Truly I do (7 page)

Indignant now,
she strutted into the store and tried to put him out of her
thoughts. She hadn't missed noticing that he'd blown her a kiss
when he saw she was looking at him. 'Fool!', she smiled playfully,
even though he could never possibly hear her.

In the
lingerie and nightwear departments Julie-Anne stopped herself from
buying a plain brushed cotton nightie and plain white cotton
undies. Instead she picked out a short, deep red Chaslyn chemise,
styled in soft silk with a blossom print. She stuck to her old
habit with the dressing gown though, choosing a long, thick, fluffy
robe that would be so warm and comforting when she got out of the
bath; or early in the morning when it was cold. The robe was also
seductive red and did compliment the chemise in a rather nice
way.

Realising that
she was taking rather a long time she moved on to select a few
opulently sexy briefs with matching bras in colours ranging from
black with purple trim to soft peach. She happily grabbed a pair of
cream, kitten heeled mules with a delicate feather trim over the
toes. These would go with anything she had bought to wear in the
privacy of her room and they would impart that lovely sense of
girlie indulgence when she chose to put them on. Finally she made
her way to the pay point. At the last minute she grabbed some
hold-up stockings and, for the devilment of it, a pair of thick,
fluffy bedroom socks. She was determined that if Russell intended
to seduce her she would enjoy the experience as much as possible,
but also that he would have to take her as he found her. If she
felt like being wrapped up in something warm and snugly - that
would be a test of his real feelings towards her, she decided.

When
Julie-Anne entered the sweet little tea room to join Russell it was
as much as she could do to contain herself from rushing to embrace
him. He looked cool and matter of fact about her arrival, not
enquiring about her shopping but ordering her to drink up her tea
and eat her soft, sweet scone very quickly so that they could get
on with finishing their journey. The child-like glee she had felt
about her new acquisitions soon cooled like the tea in her cup. She
swallowed down both her tea and the flirtatious feelings she'd been
developing toward her handsome companion. Within only a few minutes
of her arrival they went back out into the chill of the autumnal
dusk.

The elegant
town was already in full preparation for Christmas. The festive
season was rapidly bearing down on retailers and shoppers alike.
Autumn was turning to winter. Julie-Anne would have loved to have
stopped and gazed at the pretty coloured lighting that sparkled in
the trees around green park areas of town. She caught tantalising
glimpses of sparkling decorations in shop windows and over the
archways of mediaeval streets. But Russell had got it into his head
that he needed to hurry. She was left with no option but to hurry
along behind him, hoping that she would get another chance to come
into town in the late afternoon to really appreciate the magical
glitter that the townsfolk had tastefully sprinkled all around.

When they
arrived at the little village just north of Harrogate, Russell
parked the Lexus outside a charming, red-brick hotel. The place had
a mediaeval feel, with small, gothic styled windows and and
intriguing air of history about it. The pavement was cobbled with
uncomfortably small cobble-stones so that Julie-Anne had to be
careful not to twist her ankles as she dutifully followed Russell.
He seemed fully in control as she stepped up behind him into the
carpeted reception area. Whilst the smiling receptionist took
Russell's details Julie-Anne looked around at some family portraits
from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, at the same time she
noted that typical kitcheny smell that ancient English hotels
always seem to have.

"Here's your
key!" Russell broke into her thoughts. He'd been carrying her
shopping bags for her, now he handed them to her along with her
room key, saying "I have a couple of phone calls to make. You go
bathe and change and we'll meet down here for dinner at seven
thirty."

She stared at
him, he'd changed from being the happy go-lucky blue eyed boy that
she was just getting used to, and had become distant, serious and
somewhat dominating. This made her more aware than she'd been
before of how tall he was and how overtly masculine his trim body
seemed to be when he stood so close. She glanced at her watch, it
was six o'clock. "Okay." she mumbled, taking the bags from his
outstretched hand and checking the room number on her key. "I'll
see you later then."

*

Her bedroom
was fresh and clean. It was tastefully decorated. The furniture was
crisp white against buttermilk walls and woodwork. The atmosphere
of the comfortable room was warmed by heavy red and gold raw-silk
curtains that hung sumptuously over the deep box mantle of the
stylised gothic-arched window. The invitingly soft bed was dressed
in a matching red and gold counterpane. The carpet was plush and
modern but Julie-Anne was equally comforted by her certain
knowledge that beneath that soft carpet lay an ancient oak floor,
probably worn smooth by the feet of many happy visitors and almost
certainly glossy and dark - she felt that the invisible history of
this room added to it's character as much as the lovely dressings
on display.

Although the
room was cosy, outside it was dark now and very cold. Julie-Anne
could not see the world outside and was pleased to think that there
was a lot of exploring to look forward to in the morning. She flung
her shopping on the bed and set about running a hot bath to ease
her aching back and feet. But as she relaxed into a perfumed bubble
bath, she started once again to feel isolated and emotionally
neglected. She could not allow Russell Bryson-Steinar to become her
undoing, she decided. So long as she didn't get carried away with
her growing feelings for him she would be all right. After all,
this break could be such an adventure and it really was an
opportunity for her to re-define herself and gather some inner
strength to get her through her life to come. But that was going to
be a life alone by the looks of it. Who would ever fall in love
with such a dull, miserable widow? Even when she'd got married, it
seemed, her husband had no real love or passion for her and she, as
she now believed, was a passionless woman with nothing to offer.
She would have to settle for attempting to find some interesting
friends - or at least seeking out a few people like Russell who
could give her an environment for conversation and a few shared
interests form time to time.

Julie-Anne was
beginning to get quite miserable, she'd just climbed out of the
bath and had wrapped her hair and body in the hotel's large white
towels when there was a knock on the door. Cautiously she cracked
the door open and saw a smartly dressed member of staff holding a
huge bouquet of red and gold flowers.

"Oh!"
Julie-Anne gasped, throwing open the door to receive the flowers.
The boy holding them grinned cheekily at her, "Your, er, gentleman
friend sent these up!" he explained, "There's a card." The smug
expression on the boy's face suggested that he might have had a
sneaky look at the card but Julie-Anne didn't care. She took the
flowers and thanked him, retreating quickly back into her room to
investigate them.

The card
simply said "Beautiful flowers for a special companion." That's a
pretty little non-committal phrase, Julie-Anne thought. It reads
like something they put as standard in the florist's shop - not
exactly a personalised declaration of new found love! Still, what
did she expect? She was just here to provide company and convenient
conversation as usual, and they were quite lovely flowers. They
were arranged in a special cellophane wrap that had water in it so
that she could stand them by the bedside as they were. She couldn't
help but smile as she noticed that the floral arrangement went
perfectly with the decor of the bed room and the decadent colours
cheered her up immensely.

Determined not
to carry on wallowing in her loneliness, and with a lightness in
her step brought n by the prettiness of the flowers now perfuming
her room, Julie-Anne got on with organising her new clothes in the
wardrobe. While she moved around the room she'd wrapped herself in
her new cuddly robe and thick bed sox. While she dried and brushed
her hair to a lustrous shine she confined her thoughts to wondering
what supper would be on offer downstairs. She dare not allow her
mind to wander to Russell and that delicious kiss he'd used to
entice her to come here with him. What a pity that brief moment of
seduction had been nothing more than a type of bribery. Russell had
certainly known how to bait the hook to catch this silly little
fish hadn't he? Every now and then she smiled at the flowers on her
night stand. Somehow they seemed to represent hope, hope for better
things to come in her life. Russell might only be stringing her
along, but if she could cool her feelings for him then maybe there
was hope that she could use this experience to find a man who could
find something within her to love.

At seven
fifteen she finally dressed herself in a pair of cream, lightweight
wool, trousers that fitted her slim hips perfectly. She smoothed
the tailored seems where the trousers fitted over her shapely
thighs, admiring the cut and the stylish way the garment flared out
to a wide cuff at the hem. She slipped on a new pair of high heeled
shoes that made her stand with a graceful arch to her lean back and
topped the outfit with a creamy coffee coloured cashmere sweater.
she scrutinised her own slender, petite figure in the mirror and,
smoothing her lovely dark hair back from her pretty face, she
sighed, 'Ah well! Here I go . . . venturing into the unknown, I
guess.'

Julie-Anne had
no idea how beautiful she looked nor how well the new clothes and
make-up had served to revive her natural loveliness.

At the bottom
of the little hotel's creaky staircase, Julie-Anne was delighted to
see Russell dressed in some of the new clothes he'd picked up while
they were out shopping. He looked gorgeous in a well fitting pair
of navy chinos that showed-off his masculine thighs, soft sued
moccasins, and a white sweater that lay smoothly over his manly
chest and that highlighted his golden skin under the gentle hotel
lighting. She extended a warm smile to him and greeted him with a
heartfelt "Thank you!" for the lovely flowers. As she came down the
last few steps he held out his hand to her, she wondered if he was
going to kiss her again and her stomach flipped nearly causing her
to miss the last step. Instead, however, he took her hand and
squeezed it lightly, pulling her toward the dining room. "For the
flowers? Oh, you're welcome, I'm glad you liked them." he said
smoothly, with little emotion. Then with much more feeling he
added, "Come on, let's go eat, I'm starving!"

Suppressing
the desire to pull him back and press herself into his arms,
Julie-Anne meekly followed Russell into the cosy dining room. The
room had a country-house feel to it, it smelled of centuries of
cooking, more especially it smelled of freshly cooked home-style
meals. And, neither high class nor chic in it's decor, it had a
lovely warm ambience which made it very easy for Julie-Anne to
relax as the waiter settled them at their table-for-two in a
secluded spot.

"So what,
exactly, are your plans now that we're here?" Having ordered
herself a pheasant dish, Julie-Anne gazed across the candle lit
table into Russell's blue eyes. She was enchanted to see how he
came to life, grew masterful and knowledgeable while he talked
about archaeology and organisations and people that were evidently
movers and shakers within his field of knowledge. She was vaguely
aware that he'd kept his conversation to his historical interests
and did not mention the other 'business' he had come to see to -
whatever that might be.

"There was a
hugely important hoard of buried Viking treasure found near here."
Russell was explaining, his eyes lighting up as he imagined the
artefacts, "There were over 617 silver coins and 65 other items.
They found ornaments, and all sorts of metals hidden in a gilt
silver vessel lined with gold. It shows good trade and travel
evidence too 'cos many of the items, cups, bowls and stuff, were
made in France or Germany around the year 900 and other bits came
from even further afield." She felt drawn to the glow in his eyes
where candle light reflected his burning intellectual interest in
his topic. Seemingly unaware of her, he carried on chattering,
"Some of the finds were exquisitely made, they were highly
decorated with vines, leaves and, can you imagine, there were six
representations of hunting scenes which actually showed lions as
well as stags, and a horse. The container they were protected in is
probably from a rich monastery in northern France. That means it
must have been acquired either in a Viking raid or as a kind of
Viking trade-off or tribute."

"So, some
important people must be here to look at all this?" She questioned,
delicately popping a dainty mouth-full of the rich, saucy pheasant
into her mouth without taking her eyes from Russell's candle lit,
radiant face.

"Not really,
all the expertise is in the British and other museums where the
stuff is housed and studied." he shrugged.

She frowned,
"I thought you'd come here to meet with people?"

"Well there's
always a few interesting people hanging around an area like this -
so I'll see who I can find round-and-about whilst we're here." He
had developed an expression of enticing secrecy on his face.
Julie-Anne noted a dark frown that was misting his crystal blue
eyes like a storm shadow passing through a prefect summer sky.

"Oh?" she
prompted. Suddenly wondering what his true reason for coming here
might be, "Why have you come here Russell, really?"