Page 23 of All The Wrong Notes

“I still can’t believe it,” he whispered at last, barely breaking the silence.

“Can’t believe what?” Elise turned her head to kiss the side of his throat and then let her free hand trace a line from his collarbone down his chest, swirling her fingers through the light cover of hair, where his shirt was most definitely no longer buttoned up. His tie was… somewhere. They’d find it eventually. Or not. She kissed his neck again.

“You. I can’t believe you, that I’m here with you, that you want me.”

“No woman with eyes wouldn’t want you. You’re yummy.”

“Yummy?” He tickled her side, and she squirmed against him. “Is that a good thing or bad? Should I be offended?” His voice was filled with humour.

Elise snuggled further into his side as her hand continued tracing circles over his breastbone. “Definitely yummy, and definitely not offended. You’re beautiful.”

He laughed now. “I’m supposed to say that about you. Do you only like me because you think I’m good-looking?” His voice was tighter, and tinged, perhaps, with worry. Did he really think that? Silly man.

Elise wriggled herself to more of a sitting position and shifted to look him directly in the eye. “Not at all. I thought you were gorgeous from the first time I saw you, but I’m not that shallow. I hated you at first. Your handsome face didn’t draw me until I learned to know the man beneath the scowl. Oh, Will, don’t be upset. You know you don’t always make the best first impression. You’ve told me you almost try to be off-putting. And I did come to like you. Very much! If you change your mind, I’ll show you exactly how much.” His eyes darkened as she licked her lips, but he didn’t move.

When he spoke, his voice was serious. “I ought to be grateful. I am, I am grateful. It’s not quite the ego boost I want, but it’s better, in a way. All my life, people have wanted things from me, but no one has ever wanted me just for me. You knew all along that I’m wealthy, and you’ve said you thought I was handsome before you knew me, but you weren’t swayed by that and didn’t try to worm your way into my good graces. If you were like the others, you’d have lied and cajoled until you got what you wanted.”

There was pain in his voice and the echo of a vulnerability that took her quite by surprise.

“The others? You must have had girlfriends who got to know the real you, who cared for you.”

He was silent for a long time. “One.”

One?

Will squeezed his eyes closed against a bad memory. “I may as well tell you. It’s sad, maybe even embarrassing, but I’ve only had one serious relationship before. At least, I thought it was serious. Her name was Caroline, and I really thought she loved me. Until I heard her on the phone with her sister once, talking about my money, and all the things she’d do with it. I shouldn’t have listened, but I did, and it became clear pretty quickly that my money was the only thing about me that she loved.”

“Oh, Will…” Elise pressed a soft kiss onto his lips. “I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that, and Caroline, whoever she is, is an idiot. But lucky for me.”

This was why he was so tentative. She had suspected as much, but his words, his voice, and all the words he left unsaid, confirmed her suspicions. Behind the persona he presented to the world, he was a deeply sensitive man, and he didn’t want to have his heart broken again.

Will leaned into her and accepted her comforting hug. “I know you’re nothing like that. When Carlos told me how much he had to work to get you to come to the cottage, I knew you were different from the others. You’ve got integrity. You work so hard for other people. You’re smart and capable. If you just wanted money, you could be doing some other job at some big firm on Bay Street, but you put all your energy into bringing light to kids’ lives. You see value in things other than money. I know it sounds strange coming from me, but it’s wonderful. As beautiful as you are, and I do think you are the loveliest woman I’ve ever seen, it’s your character that pulls me to you.”

Elise answered him with another kiss, the music and the coffee and the dessert long forgotten.

CHAPTER 10

THE AFTER-PARTY

“A-men!”

The choir sang out the final notes of ‘Messiah’, each eye focused on the conductor until he indicated the closing of the syllable. The hall rang with the reverberation, and then, after a split second of utter silence, the audience erupted into applause.

At last, after the soloists and conductor took several curtain calls and the roar from the audience quietened down, the choir filed out and returned to the green room, where hugs and high-fives and calls of “Well done, guys!” rang out. Elise always felt a thrill after a good concert, and tonight, the smile may as well have been pasted onto her face, because she couldn’t lose it. It wasn’t only the music that had her grinning from ear to ear.

“Fabulous job, everyone,” Randall shouted out from the doorway. He had not conducted these performances, leaving that to the orchestra’s conductor, but he had led them through the rehearsals that brought them to this very high level. “Is everyone coming to the party? We’ve got drinks and goodies in the church hall next door. I’ll see you all there!”

“Are you coming, Lise?” Janet walked up to her side. “I thought that went really well. Not a single person sang that extra ‘Hallelujah’ that we all worry about.”

“I stopped myself just in time,” Carlos quipped as he approached from where a gaggle of tenors had been laughing at something. “Brava, my fair lady,” he said as he gave Janet a quick peck. “That grand pause is always the scariest part of the entire oratorio. But we did it. You are coming, right, Elise? Is Will coming?”

The smile grew wider.

“You two are sickeningly sweet,” Janet said, poking an elbow into Elise’s ribs. “I told you he wasn’t so bad.”

Carlos waggled his eyebrows. ‘Not bad… I need to know if he’s any good!”

“Carlos!” both women retorted, almost like they’d rehearsed it.