In Petrakis's Power Read Free Page B

he being so cagey? Did he think she was hitting on him because he was wealthy? The very idea made her squirm—especially when he had displayed such rare kindness in paying for her train ticket. Not one in a thousand people would have been so generous towards a complete stranger, she was sure.
    ‘I would rather not spoil this unexpectedly enjoyable train journey with you by discussing what I do,’ he explained. ‘Besides … I would much rather talk about you.’
    ‘I’ve already told you what I do.’
    ‘But what you do, Natalie, is not who you are. I would like to know a little bit more about your life … the things that interest you and why.’
    She flushed. Such a bold and unexpected declaration briefly struck her dumb, and coupled with the admission that he was enjoying travelling with her, it made her feel strangely weak with pleasure. The last time she could recall feeling a similar pleasure was when she’d had her first kiss from a boy at school she’d had a massive crush on. Her interest in him hadn’t lasted for more than a few months, but she’d never forgotten the tingle of fierce excitement the kiss had given her. It had been tender and innocently explorative, and she remembered it fondly.
    Threading her fingers through her long, gently mussed hair, she lowered her gaze and immediately felt strangely bereft of Ludo’s crystalline blue glance. What would a kiss from
his
lips feel like? It certainly wouldn’t be like an inexperienced schoolboy’s.
    Disturbed by the thought, she drew in a steadying breath. ‘If you mean my favourite pastimes or hobbies, I’m sure if I told you what they were you’d think them quite ordinary and boring.’
    ‘Try me,’ he invited with a smile.
    Natalie almost said out loud,
When you look at me like that I can’t think of a single thing I like except the dimples in your carved cheekbones when you smile
.
    Shocked by the intensity of heat that washed through her at the private admission, she briefly glanced away to compose herself. ‘I enjoy simple pleasures, like reading and going to the cinema. I just love watching a good film that takes me away from the worries and concerns of my own life and transports me into the story of someone else’s … especially if it’s uplifting. I also love listening to music and taking long walks in the countryside or on the beach.’
    ‘I find none of those interests either boring or ordinary,’ Ludo replied, the edges of his finely sculpted lips nudging the wryest of smiles. ‘Besides, sometimes the most ordinary things in life—the things we may take for granted—can be the best. Don’t you agree? I only wish I had more time to enjoy some of the pleasures that you mention myself.’
    ‘Why can’t you free up some time so that you can? Do you have to be so busy
all
of the time?’
    Frowning deeply, he seemed to consider the question for an unsettlingly long time. His perusal of Natalie while he was mulling over her question bordered on intense. Flustered, she averted her gaze to check the time on her watch.
    ‘We’ll soon be arriving in London,’ she announced, reaching over to the window seat for her bag and delving into it for a pen and something to write on. ‘Do you think you could give me your full name and address now, so I can send you the money for my ticket?’
    ‘We might as well wait until we disembark.’
    He bit into his sandwich, as if certain she wouldn’t give him an argument. She wanted to insist, but in theend decided not to. What difference could it possibly make to take his address now or later, as long as she got it? ‘Never a borrower or a lender be,’ her mother had always told her. ‘And always pay your debts.’
    Instead of adding any further comment, Natalie fell into a reflective silence. Observing that she wasn’t eating her lunch, Ludo frowned, and the gesture brought two deep furrows to his otherwise silkily smooth brow.
    ‘Finish your food,’ he advised. ‘If you haven’t had