Italian Boss, Proud Miss Prim

He could see she was tempted.

‘I’d have to get changed.’

‘Into what?’

Her warning look told him not to make light of this because she hadn’t made up her mind yet.

‘You’d have to leave the room while I get changed.’

‘I’m not going anywhere. And you’re not getting changed. You’re fine as you are. Here, grab this.’ Snatching up a shawl from the bed, he tossed it to her.

She caught it.

‘Now throw it round your shoulders and let’s get out of here.’

He gave her no chance to change her mind. Opening the door, he ushered her through.

This wasn’t a walk on the wild side—it was absolute lunacy. The moment they left the hotel she felt naked. She never went out in a flimsy summer dress. To do so with Rigo made her feel more vulnerable than ever.

And to think of all the things she could have done to get out of this—she could have played the tiredness card, the headache, the work to finish, the phone call to make, but instead she had fallen under Rigo’s spell. It didn’t help that he looked like a man from the pages of myth and legend. In casual clothes he was more aggressively virile than she had ever seen him and fitted perfectly into the template of ancient Rome. With his stern features and rugged, fighting form, he could have been a gladiator; the best.

As Rigo eased his pace to accommodate her shorter stride Katie wondered how safe her heart was. As he glanced at her with eyes like back-lit emerald that promised all the danger she could take, she concluded it was her chastity she should be concerned about. Could she trust herself to behave?

Did she want to behave?

If she was ever going to experience lovemaking, wouldn’t it be better to do so under the tutelage of an expert?

‘I’m not moving too fast for you, am I?’

Her cheeks flushed pink with guilty thoughts. ‘Not at all…’ Not as fast as my fantasies would have you move.

The dangerous smile creased his cheeks and fired every nerve in her body. She was transfixed by lips that curved in a firm and knowing smile. He knew how to walk close but not touching. He must know how that made her long to touch him—

And right on cue her scars shouted a stinging hello. They might be covered by the prettiest silk fabric, but they hadn’t gone away and were as ugly as ever. And now the doubts crept in. What if Rigo put his arm round her shoulders? What if his hand strayed down her back? What if he pressed those long, lean fingers against her? He couldn’t help but feel the ridges. And her final thought? What if he was repulsed by them?

Breathe deeply and stay calm, Katie’s sensible self advised. Rigo hadn’t made any attempt to touch her and was unlikely to do so. She might be dressed up by her own small-town standards, but she was hardly a femme fatale. This outing was merely a courtesy Signor Rigo Ruggiero was extending to a representative of the legal firm handling his brother’s will.

To prove it, they were walking alongside each other like a couple of friends—

Friends?

Friends looked at each other’s crotch, did they?

Katie wished her inner voice would shut up and stop acting as her conscience. Rigo’s gaze might never stray, but she hadn’t perfected the technique of not looking at something so prominently displayed.

What else was he supposed to do with it? her inner voice piped up again.

OK, so he was blessed in every department, but she didn’t have to fixate, did she? Hadn’t she worked out yet how acute his senses were? Did she want him to know she had a crush?

They had reached a crossing and he stared down at her. ‘Are you OK?’

‘Perfectly.’ But she flinched when he put his hand in the small of her back to steer her across the road.

‘Relax.’

Yes, relax. What did she think? That he had X-ray vision now?

‘You really are tense…’

She gasped as he caught hold of her hand and quickly concealed it in a cough. Was this supposed to help?

‘What are you doing?’ he said as she broke free. ‘The traffic is dangerous and unpredictable—’

Like Rigo. ‘Sorry—I promise to be more careful.’

‘I’ll make sure of it.’ He locked his arm around her shoulder.

For a moment she didn’t breathe. Surely he must feel her trembling? And then he walked her straight past the pizza place.

‘That’s for tourists,’ he said as she turned her head.

She had to scurry along to keep up with his easy, loping stride. That wasn’t easy on legs that felt like jelly. For the first time in her life she longed for her cheap suit. It might be ugly, but both the fabric and the shape were concealing. ‘So where are we going?’

‘First, we take a bus—’

‘A bus?’ He really was the master of surprises, she registered silently.

‘Unless a tour bus isn’t grand enough for you, Signorina Bannister?’

‘It’s fine by me.’ And was what she had wanted to do all along. ‘I’m just surprised you take buses…’

‘You mean, a man like me?’ he said. Rigo’s face creased in a smile. ‘I know every way there is to get around Rome.’ He helped her onto the running board. ‘I haven’t always travelled by private jet.’ He broke off to dig in the pocket of his jeans for some money to pay their fare.

A curtain lifted. She saw him clearly as the youth who had come to Rome with nothing and had made his fortune here. She only realised she was still frowning as she thought about it when Rigo dipped his head to stare her in the eyes. Her heart thundered a warning. ‘It’s only a bus trip costing a few euros,’ he said. ‘You can deduct it from your fee, if that makes you feel better?’

Better he misunderstood than read every thought in her head too clearly. ‘I’m good—’

‘Please allow me to reassure you that I have no intention of compromising your professional duties in any way, Signorina Bannister.’

He made her laugh. His humour was more dangerous than she knew.

And then the self-doubt crept in. Was that what he thought of her? She was all duty and no fun? That equalled dull in any language.

He chivvied her up the stairs. ‘The view is better up here.’

He persuaded her to take a seat at the front. She checked her skirt was pulled down as she sat. No wonder Rigo thought her dull. He was easygoing, charming and, even in denim jeans and a fitted casual shirt clinging tenaciously to every hard-wired inch of his impressive torso, he was sex on two strong muscled legs. While she was—

/> ‘Dolcezza.’

‘What?’ He was paying her a compliment. Why couldn’t she just accept it?

Maybe because, having sprawled across the seat next to her, Rigo was looking at her in a way that made her cheeks burn.

‘I like the new look, Katie; keep it.’

Before she could reprimand him for using her first name he draped an arm around her shoulder and drew her close. ‘Though I think you should be tempted to let your hair down.’

The murmured words sent her senses haywire as his warm breath connected with her ear. That must be why it took her a moment to realise what he meant to do, and by then it was too late. As he removed the single tortoiseshell pin from her hair it cascaded around her shoulders.

‘Bene,’ he said, sitting back.

‘My hair ornament, please.’ She held out her hand.

‘You can have it back later,’ he said, putting it in his pocket. ‘Now concentrate on the view.’

As he spoke, what might well be his ancestral home hove into view. The Colosseum—the ancient amphitheatre with its pitted archways glowing eerily with honeyed light.

But as Rigo related the history of the building she was gripped. Discovering the man beneath the public face was a non-stop revelation. His depth aroused her to the point where it was no longer possible to concentrate. She had to shift position to ease the ache inside her. She wanted to remain immune to him and soon realised what a pointless exercise that was. What she really wanted was for Rigo to touch her intimately. All this she accepted whilst maintaining a serious conversation about ancient Rome.

CHAPTER EIGHT

EXPANDING her fantasies as the tour bus drove on into the night allowed for Rigo touching her skilfully and persistently, rhythmically and expertly, until she found release. It didn’t stop there. They might experiment in the Colosseum—before a concert, maybe. As her gaze slipped to his lips while he talked she indulged in another image—one that stirred her more than most: she was being held down by Rigo while he subjected her to a lengthy feast of pleasure. She wanted sex with him. Which meant it was time to put a stop to such a dangerous fantasy.