How different from what he had offered her in the past. Back then he’d promised her the world—his heart, his soul, his love. Now all he promised was mind-blowing, body-tingling sex. A trashy little affair to pass the time until they could end their relationship once they’d fulfilled the terms of his grandmother’s will. How could she agree to something like that when it was so unlike what they’d had before?
Because you still want him, that’s why.
Not that much.
Are you sure about that?
Alice wasn’t so sure about a lot of things any more. The desire Cristiano stirred in her refused to bank down in spite of all her efforts to control her response to him. It was like simmering coals deep in her body, just waiting to erupt into leaping, quick-licking flames. Could she risk an affair with him and to hell with the consequences? She could keep her feelings separate. That was what men did without any bother. Why couldn’t she?
‘I’m not going to let you play games with me, Cristiano.’
‘Games, cara?’ His brow rose above one eye. ‘Isn’t that your specialty?’
Alice pressed her lips together. ‘You won’t win this. You think you can get me to beg? Think again. I don’t want you anything like the way you want me.’
A satirical light entered his gaze. ‘There’s one simple way to test that little theory of yours. Would you like to try it?’
Alice stepped two more steps back and folded her arms across her body. ‘If you come any closer I’ll... I’ll bite you.’
‘Promise?’ His sexy half-smile made something deep in her belly turn over.
The doorbell sounded and Cristiano reached past her to answer it. ‘That will be our dinner.’
* * *
Cristiano carried the meal he’d organised to be delivered from a nearby restaurant through to where Alice had set up the dining table. She was angry with him for not acting on her invitation. He’d wanted to. So much his entire body throbbed with the need to crush his mouth to hers. Still throbbed. He wanted her but on his terms, not hers. What was she playing at anyway? A teasing kiss or two to prove he had no resistance when it came to her?
That he’d missed her?
He’d missed her all right. He’d missed her so damn much it had taken him months to sleep with another woman. The women he’d been seen in public with after their breakup were just casual dates, but he had not pursued them any further. A drink or two, a dance, a dinner or a show—that was all. He hadn’t been able to stop himself comparing them to Alice. Finding fault with their looks, their clothes, their manners or their conversation—or lack of it. Even when he did start sleeping with partners, he’d felt something wasn’t quite right. But he’d put that down to the fact of how different having a hook up or fling was from having a relationship where you truly got to know the person.
But had he known Alice? Truly known her? He hadn’t even got her taste right in rings. Not that any ring would have been right given she looked upon marriage as a form of modern-day slavery.
Not that his views back then had helped. It had taken him a few more years than he was proud of to see where Alice had been coming from. His conservative views on marriage had undergone some significant changes. He no longer saw a woman’s role in such black and white terms. He understood the need for women to have the opportunity to reach their potential career-wise in the way most men took for granted. Having both a career and a family was something as a young man he had never questioned, and yet for a woman it had so many more implications. Careers and children were hard to juggle if one wanted to do both things well. Even men these days were starting to question the high demands of corporate life and how it impacted on their relationships at home.
But while Cristiano might have changed some of his strong views, he wasn’t so sure Alice had changed hers. She seemed even more committed to her career, with expansion plans on the horizon. She hardly ever dated, according to her helpful employee Meghan. Why was that? Alice was a normal healthy young woman in the prime of her life. Why wouldn’t she be out there doing what every girl her age did? She didn’t even have a housemate. She lived all alone in a gorgeous house that looked as if it could be in a beautiful homes magazine.
But was she happy?
Cristiano didn’t think so...but then, maybe that was because he was annoyed she hadn’t been as committed to him as he had been to her. Or was it more because she was seemingly happy and he wasn’t? He hadn’t been happy, not from the moment she’d told him they were over. How had he got it so screwed up? He’d thought she loved him. Her body had if not her heart. She had been his most giving lover, and without doubt the most exciting. He had blithely thought she would accept his proposal with unbounded enthusiasm.
Blithely or arrogantly?
He hadn’t expected her to say no because back then he had been the one with the money and status. He was the Prize Catch as the press put it. He had chosen the restaurant that night in which to deliver his proposal, not out of design but eagerness. That was what annoyed him the most. He had been too impatient. He had picked the ring up on the way to meet her after work. That, too, had been more impulse than plan. He had walked past a high-end jeweller’s and that had been it. Decision made. No thought had gone into it. It had simply felt like the right thing to do.
Which showed how much feelings weren’t to be trusted. He had been so excited about his dreams for their future, so focussed on securing her commitment, that he hadn’t picked up on her mood. He’d been like a goofy kid unable to contain himself. If he had waited until they got home to his villa in Milan would she have given him a different answer? If he had given her more time? A few days, weeks or even months? Would she have felt less pressured? Less cornered?
So what’s changed?
Cristiano winced at the nudge of his conscience. He had cornered her again. Forced her to bend to his will. He had a goal to achieve. He was focussing on the big picture instead of examining the finer detail.
But he had to get those shares back before his cousin blew the lot. And he had to do whatever it took to keep the villa otherwise it would go to some stranger. He didn’t have a choice any more than Alice did.
It was marry her or lose a third of his family’s company and the villa he knew as home.
As if he were going to allow that to happen.
CHAPTER SIX
AFTER DINNER THAT night, Alice didn’t see Cristiano again until Friday when he picked her up to take her to the airport for their flight to Italy. Being stressed from having to organise another beauty therapist to cover her for the weekend when her usual girl had to pull out at the last minute, as well as see her own clients and get away on time, hadn’t done her mood any favours. She hadn’t had time to refresh her make-up or send a brush through her hair. And God only knew what she’d thrown in her overnight bag this morning when she’d missed her alarm and had to pack in a frantic hurry. How dared Cristiano look so damn fresh and clean and smell so divine? Didn’t he have to work and sweat like normal people?
Once they were seated on the plane in business class—of course—Alice leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. ‘You would not believe the day I’ve had.’
Cristiano’s hand came to rest on top of hers where it was lying on the armrest. ‘Want to tell me about it?’
Alice looked at his hand on top of hers. His skin was so tanned and the sprinkle of dark hair so masculine compared to the smooth, pale skin of hers. His fingers curled around her hand, reminding her of the way his strong powerful body gathered her close in the past. His thumb began an idle stroking across the back of her hand, a mesmerising rhythm that stirred her blood. She disguised a little shiver...or at least hoped she did.
‘First, I didn’t hear my alarm. My phone was on silent last night because I—Well, anyway. Then I had a staffing issue, which is the bane of my life as a small business owner. Suze, the girl I’d organised to come in to do my Saturday clients, caught a stomach virus. To her credit, she was prep
ared to work but I can’t expose my clients to illness. It wouldn’t be fair to them if they caught it.’
Alice stopped to draw breath to find him looking at her with an unwavering gaze.
‘Am I boring you?’
His lips curved upwards in a slow smile. ‘Not a bit. Go on.’
Alice had trouble remembering what she’d been talking about. All she could think of was how delicious his mouth looked when he smiled. Not a mocking smile, but a smile that said: You’re fascinating to me. His eyes too made her brain scramble. Intensely dark, fringed with thick black eyelashes her clients would have paid a fortune to graft on.
‘Erm...so then I worked through my clients and two were late, which is a nightmare because it has a knock-on effect that makes me late for my next client and so on and so on. And then, my last client wanted to talk once I’d done her waxing. Her husband is unwell—he just got diagnosed with cancer. I could hardly rush her out the door, now could I?’
‘Of course not.’
She let out a long exhausted-sounding breath. ‘Beauty therapists are like hairdressers. No wonder we’re called therapists. Half the time I’m more of a psychologist than I am anything else.’
His hand picked up hers and turned it over, his thumb stroking the inside of her palm in a slow circular pattern that made every rigid muscle in her back soften like honey in a heatwave. ‘You enjoy your work, though, don’t you?’
Alice didn’t even have to think about her answer. ‘I love it. I love being able to make women—and it’s mostly women, but I have male clients too—feel good about themselves. I like the skin-care element too. I’ve been able to help numerous clients with troubled skin. Nothing lifts self-esteem more than feeling good about how you look.’
‘So how did the wedding arm of your business come about?’
Alice couldn’t remember talking to anyone this much about her work other than her employees and a couple of girlfriends. Her mother never showed much interest—she was always too worked up about her own issues and only required Alice to listen, not talk.
‘Sort of by accident or serendipity. I did the make-up for a bride about five years ago, and then her bridesmaid chose me, and then she told her friends, and everything built up from there. Word of mouth still rules in spite of the digital age.’
Cristiano’s thumb was on her pulse now, that same slow stroking motion on the underside of her wrist making her sink even further into the plush leather seat. ‘So tell me about your expansion plans.’
‘Well...my salon in Chelsea is getting too small when I do weddings as well as normal clients,’ Alice said. ‘My regular clients aren’t too happy if I book the salon out too many Saturdays in a row for weddings. I have a dream to set up a luxury wedding spa where brides and the wedding party can be the focus of attention. There will be an area for official photos or glamour shoots too. Of course I’ll have to move between both salons at first, but ultimately I’d like to concentrate on the wedding side of things.’
‘Because you have a thing about weddings?’
Alice gave him a beady look. ‘The money. Weddings bring in the money, especially high-profile ones.’
His thumb stroked the fleshy pad of hers, making her legs feel as if someone had removed all the bones. ‘You don’t find it slightly...ironic?’
‘Ironic I want to make money?’
He smiled a crooked smile. ‘You know what I mean, Alice.’
Aleece.
Oh, dear Lord, how was she supposed to stay sane when he said her name like that?
She gave a little shrug. ‘Just because I do a lot of bridal make-up doesn’t mean I want to be one myself. You own and operate hotels, does that mean you want to live in one?’
His eyes didn’t once leave hers. ‘Not all marriages are slave camps. When a good marriage works it can be a wonderful thing.’
Alice gave him a pointed look. ‘If you think it’s so wonderful then why aren’t you married by now?’
His thumb traced over the diamond on her left hand, his eyes still locked on hers. ‘If all goes to plan I soon will be.’
Alice concealed a little swallow. ‘But it’s not like ours is going to be a normal one.’
‘It could be if that’s what you want.’
She frowned. ‘You mean...last for ever?’
‘No.’
Did he have to sound so damned emphatic?
‘I meant we could have our fun while it lasts.’
Not for ever? Just ‘fun’ for now. Alice shifted her lips from side to side. ‘If I agreed to...to having fun with you, does that mean you’ll be having fun with other people at the same time?’
His mouth tilted in another smile. ‘From what I remember of the fun we had together, I don’t think I’d have the energy for anyone else.’
Alice held his gaze for a long moment. Was this wise? Offering to have an affair with him for the short duration of their engagement and marriage? What kind of arrangement was that? And could she trust him to remain faithful?
Funny, but she felt she could. He might have changed in other ways but she couldn’t see him cheating on a partner. He wasn’t that sort of man. ‘Thing is... I haven’t had a lot of fun just lately so you might be disappointed in what I bring to the...erm...game.’ It seemed the right choice of word, all things considered.
Cristiano brought her hand up to his mouth, pressing his lips to the tops of her fingers, all the while holding her gaze with the steadiness of his. ‘I can bring you up to speed in one session.’
I can well believe it. Alice tried but failed to suppress a frisson-like shiver. ‘So...when would you want to...to start having fun?’
He slid a warm hand around the nape of her neck and drew her inexorably closer, only stopping once her mouth was within a breath of his. ‘I’d do you now but I wouldn’t want to disturb the other passengers with your screams of pleasure.’
Alice kept her eyes trained on his smiling mouth, her heart leaping in excitement, her whole body trembling with feverish anticipation. Only he could make her sob with pleasure. Sob and scream and shudder from head to foot. How had she resisted him this long? It was crazy to keep denying herself the sensual thrill of his touch. So what if it only lasted a few months? A few months were better than no months. She’d spent the last seven years missing the magic of his lovemaking. Why not enjoy it while it lasted? ‘You’re not thinking of using one of the bathrooms?’
‘No. I’m going to make you wait until we get home.’
Cruel. Cruel. Cruel.
Alice stroked a fingertip over his top lip, following the contours of his vermilion border, his stubble catching on her skin like a thorn on silk. ‘I could take things into my own hands...’ she said with a suggestive glance.
His eyes glinted and his hand on the back of her neck slid under the curtain of her hair, the slight drag on the roots sending a bolt of fizzing electricity down her spine. ‘Hold that thought.’
Alice closed the distance between their mouths, touching hers down on his as softly as a butterfly landing on a petal. She eased back but because his lips were dryer than hers they clung to her softer skin as if they didn’t want to let her go. He made a rough sound deep in his throat and brought his lips back to hers in a slow, drugging kiss that made her insides coil and twist and tighten with longing. His tongue entered her mouth in a smooth, deep glide that had a deliciously erotic element to it. It called hers into a sensual dance that made her feminine core contract with need. The kiss went deeper and deeper, drawing from her a response she had never given to anyone else. Shivers coursed through her body—her skin prickling, tingling, and aching for the touch of his hands. Her breasts suddenly felt too small for her bra—they were straining against their lace barrier, desperate to feel the warm, firm possession of his hands. To feel the stroke of his tongue, the hungry suckle of his lips, the sexy scrape of his teeth.
He shifted position, tilting her head to one side as he explored every secret corner of her mouth, the dark shadow of
stubble around his mouth and on his chin abrading her softer skin like a fine-grade rasp.
Somehow the thought they were on a crowded plane and couldn’t take the kiss any further only heightened the intensity of it. She couldn’t remember kissing him in the past without it ending with them making love. Their first kiss had ended in bed. Every kiss of their affair had been the same. It was as if their lips couldn’t touch without their bodies being engulfed by raging desire. They hadn’t kissed in public other than a quick brush of the lips because she hadn’t been comfortable about public displays of affection. Still wasn’t, which made it all the more surprising—if not a little shocking—that she was doing it now, within sight and hearing of three hundred fellow passengers.
But every pulse-racing moment of it tantalised her senses until she completely forgot where they were. She spread her fingers through his thick black hair, greedily succouring his mouth as if without it she would die. She made a mewling sound in her throat, her need of him escalating. No one had ever kissed her like this. No one had ever made her feel this way. This madness, this ferocious need that clawed at her core and made every inch of her flesh scream and beg and plead for release.
Cristiano finally pulled back, his hands still cradling her face, his eyes so dark it was impossible to identify his pupils from his irises. He pressed the pad of his thumb to her kiss-swollen lower lip and then to a spot on the middle of her chin. ‘I’ve given you stubble rash.’
Alice traced a fingertip around his mouth, the floor of her stomach giving a kick like a miniature pony when his masculine roughness caught at her skin. ‘I’m running an autumn special on lip and chin waxes if you’re interested.’
His eyes glinted their amusement. ‘Thanks, but I’ll pass.’
She stroked a fingertip down the bridge of his nose and then the shallow trench of his philtrum ridge down to where it met his top lip. His lips twitched as if her touch tickled. Then he captured her finger and closed his lips over it, drawing on it while his tongue stroked its underside, his gaze holding hers in a sensual lock that made her insides shudder.
The Temporary Mrs. Marchetti (Mills & Boon Modern) Page 8
