Who was he kidding? he thought as she murmured another apology after her leg brushed his; the only thing he wanted to know about her was how she would taste if he kissed her.
Right now she’d taste of Riesling, heat and passion. A passion he suspected she would try to deny before it even bloomed, but one he was starting to crave to draw out of her.
His hands clenched into fists at his sides. His body ached to find out if he was right, if she was as responsive as he’d imagined she would be that morning she had knotted his tie.
He warned himself to give it a rest because the more he thought about her in that way the more he wanted her. And, apart from the fact that he didn’t want to lead her on, there was something about her that was dangerous to his equilibrium. Something that warned all his instincts to back away and keep going.
‘Sebastiano,’ she murmured beside him. ‘Is everything okay?’
And that was another annoying habit she had. She seemed to be able to read him better than anyone else he knew. ‘Of course, bella,’ he said smoothly. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘Well...’ She gave him a worried sideways look. ‘You’re very tense again.’
‘I’m tired,’ he excused. Which wasn’t an actual lie; it just wasn’t whole truth.
Before she could rebuke his assertion, her mobile phone started ringing. He had noticed her texting on it throughout the day, and again when she’d been waiting on him to bring her downstairs. The damned thing never seemed to be far from her side, and for some reason that annoyed him about her too.
‘Excuse me,’ she murmured softly, sliding her chair back. ‘I have to take this.’
‘Va bene, va bene,’ his grandfather said indulgently, even though he was a tough old bird who banned mobile phones from his dinner table.
Scowling, Sebastiano watched a tender smile flit across Poppy’s lips before she stepped outside the French doors onto the balcony that led to the pool pavilion and beach beyond.
Who was she talking to? Simon?
He had no idea who the man was but it grated that he’d overheard her tell him that she loved him when he’d arrived to collect her. It might not have mattered if she hadn’t been so evasive when he’d asked about it, but she had been, piquing his interest even more.
‘Sebastiano?’
Was he a boyfriend? A lover? And if so what did he think of her coming to Italy with him? Did the poor sod even know?
‘Sebastiano, dove hai la testa?’ his grandfather asked with a soft chuckle.
Where was his head? Good question. Not where it should be. About to shove back his chair and go after Poppy, he was foiled when Nicolette did it first. ‘It’s cute to see you worrying about your new girlfriend,’ she said, completely misinterpreting his distractedness. ‘But you relax. I’ll go find her and make sure she doesn’t get lost.’
Foiled by yet another irritating female, Sebastiano subsided back in his chair and wondered if he would look too ‘focused’ if he started talking business with his grandfather...
* * *
A smiling Nicole came over to join Poppy, who noticed Sebastiano had come outside and was speaking with his grandfather. Hopefully they were finalising the business Sebastiano had come here to do so that they could leave early. It would be much better for her strained nerves if he did. Though even as she had the thought she knew there was no way Sebastiano could miss his grandparents’ wedding anniversary tomorrow night.
‘Gorgeous view, no?’
Poppy stared out at the twinkling lights dotted around the majestic coastline and nodded. ‘Unbelievable.’
‘I meant the man, not the backdrop,’ Nicole teased with a soft laugh.
‘Oh!’ Poppy smiled, or she tried to. ‘Yes to both.’
‘I’m really glad you’re with my cousin,’ she said. ‘I’ve never seen him look at a woman the way he looks at you.’
As far as Poppy could tell, he looked at her as if he wanted to strangle her most of the time, especially when she had inadvertently cornered him into saying that he loved her. Which hadn’t been entirely her fault. His terse instructions upstairs, and her worry over making their relationship look normal when she really had no idea what a normal relationship looked like, had made her fidgety. It hadn’t helped that he’d sat so close to her at dinner she’d felt the press of his powerful thigh against hers every time he moved. The man just took up too much space!
‘I’m sure your cousin has looked at many women the way he looks at me,’ Poppy commented, wanting to down play the lie she didn’t enjoy telling. She’d heard so many lies in her life so far, she’d vowed to not tell any herself, and here she was pretending to be involved with this lovely woman’s cousin.
‘Not that I’ve seen,’ Nicole said. ‘In fact, he’s never brought a woman home to meet la famiglia before. It means you’re important.’
Poppy frowned. ‘No one?’
‘No,’ Nicole confirmed. ‘That’s how we know you’re the real deal. Apart from the fact that he looks at you as if he wants to gobble you up whole.’
Poppy felt her whole face flush and Nicole was immediately contrite. ‘Mi dispiace. I’m sorry, Poppy. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. It’s just that I’m jealous.’ She gave a dramatic sigh. ‘I want a man to look at me like that one day.’
‘Like what?’ Sebastiano asked as he came to stand beside Poppy.
Poppy’s heart kicked up at the sound of his voice, her body going on high alert. He was so close she could feel the heat of him driving out the chill of the night air.
‘Like he wants to eat me up,’ Nicole said.
Poppy groaned; the only thing she wanted eating her up right now was the ground.
‘You’re too young.’ Sebastiano was deadpan. ‘If any man looked at you that way, he’d have me to contend with.’
‘Pah! I am twenty-four,’ Nicole retorted hotly. ‘One year younger than Poppy!’
‘Like I said,’ Sebastiano smiled down at her. ‘Too young.’
Nicole pulled a face and Sebastiano tweaked her nose as if she were ten years old. It reminded Poppy of how she liked to fool around with Simon, and a sense of warmth invaded her heart. Initially she had thought Sebastiano just a corporate shark with no feelings but seeing his more playful side come out with his family made him more human than she would like him to be. It made him more of a man she could grow to like if she wasn’t careful.
‘Be warned, Poppy,’ Nicolette advised her loftily. ‘The Castiglione men think they own the world sometimes.’
Sebastiano laughed as his cousin wandered back inside.
‘Don’t listen to her,’ he said, looking down at Poppy. ‘We Castiglione men know that we own the world.’
Poppy couldn’t contain a grin and shook her head. ‘You are so full of yourself.’
‘Si.’
His smile took her breath away and she shivered. He wasn’t even trying to be charming and yet he was. What would happen if he actually tried to win her over?
‘Are you cold?’
‘No... I mean, yes. A little, but...’ She paused as he draped his jacket over her shoulders. His clean scent and warmth instantly enveloped her and she breathed in deeply, warning herself to put some distance between them because she was already feeling overwhelmed by him. ‘I’m sorry about earlier,’ she murmured. ‘That whole “love at first sight” thing at the dinner table. I didn’t mean to trap you like that.’
‘Didn’t you?’
‘Of course not.’ His suspicion was as thick as a peasouper and, frankly, insulting. ‘You really have mixed with the wrong women, haven’t you?’
‘So my grandfather would have me believe.’
‘Look, Sebastiano, I’m not likely to forget that this whole thing is phony and I’m under no illusions as to why I’m here. The problem is, I’m not used to being the centre of attention, and I don’t like it.’
‘What are you used to?’
His unexpected question caught her off-guard and dashed her indignation. ‘What
do you mean?’
‘I mean, what do you do with yourself when you’re not studying or working as my intern?’
Poppy shrugged. ‘I work, like anyone else.’ And she ran around after her brother during those brief moments she had off.
‘Work where?’
‘I clean offices during the night.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘During the night? Why?’
Uncomfortable to be talking about herself, Poppy made to shrug out of his jacket. ‘Look, you’re cold now, so—’
Sebastiano grabbed the lapels and kept the jacket in place. ‘I’m not cold. Why do you clean offices at night?’
She gave a short laugh. ‘For the love of it. Why do you think?’
‘Okay, I deserve that,’ he acknowledged impatiently. ‘But why night in particular? Is it to fit in around your lecture times?’
‘No, it’s to fit in around my brother. I like to be there when he gets home from school.’
‘I assumed your brother was still in the foster-care system.’
‘No way.’ She shuddered. ‘I would never leave him in foster care when I’m perfectly capable of taking care of him myself.’ Well, she was now.
She didn’t like the way Sebastiano was studying her and made to put some distance between them.
Frustrated, Sebastiano gripped the lapels of her jacket more firmly, and didn’t realise he had drawn her closer until her sweet scent caught on his senses, making him burn.
For some reason the idea of Poppy working hard and lugging heavy cleaning equipment around during the night while he slept bothered him immensely.
Previously he had always been coolly indifferent to a woman’s needs outside of the bedroom, not wanting to encourage them to think he wanted anything more from them than the physical. Previously, until Poppy.
He scowled. He couldn’t even put his interest down to the fact that he had made her off limits, because he’d felt the pull of her right from the start. No, this wasn’t about his ego, it was about heat and desire and, while he might not be able to explain this compulsion to have her, he knew the only way to get rid of it was to have her. Have her naked, spread out and on fire for him, as he was for her. And he damned well knew she wanted him too. He’d seen the way she’d stared at his naked torso last Sunday morning, and felt the way she stiffened with awareness whenever he got too close.
Not her type?
He was more her type than whomever that Simon was who had given her the Mickey Mouse watch she treasured so dearly.
‘Who’s Simon?’ he asked curtly. The man had been a burr in his side since he’d heard her tell him she loved him and it had become imperative that he find out more about him. So much easier to shoot an adversary down in flames when you knew who you were firing at.
Adversary?
He was getting in way over his head and he knew it.
Poppy blinked up at him. ‘Simon?’
‘Si,’ he said gruffly. ‘The one who gave you the watch. You were on the phone to him when I arrived at your apartment, and every time his name flashes on your damned phone you jump to respond, as if it’s a fire you need to put out.’
Poppy frowned. ‘You seem surprised by that.’
‘I have to confess that I am.’
‘I don’t know why. You’re obviously close to your own family. Would you not respond to a text if Nicole or Giulietta sent one?’
‘We’re talking about Simon, not my damned cousins.’
‘I know that, but I don’t see the difference.’
Sebastiano stared into her luminous blue eyes, made even bluer by the reflected light glowing from the infinity pool nearby. Something in her guileless gaze finally registered in his usually agile brain. ‘Right,’ he said, feeling like a fool. ‘Simon is your brother.’
‘Yes. Who did you...? Oh!’ She clapped her hand over her mouth as if to stifle a laugh. ‘You thought he was...?’ She shook her head. ‘Who? My lover?’
At his silence her grin widened and that only made him scowl harder. ‘Of course I thought he was your lover. You told him you loved him.’
Her glee was evident in her mischievously sparkling eyes. ‘Is that why you glower at me every time I use my phone?’
‘You need to stop laughing.’
‘You have to admit, it’s kind of funny,’ she said, making a meagre attempt to stifle her mirth.
Sebastiano drew her even closer, releasing the lapels of his jacket to slide his hands into the wisps of hair either side of her face. She stopped laughing instantly then, her eyes suddenly as wide as saucers. Her hair felt like silk against his fingers, her skin even softer. His eyes drifted from her mouth to the tiny pulse point flickering in the base of her throat, a sense of victory he couldn’t explain coursing through him. ‘Kind of funny, you think?’
‘Sebastiano?’ Her voice was soft and her hands came up to grip his thick wrists. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m going to give you a lesson in what I would do if this relationship was real.’
Only it’s one-hundred-percent fake, he reminded himself right before he bent to her and covered her mouth with his. Her petal-soft lips parted on a gasp of surprise, her body stiffening beneath his touch.
Sebastiano gathered her closer, feeling her rigidity give way to a trembling need as old as time.
He groaned, pressing his lips harder over hers, seeking access to the warm recesses of her mouth. ‘Open for me, Poppy,’ he growled. ‘Kiss me as I’ve imagined you doing this past week. Let me taste you, bella. Let me—’ Another groan escaped his lips as she did as he requested, willingly parting her mouth for him, a tiny whimper escaping her lips as his tongue swept inside.
He tilted her head back further, seeking even deeper contact with her, one hand leaving her face to skim down her body and curve around her waist, bringing her into firmer contact with his hardness. His other hand fisted her sleek ponytail, holding her steady beneath the onslaught of his hunger.
Dio, but she tasted sweet. Tasted sweet and felt sweeter. He wasn’t sure he’d ever experienced a kiss like it, her hot, unguarded response making his body throb heavily.
Mine, a voice in his head chanted. Take her.
Some part of him questioned the desperate yearning behind that notion, but she was like a living flame in his arms, driving out rational thought, her hands gripping his shoulders, her tongue curling around his in a delicious imitation of what his was doing to hers. Hot need poured through him. He’d never experienced hunger like it and he wanted to drive her back against the nearest hard surface and take everything she had to offer.
A spear of blue fire flamed through him as she rubbed against him and he raised a hand to cup her breast, dragging his thumb across her distended nipple.
She gave a soft whimper and wrenched her mouth from his, her hands braced against his chest.
‘Poppy...’ He groaned, dragging her mouth back to his.
‘Sebastiano, wait!’
Her cry of panic infiltrated his sluggish brain and he stilled, suddenly aware that they were standing by the pool at his family home in full view of anyone who might be watching.
Dio!
He eased his arms from around her, insanely gratified to find that she wasn’t any more composed than he was.
She gazed up at him, her blue eyes blank with unsated lust. Her tongue snuck out to touch her reddened lips, and he saw the moment she came back into herself.
‘Oh, God. I... We... Was somebody watching us?’
He had no idea. Really, the Pope could have been performing a holy communion and he wouldn’t have noticed. ‘It’s possible.’
‘It’s possible?’ Her hand went to her hair, smoothing the strands he had just dislodged, her breathing as hard as his. She stepped back, grabbing at his jacket before it slipped from her shoulders. ‘Then why did you kiss me like that?’
He had no idea. ‘Insurance,’ he clipped out. ‘If one of my family members were watching us, they would have no doubt that we’re the real de
al now.’
‘Wow.’ She blinked up at him. ‘You’re totally ruthless.’
Sebastiano took a deep breath. He couldn’t remember the last time he had kissed a woman with so little self-control. And self-control was something he prided himself on. ‘Not so ruthless,’ he growled. ‘If I was completely ruthless, I’d already have you upstairs. Naked.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘IF I WAS completely ruthless, I’d already have you upstairs. Naked.’
Poppy’s heart thudded inside her chest as those growly words once more replayed inside her head. She rolled over for the hundredth time and punched her pillow into a new shape, hoping that might help propel her towards sleep. Five minutes later, she gave up and again listened for signs that Sebastiano was having similar trouble sleeping.
Of course there was nothing but silence coming from the other room. And why would he have trouble sleeping? He probably kissed women like that for breakfast, while she—she truly understood for the first time how a woman could become stupid over a man. Something she had arrogantly assumed would never happen to her. Well, it just had. And her insides still felt quivery at the memory.
What she would like to know was how this had happened. Sure, he was sensationally good-looking and loved his family, but he was the ultimate megalomaniac bad boy who treated women poorly and whom she shouldn’t feel anything for.
But she did feel something. She felt...she felt... God, she didn’t know how she felt other than completely shaken by the memory of that powerful kiss. She shivered as she mentally replayed the scene moment by moment—the feel of his fingers in her hair, his tongue filling her mouth, his hand on her breast! Her own hand rose to her still sensitive flesh and she pressed her fingers against herself as he had done.
Stop! she ordered herself sharply; reliving something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place wasn’t going to get her to sleep any quicker. But her brain wouldn’t listen. Which was just annoying. Poppy might have an inherently sunny disposition but she had always been a sensible person, even as a child. Her own mother had lamented that side of her nature and none of her foster families had liked it any better. But it had worked for her. It allowed her to compartmentalise the things that happened in her life, and it allowed her to pick herself up and move on when bad things happened.
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