‘I just need the names. What’s the boy called?’ He reached for his mobile and tapped in the name given to him.
‘What good is that going to do?’
‘I’ll get in touch with him.’
‘But what if he doesn’t want to sell? I know you think that this is just a backwater, but it’s possible that they might want it as a holiday home. It’s absolutely stunning in the summer months and the salmon fishing is very good...’
‘He’ll sell because I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse. If he wants a holiday home in this part of the world, he can buy one somewhere else. I intend striking while the iron’s hot. Give my father a little time to start working on another argument for staying put and I could find myself in the same position as I’m in now this time next year.’
‘And that would never do, would it?’ Laura said tartly. ‘Having to drag yourself away from hectic city life to go through the horror of repeat trips to the backwater?’
Alessandro smiled slowly at her. He sipped some of the wine and carried on looking over the rim of the glass, liking what he saw. Jeans, a checked shirt peeping out from behind a dull red jumper. The same fur-lined boots she had been wearing in the classroom. High fashion wasn’t going to be staging a takeover any time soon with her and he really liked that. He also liked the way her skin was tinged pink, the way she was mutinously doing her best to meet his eyes and hold them, the way she didn’t wear any make-up so that the sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose stood out against her pale, smooth skin. Her hair wasn’t in a ponytail but she had still pulled it back into a single long braid, which she had pulled over her shoulder, and it was tied at the end with a red piece of stretchy elastic.
What was a man to do? he wondered.
She wasn’t one of his catwalk models, who were as hard as nails and knew the score before they jumped into bed with him.
She was also nursing a broken heart, although, as far as he was concerned, after a year and a half the heart should not only be mended but would benefit from some energetic exercise. The sort of exercise he was an expert at providing.
And how complicated could it get? They lived in opposite ends of the country and he knew, unerringly, that although she fancied him, she would never look for anything lasting with someone of whom she fundamentally disapproved.
And vice versa. She might make a great change from his predictable diet, but she was as poles apart from him as he was from her. They could have come from different planets and he couldn’t wait to explore their differences.
A big plus was that it would make visiting his father a thing of anticipation, at least for a while. Of course, denial would be a safer option because she didn’t obey the rules of the game he played when it came to women, but denial was something with which he had little experience. What was the point? When it came to sex, all was fair in love and war between consenting adults. And her consent was simmering just below the surface. He could sense it.
‘City life can be hectic,’ Alessandro agreed. ‘Maybe I’ve been viewing these trips to Scotland in entirely the wrong light.’ He glanced around at the kitchen as though pondering whether there was more to it than met the eye, maybe a magic wardrobe concealing a lion and a witch, and then he gazed at her with his head tilted to one side. ‘For backwater, one can always read peaceful. Maybe I haven’t thoroughly explored the potential for kicking back here.’ He shrugged, still giving the matter some thought. ‘’Course, my father’s endearing ways might have detracted from the temptation to spend longer than a few minutes in the place but I sense we might be getting onto a different footing...’
‘You do?’ Laura subdued a brief flare of thrilling anticipation at the prospect of him being around, which she immediately squashed, choosing to interpret the way her heart skipped a beat as nothing more than perfectly understandable satisfaction that father and son might manage to work their way to a better relationship.
‘He has friends and a social life here,’ Alessandro mused, ‘so I’m thinking that there might be more to him than has always met the eye. Once or twice I’ve even caught a flash of humour in something he’s said and I’ve always thought that humour was something he disapproved of on principle. And, of course, I’ve seen first-hand that he’s not as intransigent with the entire human race as I’ve always been led to believe. Your grandmother knows how to wield a big stick and he obeys. Doesn’t take a genius to work out who wears the trousers in that relationship.’
‘Roberto is all bark and no bite.’
‘I wouldn’t go so far as to say that...’
Laura looked at him curiously and he returned her gaze with raised eyebrows. ‘I’ve discovered he has a healthy set of teeth. Trust me. But...’ he shrugged and slanted her a crooked smile ‘...I don’t get away much. Might do me good to discover what this part of Scotland has to offer.’
‘Why don’t you get away much? Don’t you enjoy going on holiday?’ Laura couldn’t fathom why anyone who was as rich as Alessandro didn’t feel the urge to take time out. He could afford to go anywhere on the planet.
‘Come again?’
‘You said you don’t get away much. Why not? Surely you must get tired of working all day, every day, without let-up? Your father says you never stop. He tells me that you’re always in the newspapers about closing some big, important deal or other. Doesn’t it all get a little too much?’
‘How would my father know about deals I’ve closed?’ Alessandro queried silkily.
‘Because he has a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings.’
Sudden silence filled the room, then Alessandro swirled his glass and finished the remainder of the wine. Scrapbook? What scrapbook? Since when?
‘I don’t take holidays because I don’t have time,’ he told her bluntly. He thought of the houses he owned, one in the Caribbean, another in Paris, a third in Tuscany. Aside from the occasional business trip to Paris, when he occasionally might stay in his apartment there, they remained vacant, tended by paid help, waiting in readiness for the day he decided he could take the time off.
He brought the conversation neatly back to the matter in hand, clearing his head of a sudden onslaught of uncustomary confusion when he thought of those unused holiday homes, slowly maturing as good investments but never enjoyed, when he thought of his action-packed, high-pressured life that never allowed him time to sit back and take a break. ‘Which is why it might work to come here a little more often than I have done in the past.’ He strolled towards her, wine bottle in one hand, filling his glass as he walked. He didn’t sit down, however. Instead, he chose to stand right next to her, which immediately made her feel as though she was suffocating. ‘Of course, it would help if I had someone to show me around...’
‘Someone to show you around?’
‘I only know my father’s house and whatever lies within the radius of about three miles. Even when I used to return here from boarding school, I never bothered to explore the countryside.’
Laura’s brain was lagging behind. Who did he have in mind to show him around?
As if she couldn’t guess. She felt a frisson of excitement ripple through her. He was so close to her that she had to look up at him and when she dipped her eyes...
Her mouth went dry.
‘You should have,’ she said faintly. ‘It’s worth exploring. Maybe we should return to the sitting room.’ She pushed back her chair and managed to squirm out of it without coming into contact with his far-too-big, far-too-dominant and far-too-powerful body. ‘Roberto has very strict eating times. In a second, my grandmother will fly in here and start fussing over the food.’
‘Maybe she could transform it into something edible.’ Alessandro stood aside, allowing her the distracted change of topic, because sooner rather than later he would return to the matter in hand. ‘Although that might require a skilled magician.’
Alessandro looked at the tie, caught his father’s eye and was gratified when his father reddened.
‘Silly woman insisted on bringing me back this tie,’ he muttered while Edith looked at him with open affection. ‘Can’t imagine where an old man like me is going with a yellow tie with red birds on it!’ He picked it up and absently placed it over the navy blue tie he was currently wearing, and Edith beamed.
‘And now...’ she slapped her thighs briskly ‘...that everything is sorted and this stubborn father of yours has seen the sense in downsizing, it’s time to feed him!’
* * *
It was a little after nine-thirty when Alessandro delivered both Laura and Edith back to their house and it had been, for the first time in living memory, a rewarding evening.
At least insofar as the downsizing decision went. Roberto had capitulated to his fate in style. He now knew exactly the sort of place he was looking for and unless the Saunders place filled each and every single requirement, they could damn well go jump.
Alessandro was quietly determined that it would, whatever the cost. Speed was of the essence and he would move quickly. Money talked and he had a lot of it.
‘So...’ That was his opening word, when Edith had finally retired to bed and Laura was showing him to the door as though she couldn’t get there fast enough. ‘You never answered my question.’ Alessandro leaned against the door frame and looked at her.
Her heart fluttered. ‘What question?’
‘I’m going to be here for the next few weekends at the very least. I might even split my time until this whole house business has been sorted out. Are you going to be my tour guide while I’m here?’
Laura glanced over her shoulder towards the staircase. Her grandmother had retired with her cup of hot chocolate but there was no telling whether she would reappear without warning and she didn’t want Edith’s curiosity aroused.
Because there was nothing to be curious about.
Yet...
That treacherous thought slipped into her head without warning and she shivered with forbidden excitement.
‘You don’t need a tour guide, Alessandro,’ she replied, buying time, hating herself for being tempted. ‘You’ve got a car. You can drive yourself around and take in all the sights...’
‘But it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun, would it?’ he said softly.
Their eyes tangled and slow, burning colour crawled into her cheeks.
‘What are you so scared of?’ he asked. He could see the little pulse beating in the side of her neck, an indication that the cool, composed voice did not reflect what was going on inside her. But he knew what was going on inside...he had felt it in that sizzling, shared kiss.
‘I’m not scared!’
‘And you keep glancing up the stairs. Do you think your grandmother is pressed to the floor of the bedroom with a glass so that she can eavesdrop on whatever we might be saying?’
‘Of course not,’ she said uncomfortably. But who knew when it came to her grandmother?
‘I’m attracted to you.’ Alessandro didn’t move an inch closer to her but it felt as though he had. It felt as though he had caressed her and left a scorching trail behind on her skin. ‘And you’re attracted to me...’
Laura opened her mouth to protest but she remained silent because to deny it would be to deny the obvious.
‘That doesn’t mean anything.’ She risked a quick look at his dark, handsome, serious face. ‘It would be stupid to do anything about that.’ She was aiming for dismissive. Instead, she ended up with a nervous squeak. ‘Life is about choices,’ she continued, clearing her throat. ‘I chose the wrong guy when I was in London and I’m not going to repeat my mistake.’
‘You will only climb into bed with a man who promises to put a ring on your finger? What if he never comes along?’
‘Then I guess I’ll end up on my own.’
Alessandro didn’t say anything. He had never been rebuffed by any woman and her refusal fired him up like a challenge he now knew he had no intention of resisting.
‘My father’s possessions will need to be packed up.’
‘Huh?’ Was that it? She felt unjustly deflated. Her body was still throbbing, as though he had physically touched her. So what was wrong with being careful? Why wasn’t she more relieved that he wasn’t going to pursue an attraction neither of them had asked for? And how was it that he had somehow managed to make her feel like an unadventurous bore?
‘I intend to get the ball rolling on this one first thing in the morning.’ Alessandro straightened and opened the front door, letting in some freezing wintry air. ‘I’ll have to have a look at the place before I make a decision but I’m hoping that there won’t be any gaping construction black holes.’
‘Of course.’ Her mind was still in a whirl, thinking about the way he had told her that he was attracted to her, as if sexual attraction was the most natural thing in the world, as if acting upon it was a no-brainer.
‘Once that’s sorted, I can arrange for work to begin on reconfiguring it to my father’s exacting standards. In the meanwhile, you probably know more than I do about what personal items will need boxing and what can be left for the removal men.’
‘It’s moving a bit fast, isn’t it?’
‘I’ve never seen the point of delaying the inevitable. And while this is going on, I intend to stay put, make sure that there are no unfortunate hitches.’ He paused and looked down at her upturned face. He itched to smooth his hand over her cheek, cup her face, pull her so close that she would be able to feel exactly what she did to his body. ‘Would your school be able to release you for a couple of days so that you can help with the packing of my father’s things? I have no idea where he keeps anything and even less interest in finding out. I will also have to work while I’m here...’
‘I can’t just take time off! They need me there.’
‘And I need you here.’
The way he said that, in a slow, lazy drawl, imbued the remark with all sorts of delicious, dark innuendo.
‘I can’t trust outsiders to handle my father’s personal possessions, whatever they might be, and he hasn’t got the energy to do it himself.’
‘Perhaps you ought to see whether the house is going to be available or not first,’ Laura said, transfixed by the little smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
‘If I want it to be available, then it will be available. And I want it to be available. When can you let me know about taking time off?’
‘I... Okay, I’ll talk to Evelyn, see what she says, whether they can spare me for a day or so. I can’t promise anything.’
‘If you like, I can talk to her. I’m sure I could convince her to release you from your chains for a few days.’
‘A few days?’
Alessandro shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Who can tell? I have no idea how much my father owns and how much needs packing up. It could be a handful or a vanload.’
Laura thought that if he spoke to Evelyn she would probably let her have the rest of the term off. The man was too charming, too persuasive, too damned sexy for his own good. He was the personification of danger, but instead of backing away from him she stayed where she was, rooted to the spot, mesmerised against her will.
He fancied her, found her attractive...
It felt as though he was something exciting, exotic, unbearably tempting...blown in on distant winds, turning her protected world on its head and making her wonder how long she would hide away in this small village with her grandmother, making her wonder if all this self-protection was really worth it.
She h
ad fled London and had welcomed the soothing balm of being back in Scotland. Her grandmother’s temporary frailty had been a distraction and then she had busied herself applying for the teaching job and familiarising herself with the school and the pupils. She had congratulated herself on having a new life and leaving behind a miserable situation. She had told herself that it was better to lead a quiet, contented, uneventful life than one in which she ended up being hurt. She would never be hurt again. She would never allow herself to be hurt again.
But had she been living?
Alessandro made her question her resolutions. Going to London in the first place had been a huge adventure for her, then Colin had appeared on the scene and everything had gone pear-shaped. She had obeyed her first instinct to run away, back to safety.
Anyone else might have just seen that as an obstacle to be surmounted. She was only twenty-six and he hadn’t been the great love of her life, as time had revealed! Anyone else would have carried on, trusting that the next adventure would turn out a bit better.
Instead, she had retreated and she now wondered whether that hadn’t become part of her make-up over time. Had the loss of her parents made her fearful? So careful that it had become a handicap? And was that fearfulness going to follow her for the rest of her life?
Alessandro, with his dark, sinful temptation, made her question the choices she had made.
What would happen if she accepted the gauntlet he had flung at her feet? Would she go up in flames? Would the world stop turning?
Of course not!
But maybe she would be able to re-enter the world without wearing so much protective garb around her that she could barely move, never mind live. She couldn’t let one poor experience blind her to what life had to offer, could she?
A Pawn in the Playboy's Game Page 10