‘Why does it matter what it would mean to me?’
Niccolo took his time in answering. She was in an office, he was in his suit. He could tell that thankfully the natural order of things had been restored. This was her comfort zone and she was in charge of the brief she was sworn to deliver.
‘Let’s just say that I’m curious and, since I’m the one with the chequebook, why don’t you humour me?’
‘For obvious reasons,’ Ellie said stiffly, ‘This would be a wonderful feather in my cap, and certainly cement my place as on a par with my partners who have both had more experience than myself. As you rightly said, it may not be the biggest of commissions, but you’re a big cheese, so there’s always the hope that other significant commissions might follow. It would be a brilliant CV builder for the agency and an even greater one for me.’
Niccolo’s eyebrows winged up. ‘The way you said big cheese doesn’t make it sound like a compliment. So, you get this job and you further prove yourself...’
‘Yes,’ Ellie told him flatly.
‘And your career means a great deal to you.’
‘It means everything to me.’ She met his dark gaze and held it. ‘Financial independence means everything to me. This job offers me a door through which the agency can enter and I want to see what’s on the other side of that door. So, that’s how much it means to me.’
Niccolo frowned, momentarily distracted. ‘What about all the usual things women your age busy themselves thinking about?’ He was astonished at how sexist he sounded, because he prided himself on providing equal opportunities for women, and was known for parity on every level when it came to hiring within his own companies. For heaven’s sake, he’d gone into this venture on the back of what one of his sisters had said in passing because he’d respected her opinion even though it didn’t happen to coincide with his.
‘I’m not following you, Mr Rossi.’
‘Marriage and children? You’re clearly ultra-conservative, but that doesn’t seem to tie in with the I’ll do anything for my career angle.’
‘I’m very focused on my career right now, Mr Rossi. I don’t have time for the sort of relationship that would lead to marriage and children.’
‘Interesting approach.’
‘Why interesting?’
‘You meet someone.’ Niccolo was fascinated by her approach, which roughly mirrored his. ‘And you discover you want a relationship because something is ignited. I didn’t think women spent much time working out how they could fit it into their work schedule but, forgive me, I’m digressing.’
When was the last time he’d done that?
‘What I am really interested in is finding out how flexible your schedule is and whether there is anyone on the scene who might impact on your flexibility or any urgent work commitments that cannot be temporarily diverted.’
‘I just don’t understand what you’re asking, Mr Rossi...’
‘I like what you’ve done, Ms Wilson. It may need a little tweaking, but the more I think about it the more I accept that there’s something to be said for the fading sunset shots. They’re tasteful. I can understand why you’re probably the queen of whimsy in your company. Unfortunately, you’ve brought personal issues to the table, and I’m getting the impression that because you disapprove of the concept of my hotel you would find it difficult to work in any changes that might be necessary.’
‘It’s my job to adapt to and interpret what the client wants,’ Ellie said, brain going overtime to work out where this was going.
‘Splendid reply!’
‘But what does that have to do with whether there’s anyone in my life who can impact on my job or whether I have other jobs on the go?’ Ellie looked at him with a perplexed frown.
‘I’m prepared to give your company a shot at this,’ Niccolo told her.
‘That’s wonderful! Although...’ She frowned. ‘You still haven’t answered my question.’ She hesitated, wishing she could read what was going through his head behind those deep, dark, shuttered eyes that were looking at her with the sort of lazy assessment that could make a person feel drugged and heavy-limbed. ‘And...’ She inhaled deeply. ‘I’m curious as to why you’ve decided to give us the job.’
‘Because you have backbone,’ Niccolo observed, enjoying the transparency of her face. ‘You happen to be off-target about my resort—and I can personally guarantee that all of my guests would be very much affronted at being written off as sad—but you didn’t allow me to cow you into saying what you thought I might want to hear.’
Ellie flushed with pleasure even though there was a lot to sift through in what he just said before she could reach the compliment. ‘I expect,’ she conceded, ‘That you must have that effect on people. They put themselves out to please you.’
Niccolo didn’t bother denying it.
‘The reason I asked you whether there was anyone in your life and whether you could be spared at work is because I feel that you might need convincing, first hand, of the product you’ll be commissioned to advertise. Put it this way—it’s no good trying to sell a bar of chocolate if you don’t like the stuff. How could the message possibly be sincere?’
‘Need convincing?’ Ellie wondered how Niccolo Rossi imagined that he could try and talk her into dumping her moral code. Did he think that people’s ingrained beliefs were interchangeable depending on the time of day? Or maybe he thought that he was so persuasive that it didn’t matter what someone believed in—if it didn’t happen to coincide with his beliefs, then he would be able to win them over because he was a smooth talker. Or just too plain sexy for his own good.
Her eyes drifted to the sensual curve of his mouth and she hurriedly looked away and mentally gathered her wits.
‘I don’t have to be convinced of anything to do a good job. I’m grateful for the opportunity to prove to you just what I can come up with. I think I’m getting an idea of what you want, and I want to reassure you that I will be able to deliver. I’m assuming that you have a deadline? I gather that the resort is due to open imminently. I assure you I will have no problem working to any deadline you care to set.’
‘I’m thrilled to hear that,’ Niccolo said dryly. ‘But, before you get too excited talking deadlines and delivery schedules, I feel we should sort out any potential crossed wires here.’ His dark eyes rested on her face with just a whisper of sardonic amusement. ‘I’m not asking you to make another appointment with my secretary for a follow-up meeting in a week’s time. I’m asking you to pay a little visit to my resort, see for yourself what it’s all about.’ Niccolo seldom did anything purely on impulse. This was impulsive.
He took a few seconds to savour the rare sensation of a woman clearly appalled at the prospect of having to endure time out in a six-star luxury resort, all expenses paid.
‘So, do you want the job? Then pack your bags, Ms Wilson.’ He smiled lazily, ‘I’ve been told that nothing beats a spot of winter sun...’
CHAPTER THREE
NICCOLO HADN’T KNOWN, until a handful of hours before his private jet was due to take off, whether he would give in to yet more impulsive behaviour and take time out to go to the Caribbean.
His timetable was locked down tighter than a bank vault. He had meetings upon meetings, all meticulously planned weeks in advance. He had conference calls scheduled for ungodly hours of the morning, because it was imperative to be able to connect with clients on the other side of the world. His social life had been reduced to three business events, none of which could be avoided.
There was no way he could play truant because a random woman had shown up in his gym a week ago and done something to his rigid self-control.
Yes, he’d told her that going to his resort would be part of the job. So far, so good, because that made perfect sense. He’d liked the fact that she hadn’t been intimidated by him into agreeing to submit what the other advertising companies had submitted. He’d admired the way she’d dug her heels in, even though he had disagreed with pret
ty much everything she had had to say about relationships.
And yes, he had, sitting opposite her, been tempted by a number of what if? scenarios.
But even as he’d been tempted, even as he’d acknowledged the weird, disconcerting impact she seemed to have on his nether regions, a part of him had remained contained, controlled and logical.
He wasn’t going to go there because it didn’t make sense. He’d enjoyed the brief lapse of control, and had had fun playing around with images in his head, but deep down he had fully expected to relegate her to the back of his mind the second she left his office.
Face it, he was used to dating queens of the catwalk and, even though Ms Eleanor Wilson had a certain undeniable something that made him frown and want to take a second look, she was no queen of the catwalk. No jutting cheekbones, no sinewy arms, no legs up to armpits. Average, really, and with a dress sense that would have had fashionistas screaming in horror and running for the hills.
But, for some ungodly reason, the woman had lodged in his head like a burr and he couldn’t understand it.
He did, however, know himself and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he needed to see her again because he wasn’t prepared for the tedium of having her in his system.
His relationship with the opposite sex bordered on the ridiculously predictable. He either had a business relationship with them, in which case they had about as much sex appeal as a potted plant in a suit, or else he had a sexual relationship with them, in which case they played the usual games of seduction before the whole thing became stale and he moved on.
He knew where he stood with women and he liked it that way. Despite his mother’s disapproval, and his sisters’ tiresome nagging, he was very happy indeed with his love life because it held no unfortunate surprises.
He’d endured one of those and, as far as he was concerned, one learning curve was enough for a lifetime.
Ms Eleanor Wilson, however, had managed uncomfortably to straddle both areas, which was why he’d found himself thinking about her way too often for his liking.
Which was why he knew that he had to see her again, if only to prove to himself that whatever appeal she had exercised was all in his mind.
Niccolo told himself that his baffling attraction to the woman was not, however, sufficient draw to take him away from his duties back in London. Truthfully, he knew that he could do with seeing where his money was going, and touching base with the people out there spending it on his behalf. He had paid a flying visit to the place months before, at which point he had put in place everything he wanted, and thereafter the whole show had been left in the capable hands of the small team of people who were employed by him exclusively to handle the project.
He had been updated daily with progress reports. He knew exactly what was going on but emails and conference calls were a poor substitute for face-to-face inspection. If Ms Eleanor Wilson was out there as well, then her presence would certainly add a tantalising piquancy to the trip. But first and foremost, he reasoned, this was about business, and if it was a little unexpected it was no more than a trip he would have done anyway, if at a slightly later date. At any rate, money was money, and he would be interested to see what she made of the resort because that would determine how genuine her ad campaign would eventually be and, if she wasn’t up to scratch, then regrettably she would have to go. Nothing was signed and he was well aware that she knew the implications of that. She had drawn even with the field but hadn’t yet cleared the finishing line.
He was musing over this when he spotted her approaching, dragging a small case behind her and with a capacious bag that could have housed a kitchen sink slung over her shoulder.
Immediately, he stilled and, eyes narrowed, he watched as she walked towards him.
‘Is that it?’ he asked, eyeing the tiny suitcase, which was hardly bigger than a rucksack. ‘You were allowed as much luggage as you wanted.’
Hot and bothered and feeling out of her depth, Ellie wondered whether that question required a reply. She’d had no idea who would be accompanying her on the flight over to the island and had, at first, assumed that there might also be other candidates being taken there on probation. She had been contacted by his secretary and informed of all the necessary details for a seven-day stay on the island. She had come close to looking forward to the working break until, in the chauffeur-driven car that had been dispatched for her, she’d received a call from Niccolo’s very nice secretary who had cheerfully informed her that Niccolo himself would be meeting her at the airport.
‘But he can’t be!’ Ellie had had to stop herself from wailing in despair. ‘How can he spare the time? He could barely spare the time to keep his appointment with me!’
‘Mr Rossi can do as he likes,’ his secretary had said gently. ‘He’s a law unto himself.’
Horror had kicked in fast and the remainder of the drive had been spent in a state of nervous tension because, ever since her unconventional meeting with the man who was a law unto himself, Ellie had had to fight giving in to the insidious temptation to waste time thinking about him. He had quizzed her, and questioned her, and challenged her, and since when was all that part of the job? He was rich and good-looking, so felt that he could do as he pleased even though he had known well enough that she had been unsettled by the way he had overstepped her boundaries.
Ellie could have told him that she had no intention of changing her beliefs or suddenly turning into someone who approved of casual sex just because she happened to be being considered for an advertising campaign promoting it.
However, this was not just any client, and she had been prepared to factor in Niccolo Rossi’s unorthodox approach. She had told herself that, left to her own devices on the island, she would relax and tailor her approach to better suit what he required. She had been buoyed by the fact that, despite his initial criticisms, he had been more swayed by her tasteful take than what her competitors had put on the table. She would take that edge and work with it.
Everything changed the second she found out that Niccolo was going to be accompanying her.
‘Allow me to help you with the case,’ he murmured politely, leading the way through a series of unfamiliar turns and twists until they were finally on a separate landing strip where, poised like a giant black-and-silver bird of prey, stood his private jet. ‘I hope you’ve packed enough...’ Dark eyes slid over to her. She was certainly making sure that she didn’t get into the holiday spirit, he observed. What she was wearing was identical to what she had been wearing the last time they’d met, except for the colour. This nightmare was a silvery shade of grey. Her hair was as severely tied back now as it had been then, and she was currently averting her eyes, just as she had been for most of the time she had been in his presence.
Which said something.
He felt a charge of adrenaline rush through his system. She was so...incredibly prissy. Right now, she was striding forcefully alongside him, but he could sense nervous tension, and the unwitting combination stirred something reckless and wicked inside him.
‘You look a little tense, Ms Wilson. Eleanor. Shall we move onto a first-name basis, bearing in mind that we’ll be spending the next few days in one another’s company?’
‘I’m not tense.’ She pretended not to see his outstretched hand, raised to usher her onto the first of the metal steps up to the plane. ‘I’m incredibly relaxed, as a matter of fact.’ She gripped the rails to move ahead of him and was then instantly conscious of the fact that he was now behind her, probably eyeing up her uninspiring figure and her even more uninspiring choice of clothes.
But she was here for work, and work was going to remain uppermost in her mind. Even when she’d thought that she would be travelling solo, or else with one of his many minions, or even with other contenders for the job, she had not been tempted to go frothy or frilly with her outfit for the flight over.
For a start, she didn’t own anything frothy or frilly, so that took care of that.
/> ‘You were going to tell me why you’re travelling so light.’ Niccolo followed her into his jet. He wondered how his libido could suddenly become so inconveniently active in the presence of someone who was so buttoned up, both physically and mentally. But then, the second he started thinking about buttons, he began to think about the pleasure he could have undoing them, at which point he decided that the safest option would be to work for the hours they would be spending in the air.
‘Was I?’ Ellie barely heard him because she was so awed by her surroundings.
She’d travelled a lot in her time but her memories of planes had been of being scrunched in the back between her parents, desperately trying to pretend that they were just a little less outlandish in their dress, just a little more normal.
Since those heady days of being toted all over the globe like an accessory, her only trips had been within the United Kingdom on business and rarely involving a stop over.
She’d never flown business class and certainly not first. And certainly had never contemplated getting on a private jet. Had never wondered what it might be like. Now she felt she could safely say that it exceeded all expectations.
From the cream leather seats and the walnut trims, to the unusual layout that catered for sleep and work, to the smiling staff ready and waiting to make sure that every whim was met at the fastest possible speed.
From the champagne to greet them, which Ellie politely declined, to the offer of pyjamas, which so horrified her that she was left almost speechless and could barely splutter out another polite refusal.
‘Surely you will want to get into something a little more comfortable, Eleanor?’ Niccolo murmured just as soon as they were seat in chairs as big as sofa beds.
‘Ellie,’ she corrected because ‘Eleanor’ was sending little shivers racing up and down her spine.
‘Ellie.’ His smile was sinfully attractive and, from his lips, the word ‘Ellie’ managed to send the same shivers racing through her. ‘It’s a long flight.’
A Deal for Her Innocence Page 4
