Romance 0f A Lifetime (Presents Plus) Read online

  ‘Craven,’ he supplied softly. ‘Marcus Craven.’

  Why was he looking at her like that, as if she should know the name? If that were the case she was afraid she had to disappoint him; the name wasn’t in the least familiar to her. Not that she would have given him the satisfaction of acknowledging it even if it had been!

  ‘Well, Mr Craven,’ she continued coldly, ‘whatever you may have thought to the contrary, I do not appreciate being dragged about by you like a sack of potatoes that—’

  ‘Nothing like a sack of potatoes,’ he cut in mockingly, his gaze on her appreciative.

  Beth met that gaze unflinchingly, determined to show him that she wasn’t in the least impressed by him or anything he had done tonight. ‘Whatever you may have thought. I was, Mr Craven,’ she said in a controlled voice, ‘I have found your behaviour this evening very offensive.’ She sighed. ‘I politely refused your offer of a drink, refusals you completely ignored, incidentally,’ she snapped, ‘only to find myself taken over by you in a way that was as unnecessary as it was arrogant. Now if you will excuse me—once again!—the evening is at an end and I wish to return to my hotel.’

  ‘No,’ he said evenly.

  Already in the process of making her dignified exit after what she had believed to be a complete set-down, Beth was instantly halted in her tracks, turning slowly back to Marcus Craven. ‘What do you mean, no?’ she repeated dazedly.

  ‘I mean, no, I don’t excuse you,’ he returned coolly. ‘I recognised a fellow—Brit,’ he mockingly amended the earlier assumption he had made that had irritated her so much, ‘in a foreign land, thought it would be nice if you took pity on me and we could spend a little time together, the sound of a friendly voice and all that. But if you would rather be unfriendly there isn’t a lot I can do to change that, is there?’ He shrugged.

  As a performance aimed at making her feel guilty it ranked pretty high. In terms of actually succeeding in doing that it failed miserably, was completely wasted on her. ‘Nice’ wasn’t a word she would ever have associated with this man, in any context whatsoever; she felt sure it was a word he had rarely, if ever, used before. As for him needing the pity he was trying to arouse in her…!

  No one looked as if he needed pity less—the man was the epitome of success. He certainly didn’t need to seek her out, could have women at his side day and night without any effort at all. A possible language barrier wouldn’t make any difference to that at all; this man exuded power, and that was enough of an attraction for a lot of women. It would always have the opposite effect on her.

  Always…

  ‘Quite,’ she bit out tersely, nodding dismissively before pointedly walking past him, her head held high, daring him to apprehend her once again.

  There was no hand grasping her arm, no sarcastic or cajoling comment that invoked a response, and yet Beth could feel that steely gaze on her back for the whole length of the foyer, sensed it even as she walked up the steps and out of the amphitheatre, knew he was following her, quite a distance behind her, but following none the less.

  She would have liked to have strolled along as the other people were doing; the square looking quite beautiful now that it was lit up by the street lamps and cafés, the amphitheatre itself something to behold from this angle, most of the outside walls being intact as well. It seemed hard to believe that the amphitheatre had been built in the first century AD; the history it must have witnessed was incredible.

  And Beth would have liked time to ponder on that history, to take time while still in these magnificent surroundings to think of the spectacle she had witnessed herself within its walls this evening. Instead she fled as if she were being pursued.

  Resentment burned within her at the need to hurry past the strolling people, hating this feeling of being hounded back to her hotel.

  But hounded was exactly how she felt!

  CHAPTER TWO

  ‘IT’S impossible not to feel the romance of the place, isn’t it?’

  All Beth’s good humour, her feelings of relaxed well-being, left her in an instant, deserted her at the first sound of that all-too-familiar voice. A voice that she wished she weren’t becoming familiar with at all!

  She had spent a disturbed and restless night. Not through any fault of the hotel she was staying at, which had proved comfortable enough; she would have been surprised if it hadn’t when her mother had been the one to arrange the booking. Her mother believed in travelling in style if she was to travel at all.

  But Marcus Craven’s persistence where she was concerned during the previous evening had unnerved and disturbed her to the extent where she had great difficulty sleeping at all, still burning with resentment towards him. A fact she found irritating to say the least.

  But a late morning catching up on her sleep, followed by a late breakfast in bed, accompanied by plenty of coffee, and she felt more relaxed and ready to stroll to the house of the Capulets in the town, to enter the quiet tranquillity of the courtyard before going into the house itself and up to the balcony where Juliet was reputed to have spoken to Romeo.

  This house had to be a must on a visit to Verona, and, while Beth didn’t want to fall into the habit of doing the ‘touristy’ things, she was none the less a great fan of Shakespeare’s, and her interest in the Capulet family had long ago been aroused by him.

  In the courtyard below stood a statue of Juliet herself, and it seemed odd to look down upon the bronze statue of the young woman who had actually stood on this very balcony to talk to her forbidden lover.

  For a few brief moments Beth had—despite the intrusion of the other couple of dozen people wandering around, also anxious to share in the experience of looking around them at the ivy-covered walls of the courtyard—been lost in the pure romance of the occasion.

  But the feeling had only been allowed to last those few brief moments!

  She spun around to face Marcus Craven, her expression full of hostility, the two of them completely alone on the balcony at that moment. ‘Are you following me, Mr Craven?’ she accused.

  Dark brows rose over eyes full of feigned surprise. ‘Of course not, Miss…?’ As she had the night before, he paused significantly, waiting for her to rectify the omission of her name.

  He was dressed casually today, in light-coloured trousers, and a short-sleeved open-necked shirt of a shade of grey that managed to match the steel of his eyes. And yet Beth was sure both these casual-looking items of clothing had designer labels, just as she was sure the pale grey shoes he wore were handmade.

  In the broad daylight, away from the other opulent patrons of the opera, this man was still stamped with undoubted wealth of style. Her own clothing, a peach-coloured cotton skirt and white vest-top, and sandals, was much less distinctive.

  ‘Palmer,’ she supplied abruptly, making no effort to give her first name; this man was far too familiar already! ‘Excuse me…’ She made a move to brush past him, very much aware that they were still completely alone in their quiet tension.

  ‘Why do you keep doing that?’ he enquired softly. ‘Walking away,’ he explained at her puzzled look, utterly relaxed himself, one hand thrust casually into his trouser pocket.

  Her hand snapped back. ‘Why do you persist in approaching me in this way when it must be perfectly obvious I would rather you didn’t?’ she challenged coldly.

  ‘Probably because it is so obvious you would rather I didn’t,’ he answered calmly.

  Surprise at his honesty instantly widened her eyes, although she was man-wary enough to know it was probably just another approach, one this man had tried and tested in the past and knew to be successful.

  ‘In that case, Mr Craven,’ she told him icily, ‘why don’t you take heed of what has, so far, been a relatively polite brush-off?’

  Although she had a feeling she already partially knew the answer to that, she had no doubt that part of the reason he couldn’t accept her uninterest for what it was was because he probably didn’t believe, in his own conceit,
that could possibly be what it was!

  She was sure Marcus Craven believed she was just playing hard to get. Very hard to get! But then, he probably thrived on such challenges. She just ran away from them…

  He shrugged lightly. ‘I don’t believe friendly civility costs anything.’

  He was wrong. Such innocent acceptance of a proffered friendship had cost her dearly in the past, was still costing her dearly emotionally. And it would probably continue to do so. But she had no intention of confiding that to this man.

  ‘I’m on holiday, Mr Craven,’ she said dismissively. ‘I have a lot to see and do, and too little time to do it all in—’

  ‘I’d enjoy being your guide,’ he cut in smoothly. ‘I know Verona very well.’

  Beth didn’t care if it was his second home, sighing her impatience. ‘I don’t wish for a guide. Thank you,’ she added as a very late afterthought, instantly regretting having said it at all; she certainly had no reason to feel grateful to this man for anything.

  She was further annoyed by the slight hint of triumph that had now appeared in his eyes, and she bristled angrily.

  ‘Did you enjoy the opera last night?’

  Beth wasn’t fooled for a moment by this sudden change of subject. ‘Mr Craven—’

  ‘How could you not have enjoyed the opera?’ he answered his own question. ‘It was too visibly spectacular to have elicited any other response! Will you be attending La Gioconda tonight?’

  The booking her mother had made for her had included La Gioconda, but after the experience of Aida the evening before she really didn’t feel she could attend another opera quite so soon. Her mother had been right; it had been the experience of a lifetime, and it was not to be repeated so soon.

  ‘I have no plans to do so.’ Her voice was still stilted with resentment.

  He nodded knowingly. ‘It’s too much, isn’t it? Too intense a battering to the senses.’

  It described how she felt exactly.

  It was a pity, but she had a feeling that at any other time in her life she would have found Marcus Craven interesting company. If not exactly likeable, he was a man to talk to, and she knew instinctively that he was a learned man as well as an intelligent one.

  The only problem was that at this moment in time she didn’t feel like talking to any man on a more than cursory basis.

  ‘It was enjoyable,’ she conceded offhandedly.

  ‘Why don’t we discuss it further over a leisurely lunch?’

  Beth gave an exasperated laugh, shaking her head disbelievingly. ‘And before I made this trip I was warned that it was young Italian men who made nuisances of themselves with women!’

  ‘I had an Italian grandmother,’ he said with a shrug.

  Which probably explained the familiarity with the language that she had noticed the previous evening. It probably also accounted for the darkness of his colouring.

  But even so, she very much doubted he usually needed to use this bludgeoning approach with women!

  ‘I don’t believe that can be used as an excuse, Mr Graven,’ she drawled drily.

  ‘And I wasn’t attempting to offer it as one,’ he derided. ‘On the contrary, I would be very honoured if I thought I had inherited even one tenth of Nonna’s charm.’

  Beth certainly wouldn’t have described this man as any ordinary charmer; he was something else too elusive to explain.

  But all Beth really needed to know about him was that he was a danger to her solitude. And at the moment she desired that above everything else.

  ‘I really do hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday.’ She was ultra-polite. ‘But if you’ll excuse me I really do have a lot more to see before I leave.’

  ‘Alone,’ he said wryly.

  ‘Exactly.’ She nodded her satisfaction with that supposition.

  ‘Well, you can’t say I didn’t offer.’ He shrugged with a sigh.

  ‘No,’ she drawled. ‘I certainly can’t say that, can I?’

  Unlike on the previous evening he didn’t try to stop her departure, and Beth had given up any idea of looking further around the Capulet house. Besides, despite Marcus Craven’s more agreeable behaviour today, she felt sure that if she continued to look around the house she would only keep ‘bumping into’ him!

  Nevertheless, she couldn’t resist glancing up at the balcony once more before leaving the courtyard completely, her steps faltering slightly at the off-guard expression she had surprised on Marcus Craven’s face as he stood above watching her, but not quite seeming to see her; his eyes were narrowed to icy slits, his mouth a thin, uncompromising line.

  It was an expression so unlike the relaxed charm he had shown her so far.

  As if he had suddenly become aware of her scrutiny, that lazily smiling mask slipped back into place, and he lifted a hand in casual farewell as a smile continued to curve his lips.

  But there would be no warmth in his eyes, Beth felt sure of that. Marcus Craven was obviously not a man who liked to be thwarted, and by resisting him she was doing exactly that.

  She had been right to be wary of him, she acknowledged with a shiver. Very wary.

  * * *

  ‘There has been a telephone call for you, signora.’

  Beth took the key to her room, frowning her concern to the hotel receptionist; there were a limited number of people who knew exactly where she was!

  ‘It was your mother, I believe,’ the pretty young girl added, handing Beth the piece of paper with the exact message on it.

  Beth’s brow instantly cleared as she vaguely thanked the younger woman before turning away. Her mother had probably just telephoned to make sure she was actually still here and hadn’t slipped off home without letting her know! Her mother simply refused to accept that she preferred her own company most of the time.

  Nevertheless, she knew she would have to return the call.

  ‘How’s it all going, darling?’

  Tears welled briefly in Beth’s eyes at the affectionately familiar sound of her mother’s voice so many miles away.

  This was the second time in as many days she had been moved to tears. Which was ridiculous when she had refused to cry at all for months.

  She blinked back the tears; it wouldn’t do to let her mother know that for that brief moment she had felt homesick for her cheery smile and comforting arms. Her mother would be on the first plane out here if she thought that were so, offering any help she could.

  ‘Fine, Mummy,’ she answered in a controlled voice.

  ‘And the opera,’ her mother prompted eagerly. ‘How was it?’

  ‘The experience of a lifetime,’ Beth acknowledged drily, willing to give her mother that satisfaction at least. The opera had been spectacular.

  ‘God, I wish I could have been there with you,’ her mother sighed, and Beth could easily visualise the disappointed frown on the still-beautiful face, her mother elegantly lovely, her features classical, her blonde hair drawn back in a neat coil, her small stature always neat and attractive in one of the smart business suits she chose to wear during the day. ‘You can be so stubborn sometimes, Beth,’ she added reprovingly.

  She felt slightly guilty at being the one to deny her mother the opportunity of seeing Aida, but that guilt was eased a little by the knowledge that her mother had attended the Arena several years ago. But Beth hadn’t wanted to come on this trip at all, certainly hadn’t wanted company if she had to go, even that of her mother who she loved very much and knew understood her pain. She had found it very difficult to tell her mother that when she had offered to come with her, but she hadn’t really been left with any other alternative.

  ‘I wonder who I get that from?’ she lightly teased, deliberately easing the situation.

  ‘I can’t imagine,’ her mother returned drily. ‘All I can say is I would rather be there with you than trying to push this latest deal through.’

  Much as she knew her mother cared about her, Beth didn’t believe that for a moment.

  No one lookin
g at her delicately made mother would have believed she was the high-powered businesswoman that she actually was. And yet Katherine Palmer was very successful indeed, a self-made woman who now owned a chain of exclusive boutiques worldwide. Beth knew better than anyone that her mother had come by her business knowledge the hard way, and had tremendous respect for her as a person as well as a mother.

  Her mother was in the process of branching out by introducing high-quality accessories to go with her clothing, and it was a very important move indeed; Beth had known that and it had helped to soften the blow when she had insisted her mother remain in England rather than accompanying her on this holiday.

  Her mother had already sacrificed more than enough for her over the years—Beth had no intention of asking any more from her when she was obviously doing so well for herself.

  ‘I’m sure you would, Mummy,’ she dismissed lightly. ‘But there really is no need.’

  ‘I know that, darling, but… oh, never mind,’ she dismissed irritably. ‘What do you think of Verona?’ her mother continued lightly. ‘Delightful, isn’t it?’

  ‘Very,’ Beth agreed drily, most of her time spent there having been marred in one way or another by Marcus Craven.

  ‘You still sound a little down, Beth.’ The frown could be heard in her mother’s voice again.

  ‘Is that so surprising, with what’s happened?’ She wished her voice didn’t sound so sharp, but it was difficult for her not to.

  ‘I had hoped that this trip might—well, lighten your mood a little, take your mind off things,’ her mother sighed.

  ‘Give it time, Mummy,’ she pleaded softly.

  ‘Darling, I have given it time, we all have, you know that, but it’s all so damned… oh, blast, and I promised myself I wouldn’t start nagging you about getting on with your own life as soon as I spoke to you again!’ her mother chided herself impatiently. ‘What have you done with your day, Beth?’ she deliberately changed the subject.

  A brief outline of her leisurely stroll before and after her visit to the Capulet house, as well as the house itself, took only a matter of minutes.