Bought: Destitute Yet Defiant

‘Well—aren’t you going to introduce us, Silvio?’

Knowing that sudden chill in her tone could only have been caused by the arrival of an extremely beautiful woman, Silvio turned, intrigued as to who could have triggered such a response.

The woman in question stood watching him, the enticing curve of her lips the same shade of vivid red as her sexy strapless dress.

The blood left his brain and it took him several moments to realise it was Jessie.

Jessie as he’d never seen her before.

Unable to help himself, his eyes lingered on her glossy mouth and then moved slowly down her body until he reached her smooth, bare legs. Her feet were as small and delicate as the rest of her, her toenails painted the same shade of bold red. She reminded him of a delicate rainforest bird that had strayed from her normal habitat. Rare, lush, exotic.

She’d left her hair loose, and the soft curls tumbled around her bare shoulders as carelessly as if she’d just left the bed of some very lucky man.

Silvio’s mouth dried and his head was full of thoughts he tried never to think about this woman.

His eyes clashed with hers and raw chemistry exploded between them, singeing the air with a dangerous heat that threatened to burn up everything close by.

‘Silvio?’ The actress’s voice poured honey and acid at the same time. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us?’

Doubting that he was capable of speech, Silvio licked his lips. ‘This is Jessie…’ Somehow he managed to make the introductions, but his brain and body were working on entirely different levels.

Fortunately Jessie appeared unaffected. ‘So nice to meet you,’ she said calmly, as if meeting the cream of Hollywood was a regular occurrence for her. She seemed completely relaxed and not at all starstruck as she made conversation easily.

Her hand slipped into Silvio’s and she smiled up at him. ‘We have more guests arriving—should we greet them?’

Her use of the word ‘we’ announced them as a couple, and her subtle reminder that they were supposed to be playing a role penetrated the red mist in Silvio’s brain.

He was wishing yet again that he’d thought of a different way to secure her safety when she stood on tiptoe and kissed him lightly on the mouth. Such brief contact shouldn’t have had the effect it did, but her sweet lips and the sultry hit of her perfume wrapped around his senses like a magic spell.

Gripped by a raw, primitive hunger, Silvio was forced to confront an inescapable truth—that if it hadn’t been for the presence of guests, he would have taken her there and then, against the rail of his yacht, without even bothering to remove the fiery red dress.

Shaken up by the knowledge that he was out of control for the first time in his life, Silvio took an instinctive step backwards, not trusting himself not to embarrass them both.

What was he playing at?

Fortunately for him an important guest chose that moment to arrive at the foot of the gangplank, and Silvio seized on the opportunity to give himself some much-needed space.

‘I’ll leave the two of you to get better acquainted,’ he said smoothly, extracting himself with almost indecent haste. ‘I’ll see you later, Jessie.’

He’d left her.

Jessie stood frozen to the spot, scarlet with mortification at his public rejection. Her stomach churning, she stared after his retreating shoulders in disbelief. He hadn’t cared whether she was in or out of her comfort zone. He’d just walked away and left her, surrounded by people she didn’t know in an atmosphere that was alien to her.

Was she really that embarrassing? He’d stared at every inch of her so it was hard to know which bit she’d got wrong.

She’d tried her hardest to fit in and he’d given her no help at all. Right now she couldn’t have felt more out of her depth if he’d thrown her in the water without a life belt.

What was she supposed to do next?

Jessie tried to control her breathing. Her heart was racing, her palms were clammy and she felt the humiliating sting of tears in her eyes. Deciding that holding a drink would at least give her something to do with her hands, she followed the example of the woman next to her and helped herself to a glass of champagne. Were you supposed to hold the stem or the glass? Convinced that everyone was staring at her, she took several mouthfuls and almost choked as the bubbles stung her throat and shot up her nose.

Oh, God, she couldn’t even drink champagne without making a fool of herself. And she should have known better than to touch alcohol. One glass made her talk too much and two sent her to sleep. Either of those scenarios would prove embarrassing and it was obvious that Silvio was already embarrassed enough.

Why?

Was it the dress? She’d tried on what felt like a hundred different dresses before deciding on the red one and she’d been sure that she looked good. So sure, that she’d left her room in a state of excitement, confident that she was suitably dressed for the occasion.

All right, so she’d never actually been on a super-yacht before—or any yacht, for that matter—but the dress was gorgeous and the moment she’d put it on, she’d felt incredible. So incredible that she’d almost danced onto the upper deck, just dying for him to see her—longing to see his reaction.