The Italians: Luca, Marco and Alessandro: Between the Italian's Sheets / The Moretti Heir / Alessandro and the Cheery Nanny. Natalie Anderson

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СКАЧАТЬ more Luca thought about it, the more he didn’t like it. And he spent all day thinking about it. Emily couldn’t stay there, but the solution was no more tolerable—either way he was confronted with a situation he wasn’t comfortable with. But inevitably, as it had once already, desire won. He strode into the hostel common room wearing jeans and a shirt and a scowl. ‘Get your bag.’

      ‘Pardon?’ She was sitting cross-legged on a sofa, eating toast and reading the paper—at nine-thirty at night.

      ‘You shouldn’t be staying here. It’s not safe.’

      ‘Not safe?’

      ‘No,’ he asserted, feeling all the more grumpy. ‘Not safe. Full of transients and people you don’t know. I wouldn’t let my sister stay in a place like this on her own.’

      ‘Do you have a sister?’

      ‘No, but if I did, I wouldn’t let her stay here.’

      ‘You wouldn’t let her?’

      He ignored the emphasis. ‘Come on, get your bag. You’re coming home with me.’

      ‘Do you have a brother?’

      ‘No. But again, if I did, I wouldn’t want him staying here. Not if I could convince him otherwise. It’s not right for a lone woman to stay here.’ He paced in a circle. ‘When you were with your sister it was different—just. But not now.’

      She stepped in front of him, blocking his path. ‘And you don’t think moving in with some stranger is more risky?’

      A flash of surprise checked him. ‘I’m not a stranger. And you know you have nothing to fear from me.’

      He watched her think about it. Watched her sleepy, luminescent eyes widen.

      ‘Save your money and stay with me.’ He knew he almost had it won. He added some frills. ‘I’m your holiday fling, right? Why not let me provide the whole package—room, food and entertainment? Take your time to decide on a job and a flat. I don’t mind.’

      ‘Why, how generous you are, Luca,’ she drawled. ‘And what do you get out of it?’

      ‘What we’re both counting on.’ His house was his sanctuary. Quiet, relaxing—his and his alone. But for a few days he’d have to adjust. His body’s need was too strong—breaking through the boundaries he’d established years ago. And he couldn’t rest knowing she was alone in this hostel. Privacy and isolation could be restored—after.

      ‘You know I can’t say no.’

      ‘I was counting on that too.’

      Did she really have nothing to fear? A little doubt niggled in the back of Emily’s brain. No strings, no commitment—wouldn’t living together make it harder to keep that distance? But she couldn’t resist his offer—and it was generous. Even though she was a with-it woman living in the twenty-first century and totally capable of safely staying in the hostel all by herself, she couldn’t help her instinctive, pleased response to his display of macho protectiveness. And while it might not be that risky, it was certainly reckless. Reckless was something Emily hadn’t ever been until that day in Verona. That hedonism, the holiday mood enveloped her now—bringing back the warmth of the Italian sun, the taste of bliss in his arms… Why couldn’t she extend that holiday, just for a little while longer? Didn’t, as he’d once said, she deserve it?

      ‘Your room, ma’am.’

      He put her pack inside the door of the bedroom they’d lain in last night. The guest bedroom. So boundaries would be maintained—she wouldn’t actually be sleeping in his bed. She crossed the room and looked out of the window—last night she hadn’t been lucid enough to notice the view over the private gated gardens.

      ‘I’ll show you where the key is. You can go and read the morning paper in the sun. It’s very nice.’ He took her hand. ‘Let me show you the rest of the facilities. You’ve seen the kitchen and you have your own bathroom off your bedroom, so let’s move on to entertainment.’

      ‘I thought you were my entertainment.’

      ‘I’ll entertain you again and again. But this is for while I’m at work.’

      And, if last night was anything to go by, it would be her recovery time. She followed him into the big, light room. A large sofa stretched in front of her and opposite was a wall of bookcases.

      ‘Take your pick, but if you don’t fancy reading…’ He pushed a couple of buttons on a remote and with a click and a whir half the bookcases seemed to disappear and a giant flat-screen TV was revealed.

      ‘Oh, that’s clever.’

      ‘Very Batman, don’t you think?’ he joked. ‘The DVDs are in this cabinet. I have a reasonable collection, but if you want to watch something else just let me know and I can get it delivered.’

      A reasonable collection? There were masses of DVDs—enough to rival the entire stock of the DVD store where she’d worked. Although they were a little on the action/thriller side. Not too many romcom chick flicks—maybe his ex took them when they split up? She felt burningly curious about that part of his life—what had gone wrong? She’d ask some time, but was cautious about prying too much too soon. There had been real pain in his eyes when he’d admitted to being hurt and she didn’t want to spoil the lightness of the mood now. Not when she sensed this was a little out of the ordinary for him. It was way out of the ordinary for her too.

      ‘I take them out of the cases. It makes it easier to store more.’

      ‘And are they filed alphabetically, by genre, or director or something?’

      ‘No.’ He grinned. ‘In order of purchase. By all means sort them if you want, though. Watch any, watch all.’

      ‘You expect me to figure out all these remote controls? The stereo, the TV, the DVD player, the curtains…’

      He laughed and gestured towards the bi-folding doors along the back wall. ‘Through there is a formal lounge I don’t tend to use unless I have some sort of gathering. Now follow. I’ve saved the best ’til last.’

      His room? She was very curious about that. But while he led her to the stairs it wasn’t up but down that he went. At the very bottom they were confronted with a closed door. He pushed buttons on the keypad on the wall beside them. ‘I’ll give you the number.’

      ‘I’m going to need a two-hundred-page manual to remember how to work this place.’

      ‘It won’t take you that long.’

      ‘Why the security?’

      ‘My housekeeper has a young son. I don’t want him in here without supervision.’

      ‘Supervision?’ What on earth was in there? ‘And you said I had nothing to fear? Let me guess, it’s a soundproof room and filled with electric guitars and drum kit ’cos you’re really a metal head.’

      He shook his head.

      ‘Wine cellar?’

      He СКАЧАТЬ