Once A Playboy...: Resisting the Sicilian Playboy / Her Playboy's Proposal / The Playboy's Proposal. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ bright and early on Monday morning.’

      ‘We would be staying in Palermo overnight?’

      She asked the question innocently, but he’d seen the telltale movement of her hands in her lap. She was not as unaware of the tension as she made it seem.

      ‘The suite will have more than one bedroom.’

      ‘I want your word that there will be no more of your games. This is a professional arrangement.’

      ‘Are you asking me to behave myself? To ignore the intense attraction between us?’ he asked silkily.

      ‘Yes. That’s exactly what I’m asking.’

      ‘This is a business arrangement, Dara. You may be posing as my date for the evening, but I can assure you I am capable of separating the two. Whatever impression you might have of me, I can assure you that I am a man of my word when it comes to business.’

      Leo rapped the driver’s window and the man got out and held the door of the limousine open for her to exit.

      ‘My plane will leave at noon, so you have plenty of time to get some beauty sleep.’

      He watched until she’d disappeared through the doors of the basic hotel. He hadn’t lied when he’d said he was capable of separating business from pleasure. He was quite capable of it, usually. But his attraction to her was something that had caught him off guard.

      After months of no interest in the opposite sex, this sudden acute awareness was almost painful. And she felt it too—he was quite sure of that. She would prove very useful tomorrow in cornering Lucchesi. But if he was being honest that was not his only objective. He wasn’t quite ready to walk away from the challenge she presented just yet.

      Maybe it was boredom...maybe his pride was bruised. But something drew him to Dara Devlin more than to any woman he had ever met. She intrigued him and maybe that was why he had insisted on provoking her with those little stunts at the club. He was a grown man not a teenager, for goodness’ sake.

      If he wanted to impress her then he had to get on her good side. It was his nature to be rebellious and provocative, but maybe a more subtle approach was needed. Either way, he always got what he wanted. And he was determined to show Dara exactly what she could have if she gave in to temptation.

      * * *

      The car turned sharply onto another narrow backstreet and Dara felt her stomach lurch. She sat bolt upright in the Porsche’s deep suede seat, one hand clutching her phone like a talisman, the other holding onto the door for dear life. Leo drove as if he was on the Nürburgring, not the tiny cobbled streets of Palermo.

      Rounding the last corner, he pulled the powerful vehicle to a smooth stop. She was out of the car in an instant, straightening her skirt and trying to regain her composure.

      ‘You didn’t enjoy the drive?’

      Leo handed his keys to the valet and fell into step beside her as she powered up the pathway to the facade of the ancient building they had arrived at.

      ‘I generally prefer to travel at a less ferocious pace.’

      She stared up at the historical palazzo, amazed that she should be staying in such a place. They walked up marble steps and entered into a bright, ornate lobby. Dara felt her breath catch at the veritable feast of opulent decor.

      ‘I always knew that some of these old palaces had been converted into luxury suites, but I never thought I would see inside one.’

      She craned her neck to look up at the ornate ceiling artwork. Most of the original features had been preserved, and it was like stepping through a doorway into the eighteenth century.

      The interior of the apartment was just as flamboyant as the lobby. Decorated in traditional Baroque fashion, it had high ceilings and large ornate chandeliers, with a sizeable balcony overlooking the terracotta rooftops of the city.

      Leo guided her through the living area to a set of floor-to-ceiling double doors. ‘Your room is through here. Your bag should have been brought up by now.’

      ‘Already?’ She raised her brows with surprise as he opened the double doors and, sure enough, her small black case was at the foot of the bed.

      ‘I expect efficiency wherever I go.’ He shrugged.

      Dara took in the gigantic four-poster bed, draped with deep red velvet hangings and a gold-embroidered coverlet. It was the kind of bed that demanded lovemaking and romance. Too bad it would be getting neither tonight.

      It suddenly dawned on her that in a few hours she would be posing as Leo Valente’s date. And sleeping under the same roof as him. The insane urge to run screaming from the building was tempting, but she stood her ground. Remember the goal here, Devlin. One white lie and the castello was hers.

      ‘We leave for the opera house at seven. Will you find something to wear in time?’

      ‘I once sourced seven bridesmaids’ dresses the day before a wedding I was planning. In mint green, might I add,’ she professed proudly.

      He didn’t respond with his usual snark, instead taking a quick look at the screen of his phone. ‘I have some business to attend to, but feel free to indulge yourself. Shoes, jewellery. Whatever you desire.’

      He took a sleek silver card from his wallet and held it out to her.

      ‘I can pay for my own clothes, but I appreciate the gesture.’ She pushed the card back towards him.

      Leo scowled at her. ‘Fine. I will have the car collect us at seven.’

      He left, closing the doors of the bedroom behind him.

      Dara wondered at the change in his playful demeanour. Perhaps he was edgy about the significance of tonight.

      She would need to get a start on shopping, but first things first... She kicked off her shoes and threw herself back onto the bed with a contented sigh of appreciation. It was like sinking into a cloud. She briefly imagined what it might be like not to be alone in this bed. To have a warm body next to her, touching her in all the right places.

      What on earth was happening to her? She was going to have to keep her guard up around him. Her usually controlled libido seemed to be coming out of its enforced hibernation.

      He wasn’t even her usual type.

      She thought of her ex-fiancé and his neat brown hair, his perfectly ironed shirts and slacks. Dan would never have looked at her the way Leo did. As though she was the most attractive woman in the room. Even before he’d found out she was as barren as the desert.

      The ugly phrase jarred her momentarily. It was the phrase she had heard Daniel use to her father in a conversation she had never been meant to hear.

      Thoughts of her past pressed through her control, filling her chest with emotion. The news that she would never have children had shaken her to her core. She had always prided herself on not being needy in her relationships, unlike most of her girlfriends. Dan was the only man she had ever slept with. Their sex life had been nothing spectacular, but she’d told herself that their mental connection was worth much more than the lack of wow factor СКАЧАТЬ