They had lunch by the pool where Francesco insisted on showing off his new swimming prowess for his grandmother before he ate, and although Aloysia and her husband—a small, portly man with smiling eyes—were charming, and Slade was perfectly cool, calm and collected, Daisy felt awkward and disturbed.
It was a relief, once the alfresco meal was over, to insist that Francesco come back to the house and have a rest before the rest of the company started to arrive, and Francesco didn’t object too hard with the allure of Queenie in situ.
What impression had Slade given his mother and stepfather—not to mention the rest of his relations—about the position she held? Daisy asked herself once she left Francesco settled down for a nap with Angelica, Queenie behaving herself admirably and snuggling down to sleep alongside her small master.
It was one thing for him to let his mother-in-law know that the new nanny had his full authority and backing any time he wasn’t in residence at Festina Lente, quite another to suggest to all and sundry she was his… What? she asked herself with a frown. His girlfriend? His mistress? He was devious. He was, he was really devious, and from where she was standing right now there didn’t seem an awful lot of difference between Slade and Ronald!
Immediately the thought formed she felt guilty. Slade wasn’t a bit like Ronald, Daisy admitted as she ran quickly down the winding stairs and turned towards the kitchen to help Isabella with the thousand and one things that needed doing as she had promised she would. Slade was— Well, Slade was Slade—a one-off—and as such defied description! Which didn’t really help the present situation.
‘Daisy?’
The door to Slade’s study was open and she saw him rise from behind the massive mahogany desk as he caught sight of her. ‘Would you come in here a moment, please?’ he asked quietly.
Wh
at now? She really couldn’t take much more and there was still Francesco’s birthday party to get through, which was bound to continue well into the night, Daisy thought warily. She stood for a moment, hesitating in the hall, and then slowly entered the beautiful book-lined room on tentative feet.
‘Shut the door.’ It was soft and low and something in his tone caused her stomach to turn over. This wasn’t a brief chat about trivialities but it was too late now—she was in the lion’s den. Nevertheless she didn’t shut the door until his voice came again, deeper and firmer. ‘Shut the door, Daisy.’
She stood just within the room once she had done as he said, and as Slade looked at her it came into his mind that she resembled a velvet-eyed doe, trembling as she sensed a predator’s presence. But he wasn’t a predator, damn it, even if she did make him feel like a cross between a sex-crazed pervert and an out-and-out monster half the time. That was when he wasn’t holding her or touching her in any way. When he did…she melted for him. He knew it and she knew it. It was the only thing that gave him hope.
‘I’m sorry about my mother.’ He didn’t sound at all sorry. ‘But it is only natural that she is curious about the woman living in my house, don’t you think?’ he asked quietly.
‘I’m not a woman, I’m Francesco’s nanny.’ It was a ridiculous way to put it and at the lift of his dark eyebrows she quickly qualified, ‘You know what I mean, Slade. I work for you, that’s all. Your mother seems to have got the wrong impression of how I fit in here.’ And he knew it or else they wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. Her chin rose a fraction at the thought.
‘I don’t think so.’ He moved closer until he was standing just in front of her but he didn’t touch her, merely studying her face with narrowed black eyes. ‘If you are worried that my mother thinks we are indulging in a casual affair, think again. My mother can see you are not the sort of girl a man has an affair with, Daisy.’
She stared at him, her honey-brown eyes wide and apprehensive.
‘You are the sort of girl a man falls in love with,’ he said with devastating tenderness.
‘No.’ It was instinctive and full of panic. ‘No.’
‘Yes.’ It was very definite. ‘Oh, yes, Daisy.’
She couldn’t take this, what she thought he was saying, and the fear in her face caused his own expression to harden as she said, without considering her words, ‘No, you don’t mean it, not really. You have lots of friends, women friends—’
‘If you are asking me if I’ve slept with a woman since my wife died then the answer is no,’ Slade stated with grim flatness. ‘And in anticipation of the next answer that is not why I am saying I love you.’
He loved her. Oh, dear God, please don’t let this be real, Daisy prayed frantically. Let them go back to the last month.
‘I could have had women in my bed,’ Slade continued coolly, ‘if that was what I wanted, but, contrary to what you obviously believe, I am not some sex-crazed philanderer or ladies’ man. I love you, Daisy. I have never said that to a woman before and you will have to take that as fact because I am not going to beg that you believe me.’
‘Slade, don’t. Don’t do this,’ she whispered helplessly.
‘Why?’ he asked softly. ‘Tell me why? I thought at first, when I came home, that it was that you didn’t like me. I knew we were attracted to each other, on a physical level, but I thought you didn’t like me. But this last month together has told me that’s not true. You do like me, Daisy. In fact I think you more than like me.’
‘No.’ She was staring at him, her eyes huge and the pupils dilated with shock as she struggled to come to terms with her panic.
‘Yes.’ His voice was tight now and very controlled.. ‘And I have done everything you asked of me; we have played the game of being friends until it has driven me crazy.’
‘It wasn’t a game!’ Her voice was wild now.
‘Oh, yes, it was—every damn minute of it,’ he growled darkly. ‘I want you, Daisy. I want you in every way possible and “friends” doesn’t even begin to cover it. And don’t say you don’t want me because I know you do.’
Oh, how had she ever got into this? Her heart was thudding so hard she felt nauseous and she had a dizzy feeling in her head that was making it difficult to think. But she had to think.
‘You’ve been hurt, Daisy, I understand that.’ One hand was in the small of her back, the other lifting her chin to meet his searching gaze. ‘But you have to come back into the land of the living some time. You will die in the shadows.’