Get over it. It was probably all for the good, she decided as she started to muster guests into travelling groups. She would never belong in this sophisticated world. If they could return to the easy relationship they’d shared on the farm when they weren’t fighting, chatting easily about horses, maybe there’d be a chance for them. She huffed a humourless laugh as she moved on to the next group of guests.
Operation Up the Mountain was a welcome distraction. Stacey’s passion remained unchanged. Seeing people enjoy themselves at the events she organised was everything to her, and she never allowed personal feelings to get in the way. It was crucial that guests remained unaware of the mechanics behind an event, and it never felt like work to Stacey. But to be on the receiving end of this carousel of parties and lunches, banquets and fashion shows, rather than organising them? She couldn’t do it. She had to get her hands dirty. She had to be real. False eyelashes wouldn’t last five minutes in the country in a rainstorm, and, though she loved the city and all the glamorous occasions she helped to arrange, her long-term goal was to live on a small farm surrounded by ponies, where the only event she ever went to was the local county show.
The transport Luc had arranged was inspired. Nothing could stop the big snowploughs trundling up the mountain on their tank treads. Headlights blazing, music blaring, the party continued as they travelled up the slope. Stacey found herself seated next to Lucas, but this was business so she kept her distance and he kept his. The only comments they made were directed at their guests to make sure they were seated comfortably and well wrapped up in rugs.
When they arrived at Luc’s impressive chalet, she’d made sure that champagne, mulled wine and soft drinks were waiting for his guests.
‘You’ve thought of everything,’ he commented as he helped her to climb down. ‘And you look amazing.’
She blinked. Not that Luc’s touch on her arm wasn’t as electrifying as ever, or his face as wonderfully familiar, nor were the expressive eyes holding her own bemused stare any less darkly commanding and beautiful, but…compliments? Really? Was that the best way to start when they had so much more to say to each other?
So what would you say? She shrugged inwardly. He’d made a start. She should too. ‘You don’t look bad yourself. We’ll talk later. Yes?’
Angling a strong chin already liberally shaded with stubble, Luc gave her a measured look. ‘I think I can make time for you.’
‘Make sure you do.’ And with that she was off about her duties.
He tracked her down in an empty kitchen minutes before the fireworks and the torchlit descent were due to start. ‘I sent Maria out to enjoy the show,’ she explained in a neutral tone, swiping a cloth across the granite worktops without pausing to look up.
‘Well?’ he prompted, suffocated by tension he could cut with a knife. ‘Do you have some news for me?’
She stilled and slowly raised her head. ‘Are you saying you don’t know?’
Of course he knew. He made it his business to know everything concerning him. His security team hadn’t been hired for their pretty faces. But he wanted Stacey to tell him. Whether she could open up enough to do so remained to be seen. ‘Just tell me.’
‘Congratulations,’ she said in the same emotion-free tone. ‘You’re going to be a daddy.’
He ground his jaw so hard he could have cracked some teeth. The way she’d told him, and, worse, the way this most marvellous news was overshadowed by concerns from his past, made him madder than hell, and saddened him equally.
‘Don’t you have anything to say?’ she pressed.
‘Congratulations,’ he echoed with a brief, accepting smile.
‘Wow. Your enthusiasm overwhelms me.’
‘Not now,’ he warned as Maria bustled back into the kitchen.
‘When, then?’ Stacey mouthed across the counter.
‘When everyone else has left and we’re alone.’
With a shrug she seemed to accept this, and they split, each attending to their duties, which left them both, he suspected, with a grinding impatience that wouldn’t leave them until they’d talked.
The most spectacular firework display Stacey had ever seen was accompanied by classical music. The combination of fire in the sky and the passionate strains of a full orchestra turned a spectacular event into a spellbinding affair. She couldn’t resist watching for a while, though tensed when Luc joined her. She didn’t need to turn around to know he was there.
‘Enjoying it?’ he asked.
‘It’s amazing,’ she confirmed. ‘But shouldn’t you be spending time with your guests?’
‘Shouldn’t you?’ he countered softly.
‘Of course, señor—’
‘For goodness’ sake, don’t call me that. And no. Stay with me,’ he commanded, catching hold of her arm when she started to move away. ‘I want to watch the display with you. My guests won’t care with all this going on.’
‘I guess not,’ Stacey agreed as a starburst of light exploded high in the night sky over their heads. Luc didn’t speak as he came to stand close behind her. He made no attempt to touch her, but that didn’t stop all the tiny hairs on the back of her neck standing to attention. She could almost imagine his heat warming her, and she found herself wanting to forget their differences and start again. More than anything she wanted them both to throw off the shackles of the past and express themselves freely to the extent that Luc took her in his arms and kissed her in front of everyone, and she kissed him back. But that was never going to happen when a muted ‘Congratulations’ was the best he could manage at the news of their child.
He wanted to drag her into his arms and kiss the breath from her lungs, but not with so many interested eyes on them. It hadn’t been easy for Stacey to build a new life, and the last thing he wanted was to cast the shadow of his so-called celebrity over her, bringing her to the world’s interest. Her childhood and early teens had largely been composed of fantasies, Niahl had told him, and that was to block out the fact that she felt invisible at home. Stacey’s only fault was being a reminder of her mother. She’d tried hard to shake that off, but in doing so had ended up feeling disloyal to her mother’s memory. She couldn’t win. From the youngest age she hadn’t been able to do right in her father’s eyes, and that had stripped her confidence bare. She had worked hard when she left home to build up her self-belief, and he could so easily destroy it with a few misjudged words. Everything he said to Stacey had to be weighed carefully, and, unfortunately, like her, he was a man with a tendency to spit things out.
Deciding there was only one way around the problem, he knew that it wasn’t enough to rejoice in the fact that they were having a baby, and that Stacey would always know he was holding something back. The only answer was to unlock the darkest secret from his past and confront it, but that would have to wait, as the torchlit descent in which he was taking part was about to begin.
‘I’m sorry… I have to go,’ he explained. ‘My job is to ride shotgun and make sure no one falls or gets left behind.’
‘I understand,’ she said with a quick smile before glancing back at the chalet. ‘And I need to make sure that everyone’s glass is full to toast the parade as you start off.’
‘You’ll