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

snake of glossy black hair that had her eyes fight not to look down.
    His legs as he dried them were muscular and lean and the scent of him, fresh from the shower and doused in cologne, had her forget her own question as he answered.
    “Seven.”
    “Sorry?”
    “The booking is for seven.”
    Kate had been very busy since he’d been in the shower, she was dressed in the stunning black dress and had put her make up on, as well as pinning up her hair.
    “What,” Isaak said as he looked down, “is your obsession with stockings?”
    “I can’t go to dinner with bare legs.”
    “Please do,” Isaak said. “From the waist up, amazing, from the waist down…” He shook his head. “They’re horrible.”
    “You don’t dictate what I wear.”
    “I’m not dictating,” Isaak said. “I’m strongly suggesting.” He rolled his eyes and came over. “Fine, at least they’ll be tucked under the table.” He watched as she put on her pearls, which fell low, low on her stomach.
    “There weren’t enough pearls….” Kate stared down as he tied them in a low knot.
    “I had a few added,” Isaak admitted. “Better than a choker?”
    “It is.”
    “You have only one knot, Kate…” He looked down to where it lay and in a very subtle way, he made reference to last night. “You can untie it.”
    “I can’t,” Kate admitted and then he looked right into her eyes and asked a very direct question.
    “Who hurt you?”
    “No one.”
    “So why are you so scared of something so nice?”
    “I’m not scared.”
    “Again you look me in the eye and lie.”
    He saw the haze of tears and fear there, and he knew he was right. Someone had hurt her and badly.
    “I am scared,” Kate admitted. “Especially because I have tried to get over it. I’ve seen many doctors and counsellors and I had a really nice boyfriend called Basil, and he was really patient, at first, but in the end—”
    “Hey,” Isaak interrupted, “I can tell you now what the problem was there.”
    “His name?” She smiled and Isaak laughed for he was glad to see she had her humour.
    “Two problems then,” Isaak said, “Basil and nice .” He screwed up his nose. “I would be really offended if a woman described me as a nice boyfriend.”
    “Really, how would you like to be described?”
    “I can be nice, but that is not the first thing I would want to be described as by my lover. You did not need nice, you needed amazing, you needed sensational, someone so hot for you and you hot for them, someone deeply into you…” He looked down at her mouth and the burn on her cheeks. “You’re so far from frigid Kate.”
    “Perhaps…” She took a deep breath, could not quite believe she was discussing this with anyone and especially him , but he was just so laid-back about the whole thing. “It’s not just a question of not wanting to, it’s that I can’t. I spasm…”
    Isaak just stared.
    “I get scared,” she explained further.
    “I know,” Isaak said and kissed the tip of her nose. “I intend to unscare you. Come on, enough talk about sex. I’m hard…”
    “Isaak.”
    “But I am.”
    He was holding her hand, and she almost wanted him to press it there, to feel him but he did not.
    “Get your lipstick on,” Isaak said. “And those stockings off. If we can’t fuck, then we need to eat.”
    Somehow he made her smile.
    And yes, she took her stockings off.

Chapter 8
    T hey took the elevator with a porter who stood with a crib that he must be delivering to one of the suites.
    “ Bonsoir ,” the porter said but Isaak did not answer, and it was Kate who responded as Isaak frowned at the crib.
    “It’s beautiful,” Kate commented for it was. In antique silver, she guessed it to be from around the early 1900s. The hotel was filled with the most stunning pieces and finally Kate was starting to relax enough to enjoy.
    “I love it here,” she said as they stepped out of the lift. “Even the baby cribs are fascinating.”
    “Well it