The Bride Who Wouldn't by Carol Marinelli Read Free Book Online Page B

massages; she could never quite relax, though it was so thoughtful of him to have organised it for her that she chose not to say. “Today will be fine.”
    “Tomorrow rain is expected, so it works out better. We can enjoy the sunshine today.”
    *
    They did.
    Very possibly it was one of the nicest days of her life.
    She left the hotel in white linen capri pants with a lemon top and a knot of anticipation in her stomach wondering how she would return.
    Isaak, dressed in black jeans and a dark grey top looked effortlessly stunning and, as it turned out, was very good to shop with.
    He chatted with the gorgeous assistants and then sat there patiently as Kate was brought out dress after dress, top after top and he translated suggestion after suggestion.
    “When did you learn French?” Kate asked from the inside of a changing room as she pulled on a pale lilac dress.
    “After I learned English,” Isaak said from the other side of the curtain, “I started to do some business here.”
    “Any other languages?” Kate asked pulling the curtain back.
    “Du bist sehr sexy.” Isaak smiled, telling her in German how hot she looked and Kate started to laugh.
    “I do actually like this,” Kate admitted. It just fit so well, though it was a touch short perhaps.
    “Wear it now,” Isaak said.
    “It needs stockings.”
    “It so does not need stockings,” Isaak shook his head.
    “My legs have been tucked in boots all winter…”
    “Then they deserve a day out.”
    He gestured to the assistant to take off the security tabs.
    “Onward.”
    Boutique after boutique, they visited and slowly she honed in her style. Lilacs, purples and deep, deep reds. And then Isaak held up a little black dress.
    A very little black dress.
    “Try,” Isaak suggested.
    Crushed velvet, it felt like she was squeezing into a tube and it was so low at the back that she had to take off her bra to get the proper effect. When she did up the halter neck, Kate realised just how gorgeous the dress was. She had a bust, a waist, and it gave her curves, and it if wasn’t for the acres of white flesh on show, she might have adored it.
    Isaak did.
    “I don’t think it suits me.”
    “It does,” Isaak said, standing behind her as she looked in the mirror.
    “I thought we were looking for my style.”
    “You don’t like it?” Isaak checked. “Then don’t get it.”
    “I do like it,” Kate smiled at him in the mirror, not that Isaak noticed. He was shamelessly staring at her reflection, his eyes lingering on her breasts. Somehow, though he was looking at glass, his gaze warmed and made her terribly aware of them. She could feel the strain of her nipples and her breasts felt heavy with only the loose support of the dress.
    “Isaak!” Kate scolded.
    “What?” In the mirror, he caught her eyes and smiled. “I wasn’t looking directly at them—I wouldn’t be that rude.”
    Kate looked at her reflection again, hopefully with a more open mind. It was actually very beautiful, or was it that Isaak made her look at herself in very different ways. “I think it’s a bit much, or rather it’s a bit little.”
    “What would your mother say?” Isaak asked and Kate let out a short rapid burst of laughter.
    “Oh, I can guess.”
    “Is she here now?”
    Kate shook her head. “No.”
    “Do you want the dress?” Isaak said and now he wagged a finger at her, though it made her smile. “It’s entirely up to you but a year from now, I swear you will be regretting the day you were in Paris and said no to the dress.”
    A year from now.
    Kate frowned because a year from now this would all be over and so she nodded.
    “Yes, then.”
    Apart from the lilac dress that she was wearing, the rest of her purchases were all to be delivered to the hotel and at lunchtime, they sat outside a café, the coffee turning to wine as her legs freckled in the sun.
    “It’s been fun,” Kate smiled.
    “It has,” Isaak agreed. “It has been a very long time since I have