‘Come, that is enough for today. I’ll take you back to the apartment.’
A little sigh escaped her as she got out of the car and, without a backward glance at it, walked towards the door. Quickly he caught up with her and as soon as they were outside the workshop he put his arm around her shoulders in an attempt to console her.
‘Don’t.’ She pulled away from him and stood by the passenger door of his car, looking anywhere else but at him and very much like she was hurting.
Damn it. He should never have responded to her kiss last night and certainly shouldn’t have done what he had today. Now he couldn’t offer her comfort, couldn’t keep his promise to Seb and look after her—like a brother. How could he go back from that intensely heated moment they’d shared at the trackside?
* * *
The drive back to the apartment had seemed to last for ever, but Charlie kept up the act of hurt and betrayal. It was hard, but more preferable to the role of wanton seductress that she’d just played out with him at the trackside. She was completely shocked by her behaviour. She’d never thrown herself with such abandon at a man and couldn’t understand what had possessed her to do that today—other than hot lust. All she wanted now was to lie on her bed and be alone, to calm her body and her heart.
‘I have work at the office this afternoon.’ His words were firm but she knew he was looking for a way out, trying to avoid a discussion about what had happened between them. Well, that suited her just fine. She didn’t want to acknowledge it either, much less discuss it.
‘I may go shopping,’ she said, trying to sound light and carefree. ‘I need something to wear at the launch tomorrow evening.’
‘I will send a car for you in a few hours. Rest first.’ He stood tall and proud in the middle of his living room, the opulence of it still not quite fitting with the picture of the man Seb had painted in her mind.
Rest. She wasn’t sure she could, but she was glad that at least she’d be alone. His gesture of comfort had been hard to shrug off earlier. She wanted nothing more than to be held by him, to be safe in his arms, but she didn’t trust herself. Whatever it was between them, she could only ignore it if she physically kept her distance.
‘Alessandro?’
‘Yes.’ He looked at her, his dark eyes no longer full of the passion she’d seen in them at the test track. Now they were cold, full of dismissal.
‘Your sister? Is she all right now?’
‘Yes, thankfully, she made a quick recovery and even graduated with full honours.’
She nodded, unable to say anything, the pain of losing Seb more raw than it had ever been. She wished she could allow Alessandro to hold her. She’d never felt so alone. ‘But Seb didn’t.’
Without another thought, she went to him, needing his strong embrace and the warmth of his body. He didn’t say a word as he took her in his arms, infusing her with his strength, but it felt different. Every muscle in his body was tense.
She pulled away. She shouldn’t have done that, not after this morning.
‘I won’t be back tonight,’ he said curtly, picking up his car keys.
She blinked in shock. Was she driving him out of his own home? ‘Because of me?’ Her voice was hardly a whisper and she bit her bottom lip with her teeth.
‘Not you—me.’ The sternness in his voice didn’t go unnoticed. ‘I think it’s for the best. Boundaries have been crossed, but it won’t happen again.’
She stepped back further from him. ‘Good, but you don’t have to stay away on my account.’
‘I do, Charlie, I do need to—for Seb and the promise I made him to look after you.’
‘You are looking after me.’ She really should let him go, simply because she didn’t trust herself not to want him. His offer to leave her alone became more tempting by the second as her heart hammered harder while he stood before her.
‘My staff will see to your every need and a car will be available to take you wherever you need to go. I will see you at the launch.’
‘Not before?’ Stunned, she couldn’t believe it. The launch was the next evening. Was he going to keep as far from her as possible for the next twenty-four hours? Did the boundaries they’d crossed mean that much?
* * *
Alessandro stood and looked at her, wanting nothing more than to take her back into his arms, hold her and inhale her sweet scent. But he couldn’t. It would be disastrous if he did. He’d already proved she was the one woman who made him lose his mind and he knew if he stayed there would be no stopping him.
‘No, it will be better if I don’t.’ He kept his voice level and stood rigidly straight, but didn’t miss the look of disappointment slide across her face.
‘But this is your home.’ Her delicate brows furrowed in confusion and concern.
‘Tonight it is yours. I will go elsewhere.’ He had to. He already knew beyond doubt that he had very little self-control where she was concerned. He didn’t want to be involved with any woman, but especially this one.
‘To a friend?’ She dropped her gaze and he knew exactly what she thought. That he was going to warm the bed of another woman. Well, so much the better if it stamped out the electricity that raged between them and the heady lust he felt for her. One thing was for certain; it couldn’t go on, not if he wanted to honour his promise to Seb and keep his sanity.
‘Something like that, sì.’ He moved towards the door, needing to go before he relented and told her he was intending to spend the night in his office, something he did on occasion. His office was all geared up for such nights, but this would be the first time he’d been driven there by a woman.
It certainly wouldn’t be as hard as staying here with Charlie when all he wanted was to make her completely his. But she could never be that to him, not now.
‘Buonanotte, cara. Sleep well.’
CHAPTER SIX
IT WAS ALMOST twenty-four hours since Alessandro had left her at his apartment. Charlie had enjoyed the indulgence of being alone to begin with. She’d spent the first hours in her room, the same room Seb had stayed in, looking for anything left behind that connected with him. Any clues as to what he’d been doing in the days before the accident, but that had proved futile. She realised it was foolish to think there would be any evidence left in the room a year after he’d last been here. So she’d turned her attention to the rest of the apartment to learn about the man who owned it.
Old and new blended tastefully with the ornate interior of the grand building and she still couldn’t help but be shocked that he didn’t live in a new and modern apartment with the same masculine lines as his office. She wondered which was the real man—the one who worked in the modern minimalist office or the contented man who surrounded himself with fine art.
Now, she stood looking out over Milan as she waited for the car to take her to the launch party, unable to comprehend how much she was looking forward to seeing Alessandro again. A brief call from him, which had sent a sizzle of anticipation down her spine, had informed her he would send his car at six. As an ornate clock struck the hour she began to have second thoughts about the long red dress she’d bought that morning.
Second thoughts were too late. The car pulled up and her breath hitched as Alessandro got out. From her vantage point at the window above him she could see that he now wore a tuxedo and looked more sexy and stunning than any man had a right to. She drank him in. He looked like every woman’s dream, the strength of his body still evident despite the high-class tailoring.
She watched as he shut the car door, grateful she had time to get her wayward thoughts reined in. She saw the black fabric stretch across his broad shoulders as he leant down and spoke to the driver. Unable to tear her eyes away, she stood watching, enjoying her unobserved vantage point.
As if he sensed her presence, he looked up at her. Despite the
three floors that separated them, his gaze met hers, sending her pulse rate into freefall. If he could do this from that distance, what was it going to be like when she was actually with him?
She didn’t have to wait long to find out as the key turned in the lock of the front door and he walked into the apartment, overpowering the splendour of the living room completely.
He stood and looked at her very slowly, his gaze moving down from her head to her toes, peeping out of the red sandals that gave her a few inches more height. Defiantly she looked at him, desperate not to let him know that inside she was melting from the heat of his gaze.
‘Sei bellissimo.’ He moved towards her, each step making her heart pound harder. His Italian was more sexy than his accented English. Her heart soared. He thought she was beautiful.
Shyness swept over her and she lowered her gaze. The vibrant red dress she had bought in a moment of defiance was having more of an effect than she’d imagined possible. She’d been drawn to the red sequins which sparkled on the bodice, and the jaunty single shoulder which had slashed red across her pale skin. But now she wondered and looked down at the silk of the floor-length dress. ‘It is not too much, is it?’
‘Too much,’ he said in a husky tone as he stepped closer and lifted her chin with his fingers, forcing her to look into his handsome face. ‘You look beautiful.’
‘Thank you.’ She shyly accepted his compliment and stepped back, away from temptation. All she could think of was kissing him again, feeling his arms pressing her against his hard body. But she couldn’t; she had to remain aloof, keep him at a distance. He’d already proved what he was capable of doing to her. ‘I’m glad you approve.’
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to; the intensity in his dark eyes told her he more than approved. His gaze was so hot she could hardly breathe and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
‘We had better go.’ A ripple of awareness cascaded through her as his deep, sensual voice left her in no doubt that he wanted to kiss her, that he too was fighting an attraction so strong the outcome now seemed inevitable.
‘Yes.’ Aware how husky her voice had become, she moved quickly towards the door, the silk of her dress moulding to her legs as she moved. He followed her, his shoes beating a purposeful rhythm on the marble floor.
Whatever it was that had simmered between them that first afternoon in her garden had ignited spectacularly, threatening to engulf them at any second. She drew in a deep breath as she realised she wanted the increasing desire to burn freely between them. After several years of pushing men away, using her off-camera tomboy image to discourage male attention, this was what she now wanted. Was it just lust or was she ready to risk her heart again?
He shut the door of his apartment with a resounding bang which echoed in the coolness of the marble hallway, startling her and knocking all those tempting thoughts out of her mind. She turned to face him. ‘Is something wrong?’
Purposefully, he walked towards her, stopping so close she could smell the heady scent of his aftershave, feel his breath on her face. She looked up at him and swallowed hard against the urge to kiss him.
‘This is wrong.’ The deep tones of his voice were heavy with accent and raw with unquenched desire. The sheer potency of his sexual magnetism made any kind of reply impossible. All she could do was look into his increasingly black eyes.
He lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers, the kiss so light her lips tingled. She sighed in pleasure, swaying towards him. She wanted him and whatever she said, however much she denied it, her body would call to his. Could something so potent be so wrong? Did she have to give her heart to taste the desire between them?
‘So, so wrong, mia cara.’ His lips left hers fractionally as he spoke, his voice husky with the same passion which flowed around her body. Her stomach churned nervously as her body heated in response to his desire-laden words.
‘How can it be wrong?’ She drew in a deep breath, trying to calm the erratic beating of her heart. She looked deep into his eyes, searching the bronze-flecked brown as they became inky black.
‘It’s wrong because I promised Sebastian I would look after you.’ He stepped back away from her, breaking the powerful spell and leaving her so weak she thought she might crumple on the floor. ‘I did not promise to seduce his sister and right now that is all I can think of doing.’
Her breathing was becoming ever harder to control, the sequin-encrusted bodice of the dress tightening with each attempt to breathe normally. He’d admitted he wanted her and her body hummed with a need she’d never known before, one that demanded satisfaction.
‘We will be late.’ She said the first thing that came to her mind to avoid confronting what sparked between them.
He laughed, a sound so sexy and throaty she blushed. Why had she said that?
‘Is that an invitation, cara?’ He pulled the cuff of his jacket back with long tanned fingers and looked at his watch. ‘When I make love to a woman I take my time, give pleasure and enjoy it. You’re right, if I take you back in there now we will be late. Very late.’
The smile on his lips, the invitation in his eyes were all too much, shocking her and giving her a much-needed reminder why she was even here with him. ‘That can’t happen, Alessandro. I’m not here to be your latest conquest.’ Desperately, she tried to hide her desire, her confusion behind the words.
‘Are you sure about that, cara?’ He folded his arms across his broad chest and leant back against the wall, looking so handsome and sure of himself.
‘You’re impossible,’ she fumed and turned towards the stairs, rushing down them so quickly her dress billowed out behind her and her heels tapped out an angry rhythm. His gentle laughter followed her, teasing and so sexy. She let out an exasperated groan.
Once at the bottom of the stairs, she pulled open the door of the building, drawing the warm early evening air deep into her lungs, wanting to banish the lustful throb that still hummed inside her. Seconds later, he was at her side, his hand in the small of her back, guiding her towards the door of the car as the driver opened it and stood back.
Swiftly, she got in, thankful of the roomy interior. At least she didn’t have to sit close to him. But that roomy interior vanished as soon as he got in and, despite the expanse of leather seats between them, he felt too close. Her pulse, still unbalanced from that fleeting kiss, raced, making her light-headed.
She looked out of the window as the car pulled away, leaving the historic centre of Milan and the impressive Duomo behind. She feigned an interest in the passing streets she was far from feeling after their encounter outside his apartment. She couldn’t trust herself to look at him, didn’t want to see the hot desire in his eyes. Not now, on the night of the launch—a moment that was for her brother.
* * *
Relief surged through Alessandro as they reached the exclusive hotel where the launch party was being held. At least with other people around him he could distract himself. From the second he’d seen her, the red silk of her dress clinging to her narrow waist, enhanced further by all the red sequins, he’d been lost. Her one bare shoulder distracted him so completely that all thoughts of keeping her at a distance after the test track kiss had vanished.
He wanted her. More than he’d ever wanted any woman.
The driver opened his door and he got out amidst flashes from the waiting press and made his way around to Charlie’s door. He held her hand as she stepped out, fighting the sizzle that shot through him from that contact. He didn’t miss her hesitation as the photographers went crazy, flashes lighting up the ever darkening sky, their calls resounding around them.
‘I hadn’t expected so many,’ he said sternly as she came to stand at his side. He should have warned her. Escaping the intrusion of the press had been her reason for retreating from the racing world and now she was in the thick of it again.
‘Sorry, I didn’t think to tell you they’d be here.’
‘I expected it.’ She smiled up at him, then faced the cameras as photographers shouted at them. ‘Just not so many.’
He put his arm around her, pulling her close, feeling only a slight resistance as she continued to pose for the media. Seb had told him she was the best, knew just how to work the press to the team’s advantage and, despite his doubts, he saw immediately this was true. But she was smiling and posing under duress and a tinge of guilt slipped over him.
The tension in her body increased and he turned her away from the press, heading into the hotel. All around, people chatted, sipping the champagne being circulated, but as they entered a hush fell on the room. Beside him, Charlie drew in a deep breath, straightened and as he looked across at her he saw a smile light up her face.
‘I had not anticipated such a turnout.’ He spoke softly, for her ears only. ‘It seems you have many people wishing to meet you.’
‘My presence here is a way of absolving you of any wrongdoing...in the eyes of the media and public, that is.’ She whispered the words with her smile still in place and he suddenly saw how she must be feeling, how this whole evening must be for her.
‘That was not my intention.’ He placed his hand against her back, felt the heat and tried to ignore it.
‘No, I don’t think it was.’ She looked up at him and, despite the smile on her lips, he knew that inside she was hurting. He could see it in her eyes and wanted to protect her from it.
She turned her attention to those around them, her smile easing the tension in the room, and a hum of conversation gradually started again. He took two flutes of champagne, handed her one and moved into the room, aware that every man there was looking at her with admiration.
A stab of jealousy spiked him, but instantly he dismissed it. She wasn’t his and never could be. His urge to protect her and keep her at his side was thwarted as they were engaged in conversation before being separated.
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