her any less harsh. ‘I’m a grown woman who can make her own choices, you know. I wouldn’t have been willing to—you know...if it wasn’t something I wanted.’

      Leo laughed. ‘It seems I’ve made a complete mess of this.’

      He held her gaze for a moment before standing up.

      ‘I want to show you the beach before it gets dark—would you walk with me?’

      Dara hesitated, looking down at her shoes. ‘It’s October...’

      ‘We can take ten minutes to enjoy the sunset—you won’t freeze. Don’t deny yourself the little pleasures in life. It’s not always about the bigger picture.’

      Dara followed Leo through the kitchens and down some stone steps at the back of the castle. The courtyard was growing darker by the minute as they traversed the gardens towards the cliff face.

      Leo removed his shoes, leaving them at the top of the stone steps. He turned back to her, looking to where she stood poised on the top step.

      ‘Come on, do something spontaneous for once.’

      ‘I’m not as rigid as you seem to believe I am,’ she said, and slid off her delicate heels.

      Dara took his arm as they descended the stone steps to the beach below the cliffs. She felt slight terror at the height, but Leo gripped her hand tight until they set foot on the sand.

      ‘My tutor brought me down here sometimes for science lessons.’ He picked up a small stone, throwing it across to land in the water with a splash. ‘He was the most uninteresting man I have ever known.’

      Dara was intrigued at his sudden willingness to talk about his childhood. ‘You didn’t go to school?’

      ‘The schools around here were too common for my father. He believed himself and his family far too important. I had many tutors. All in the castle.’

      ‘That sounds rather lonely.’

      ‘I never knew any different.’ He shrugged. ‘It was just the way things were.’

      Dara imagined the young boy she had seen in the photographs all alone, wandering the castle grounds. ‘Did your mother approve of your isolation?’

      Leo walked further down the beach towards a small marina nestled into the cliff face. ‘My mother didn’t really have an opinion on very much.’

      Dara followed closely behind him. ‘You seemed quite angry when I went into her bedroom today.’

      ‘Family history is not my favourite topic,’ he said, surveying the small dock.

      ‘I understand that.’ Dara understood all too well.

      She watched as Leo stepped forward onto the rickety wooden pier. There was one boat tied up to a post. Wood rotten and black in some parts, it was amazing it hadn’t succumbed to the ocean already. She would imagine the weather could get pretty rough here during high tide.

      Leo cleared a place on the dock so that they could sit and watch the sun sinking down into the sea.

      ‘What about you, Dara? Any skeletons in your perfectly organised little closet?’

      She shrugged. ‘I suppose everyone has some event or relationship in their past that shapes their future.’

      ‘That was a very polite way of deflecting my question.’

      ‘I don’t have some sort of deep, dark secret, if that’s what you mean. My childhood was quite normal. No sob stories, no traumatic events.’

      He turned to look at her briefly. ‘Well, then, what made you move away from such a perfect happy life?’

      ‘My career brought me here and I decided to stay.’

      ‘And yet you have never replaced Mr Ex-Fiancé? Did it end badly?’

      ‘Very few relationships end calmly and logically.’ She toyed with the hem of her dress, feeling uncomfortable at the turn this conversation had taken.

      ‘So what was it that made you decide you weren’t going to marry him?’ Leo asked.

      She sighed, shrugging one shoulder. Clearly he wasn’t going to give up on this line of questioning any time soon, so she might as well give him something. ‘Dan was a very successful doctor—a highly regarded surgeon. Top of his field. He made it clear that he wanted the professional family set-up. You know...loving wife with dinner on the table, two darling children to kiss goodnight. He had all the details planned—including the name of the golden retriever we would have.’

      ‘Sounds very detailed. A match made in heaven, I would think.’

      ‘On paper, I suppose it was. I thought it was what I wanted. Thought it would make us both happy. But in the end I just didn’t tick all of the boxes.’

      ‘You couldn’t give him the golden retriever?’ Leo asked playfully.

      Dara felt her breath catch in her throat, the memory of that day in the hospital crashing down on her.

      ‘I couldn’t give him children.’

      Leo’s smile faded. ‘And that was a problem for him?’

      She nodded. ‘I found out when we had been engaged for a little over a year. Three months before our wedding was planned. I had been feeling ill and I went into hospital for some tests. The doctors were beginning to worry that there was something sinister going on.’

      Dara remembered her fear when nobody had been able to give her any answers for her strange symptoms. She’d been twenty-three. The doctors had never even considered that premature menopause might be the cause for her chronic headaches, insomnia, hot flushes. The day her doctor had sat her down and told her she was becoming infertile and there was no cure...

      ‘When I told Dan he was very understanding at first. The medical mind in him made him want to know all the details and consult some colleagues. We tried