Lana soon forgot about it on reaching the bar and finding Matt talking with a debonair young couple around his own age. He handed her a drink of wine and introduced them as Justin and Sara.
“So you’re Lana,” Sara said warmly. “I saw your wedding picture in the paper and thought you looked beautiful, but it didn’t do you nearly enough justice.”
Lana immediately liked the other woman. “And I was having a bad day, too,” she said with a wry smile.
They all laughed, including Matt, whose smile made her heart skip a beat, even with that slight hardness in the back of those eyes.
Sara turned to Matt. “Matt, she’s not only beautiful but has a sense of humor. And I bet she’s a really nice person.”
“Would I have married anyone who wasn’t?” Matt drawled.
“If she was beautiful, yes!” Justin joked, then winked at Lana. “I went to school with him.”
Lana smiled. “You clearly know him well.”
Sara laughed, then, “Oh, I’m so glad we ran into each other.”
A short time later it was time to return to their seats.
“Let’s come back here and have a drink afterward,” Sara suggested. “We don’t have to rush back home tonight. Justin’s parents are looking after our little boy.”
“Sounds good,” Matt said, drawing a glance from Lana, but his face gave nothing away.
On the way back to their seats he didn’t clarify whether she wanted to have a drink afterward with his friends. Not that she minded spending time with them. It was preferable to going home and knowing it was only her and Matt alone in the house.
Just the two of them.
She winced inwardly. There was nothing to worry about. She and Matt would have that drink, then go home and go to their separate rooms, just as they did every night.
And just because Matt kissed her in the office yesterday, and just because now there was an increasing awareness between them, didn’t mean a thing. She would concentrate on enjoying the ballet. And then she’d enjoy his friends.
And that would be that.
The curtain lifted and the performance continued, and Lana became absorbed in the movement once again.
After the ballet had finished to much-deserved applause, they met up with Sara and Justin in the bar, where the other couple had found a secluded table near a window that gave an amazing night view of Sydney Harbour.
“Do you enjoy the ballet, Lana?” Sara asked, once everyone was seated. “It’s ages since I’ve been.”
“I haven’t been to the ballet since I was twelve,” Lana admitted. “My mother brought me as a treat for my birthday.” She sighed. “She’s gone now.”
Sara reached out and squeezed her arm. “I’m sure it’s a memory you treasure.”
Lana warmed to her even more.
“Here she is, Mr. Taran. This is the lady who found your wallet.”
Lana looked up to see the staff member to whom she’d given the lost wallet, and an older gentleman standing by their table.
He pumped Lana’s hand. “My dear, thank you so much for returning my wallet.”
Lana smiled. “It was my pleasure, Mr. Taran.”
“I’d like to give you a reward.”
She waved that aside. “No, but thank you for offering.”
“No, thank you.” His smile encompassed the others then he walked away.
“See, I told you she was nice,” Sara said, but Lana was aware of Matt watching her with an odd look in his eyes.
She ignored him and actually began to relax and enjoy herself as she talked about kids with Sara, watched Justin joke with Matt about being a new father, and generally had a good time over two glasses of wine.
An hour later she felt warm and even pleasant toward Matt and he even seemed to be more relaxed around her.
He really was a heartbreaker, she mused, peeking beneath her lashes at him, caught out with a knowing look that glinted on the verge of hot. Yet suddenly she didn’t seem to care. The wine was making her feel good.
“I think it’s time we let these two lovebirds go home to bed, Justin,” Sara said, then yawned delicately. “Besides, I need my beauty sleep.”
The words made Lana wince. Was she really looking like a lovesick idiot? Or was Sara seeing more than there was?
Definitely.
She wasn’t in love with Matt. She wanted him, certainly. He made her ache for him physically, but that had nothing to do with affection.
Everyone agreed to meet up soon, then Matt put his hand on her elbow as he walked her back to their car.
Thankfully the night air kept her head clear.
“You handed in that wallet,” he said, once they were in the car, his eyes inscrutable.
“It was the right thing to do.”
“You weren’t tempted to keep it?”
She met his eyes without flinching. “No.”
She hadn’t handed in the wallet to get his approval, but it would have been nice for him to acknowledge her honesty.
“No one would have known,” he pointed out.
“I would have known.”
He studied her and an odd expression flickered across his face before he turned away to start the engine. “My friends really like you.”
“And that surprises you?”
“Not at all. You’re very charming.”
So was he.
Except with her.
“I gather you’re happy with my performance tonight, then?” she said with an underlying note of sarcasm.
“Performance?”
“They think we’re happily married.”
He glanced at her only briefly. “It’ll do.”
She sighed with frustration and left him to concentrate on the driving. It didn’t matter what she did, his opinion of her wasn’t going to change. He wanted to think bad of her and he would continue on that path.
So why on earth had she been worried about spending the night alone in the house with him? He’d kissed her in his office to punish her, not because he’d had an overpowering need to feel her lips beneath his.
Not the way she did his.
All at once he cast her a sideways glance, and his gaze dropped to her mouth and darkened. “Don’t,” he growled, before returning to the road.
Startled, she felt her thoughts fumbling to catch up to him. Then she realized. Until that moment she hadn’t been aware of touching her mouth with her fingertips, remembering him there.