The British Billionaire's Innocent Bride. Susanne James

was standing there, looking down at her, and Lily felt her throat constrict as she gazed up at him.

      ‘Oh—hello—’ she said uncertainly. Well, was it really any surprise that they should meet? she asked herself. Rome wasn’t that big a place. She moved over to make room for him to sit down.

      He was wearing white trousers and a dark open-neck shirt, his bare feet thrust into strong brown sandals, and Lily felt her heart fluttering anxiously in the usual way. Yet it wasn’t exactly anxiety that she was feeling, she thought. It was something else—something she’d never actually felt before—and she wanted to push it away. But somehow she couldn’t, so she let the sensation wash over her until, hopefully, it would melt away.

      They sat there for several moments without saying anything until he murmured, ‘Magical, isn’t it?’ He turned to look at her briefly. ‘Why is moving water so mesmerising?’

      ‘I think that everything here is just magical,’ Lily said. ‘The weather plays a part, though, of course. Why can’t we have some of this in England?’

      ‘It’s certainly perfect tonight,’ he agreed. ‘Though next month might be just a tad too hot.’ He paused. ‘You could presumably come here to live, if you wanted to?’ he suggested. ‘Maybe it’s the change you’re looking for. You said that your brother already lives here, so…’

      ‘No, I have no plans to live abroad,’ Lily said at once. ‘Perhaps one day I will change my mind, but not yet. I feel that my…fate—whatever it is—lies in England.’ She smiled as she looked up at him. ‘That doesn’t sound very enterprising or ambitious, does it?’

      He hesitated for a moment before turning to her properly, holding out his hand. ‘Look—this is silly. Why don’t we introduce ourselves? I’m Theo Montague—and you know why I’m here…’

      ‘And I’m Lily Patterson,’ Lily said quickly, taking his hand briefly. ‘And you know why I’m here.’

      He nodded. ‘That’s better. I don’t care for nameless faces,’ he said. ‘So…go on telling me about yourself, Lily. You mentioned ambitions. Are you ambitious?’

      ‘I think I am,’ she said slowly. ‘But, as I said before, I don’t really know where my ambitions lie. Do I want to go on in catering? Maybe secure an appointment with a wealthy family in a lovely house somewhere in the country, so that I can sit in the garden in the afternoons and paint…?’

      ‘So—you like to paint?’

      ‘Yes, though I don’t do it very well—yet. But I’m practising. And I’d love to learn to play the piano. I had some lessons once, when I was a child, but they sort of…stopped…and I never took it up again.’

      They’d stopped because at the time, she had been living in one of the homes she’d run away from, she reminded herself.

      ‘I think most children are guilty of that,’ he said. ‘Starting things and not wanting to go on with them.’ He was thinking of Freya as he spoke, who seemed to have lost interest in most things since her mother had died.

      There was quite a long silence after that, but Lily realised that she hadn’t felt so comfortable, or secure, or so plain contented for a long time. She was painfully aware of Theo’s elegant legs stretched out in front of him—the strong, masculine thighs evident beneath the fine cotton of his trousers, the well-kept, unblemished brown toes protruding from his sandals—and she checked herself hurriedly. These thoughts weren’t part of her life plan. They weren’t part of anything to do with her at all. Suddenly she wanted to go back and see how Sam was feeling.

      ‘I ought to go and see how my brother is,’ she said, standing up. ‘He crashed out with a migraine after we’d had lunch. He was going to take me somewhere for supper, but…’

      As soon as she’d said the words Lily could have kicked herself. She’d fed him the line—and he took it.

      ‘Well—why don’t you let me buy you supper instead?’ he said. ‘Your first night in Rome shouldn’t be spent alone.’

      ‘Oh—I don’t really think—’ Lily began, but he cut in.

      ‘Look, why don’t you ring to find out how your brother is—whether he’s well enough to take you out? If he isn’t, I’m sure he’d be happy to think you were being taken care of. Besides,’ Theo added, ‘I don’t much like eating by myself.’

      That would have been the perfect pick-up line, Lily thought, had it been said by anyone other than the man sitting next to her. But she knew it wasn’t.

      Doing as he said, she rang the hotel from her mobile, to be told by Federico that Sam was still in bed and unlikely to surface before morning. She ended the call and looked at Theo.

      ‘Sam is still out of it, I’m afraid,’ she said. ‘But wouldn’t you rather…? I mean, wouldn’t some of your colleagues be more interesting company than me?’

      ‘They certainly would not,’ he said lightly. ‘We’ll have quite enough of each other during the day. The evenings are free, thank goodness, to do what we like with. So—’ he grinned down at her ‘—let me show you some of the places I’ve been to before, and you can choose which one you like the look of.’

      His teeth were almost blindingly white as he smiled, and the face which on first impression had seemed serious and somewhat formidable to Lily now exhibited a heart-throbbingly purposeful expression, indicating someone strong, reliable…and utterly captivating. The sort of man she might one day paint riding on a white charger to rescue damsels in distress.

      Lily choked back her disbelief at her own thoughts. Rome was a mad place! It was making her mad! That, or she had a bad touch of the sun…

      CHAPTER TWO

      THEY left the piazza, walking side by side with plenty of space between them as they strolled along. The jostling crowds were an eclectic bunch—families, middle-aged couples wandering hand in hand, and lovers oblivious to anyone but themselves, who stopped at regular intervals to indulge in passionate kissing. At first Lily felt acutely embarrassed when they had to side-step an amorous couple, though it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d been on her own, she thought. But witnessing it with Theodore Montague there as well seemed to put a different aspect on everything. He, however, appeared not to notice or care what was going on around them.

      He looked down at her. ‘I expect your brother has already introduced you to most of the sights, the tourist must-sees?’ he enquired.

      ‘Some,’ Lily replied. ‘But there’s plenty I haven’t seen—and lots I’d like to visit again.’ She stopped to let a small child dash between them as he ran to keep up with his parents. ‘Sam never seems to have a great deal of time to spend with me when I visit—he and Federico, his business partner, work so hard, and I understand that he must fit me in when he can.’ She looked up and smiled. ‘I don’t mind. I’m used to sorting myself out alone. It’s just lovely to be here with him now and again—to catch up.’

      Would they ever manage to catch up? Lily thought. There were so many years to talk about—so many things to explain and discuss. Would one lifetime be enough?

      After a few minutes, Theo said, ‘It’s a bit later than I thought—and I’m getting hungry. Perhaps you’d let me decide where we’re going to eat? I promise you won’t be disappointed.’

      Lily didn’t need convincing about that. ‘Wherever we go will be fine by me,’ she said casually.

      ‘The place I have in mind boasts a panoramic vista of the city—so we’ll have two for the price of one,’ Theo said. ‘Excellent food, and a view as well.’

      He was right. And presently, sitting opposite him at a candlelit table, Lily wondered if she was dreaming. This was the stuff of fairy tales, she thought—to be here in this timeless city, on an evening so balmy that there was no need for a shawl to cover her bare neck