Dear Mister Summers

nineteen

His hands came around her, enclosing her, his palms laid flat against her back, one long thumb beginning to move in sensual massage along the exposed skin above the edge of her blouse. Andin suddenly felt breathless, she was unable to pull herself away. The moment elongated, leaving her curiously weak and intensely conscious of the firm muscles of his thighs against her legs.

A sick sensation came up into her throat and she pulled herself together and managed to move away from him, her eyes lowered in self-disgust, shuddering as she realized how she had felt from merely a touch. Previously, Sebastian had been apt to make one of his barbed comments on such occasions, finding things to mock about her yet he made no remark on what had happened and this left her puzzled and surprised. He then shock her even further by half turning away from her as the lift came to a halt.

It caused her to wonder whether he was completely unaware of what she had felt for him. Shaking all those unimportant thoughts away, she followed him across the wide, busy foyer and into the spacious dining room. The dining room was half empty at this early hour. It looked out onto the seafront, tubs of plants were lining the steps beyond the window where Andin could see people walking in a lazy fashion along the pavement.

One of the standby waiters greeted them and brought them to a table near the window where they sat down facing each other. Unwilling to risk meeting Sebastian's eyes, Andin pretended to be absorbed in the view. When the menu was handed to her she was able to hide behind that, nervousness prickling in her throat.

The food arrived soon after and they ate in comparative silence, avoiding looking at each other. He had ordered an excellent wine with medium-rare steak. Despite her protests, he insisted on topping up her glass from time to time. Albeit she drank very little, the wine began to affect her, making her relax as the meal progressed, giving her false courage, so that she felt able to meet his unreadable piercing blue eyes.

Deciding that his brother might be a safe topic of conversation, she dared herself to open a conversation. "Will you visit your brother while you are here? Since you said it is only two hours away and we will be staying until the end of the week, you might be able to spend time with him."

He looked up from the edge of his glass, his eyes narrowing. "I will certainly give him a call," he answered.

"You are not going to meet him? Don't you miss him?"

"Oh, I do miss him. Terribly." He slid his gaze down but Andin caught the longing in his eyes before he could even hide it. "But whether he will allow me to visit him is another matter."

"Why is that?"

"He does not like having guests at his place."

Andin frowned. She did not have any siblings but she could not comprehend how someone would not like having their family — whom they had not met in a while — at their place. "But you are family," she said, barely could suppress the incredulous tone in her voice.

"Still."

"Even to see you?" she asked teasingly.

"Even to see me," he assented drily.

She looked at him curiously. "Don't you get along with your brother?" She bit her lip, realizing a little too late that that question was too personal and they were not that close. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"Whyever not?" He shrugged. "And to answer your question, yes, I get on with him well enough. But we have our own lives and we make it a rule never to interfere with each other."

She frowned. It was so unlike the sort of family life she imagined he would be. Yes, she was offended when they had looked down on her but after giving it another thought, she could somehow understand them. Surely with a family as powerful as his and money as much as his, they probably felt a little protective over him. And she could not blame them for being suspicious of ladies who may have ulterior motives. Still, though, she did not expect their relationship to be this strained. If they were worried that meant they cared so why on earth there was one sibling who was tucked all the way here in Italy? "But he is your brother." Her tone revealed her disbelief and disapproval.