When Lisa woke up the next morning she took a few seconds to get her bearings. She was alone.
 
     Nick couldn't have done more to make their first night together unforgettable. The gifts, the champagne, even the surroundings should have made it a perfect evening, but when he’d taken her hand to lead her to his bedroom, all she could think about was Alan.
 
     It didn't matter that she believed he was back with Carla. It didn’t even matter that she believed he didn't love her anymore. She couldn't get him out of her head. His smile, his eyes, his touch, all the things she loved about him, came between her and Nick from a physical point of view.
 
     As she’d looked at Nick, the love shining from his eyes, she had momentarily frozen inside. She wasn’t ready. If she had never known how wonderful making love could be with Alan, she would probably have been able to respond to Nick when he started to kiss her outside his bedroom door. She had been taught a wonderful lesson. A lesson which seemed destined to tarnish any experience that followed.
 
      It was as though she had been forced into being unfaithful to an uncaring lover, and the feeling of guilt had intensified by the second when Nick had taken her in his arms. He had felt her body suddenly go rigid, and he’d stepped back from her and looked into her confused eyes.
 
     “It’s okay, Lisa, I understand...”
 
Did he? she wondered. She didn’t think he could possibly understand what was going through her head at that precise moment. How could she tell this wonderful man who loved her so much, that her heart still belonged to someone else?
 
     The fact was, Nick genuinely did think he understood. The plans he'd made with Lisa’s school friends after they misguidedly told him Lisa was still in love with him, had given him a purpose which had made him focus on only one thing, getting her back. Now that he had, he wanted nothing to ruin things again. He was just going to have to learn to be patient and give her the time she needed to get used to the idea of them being back together again.
 
     “How about we just sit and talk for a bit,” he suggested, leading her back to the table where the remnants of the magnificent meal he’d ordered lay abandoned.
 
She looked at him across the table after he’d topped up their glasses, and asked him why he loved her so much. He stretched his hand across the table and took hers.
 
     “I don't know, Lisa. I just always have. I’ve been in love with you since the moment I first saw you...”
 
Something snapped inside her when she remembered being told the same thing before.
 
     “Alan said that he loved me too…”
 
The words spilled out before Lisa could stop them. She waited for Nick to react. He didn’t. He just looked over at her, let go of her hand, and gave her a sad smile.
 
     “I know.” He said quietly, sitting back in his chair.
 
His words hung in the air with such weight; Lisa could do nothing but stare back at him across the table. After a moment or two, she shook her head and looked back at him, her expression incredulous.
 
     “But how do you know?” She asked hesitantly. "Why didn't you say something?”
 
      ”Scott phoned and told me about Alan after he met up with you in Chelmsford. When he told me Alan was in love with you, I thought that I'd lost you forever. It wasn’t until he phoned me back to tell me you had decided to go to the school, I thought there might be a chance you didn’t love him back. When your friends phoned and confirmed that it was actually me you loved, I was the happiest man alive.”
 
Lisa felt really stupid for thinking he knew nothing about Alan. She would have to tell him the truth. Their eyes met and she saw the fear behind his expression.
 
     “Don't you want to know what happened when I was in Chelmsford?”
 
 Nick stared at her across the table trying to control the emotion in his voice.
 
     “No, Lisa, I don't want to know anything about it. All that matters is that you’re here with me now, and that you’re here because you want to be, not because you have to be. Can you understand that?”
 
Knowing now how much he loved her, she did.
 
     “Yes, I do,” she said, before offering him her hand again.
 
He had taken the pressure off, which was what needed to be done. So many things had happened to Lisa in the five short weeks since she’d run away from her mother’s drunken abuse. What she needed now was calm and understanding. Nick was determined that she would find exactly that with him.
 
Not long after that, they called it a day, with Nick going to his room, and Lisa going to hers...
 
 
 
 
Nick looked at Lisa across the breakfast table and started pouring their coffee. As usual, he had ordered everything with Lisa in mind, and she stared hungrily down at the tantalising plate of creamy scrambled eggs accompanied by Scottish smoked salmon.
 
     “What do you want to do until you're picked up this afternoon?” he asked with a patient smile.
 
Lisa delighted him when she popped a forkful of eggs and salmon into her mouth and closed her eyes for a moment. She looked as though she’d died and gone to heaven.
 
     “I don't know, what do you suggest?” she answered as soon as she’d swallowed.
 
Nick knew what he wanted to do, but however tempted, he wasn't going to make the same mistake he'd made the night before. He knew if they stayed in the suite until four o'clock, he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off her. Just sitting across the table from her while they ate breakfast was driving him crazy already. They would have to go out.
 
     “Why don't we indulge in a little retail therapy?' he asked.
 
Lisa shook her head and laughed.
 
     “You don't have to do that. You’ve bought me far too much already.”
 
Nick was delighted with her answer. Unlike most of the women he'd met since he'd had money to burn, Lisa didn't seem to want anything from him, which just made him want to give her more. He did, however, think of a good excuse to go shopping.
 
     “I thought it was your eighteenth in a couple of weeks. Can't I get you something for that?”
 
Lisa had forgotten about her birthday with everything else that had been going on.
 
     “I've told you Nick- you've bought me enough already-- this for instance.”
 
 She was holding out her left hand showing the magnificent diamond engagement ring he’d put on her finger the day before.
 
Nick remembered back to the day he had bought it, the week before she was due to arrive on the Island. Since then it had lain in the safe, trapped in its metal tomb. Only after Amy had called him, had he dared to look at it again.
 
     “I can't wait to show you off to everyone now that you're wearing it, Lisa. When do you think you'll be able to come over to the Island?” He asked, before he started tucking into the plateful of scrambled eggs in front of him.
 
Nick noticed her expression change and thought that the memory of her last planned journey to the Island must be as painful to her, as it was to him. She thought for a moment before she answered. She tried to push the memory of her mother attacking her, to the back of her mind. This time it would be different.
 
    “I have half term the week after my birthday. Why don't I come over and spend it with you?” She suggested.
 
Nick thought back and remembered getting ready for her last visit. He couldn't live through that again.
 
     “Lisa, I would love that, but this time, if you don’t mind, I'll make the travel arrangements.”
 
Lisa laughed. Everything was so simple when you had money.
 
     “So what are you going to do, hire a private plane?” she asked jokingly.
 
He grinned back at her.
 
     “Yes, but I think a helicopter is easier to land at the school. It can then take you straight to the airport in London.”
 
Lisa nearly choked on her coffee. He couldn't be serious.
 
     “Where I’ll organise a private plane to take you to The Isle of Man,” he added.
 
He had never enjoyed indulging anyone with his wealth as much as he did now. Lisa's jaw had dropped open at the very idea.
 
     “You wouldn't?”
 
Nick wasn't leaving anything to chance. He had to make sure she arrived. He got up and went over to her side of the table before he looked down at her earnestly.
 
     “Absolutely… if that’s what I have to do to make sure you get there this time, then that’s what I'll have to do,” he decided.
 
This time when he kissed her, Lisa had no difficulty kissing him back. He had managed to make her feel like the most precious woman on the planet, and she pushed the memory of Alan’s face to the back of her mind. Never again would she let him come between her and Nick...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     Despite Lisa's protests, they ended up grabbing a taxi and hitting the shops in Knights Bridge. Nick propelled her around, insisting that she tried everything on she stopped to look at. Every time he would tell her how wonderful she looked in whatever it was, before he would hand the assistant his credit card. It was a bit like the scene from ‘Pretty Woman’ with Richard Gere. Like the character Julia Roberts played; Lisa was blown away by the attention she received because she was shopping with a man who was rich and famous. The shopping spree made any she’d had with her extravagant mother look positively pathetic.
 
     After an hour she felt embarrassed at how much he was spending, and tried to make him stop. She kept telling him she had more than enough already.
 
     “Nonsense.” he replied firmly. “When you come to the Island I want to show you off to everyone. You'll need a wardrobe to match that engagement ring.”
 
     Lisa eventually gave in. Nick insisted on buying her at least half a dozen stunning outfits, including a midnight blue evening gown, which hugged her body wherever it touched. Lisa looked at the price tag and nearly passed out when she saw what it cost. Even by her mother’s standards, it was extortionate. She didn't want him to buy it, but he insisted. Not only did he insist on buying the dress, but also the matching shoes and handbag as well. The dress was a couple of inches too long and Lisa was relieved when the assistant said they could have it shortened and sent directly to Nick in the Island of Man. The thought of returning to the school with everything he had bought for her made Lisa feel uneasy though, so she asked Nick if he could take most of it back with him.
 
      Nick was delighted. Lisa couldn't have done more to prove that she wasn't after his money, or what it could buy her. From Lisa's point of view she knew exactly what the other girls would think if she went back to the school laden down with presents. It would demean the romantic illusion everyone had about their relationship, and make her look cheap.
 
     Lisa finally talked Nick into buying a large suitcase to put all his wonderful gifts in to take back to the Island. She only kept a couple of things to take back to the school.
 
     When they got back to the hotel it was quarter to four, and she barely had time to pack the case before they had to be back downstairs in reception for Lisa to get picked up. The staff at the Hilton had done well. There wasn’t one member of the press to be seen.
 
     They kissed outside the hotel as Teddy and her brother looked on, before Lisa got into the back of the car and waved Nick goodbye. It had been an emotional twenty-four hours in which Nick couldn't have done more to show her how much he loved her, or how much he cared...