Latin Lovers: Italian Playboys. Kate Hardy

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      ‘You lying little—’ His mouth snapped shut as if he felt tainted by even uttering the rest of the vilifying sentence.

      ‘I am not lying,’ she stated quietly.

      His jaw tightened and his hands went to fists at his sides. ‘I am going to ask you again where you were today and I expect you to tell me the truth.’

      ‘I went to the library.’

      ‘The library?’

      She lifted her chin and folded her arms across her chest. ‘Yes, it’s this really boring place full of books where you have to be quiet all the time. I thought I’d check it out, you know, to improve my mind a bit.’

      ‘You went there all day?’ He looked sceptical.

      ‘For a big part of it,’ she answered. ‘That’s why my phone was switched off. What did you do all day?’

      ‘I was working.’

      ‘Oh, really?’ She gave him an equally sceptical look. ‘Can you prove it?’

      He frowned at her. ‘I do not have to prove anything to you.’

      She tilted her head at him. ‘Nor do I to you.’

      ‘If I find out you are lying to me, Nina, you will be very sorry.’

      ‘I don’t have to answer to you until we are married,’ she said. ‘And even then I will not tolerate you bossing me around as if I don’t have a mind of my own. Now, if you have finished discussing what you came here to discuss, I think you should leave.’

      ‘I will leave when I am good and ready.’ He closed the small distance between them, one of his hands going to the wall at the side of her head, his eyes holding hers as his body pressed close.

      Too close.

      Nina felt the sharp nudge of desire his sudden closeness evoked, her legs weakening beneath her and her heart thumping erratically behind the wall of her chest. Her breasts seemed to swell as she pressed her back against the wall, the spicy fragrance of his aftershave teasing her nostrils as he leaned even closer.

      ‘P-please go away.’ Her voice came out choked.

      She felt herself drowning in the fathomless depth of his dark eyes. The silence stretched and stretched until she could hear a faint ringing in her ears. She wondered if he was going to kiss her and her gaze instinctively flicked to his mouth, her heart doing another funny kick-start at the thought of those sensual lips pressed to hers.

      Her eyes returned to his and instantly widened as she began to feel the metal of his belt buckle against her stomach and the potent strength of what she could feel was stirring just below. She could feel the energy of his body sending a charge of crackling electricity to hers, making her flesh prickle all over with sensory alertness.

      She drew in a shaky breath, her breasts rising and falling against his chest as her heart began to race. His eyes dipped to her mouth, lingering there for endless pulsing seconds before he lifted his hand and traced the contour of her bottom lip with the blunt pad of his thumb, back and forth, slowly, tantalizingly.

      Just when she thought she could stand it no longer, he dropped his hand from her mouth and stepped back from her, his expression closing over.

      ‘I will see you tomorrow. What time would be convenient for me to call around?’

      It took her several seconds to get her brain back into gear. ‘Um … about this time is good. I’ll be out all day.’

      He gave her a wry look as he reached for the door. ‘The library again?’

      ‘Yes … I thought I might read some books to Georgia. It’s supposed to be good for language development.’

      He looked as if he was going to say something but apparently changed his mind at the last minute. Nina watched as he opened the door and stepped through, casting her one last inscrutable look as he shut it behind him.

      She stared at the door while she waited for her heart rate to return to normal.

      Elizabeth was right, she thought as she let out a little uneven breath. As far as falling for Marc Marcello went, she was more than halfway there already.

      Georgia was even worse the next morning when Nina tried to leave the childcare centre. The pitiful cries shredded her nerves and, even though the assistant was just as reassuring and confident as the day before, Nina felt the full weight of her guilt drag her down as she made her way to the front door, her eyes stinging with the threat of tears.

      She didn’t see the tall figure leaning against his car near the front entrance until it was too late. She came to a stumbling halt as Marc’s shadow blocked out the watery sunlight, her heart leaping towards her throat.

      ‘M-Marc … what are you doing here?’

      ‘I could ask you the very same thing but I already know the answer.’ His dark gaze flicked to the childcare signage behind her. ‘So this is where you relieve yourself of your responsibilities towards Georgia, no doubt so you can cavort all day with your lovers.’

      ‘No … no! It’s not like that at all.’

      One dark brow rose in cynicism. ‘Perhaps you would like to explain to me why you have placed my niece in the care of complete strangers.’

      ‘They’re not exactly strangers,’ Nina said. ‘They’re highly competent childcare workers.’

      His mouth tightened as he took her by the arm. ‘Then we will go and see just how competent they are, shall we?’

      Nina had no choice but to follow him for his hold, though loose, was under-wired with steely determination. She could feel the latent strength in his long fingers as they circled her wrist.

      It wasn’t hard for him to find where Georgia was being looked after. Her cries were echoing throughout the building. As they approached the babies’ room Nina felt the tightening of Marc’s hold as if his anger was travelling through his body to where it was joined to hers.

      ‘There, there, Georgia,’ the childcare assistant was cooing as she cuddled her. ‘Mummy will be back later … now, now, don’t cry … Oh, hello again, Miss Selbourne,’ she said as she turned around. ‘I’m afraid your little girl is not settling all that well this morning.’

      Nina took Georgia from the woman’s arms and the howling stopped immediately, to be replaced by tiny hiccups and sniffles as the baby clung to her.

      ‘That’s all right,’ Nina said. ‘I don’t think I will leave her today, after all.’

      ‘We can try again tomorrow, if you like,’ the woman suggested. ‘As I said the other day, lots of babies find separation from mum hard at first but they soon get used to it.’

      ‘Miss Selbourne will not need your services any more,’ Marc announced in clipped tones. ‘We have made other arrangements.’

      The woman’s eyebrows rose slightly and Nina hastily inserted, ‘This is my … fiancé, Marc Marcello.’

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