Mistress to the Mediterranean Male (Mills & Boon By Request)

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘Well … I can understand that.’ Although his voice was relaxed, he was looking at her through eyes that were slightly narrowed.

  She was really relieved when the phone rang on her desk. ‘Excuse me a moment.’ She snatched it up as if it were a lifeline.

  ‘Good morning, Professor Hunt,’ she greeted Marco’s colleague with cheerful enthusiasm. ‘Yes, you’ve just caught him. Hold on.’ She covered the mouthpiece. ‘Shall I put him through to your private line?’

  After a brief hesitation Marco nodded.

  She returned to the phone with a false smile. ‘I’m putting you through now, Professor,’ she said, flicking a switch.

  For a moment Marco didn’t make any attempt to move and she thought he was going to ignore the call. Then suddenly he stood up. ‘We’ll continue our conversation later, Charlie.’

  ‘I really have nothing more to say on the subject.’

  She was pleased how together she sounded; weird really, when inside she was falling apart.

  ‘Professor Hunt is waiting,’ she reminded him firmly.

  ‘Yes … I know.’ His voice was dry. ‘OK, Charlie, have it your way. I will, of course, still expect you to join me in America.’

  Charlie felt a flicker of uncertainty. It was one thing keeping Marco at arms’ length in the office but, as she knew from experience when they were away together, things got complicated. ‘I told you to find someone else for your PR exercise.’

  ‘And shall I find someone else as my PA as well?’ he countered coolly. ‘I thought we had agreed not to allow emotional issues to come before work?’

  He watched her face flare with colour and for a moment he hated himself for pulling rank. But he wasn’t about to let her slip away from him without a fight. ‘The trip is purely business, Charlie,’ he added more gently. ‘But, as I said, we’ll discuss this later.’

  Charlie watched him head towards the inner office and close the door. Her heart was thundering out of control.

  He was right, of course; she had just allowed personal feelings to come in the way of her job. But the simple truth was she couldn’t go to America with him now even if it was strictly for business. Because, even knowing that she meant nothing to him, she still wanted him.

  She bit down on her lip and despised herself for being so pathetic. Financially this job was a godsend and she was ruining it for herself.

  Desperately she tried to think straight. But, no matter how calm and businesslike she tried to be, the mere thought of being alone with Marco in New York made her blood start to pound, confusing her senses with desire and trepidation.

  The only solution was to get away from Marco as soon as possible. She was going to have to start job-hunting and fast.

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHARLIE had just stepped out of the shower when the front doorbell rang. She hurriedly reached for a towel and wrapped it around her wet hair before pulling a bath sheet around her. Karen had said she might call this morning if she had time. But by midday her friend still hadn’t arrived, so Charlie had finished her housework and had started to get ready to go shopping.

  ‘Jack, could you answer the door, please?’ she called as she stepped out onto the landing.

  There was no reply; Jack was playing with toys in the lounge.

  Holding the towel tightly around her, she walked towards the stairs. She wanted to see Karen. They had spoken last week when Charlie had asked if she could find her another placement before the sale of her agency went through, which she had. But the downside was that the job was short-term and paid less.

  She couldn’t afford to drop her wages, so she’d had to refuse the offer.

  Karen was coming to talk to her about it, and she hoped she wouldn’t have to go into detail as to why she wanted to quit her job with Marco, as she found it too emotionally exhausting to explain. It had been hard enough working with him this week. The atmosphere in the office had been tense and she had been relieved to get out of there last night.

  As Charlie started to go downstairs the doorbell rang again and Jack suddenly shot out of the lounge. ‘I’ll get it, Mum!’ he said cheerily as he ran along the hallway.

  ‘Oh, hi!’ Charlie heard his cheerful greeting as he opened the door, and smiled. Jack was always pleased to see Karen. ‘Mum’s just got out of the shower.’

  ‘Well, that was a bit of good timing.’

  Charlie froze. It wasn’t Karen—it was Marco’s dulcet tones she could hear. And before she could stop him Jack was swinging the door wider to let him into the house. She looked down at herself in horror. All week she had maintained a well-groomed image with not a hair out of place. Somehow it had helped to know that at least she didn’t look as if she was falling apart, even if she felt like it. Now Marco was going to catch her in a bath sheet with her hair in a towel!

  ‘Actually, now isn’t a good time,’ she found herself calling out, trying to back up the stairs. ‘I’m too busy to see anyone.’

  He must have heard her, but he appeared at the bottom of the stairs anyway. She noticed the way his dark eyes swept boldly up over the long length of her legs and the curve of her figure. ‘You look good in that towel.’

  ‘Very funny,’ she murmured. ‘But, as you can see, I’m not in a fit state for visitors.’

  The fact that he was his usual handsome and stylishly groomed self in a pair of chinos and a pale tan shirt didn’t help her equilibrium at all.

  ‘Don’t worry about me. I like the turban look, by the way, it suits you—very exotic.’

  She tried to ignore the seductive, teasing light in his eye, and fought to remain cool and reserved, but the truth was that her emotions were see-sawing wildly. There was a part of her that was so glad to see him … and she hated that. ‘Was there something in particular you wanted, Marco?’ She kept her tone cool.

  ‘Yes, there is.’ He folded his arms and leaned against the end of the banister rail. ‘Are you coming down or shall I come up?’

  ‘Neither,’ she answered him quickly, her voice slightly unsteady. ‘We’re all right as we are.’

  ‘You know that’s not true.’

  Something about the softness of his reply made her heart miss a beat.

  ‘Which is why we need to talk,’ he continued swiftly. ‘And you can start by telling me exactly why you are job-hunting, because I think I have a right to know.’

  Shock flooded through her. ‘What makes you think I’m job-hunting?’

  ‘Well, catching you looking through the situations-vacant column yesterday was a bit of a give-away,’ he grated derisively.

  She bit down on her lip, she’d only had a five-minute scan through the pages in her lunch break and he’d chosen that very moment to appear behind her with some papers he wanted her to file. She’d hoped he hadn’t noticed, but she should have known better. Marco missed very little. ‘I was just browsing,’ she said defensively.

  Marco was momentarily distracted by the fact that in her agitation she had allowed her towel to slip an inch, treating him to a provocative glimpse of her shapely curves. How was it that she could even look sexy in a bath towel? he wondered.

  ‘So I take it you haven’t found another job, then?’ He forced himself to concentrate on the conversation.

  ‘If I had, you would be the first to know.’

  He raked a hand through the darkness of his hair. ‘We really need to discuss this situation, Charlie.’ His voice was reasoned. ‘Go and get dressed and I’ll take you to lunch.’

  ‘No I will not!’ She felt a flare of anger. ‘You’ve no right to come barging around here on a Saturday, ordering me about.’

  ‘You’re right.’ He held up his hands and his voice was gentle. ‘But we need to sort this out, Charlie … and we haven’t had a minute all week. I just feel that if we don’t talk now you are going to walk away and I’m going to lose you.’

  The words made her senses thunder unsteadily. Of course, he was only bothered about losing her in the office, she reminded herself fi
ercely and she hated herself for allowing that to hurt. ‘Well, I wouldn’t worry about it,’ she retorted flippantly, ‘because if I did leave you would no doubt find someone suitable to replace me very quickly.’

  ‘But I don’t want someone else.’

  The quiet words wrenched at her emotions. So she was good at her job … but she wanted so much for him to need her on more than a business level. She looked away from him hurriedly as he suddenly swam in a mist before her eyes. Furious with herself, she blinked the tears back. She was being irrational.

  Marco always thought in practical terms. That was part of who he was.

  ‘Let me take you to lunch,’ Marco said softly.

  With determination she pulled herself together and looked back at him. ‘I can’t and anyway, I’ve no one to look after Jack.’

  ‘That’s OK—Jack is invited too.’

  Charlie’s eyes narrowed on him.

  ‘There’s a place down the road that is child-friendly apparently.’

  ‘And why would you want to go somewhere like that?’

  He looked at her with a serious light in his dark eyes. ‘Because I think you’d like it.’

  ‘Marco, I haven’t found another job so there’s really no need for you to take me out to lunch or be nice to my son. The crisis is averted … you still have your PA. And I really don’t want to play games like that with you.’

  ‘I think the time for games is over,’ he cut across her firmly. ‘And that’s what I want to talk to you about.’

  She frowned. What was he up to? she wondered.

  ‘Just give me a few hours of your time, OK?’ To her dismay he started to advance slowly up the stairs towards her.

  She felt completely at a disadvantage and her heart was thundering at the purposeful glint in his eye.

  Although he stopped on the stair beneath her, he was still a good head taller. ‘By the way, your towel is slipping.’ He reached and pulled it up a little for her.

  She refused to blush. She didn’t want to let him know how the touch of his hand made her long to go into his arms, and ache with a need that tore her in two.

  Instead she held his gaze with determined green eyes, trying to ignore the prickles of awareness that were shooting through her. ‘I don’t think anything can be gained by us going out for lunch, Marco.’

  ‘You know I think a lot of you, Charlie,’ he said lightly. ‘But on the negative side you do have a dreadful stubborn streak that can be very irritating.’

  ‘You only think I’m stubborn because you can’t twist me around your little finger.’

  ‘And that’s the other thing I like about you.’ His fingers traced slowly over the side of her face. His eyes seemed to be on her lips. ‘That no-nonsense attitude is very refreshing. You have the most incredibly lively mind.’

  She stepped back from him. She didn’t want to hear about how he admired her lively mind whilst he was caressing her like that—not when his touch was opening up a need inside her as wide as the Atlantic Ocean. ‘Why don’t you just say what it is you want to say, Marco? And then you can go.’

  ‘Why would I do that and mess up a perfectly good opportunity for us to have lunch together … hmm?’ He smiled. ‘Plus I’m sure Jack would enjoy a trip out.’

  ‘No he wouldn’t …’

  ‘Would we go in your car?’ Jack’s little voice from downstairs made them both look around in surprise. Charlie had thought he had gone back to playing with his toys once he had let Marco in.

  He was standing quietly, watching them with avid interest.

  ‘Yes, we’ll go in my car, Jack.’ Marco walked back downstairs and crouched down to speak to him. ‘Would you like that?’

  ‘That would be cool!’ The little boy’s eyes were alive with excitement now. ‘Can we go, Mum? It would be great.’

  Marco turned and looked at Charlie with a mocking gleam in his dark eyes.

  Charlie tried not to be swayed by the fact that both of them were watching her closely.

  ‘Please, Mum … please,’ Jack said again.

  Her eyes went from her son towards Marco.

  ‘You know what they call this, don’t you?’ she told him wryly.

  ‘No, what?’ He straightened up.

  ‘Emotional blackmail.’

  ‘I’ll take that as a yes, then,’ he murmured with a smile.

  It took Charlie ten minutes to dry her hair and throw jeans and a T-shirt on. She’d made no effort to try and look glamorous, and instead just tied back her hair and applied some lip-gloss.

  Now she was sitting in the front seat of Marco’s car, listening as her son chatted happily with him. Jack was asking about the car and Marco was giving him all the facts about it as if he were an adult. Charlie tried to relax back in the comfortable leather seat. She probably shouldn’t have agreed to this but it did feel good being out with him again.

  She watched the competent way he handled the powerful sports car through the country lanes. And for a moment her mind flicked back to that day in Italy when they had driven out towards Sienna and he had stopped the car and kissed her. Her eyes moved over his profile, remembering the tenderness and the steamy passion, and her heart missed a violent beat.

  He looked over at her and caught her watching him and instantly she looked away. She shouldn’t be thinking about things like that, she told herself furiously, because it didn’t help and it didn’t change anything. Marco’s only concern was his work. He needed her around at the moment both in a PA capacity and a PR one, and he thought he could sweet-talk her into shelving any plans of leaving.

  They turned through some high gateposts with the name Fogle Farm over them and pulled up outside an old country manor house.

  ‘I think you’ll like it here, Jack,’ Marco said nonchalantly. ‘They have a playground in the back and a pets’ corner.’

  Charlie glanced over at him as they stepped out of the car. ‘So how did you find this place?’

  ‘The internet recommends it as a place to bring children.’

  Marco had obviously done some homework on this outing! ‘You were very confident we were going to come out with you.’

  ‘Quietly confident,’ he corrected with a grin.

  ‘Not really your kind of place, though, is it?’ she couldn’t resist adding as they walked around the side of the building and the sound of children shouting and laughing grew louder.

  ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘Come on, Marco! Listen to it. It’s not your sophisticated bachelor scene, is it?’

  ‘You can get bored with sophisticated bachelor-type places.’

  ‘Really?’ She looked over at him sceptically.

  ‘Yes, really.’ There was a humorous spark in his dark eyes as they met hers. ‘It’s good to have variation in life.’

  Marco took hold of Jack’s hand as the child jumped up to walk along the edge of a low wall. ‘We are going to have fun, aren’t we, Jack?’

  Jack nodded happily and Charlie noticed how he kept hold of Marco’s hand as they followed the path around the house.

  There was a huge play area around the back where a multitude of children were enjoying themselves, and before long Jack was dashing about, joining in the fun.

  Although the sun was shining it was bitterly cold. Charlie huddled further into her jacket.

  ‘You OK?’ Marco came to stand back beside her.

  ‘Yes.’ She waved at Jack, who was on a merry-go-round now. ‘Jack is having a lovely time.’

  ‘I told you he’d enjoy it.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Charlie looked up at him wryly. ‘The paparazzi aren’t going to pounce out from behind a hedge at any moment, are they?’

  The note of humour in her voice didn’t fool Marco; he knew she was still bothered by Sarah’s meddling. ‘Is that why you are looking for a new job?’

  ‘I was just idly glancing through the paper.’

  ‘I don’t believe that.’

  ‘Well, as I said, you don’t need to worry; I’m
not going anywhere … not for a while anyway.’ She shivered suddenly.

  ‘You’re cold!’ Before she could stop him Marco had taken hold of her hands. He held them in the warmth of his for a moment and the touch of his skin against hers was electric. She swallowed hard as she looked up into his eyes. She wished with all her heart that she could switch off the intensity of her feelings for him, because it was so foolish … and it hurt so much.

  ‘Why don’t you go and sit inside?’ He let her go and nodded towards the conservatory. ‘There’s a fire in there and you can watch Jack from the warmth. I’ll stay out here to make sure he’s OK.’

  Charlie hesitated and then nodded. ‘All right, thanks.’

  Marco turned to watch Jack as he played. But his mind was still on Charlie.

  When she had told him she wanted to keep their relationship on a strictly business footing he’d decided he would give her some space and then talk her around when they got to New York. It had been a shock to find her looking through the jobs column in the paper yesterday. He’d wanted to confront her immediately but had stopped himself.

  Then he’d spent all last night mulling over it.

  He couldn’t let her go, and he didn’t like that feeling. A long time ago he had prided himself on never making the same mistakes as his father.

  But of course his need for Charlie was more pragmatic than illogical, he reassured himself firmly. Yes, he wanted her body … but she linked in with work … linked into all the ideas he had espoused in his book.

  Jack ran over towards him. His coat had come unbuttoned and he was flushed with excitement. ‘Can we go and see the animals now?’

  ‘Yes, but I think you should do up that coat first.’ Marco crouched down beside the child and fastened the buttons. ‘That’s better.’

  To his surprise the child put his arms around his neck and gave him a quick hug. ‘Thanks, Marco,’ he said matter-of-factly before running off again.

  As Marco watched him go he was suddenly reminded of days spent with his nieces and nephews. He’d thought of himself as a family man at heart once and had used to think that he wanted his own children one day, but somehow over the years other things had intervened and he’d lost sight of that part of himself.