Swept Away!: Accidentally Expecting! / Salzano's Captive Bride / Hawaiian Sunset, Dream Proposal. Lucy Gordon

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СКАЧАТЬ my speciality,’ he said lightly. ‘And, just to show you how good at it I am, let me dry you off.’

      He tossed the towel around her shoulders and began to dab.

      ‘I can manage, thank you,’ she said in a strained voice.

      ‘All right. Do it properly, and I’ll get you something to drink.’

      He poured her some wine in a plastic container.

      ‘Sorry it’s a bit basic, but the wine is good,’ he said.

      She drank it thankfully, wishing he’d move away and not kneel there, so kind, so sweetly concerned, so nearly naked.

      ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘I feel better now. You don’t need to hover over me.’

      ‘Am I being too protective? I can’t help it. I keep thinking what it would have been like without you, and I don’t like that thought at all.’

      ‘Really?’ she asked quietly.

      ‘Of course. How could I manage without your brilliant pictures?’

      ‘My pictures?’

      ‘You really enhance my work in a way that nobody else has managed to do. We make a great team, don’t you think?’

      ‘Fantastic,’ she agreed dismally.

      ‘So I’ll just keep on watching out for you.’

      Her head shot up. ‘What—what did you say?’

      ‘I said I’m watching out for you. You obviously need someone being protective. Hey, careful. You’ve spilled wine all down yourself.’

      She seized the towel out of his hands and dabbed at her bare torso. Her head was in a whirl, and her senses were in an even worse whirl.

      ‘Did you say you’re keeping a protective eye on me?’ she said.

      ‘I think I need to, don’t you? And it’s what friends do, isn’t it?’

      ‘Oh yes, of course they do,’ she babbled.

      ‘It’s time you had a rest.’

      ‘Yes,’ she said with relief. ‘I think that’s what I’ll do.’

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      SHE was glad to escape by stretching out and closing her eyes. His words had unnerved her, reminding her that it was she who was supposed to be watching out for him.

      She dozed for a while and awoke to find herself alone. Dante was further down the beach, kicking a rubber ball around with some boys. For a while she watched him through half-closed eyes, unwillingly admiring the lines of his body, the athletically graceful way he moved.

      She was no green girl; Sandor hadn’t been her first lover. At twenty-eight, she knew her own body well, knew how it could be most totally satisfied, knew exactly what it wanted.

      But that could be a problem when it couldn’t have what it wanted.

      It would have been easier to observe Dante leaping about the beach if she didn’t have to listen to the voice inside whispering how well he would move in bed, how subtle and knowing his caresses would be.

      How fine would his tall body feel held close against her own long body? When she saw him give a mighty kick, she thought of his legs between hers. When he reached for the ball at an impossible angle, she could almost feel his hands against her skin, exploring her tentatively, waiting for her with endless patience, knowing exactly how to…

      She sat up, trembling and annoyed with herself. What was the matter with her?

      ‘Just friendly’. That was the matter.

      When Dante returned, he found her fully dressed.

      ‘I’ve had enough of this,’ she said fretfully. ‘I think I’ll go into town.’

      ‘Great idea,’ he said. ‘I’ll show you the shops, then we’ll go to dinner.’

      She ground her nails into her palm. Why couldn’t he at least show some ill temper, like any other man, thus giving her the chance to feel annoyed with him?

      But the wretch wouldn’t even oblige her in that.

      Because he wasn’t like any other man.

      At least she’d made him put his clothes on.

      They spent the rest of the day sedately, buying the odd garment, and also buying computer software. In one shop she discovered a superb programme that she hadn’t expected to be available for another month, and snapped it up. Over dinner, she enthused about it to Dante, who listened with genuine interest. It was the high point of the day.

      On reflection, she thought that said it all.

      Afterwards he saw her to her door but made no attempt to come in.

      ‘Goodnight,’ he said. ‘Sleep well.’

      She went in, restraining herself with difficulty from slamming the door.

      Furiously she thought of the signals he’d sent out that day, signals that had said clearly that he wanted her and was controlling it with difficulty. But the signals had changed. Now he might have been made of ice, and it was obvious why.

      He was scheming. He wanted her to be the one to weaken. If either of them was overcome with desire, it must be her. In his dreams, she succumbed to uncontrollable lust, reaching out to entice him.

      Hell would freeze over first!

      Next day they promised themselves a lazy time in the sun.

      ‘I could happily stay here for ever,’ Dante said, stretching out luxuriously. ‘Who cares about work?’

      It was at that exact moment that a voice nearby called, ‘Ciao, Dante!’

      He started up, looked around, then yelled, ‘Gino!’

      Ferne saw a man in his fifties, dressed in shirt and shorts, advancing on them with a look of delight on his broad face.

      ‘Is that…?’

      ‘Gino Tirelli,’ Dante said, jumping up.

      When the two men had clapped each other on the shoulder, Dante introduced Ferne.

      ‘Always I am pleased to meet English people,’ Gino declared. ‘At this very moment, my house is full of important English people.’

      ‘So that’s why you asked me to delay my arrival,’ Dante said. ‘Who’ve you got there? Members of the government?’

      ‘A film company,’ Gino said in an awed voice. ‘They’re making a film of Antony and Cleopatra and shooting some scenes in the ruins in my grounds. СКАЧАТЬ