The Girl Behind The Curtain (Hidden Women) Read Online Free PDF

there was no chance of him having the courage to meet Sarah that night. Bea was an intelligent woman. She didn’t want to be seen to be horrified, but she was. She dropped his hand as though it was still burning. And then she was embarrassed, fleeing the scene like a child. Why should Sarah be any different? He no longer had the courage to find out.
     
    How Marco had wished he could be whole again. Whole and perfect for Sarah. Then he would not have had to worry about rejection. He could have agreed to her early suggestions that they meet. They could have gone for a coffee, like two ordinary people. They would have had so much to talk about; they would have stayed together for the rest of the day. They would have walked back to her flat in the Dorsoduro and she would have invited him inside and offered him some wine.
    After that, the actual seduction would have been a formality. She would have glanced shyly downwards when he went to kiss her for the first time – women always did – but she would have acquiesced enthusiastically, giving in to the desire that had been building between them all day.
    He would have followed her to the bedroom with the curious four-poster bed she had described to him in her emails. They would have undressed, marvelling at the perfection they found in one another. He would have kissed every inch of her body. He would have revelled in the beauty of her breasts. He had often imagined how soft they would be. They were so pale, untouched by the sun. The contrast of her rose-pink nipples was perfect.
    By her side, he would have lain content for hours, just kissing her and tracing the outlines of her curves. To think of her touching him was almost too much. The thought of her hand around his penis made him catch his breath. The thought of her mouth seeking out his hardness made him close his eyes and let his own hand stray towards his crotch. To be inside her . . . He had no fonder wish.
     
    From the moment Sarah walked into the courtyard garden of the Palazzo Donato, Marco had known he wanted to be with her. The gawky young girl who had haunted his bedside at the hospital had grown into a beautiful woman. She had such poise as she walked behind Silvio and when she looked up, as though she already knew of his hiding place, the sight of her heart-shaped face was like a punch to the solar plexus. From that moment, he was lost. A part of him he’d long forgotten began to come back to life.
    In a funny way, to begin with it was uncomplicated. Flirting by email was so easy. It was the modern way. No one thought it odd any more if you didn’t pick up the phone. But eventually, even text lovers have to meet face to face. He couldn’t blame Sarah for wondering why he wouldn’t come out from behind the safety of a screen. Of course, modest and shy as she was, she assumed it was because of some lack on her part.
    How ridiculous. She was so perfect. He couldn’t believe she’d ever thought she wasn’t good enough for him. But she had compared herself to the stupid models in those decade-old photographs. If only he had been able to tell her what they were really like.
    If only Sarah had known how much he wanted to be able to take her out and show her off and let her know how much he loved her from the pride he took from being beside her. He wanted to show her off to everyone and introduce her to old friends and family. But he couldn’t imagine he would ever really be able to face the world again and, apart from Silvio, his friends and family had long since given up on him. He could not possibly have expected Sarah to join him in his isolation. She needed to be part of the real world. That is what Marco meant when he wished for Sarah an extraordinarily ordinary love.
    But if she was willing to sacrifice the ordinary to be with him, then who was he to tell her not to? Perhaps it could work.
    A small, rebellious part of Marco’s brain kept trying to be heard above the rest. She had come back to him again