‘Very clever. Passionate lovers abandon meal halfway through.’ He lifted his brows and smiled at her in such a seductive way she caught her breath and held it against the thud of her pulse. Liev left some bills to settle the check and stood up. ‘I will escort you home.’
Just as he had previously done, Liev walked Bianca to her door and she paused outside, beating back the strange urge to prolong talking with him. But what was she going to do? Invite him in for coffee?
‘Goodnight, Liev,’ she said softly as once again he lifted her fingertips to his lips. The heat that slid down her arm was more in keeping with a passionate romantic affair, not a blackmailed engagement. But she couldn’t help it. Just being with him did something to her.
She watched him as her pulse continued to race. What was the matter with her? It was as if she was a teenager again, falling for the bad boy at high school, the one who would break her heart. She couldn’t be falling for him—could she?
‘Do you not wish we had met another way?’ The velvety smoothness of his words made her skin tingle, as did their meaning.
‘No—absolutely not,’ she lied.
He laughed softly, his eyes warming and his expression full of undisguised charm. ‘So hotly denied, but can it be true?’
She tried to pull her fingers from his hand, but he held her firmly. She had no choice other than look up into his face. ‘It’s true.’
‘So if I kiss you right now, just as I did last week at the charity dinner, you will not respond with such undisguised desire?’
What was she doing, encouraging this conversation? But she couldn’t help it, couldn’t help wondering how he would kiss her this time.
‘There is nobody to witness the kiss. What possible reason could you have now to kiss me?’
‘Because you are a very beautiful woman, one who should be kissed.’ He moved towards her, brushed his lips over hers, as if tasting them.
‘No, Liev, this is not part of the deal.’ She kept her voice firm but couldn’t help staying dangerously close to him.
‘No, but admit it, Bianca. You want me to kiss you. You want me to melt that sleeping heart the gossip columns are all talking about.’
She put her hands firmly on his chest, ignoring the spark that flew from that contact. ‘The only time I will kiss you is in public and then only because it is part of the role of being madly in love with you.’
‘Are you sure, Bianca?’ His voice was now a hoarse whisper that made her stomach flip and her heart race.
Before she had time to respond, he lowered his head, claimed her lips in a kiss that verged on demanding. Her head spun, and although she knew she shouldn’t, she moved her lips against his, tasting the forbidden. Her fingers clutched the lapels of his jacket as he put his arms around her, pulling her close.
It was insane. It was also amazing.
‘No.’ She pushed against him and he pulled back but didn’t let go of her. ‘That can never happen again, not like that.’
He drew in a deep breath and let it go slowly, as if curbing an angry response. ‘It will if we are in public. If it’s part of your role, as you called it.’
‘Just go,’ she snapped, and relief and disappointment washed over her as he moved back from her. ‘Go, Liev. This charade is over for tonight.’
‘Until tomorrow, Bianca.’
With those words haunting her, she watched him stride back to the elevator, wondering what had just happened. Why had she taunted him, but more importantly, why had she kissed him?
It would not happen again.
CHAPTER SIX
BIANCA’S NERVES WERE almost frayed as she waited for Liev the next evening. She anticipated this would be their last public outing, but she’d arranged a publicity interview for him at the shelter, and together with tonight’s photos appearing in the glossy celebrity magazines, she hoped he would be satisfied and have what he wanted. After the interview she fully intended that their engagement could become more low-key. The thought of spending more time with Liev was not something she relished, especially when he could provoke such new emotions in her.
She wasn’t sure if their engagement would achieve the acceptance he wanted, something she still wasn’t convinced of, but if they remained engaged, as far as everyone else was concerned, he could continue to pursue that himself, leaving her free to concentrate on Dario’s forthcoming launch.
Her brothers and sisters were another matter entirely and she’d prepared herself for the onslaught of further questions from them. She had no idea what she’d say to her grandfather and hadn’t bargained on the request from him to meet her fiancé. Just thinking of the lies she would have to tell made her nauseous. Grandfather deserved better than that—but he also deserved to be able to
be reunited with the bracelet he’d owned when he arrived in New York all those years ago. That in itself was a story Bianca longed to hear more about, but first she had another date with her fiancé—and hopefully her last. After last night’s kiss and her obvious loss of control, it would have to be.
Prompt as ever, Liev knocked on her apartment door and she took in a deep breath and prepared herself to spend the evening with a man who unsettled and intrigued her all at the same time. Until last night’s kiss, she’d been beginning to enjoy his company and had found herself more relaxed, but she must never forget how he was blackmailing her. This was not an ordinary love affair and they could never be a normal couple.