Fortune in the Stars Read Free

right.'
    His reply was a short laugh, one Penny found
disconcertingly without humour. Then he made his way to the top of the
long table, dark and huge and polished to a mirror finish, where
napkin-covered bowls of food were laid out.
    'One thing can be said of my grandfather—he
appreciated things on a grand scale. Not that this place was ever
his… But his taste, of course, was another matter
altogether.'
    The chilling venom with which he had uttered those words
made Penny's skin prickle unpleasantly.
    'Help yourself,' he suggested, his tone reverting once
more to normal as he handed Penny a plate.
    'What little I've seen of this place shows exquisite
taste,' she stated quietly, unable to believe his remark could have
intended criticism of these beautiful surroundings.
    'Thank you—I had it completely refurbished a few
months ago.'
    Something in his tone brought Penny's eyes to his face.
She lowered them quickly, wondering what on earth could have brought
that grim, almost angry set to his features.
    She made to help herself to some prawns from the huge bowl
before her, halting in mid-action.
    'Is it something I inadvertently said?' she asked.
    'Is
what
something you inadvertently
said?' he parried uncooperatively, the eyes meeting and holding hers
now so coldly challenging that she was almost convinced she must have
imagined the gleam of appreciation warming them scant minutes ago.
    'For heaven's sake!' she exclaimed, her patience snapping.
'All I did was make a few comments about this place,
and…and…' She broke off in exasperation,
returning her still-empty plate to the table.
    'And it happened to remind me of my grandfather,' he
stated, as though clarifying everything beyond further question.
    'So?' exploded Penny impatiently as he began sampling the
food straight from the bowls with his fingers.
    'So—if you're the great friend of my sister's
you claim to be, I'm surprised you need ask,' he muttered with his
mouth full.
    'What do you mean
if
I'm the friend
of Lexy's I
claim
to be?' she demanded aghast,
the unnerving thought suddenly occurring to her that she was alone in
the middle of nowhere with a man who was beginning to sound more than a
little strange.
    'Surely Lexy has mentioned our grandfather to you,' he
remarked, with a calmness Penny didn't find in the least reassuring.
    'No, she didn't! In fact, you're the only member of her
family I've ever known her talk about.'
    'No doubt to warn you what a bad boy her big brother was,'
he drawled.
    'Actually, it was to make it plain how much she loved you
and looked up to you,' retorted Penny, stung by his inexplicable change
of mood. 'Mind you, we were only twelve then—word of your
appalling attitude to women didn't come out till years later.'
    Penny felt a twinge of satisfaction as Dominic stood for a
while in complete silence, gazing down at the food before them in
frowning concentration; at least she had made it quite clear that she
could give as good as she got.
    'Perhaps if we just took the bowl of prawns and some salad
out on to the patio—it would be simpler,' he stated. 'Here,
take this,' he added, shoving the bowl containing the prawns into her
hands and picking up another himself.
    For once in her life completely at a loss for words, Penny
dazedly followed him through one of the arched doorways and on to a
patio with dazzlingly white-painted wood chairs and a large round table.
    'I suppose it could be said that you've just shattered a
long-held illusion of mine,' he muttered, drawing out a chair for her.
'Hang on a moment,' he added, disappearing only to return second later
with a tray laden with a bottle of wine, two glasses, cutlery and
napkins and a dish filled with mayonnaise which exuded the pungent
aroma of garlic.
    In silence, Penny accepted the napkin and cutlery he
handed her, the terrible suspicion entering her head that Lexy's
inordinate reluctance to discuss her family might just have something
to do with a streak of insanity running