A Pawn in the Playboy's Game

She knew he was going to kiss her. She could read the intent in his dark eyes, but she was nailed to the spot and when his mouth met hers she whimpered and clutched the lapels of his coat. Oh, God, he tasted so sweet. What was she doing? Drowning. She was drowning and she hated herself for it but she couldn’t seem to surface for life-giving air.

She was hardly aware of the door opening but when she was, she sprang back, her whole body trembling as she met her grandmother’s eyes.

‘This isn’t what it looks like!’ She looked at Alessandro, who was staring at her, not saying a word, making her wonder whether he had manoeuvred this situation just to make things difficult for her...because he still wanted her and wasn’t ready to let her go.

Would he do that?

She could have slapped him.

‘Roberto’s here!’ Edith chirruped, ushering them in, and so he was, along with another man whom Laura recognised, with a sickening jolt, as the local vicar. What on earth was he doing here? Somewhere between entering the house and finding themselves standing in the sitting room, Alessandro had taken her hand, linking her fingers through his.

Words tumbled over her head. The vicar just happened to be passing by...dropped in for a cup of coffee...was keen to meet the lovebirds...there was nothing more fulfilling than marriage...so many young people choosing to live together...but what a sight for sore eyes they both made...not meaning to presume but he would be honoured should they decide...

Laura tried and failed to meet Alessandro’s eyes. Was he as shocked as she was? He seemed to be carrying the conversation, laughing and chatting and being horribly, horribly friendly, while she remained in mute silence, barely taking anything in until, after half an hour, she and Alessandro somehow found themselves alone in the sitting room.

‘What just happened there?’ Laura whispered. Alessandro had moved to stand by the fireplace and she looked at him, still reeling from the shock of having a future arranged on their behalves while Roberto and her grandmother had looked on contentedly.

‘What did you expect me to do?’ he asked fiercely. ‘I was as surprised as you were.’

‘Why didn’t you say anything?’

‘Why didn’t you?’

‘I was too dazed. I barely knew what was going on. Gran never mentioned a word... I can’t believe Father Frank just happened to be passing by. What do we do now?’ she half wailed and was taken aback when he continued to look at her without saying anything. He always knew what to say! Why was he just staring?

‘It’s not such a bad thing,’ he muttered, and Laura’s mouth fell open.

‘Is that all you have to say? What the heck does that mean anyway?’

Alessandro raked unsteady fingers through his hair and circled the room, finally coming to rest directly in front of her, a towering, brooding alpha male who, for once, was not his usual composed self. ‘I’m not ready to...end what we have...’

‘You’re not ready to end what we have?’ She laughed shortly. ‘You don’t give a damn about anyone but yourself, do you?’ she demanded. ‘You don’t care how messed up I am, being an idiot to fall for you. You don’t care that you’ve put me in an impossible situation. Just so long as you get what you want.’ Tears pricked the backs of her eyes and she couldn’t look at him. When she stared down, her fingers were restively curling and uncurling on her lap.

‘You don’t understand,’ he muttered.

‘Then why don’t you explain? Tell me what it is I don’t understand.’

‘You make my world feel alive. When I’m with you, I feel as though my life makes sense.’

Laura’s eyes fluttered. She didn’t want to hope. Was this some kind of trick? Was she dreaming? Disoriented, she watched as he dragged a chair to sit next to her and for a few moments hung his head in a gesture that was so unlike him that she was worried. She tentatively laid her hand on his arm and without looking at her he blindly clutched it and held it tightly.

‘You told me that you didn’t expect to fall in love with me,’ he said so quietly that she had to strain to hear. He raised his eyes and held hers. ‘I rejected that. It was an automatic reaction. I always had my rules. No love, no commitment. No getting any ideas of permanence, but I hated the thought of not having you around. I hated it when we stopped talking to one another.’