Craving Her Enemy's Touch

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Alessandro took in deep breaths, trying to cool the heat in his body as he strode back to the track. The approaching ambulance was almost upon them as he reached the car. He didn’t look back at her, but knew she’d started to follow him. Every nerve in his body responded to each step those lovely long legs took.

After a few quick words with the ambulance crew he sent them back to the workshop, by which time Charlie was at his side. What would have happened if they hadn’t been interrupted? The thought of what he could at this minute be doing sent his pulse sky-high.

‘Get in.’ The command was gruff, but that was the only way to deal with this. Denial wasn’t usually his style, but right now it suited perfectly. He got into the driving seat and waited, his gaze firmly fixed ahead as she got in beside him.

‘Sorry.’ That one word from her was so soft, so quiet he wondered if he’d imagined it.

What was she sorry for? Driving like a maniac or setting light to the fire between them? Either way, he didn’t want her apology. He just wanted to get as far away from her as possible so that he could reassemble the barrier he always kept around him.

He didn’t ever want to be so emotionally exposed with a woman, but Charlie had slipped under his radar, almost destroying the defence he’d erected after his marriage. It had taken just one kiss.

‘I can’t believe you’d drive like that. What would Seb say?’ He clutched at the first thing that came to mind to use as a weapon against the hum of desire threatening to rise once more, just from being close to her. He could still smell her scent, still taste her and his body craved more, wanting absolute satisfaction.

‘Seb would be pleased. He taught me to drive like that but, judging by your reaction, I guess he didn’t tell you that I am a test driver for the team. I can drive as fast and as safely as any racing driver.’

‘That may be so, but he wouldn’t have wanted you to risk your life.’ Angrily, he rebuffed her explanation.

A heavy silence filled the car and he wished the words unsaid. When she didn’t say anything else he started the car and gently moved off, keeping the speed to a sensible level.

‘Did I scare you?’ The question flew out and he gripped the steering wheel, the muscles of his forearms flexing.

She had scared him, but he wasn’t about to admit that to anyone. As the speed had increased all he’d been able to think of was Seb, lying in the hospital bed in pain, and the way he’d forced him into a promise he now had serious doubts he could keep. How could he look after Charlie as if she were his sister when all he could think of was taking her to his bed?

‘Yes, damn it, you scared me. You knew I had to deal with my sister after she’d had an accident.’ He wasn’t about to confide in her the real cause of his fear. That would mean looking deeper at what had just happened between them. Accepting that there even was something there, some undeniable attraction that was so powerful it took over, given the slightest opportunity.

‘I don’t see how me driving on a test track has any connection with your sister having a bump on the road.’ He could hear the irritation in every word and was relieved to see the workshop coming into view.

‘That bump, as you put it, caused her to defer her last year at university and all because she couldn’t slow down, as I’d asked her to do.’ His mind began to tie in knots, talking on one subject, trying to rationalise another and fighting the need to pull over and finish what he’d started back there.

He’d never been this off-kilter before. Shock and the unrelenting need to regain control had unbalanced his emotions, but he couldn’t let her know that.

‘What happened?’ Curiosity filled her voice and it was all he could do not to look at her. The heat of her gaze burned into him.

He drove back into the workshop, switching the engine off. Silence settled around them and he looked about the workshop, thankful the mechanics had had the presence of mind to make themselves scarce. He’d have some smart talking to do with them later; of that he was sure.

He threw his hands up in frustration. ‘She drove too fast. That’s it. Just as you did out there.’

He didn’t need this conversation right now. It wasn’t what they should be discussing, even though it went part way towards his reasons for demanding she stop.

He could feel her watching him and turned to look at her, instilling as much control as he possibly could into his voice. ‘She took a bend too fast, hit the wall and ended up in hospital. All because she couldn’t slow down.’