Bought: Destitute Yet Defiant

Tempted to turn back to the washing-up, Jessie looked at the rigid set of his shoulders as he walked out of the door and realised that if she didn’t follow him then he’d probably come back and drag her. And she’d had enough public humiliation for one evening.

Glaring at his back, she muttered an apology to the chef and followed Silvio into the stateroom where she’d changed earlier. She closed the door behind her but kept her fingers on the handle. Ready to escape. ‘What’s the matter? Did one of your important guests not show up?’

He turned to look at her, a thunderous expression on his face. ‘Do you realise that my entire security team have been looking for you? We were about to involve the local police in the search.’

Stunned by his aggressive tone and the revelation that people had been looking for her, Jessie stared at him blankly. ‘Looking for me? Why?’

‘Why? Because you went missing,’ he said thickly, his voice unsteady and his eyes shadowed. ‘No one could find you.’

‘I wasn’t missing. If they couldn’t find me then it’s because they weren’t looking in the right places.’ Acutely aware of the huge bed in the centre of the room, Jessie wished he’d chosen somewhere less intimate for this confrontation. Suddenly she couldn’t get the woman’s words out of her head—he knows exactly how to satisfy a woman in bed.

His gaze held hers with the lethal accuracy of a laser-guided missile and he undid the top button of his shirt with shaking fingers as if he was finding the atmosphere as oppressive as she was. ‘It didn’t occur to anyone that you’d be in the galley.’

Jessie angled her body so that she couldn’t see the bed. ‘I wanted a drink of water.’ Her explanation drew a glance of blatant incomprehension.

‘You don’t have to run the tap yourself! If you wanted water, you could have asked one of the staff—’

‘No, actually, I couldn’t.’ His comment made her feel even more gauche. ‘They had enough to do running around after your demanding friends.’

Did he even realise that he was standing as far away from her as the room allowed? Was she really that embarrassing? Any further and he’d be standing on the glass-bottomed balcony that was suspended over the water. Her confidence in pieces, Jessie suddenly wished she was back in the alleyway, facing the men who had come looking for her.

At least then she’d known how she was supposed to behave.

‘So you thought you’d help them wash up? You’re not working in the café now, Jessie. You can do more than that!’

‘There’s nothing wrong with working in a café. At least in the café people are friendly. They talk to you and they don’t look down their noses at you.’ Hurt by his obvious desire to keep her at a distance, her insecurities exploded to the surface. ‘At the café I know what I’m supposed to be doing!’

‘You weren’t supposed to be doing anything,’ Silvio said harshly. ‘I have a large team of staff employed to crew this yacht. All you had to do was enjoy yourself.’

‘Enjoy myself? How could I enjoy myself when everyone was staring at me? How do you think I felt up there at your champagne reception, Silvio?’

He lifted his shoulders in an exasperated shrug, as if the answer was obvious. ‘Excited? Privileged?’

‘Privileged? Where’s the privilege in being publicly humiliated?’ This time it was her voice that was unsteady and her hand tightened on the door handle, holding it like a lifeline. ‘You brought me here, you made me attend an event where you knew I’d stick out and then you just left me! Th-this whole thing was a really stupid idea and I never should have said yes because it was obvious from the beginning that it was never going to work. I don’t fit in here and buying me a posh dress isn’t going to change that.’ She was shaking with anger and she watched his face change as it finally dawned on him that he wasn’t handling this well.

‘What makes you think you don’t fit?’ His tone was suddenly cautious and he stared at her the way a parent stared at a child who was on the verge of a major tantrum. ‘Did someone say something to you?’

‘No—no one said anything, that’s the point! They all just ignored me and I stood on my own knowing that they were all talking about me and wondering what I was doing there. I felt like an exhibit in the zoo. They stared so hard I could have charged them for tickets.’ Her body was shaking and Jessie fought for control, not wanting him to witness just how bad she felt. ‘That’s why I went to hide in the galley—I couldn’t bear being stared at any longer.’

He drew in a long breath. ‘You’re being over-sensitive—’

‘I am not over-sensitive! Everyone was staring at me and I don’t even blame them because they probably took their lead from you. You’re so ashamed to be seen with me that you put as much space between us as possible.’

Silvio stilled, a stunned expression on his handsome face. ‘You think I’m ashamed to be seen with you? Why would you think that?’

‘Apart from the fact that you’re standing at the far end of the room right now? Well, let’s see…’ Jessie tilted her head to one side, her tone sarcastic. ‘Possibly something to do with the look on your face when you first saw me, or maybe the fact that you jumped a mile when I kissed you because that’s what I thought we were supposed to be doing, or possibly the fact that you ran for cover to the opposite side of the boat, putting as much distance as possible between us. I’m not stupid, Silvio. I know you find me embarrassing.’

‘You don’t know anything—’

‘And you don’t have to think up excuses because I know it’s all my fault.’ She interrupted him before he could say something to make it worse. ‘I never should have agreed to this. I’m just a really normal girl who does really ordinary jobs and dressing me up in fancy clothes doesn’t change that. I should have known it would never work from the way you reacted when we were in that shop this morning. You couldn’t bear to look at me. I am who I am, Silvio, and putting a posh dress on me doesn’t change that.’

The sudden flare in his eyes was a reminder of his volatile temperament. ‘I am not trying to change who you are.’

‘Then why am I dressed like this?’

‘Because I thought the clothes would make you feel more comfortable!’

‘You mean you didn’t want to risk being seen with me when I was wearing my tight gold dress. It’s just a shame I seem to embarrass you no matter what I’m wearing.’