turned to look at his daughter, a gleam of suspicion lighting his dark eyes. ‘Are you behind this, Katherine?’
Katy took a few steps backwards. ‘Don’t look at me like that. It isn’t good to intimidate your children. And you can’t blame me for the fact that Ben spills everything. You know he spills everything.’
‘Intimidate?’ An ebony brow rose as Alessandro surveyed his daughter. ‘Since when did I ever intimidate you?’
Ben’s sobs grew noisier. ‘It’s all her fault. She made me do it and she—’
‘Hush.’ Christy pulled him into her arms and cuddled him close. ‘I’m not mad with you, sweetie, honestly. Don’t cry. Please, don’t cry. It isn’t important. It’s only a sofa.’
‘My house is turning into a war zone,’ Alessandro muttered, dragging a hand through his dark hair and letting out a long breath. ‘Seeing that you haven’t cooked any dinner yet, let’s go out.’
Katy’s face brightened. ‘Great idea. You’ll need to get us a babysitter. I nominate Uncle Jake.’
Christy blinked. ‘I think Daddy meant all of us.’
‘Oh, no, we’re much too tired to go out.’ Katy gave an exaggerated yawn to prove her point. ‘I’ve got holiday homework to finish and Ben needs his beauty sleep. Not that all the sleep in the world is going to make him half-decent to look at,’ she added as an afterthought, and Ben sat up and poked his tongue out.
Alessandro gave a shrug and looked at Christy. ‘So—you and I can go out.’
‘But…’ How could she say that she didn’t really want to go out on a date that had been engineered by the children? If he’d asked her, that would have been different. ‘Jake won’t be free.’
‘He’s free—I saw him at lunchtime.’ Alessandro was already on the phone, and Christy sighed.
‘All right. I’ll go and change.’
‘Wear the black dress, Mummy,’ Katy hissed, and Christy frowned.
‘What black dress?’
‘The little one that makes Daddy grab you from behind.’
Christy blushed and wondered at exactly what point her daughter had started noticing so much. ‘That’s a party dress, sweetheart.’
‘So? You look pretty in it.’
Christy bit her lip. But did she want to look pretty? Yes, of course she did. But wearing a party dress to go out to dinner in the middle of the week would look desperate, and she had too much pride to show Alessandro just how desperate she was.
Crazy, she thought as she rummaged through her wardrobe. She was having an informal supper with her husband and she had absolutely no idea what to wear.
She wanted to look attractive, but not obvious.
She wanted him to want her.
Wanted him to kiss her. Would that fix things? she wondered. If he kissed her and took her to bed, would they be able to heal their wounds?
In the end she settled for a slinky velvet skirt in a shade of heather and teamed it with a slinky black top that dipped temptingly at the front.
Jake walked through the door as she reached for her coat. He immediately strode over and kissed her. ‘You look stunning and beautiful,’ he breathed, his eyes lingering on the neckline of her top.
Glancing at Alessandro, Christy wondered why he was glaring. Presumably he was still annoyed at having their evening manipulated by the children.
Clearly he had no real wish to spend time with her. Unlike Jake, he hadn’t even commented on what she was wearing.
Jake swept Ben into his arms and stooped to hug an excited Katy.
‘Uncle Jake!’
‘Did you bring me a present?’ Ben wrapped his legs and arms around Jake like a monkey, and Christy gasped in horror and embarrassment at his question.
‘You don’t ask people that, Ben,’ she admonished, but Jake just grinned.
‘Why not? Honesty gets you a long way in life, I always think. If only women were as uncomplicated as children, life would run much more smoothly.’ He whipped a bag out from behind his back. ‘Sweets and a DVD and maybe a small toy because I haven’t seen you for so long.’
‘Finally, a grown-up who understands us.’ Katy grinned, reaching into the bag to check out the DVD. ‘I’m allowed to watch 12s now. This is a PG.’
‘That’s right. My psyche is sadly underdeveloped and I don’t want to risk nightmares. I thought I’d be all right if you held my hand all the way through.’ Jake winked at her, his smile placid. ‘Lead me to your father’s whisky cabinet, angel. I’ve had a long day.’
‘We won’t be late,’ Christy began, but Katy frowned and pushed them towards the door.
‘Don’t come back before the end of the DVD or you’ll spoil it.’
Christy sighed. ‘Don’t keep them up late, Jake.’
‘Go and enjoy yourselves,’ Jake said, delving into the bag he’d brought and producing a new dinosaur for Ben. ‘We’ll be fine.’
But would she? Christy wondered.
It had been so long since she’d spent an evening with Alessandro that she didn’t quite know what they were going to talk about.
Alessandro took her to a noisy, Spanish tapas bar in the middle of town.
Disappointed that he hadn’t chosen somewhere quiet and romantic, Christy slid into her chair and reached for a menu.
‘We used to come here a lot when we first met—do you remember?’
‘The service was quick and what with the hospital and the mountain rescue team, we never had enough time.’ Alessandro turned to the hovering waiter and ordered in Spanish.
Christy closed the menu and tried not to mind that he hadn’t asked what she wanted.
It was just the way Alessandro was, she thought with weary resignation. The dominant male. Always strong and controlling. At times, it was wonderful. In A and E, with a desperately sick patient, his astonishing leadership qualities saved lives. At home, just occasionally, it would be nice if he showed an interest in her views.
‘So…’ He lounged back in his chair and surveyed her across the table, his eyes glittering dark in the dim light of the restaurant, ‘how are you enjoying being back in A and E?’
Given her thoughts of a few moments earlier, Christy was surprised he’d asked. ‘I… Well, I really like it.’
‘You’re good.’
‘And that surprises you?’
He gave a slow smile. ‘No. What surprises me is that you seem to have forgotten nothing in the time that you’ve been away.’
Should she confess that it had surprised her, too? ‘I suppose I worked there for so long that some of it is second nature.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Do you hate having me there?’
‘It is impossible to hate someone who makes your working life easier,’ he drawled, lifting his glass of wine. ‘With so many people off sick and others inexperienced, it becomes difficult to deliver your best performance.’
‘And that’s so important, isn’t it?’
‘Of course.’ He gave a shrug. ‘The patient deserves no less.’
‘That’s true. But the patients are not your whole life. What about me?’ Her voice was soft. ‘Didn’t our marriage deserve the same attention?’
His broad