of the hotel staff recommended this place,’ Rico told her when they had been shown to an alarmingly intimate and secluded table in a quiet corner at the back of the restaurant.
Ruth manufactured a scandalised expression. ‘You compromised our mission?’
‘Do not worry.’ Rico leaned closer, his voice dropping. ‘My informant will not give us away.’
The return of the waiter with menus and a basket of bread sticks curtailed further silliness, and Ruth sat back to assess the selection of dishes available.
‘If the food is not to your taste, we can go somewhere else,’ Rico offered, reverting to his normal voice.
Ruth shook her head. ‘No, this is lovely,’ she assured him, her mouth watering as she made her choice from the menu.
She liked the fact that Rico asked her opinion. Even when she had asked him not to, Adam had always arrogantly ordered for them both when they had gone out, and she had hated that. Not only had she been perfectly able to make decisions for herself, but he had invariably picked things she did not enjoy and had then had the effrontery to take umbrage if she had not liked something or had asked to change it. Rico, by contrast, treated her with respect, and as an equal,
They sat at the small, attractively set table, out of sight of the other diners in the restaurant. Rico was at right angles to her and so close that his leg brushed against hers. His hand toyed with her fingers or rested on the back of her chair, touching her shoulder, her neck, stroking her hair, and the attention was flattering but overwhelming, keeping her on a knife-edge.
After discussing the food and wine, and discovering that they had similar tastes, they gave their orders to the waiter. Ruth felt relaxed and able to talk to Rico about anything. And he made her laugh as no other man had done. He showed no sign that he found her brains intimidating, something she had encountered so often in the past. It was a refreshing experience and eased some of her tension. Not that she could ever forget or escape the awareness that increased each minute she spent with him. The sexual desire was unfamiliar, scary, yet undeniably exciting. She was completely out of her depth and the only life raft she could cling to was Rico himself—the very cause of her venturing into uncharted waters in the first place.
’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘SO, ARE you a want-to-be female James Bond?’ Rico asked when their starters arrived, delighted by the way Ruth had revealed her sense of fun and had played along, turning their escape from the hotel into a game.
Savouring her brown shrimps—which she had told him were a Morecambe Bay speciality—served with hot, buttered, granary toast, Ruth smiled, lighting up their secluded corner of the restaurant. ‘Not really. I’m more a closet Miss Marple.’
‘Really?’ She never ceased to surprise him. ‘You like whodunits?’
‘I love crime fiction in general. There are many excellent modern writers, but some of my favourites are the older ones like the Father Brown books by G. K. Chesterton and pretty much everything by Agatha Christie,’ she elaborated, her enthusiasm evident by the sparkle in her eyes and the tone of her voice. ‘Poirot is great, but it was always Miss Marple who appealed to me the most.’
‘I bet you have identified the culprit long before the end,’ he teased, smiling as a tinge of colour warmed her cheeks and confirmed his suspicion.
‘Sometimes.’
Her admission made him chuckle. ‘It’s that amazing mind of yours. And perfect for immunology which, as I told you earlier, often involves detective work. You are a natural,’ he added, appreciating her smile, her quick wit…everything about her.
‘How about you?’ she asked. ‘Did you long to be 007?’
‘No, not really. I wanted to be Dirk Pitt,’ he confided, naming the well-known lead character from his favourite series of adventure books.
The conversation broadened to other genres of book, and then to movies and music. Enjoying every moment in Ruth’s company, Rico took a drink of his wine. He’d nearly been driven to his knees when she had opened her hotel-room door and he’d had his first sight of her in her chic black dress. He had wanted nothing more than to kick the door shut behind him, sweep her into his arms and make love to her all night. She was the most beautiful, sensual, incredible woman he had ever met. And she didn’t know it. She had no idea of her power over him, no clue that he was putty in her hands.
Her starter finished, Ruth lightly dabbed rosy lips with her napkin, and his gaze focused on her irresistible mouth. His gut tightened and a fresh wave of desire crashed over him. He longed to taste the sweetness of her and to feel the softness of those lips against his. Meeting her gaze, aware that his hunger for her must be showing in his eyes, he watched the veil of shyness and confusion slide down between them as the fun, sparkly Ruth retreated.
There were so many layers to her personality. Yes, she was beautiful to look at, but it was so much more than her looks that attracted him. He adored everything about her. Her intelligence and quick mind challenged him, her beauty made him weak, her compassion moved him, her skills as a caring doctor impressed him, while her humour and laughter warmed his heart.
He could talk to Ruth about anything. As he already knew from their emails, she was knowledgeable and had her own opinions on things, but she was also open-minded, prepared to consider an issue from another point of view, unafraid to admit it if she subsequently felt she was wrong. Meeting her in person had revealed that they shared many tastes in everyday things but also had similar values on matters of wider and deeper importance.
As their starter plates were cleared away and their main courses set in front of them, he could not stop looking at Ruth. Her eyes captivated him. Framed by long, dusky lashes, they were a bewitching sage green with a narrow dark outer ring around the irises. He wanted to know why his comment about their colour had drawn such a surprising reaction from her…as if he had been criticising, finding fault, proclaiming her less in some way. Nothing could be further from the truth. But the flash of hurt had been genuine and was one of several hints he had gleaned, both from her emails and in the first hours since meeting her, that she had remarkably little confidence in herself as a woman.
Suspicion grew that someone at some time had taken a sledgehammer to her self-esteem and as a result she hid behind her work. She was a superb doctor and he guessed she felt safe and assured in that role, but take that façade away and her confidence ebbed. He wanted to know who had done that to her…and when. And then he wanted to cut away the invisible bonds that held her back from all she could be and watch her bloom and grow and live life to the full. With him.
In the last few years, work had taken precedence in his life. He’d had fun in his youth and as a medical student, knowing full well that most of the women who’d come on to him were interested more in the Linardi name and family money than they were in him as a person. It hadn’t mattered because he had always kept everything light-hearted. Unlike his cousin Seb Adriani, he’d never been burned and hurt by a woman. And he had made sure that he never left any broken hearts behind him, either. But he had never lived with a woman, or been involved in a serious relationship and, in his thirty-four years, he had never met a woman who had made him want to embark on one.
Until now. Until Ruth…who had tilted his world on its axis and changed his life.
Both his father and Seb—who was more a brother to him than a cousin—talked of how they had known the moment they had met the right woman. It was something Rico teased them about but which he respected and envied, knowing that it had never happened to him. Today that thunderbolt of knowledge and desire had hit him full on when he had seen Ruth. Now, for the first time, Rico believed that he, too, could know that loving togetherness.
The food was excellent, but Rico was too wrapped up in Ruth to give much thought to his meal. ‘What other hobbies and interests do you have away from work?’ he asked, eager to know every little detail about her.
‘I