An Invitation to Sin

‘I don’t need acting lessons.’

‘You sounded as if you were reading from an autocue.’

‘An autocue might be a good idea. I’m definitely not fluent in the language of love.’ Luca sat down at the table and ordered champagne.

‘Yes, about that.’ She paused as the waiter fussed around them, waiting until they were on their own to finish her sentence. ‘From now on, I don’t want you to touch me.’

‘Scusi? Are we or are we not supposed to be engaged?’

‘We are, but I’m not into public displays of affection.’ She kept her eyes down, adjusting her cutlery while Luca stared at her in disbelief.

‘I’m Sicilian. We’re an emotional, physical race.’

‘Then hold it in.’ Her eyes lifted to his and he saw something there he didn’t expect to see.

Panic?

For a moment he was baffled by it, then he remembered the way she’d responded to him in the maze. ‘Ah—now I understand. Enjoying sex is on your forbidden list too, and you are finding it hard to resist me, no?’

‘No.’ She answered just a little too quickly and then covered her glass to stop the waiter pouring champagne. ‘Just water, please.’

Luca rolled his eyes and removed her glass, handing it to the waiter. ‘Fill it up. She needs help to relax.’

‘I do not need help to relax. I’m already relaxed.’ He waited for the waiter to leave them alone. ‘I’ve seen steel cables more relaxed than you. You’re such a sexual woman, and you hate that about yourself, don’t you? You’re trying to lock that part of yourself away and pretend to be something you’re not.’

‘I do eat. I drink if I want to, and our relationship is not about sex so that’s irrelevant.’

‘Let’s hope no one was lip-reading when you said that.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Trust me, if we’re engaged, there’s going to be food and champagne and, most of all, sex. Lots of hot, steamy, very dirty sex so if you want this to appear genuine you’d better stop suppressing that side of yourself.’

Her cheeks turned pink as the waiter approached with her water.

‘Thank you so much.’ She gave a smile that turned the poor man into a gibbering wreck and Luca gave an amused smile.

‘You’re all promise and no follow-through.’

‘I can follow through when it suits me.’

‘And when is that? When you explode from holding it all in?’

Her fingers tightened on her glass. ‘I’m not holding anything in.’

‘You are suppressing so much, dolcezza, that when you finally blow the aftershocks are going to be felt back in your homeland. Don’t worry. I’ll be there to drag you from the rubble.’

She smiled. ‘Do you think about anything but sex?’

‘You’re upset that I understand you so well.’

‘You don’t understand me at all.’

‘No? Let’s do a Taylor Carmichael 101.’ He put his glass down and leaned forward in his chair. ‘You long to let yourself go. I saw the way you reacted to my car in the first few minutes before you remembered you weren’t supposed to enjoy fast cars. You long to drink champagne, but you daren’t in case you drink a bit too much and lose control.’

‘Is that the best you can do?’

‘I haven’t finished. You can’t go anywhere without first looking to see where the photographers are hidden. You know they’re part of the job but for some reason they make you nervous.’

She reached out slender fingers and took an olive. ‘Are you done?’

‘Not yet.’ It was only because he was looking that he saw her fingers shake slightly. ‘You don’t trust anyone any more. You’ve locked yourself away. You won’t tell me why so I’m guessing it’s something you’re ashamed of. Something you regret.’ He watched as the colour drained from her cheeks.

Her breathing grew shallow and she looked away quickly. ‘You talk nonsense.’

‘I scored a direct hit,’ Luca said softly. ‘Now drink some champagne or the headlines tomorrow will be that you’re already pregnant and that’s the reason we’re marrying. Neither of us wants that.’

After a moment’s hesitation she picked up the slender champagne glass. ‘To our future.’

‘To lots of legal sex.’ He glanced up as the waiter approached. ‘Don’t bother giving my beloved a menu, Pietro, I’ll order for both of us. It will be a good test of how well I know her.’

To give her credit, Taylor kept her smile in place. ‘But, sweetheart, you know I like to order for myself.’