Page 30 of Modern Romance September 2025 1-4
‘I’m sorry but there would be no point inviting you in because I’m about to go out,’ Bunny advanced stiltedly, but she felt as if she was being rude and stepped outside to seem friendlier than she felt. ‘I also don’t see what we have to talk about.’
‘You look amazing,’ Tristram told her, noting the silky conditioned fall of her golden hair and her perfectly made-up face while the grape-coloured fitted skirt and silk shirt she wore enhanced her diminutive curves and small waist.
‘Thanks.’ Bunny would’ve liked to have said it was the first thing she threw on but in truth she had made an enormous effort on Sebastian’s behalf. She had been waiting at the doors of the nearest local boutique at opening time and had blown everything in her bank account on a decent outfit and some make-up.
‘You never made this much effort for me,’ Tristram complained, his mouth taking on a sullen curve.
‘But then, according to what I was told, you didn’t make much effort for her,’ Sebastian intoned from behind them both.
Bunny spun in concert with Tristram, who flushed angrily.
‘Sebastian Pagonis… Tristram Elsworthy,’ Bunny introduced stiffly.
Sebastian was seething, inflamed by the discovery of the ex on Bunny’s doorstep. He dropped a territorial arm round her slight shoulders. ‘We’re running late,’ he murmured apologetically.
Tristram backed off a step with a wide understanding smile. ‘I won’t keep you. I’ll call another time, Bunny.’
‘I’m afraid I won’t be here, Tris. I’m moving,’ she said pleasantly.
As her ex headed down the path to return to his car, Sebastian bit out in a raw undertone, ‘You should’ve told him you were pregnant and engaged.’
‘I wasn’t about to give him private information like that!’ Bunny objected.
But it was too late to be talking about what was private because Sebastian had given the game away. A gasp sounded in the hall of her parents’ home. Bunny swivelled and saw her mother clamp her hand to her lips below her rounded and shocked eyes.
‘Is it true?’ the older woman asked.
And that was another hold-up as they went indoors to discuss that subject. Her mother shared the news that John’s wife, Betsy, was expecting again, only she wasn’t yet telling people, a meaningful restriction that seemed to have escaped her mother-in-law’s understanding.
‘Well, I must say that went down very well,’ Sebastian remarked as they strolled out to the car, her luggage having been stowed while they talked. ‘Your mother can’t keep a secret.’
‘I can’t either…not very well or for very long,’ Bunny confided guiltily. ‘Why were you so angry at Tristram dropping in?’
Sebastian’s sculpted jawline clenched. On the face of it, he didn’t know why he’d been so angry. He simply didn’t want her former boyfriend anywhere near Bunny. Even though the guy had backed off fast, Sebastian didn’t like him showing up at Bunny’s home and annoying her. That was normal. It didn’t mean he was either fanatically possessive or obsessionally jealous, he assured himself. And it would be totally normal for him to check out Tristram Elsworthy and find out who he was.
‘What did he want?’
‘I haven’t a clue. It’s probably just one of those random things because he read about me being missing in a newspaper,’ she framed. ‘But you were so angry when you realised who he was, you went rigid.’
‘I don’t want him hanging around you,’ Sebastian told her truthfully.
‘Well, I’m not going to encourage him,’ Bunny said cheerfully. ‘I can’t stand him. He’s so fake and I see it now.’
But on one level, Sebastian was still brooding and annoyed thathehad been annoyed about something so trivial. Even so, Tristram with the uber-short hair and the winning smile was her first love and women were said to be romantic and nostalgic about their first loves. Still troubled by the anger that had engulfed him, Sebastian was quiet.
‘So why aren’t you telling me anything about this house?’ Bunny demanded as Sebastian steered the powerful car off the motorway and back into the countryside.
‘It’s a surprise. It’s not modern but then you like history and old buildings, don’t you?’
Her brow furrowed. ‘How do you know that?’
‘Don’t you remember rabbiting on about how much you loved Hampton Court when we were on the island? About how you loved to tour old houses and imagine the people who had lived there? About how you believed that most contemporary furniture lacks character?’
Bunny burned with deep mortification. Certainly she had been guilty of rabbiting on a fair bit, which was why Sebastian was so very well acquainted with her likes and dislikes.
‘The location of the house also had to be within reasonable reach of your family for you and close to London for me,’ Sebastian added. ‘I chose accordingly and Inailedit.’
‘Did you indeed? What about your own preferences?’
