‘In my eyes you are,’ he purred, ignoring her tight-lipped expression and favouring her with a smile that was an annoying combination of ruefulness and pure charm. ‘I hope this will do...’
He pushed open a door that led to the most wonderful bedroom Maddie had ever seen. The white wooden shutters were closed, but she knew that when they were open the light would flood in, because they covered the expanse of one entire wall. The king-sized bed was draped in the finest of mosquito nets, and the room was cooled by air-conditioning that was virtually silent. The décor, like in the rest of the villa, was pale. Cream walls, light bamboo furniture and an oversized squashy pale lemon sofa next to a door that led directly out onto the veranda that circled the house.
Leo was striding to another door, which he pushed open in the manner of an estate agent keen to show a prospective buyer all the home comforts.
‘En-suite bathroom,’ he said, and Maddie walked towards him and peered into a room the size of the apartment she had shared with her mother in Sydney.
Through an archway leading from the bedroom was a spacious sitting area, complete with a giant flat screen television and all the accoutrements of an office—which was the only indicator that the villa was used for work purposes much of the time.
He returned to the bedroom and stood to one side of the huge bed. ‘Think you’ll be comfortable?’
Maddie stared at him, mouth dry, and tried to get her wayward thoughts back in order—because seeing him there next to the bed was resurrecting all sorts of unfortunate memories.
She half closed her eyes and pictured his lean, muscular body splayed across the puffy white duvet, bronzed and hard and naked.
‘It’s perfect,’ she croaked, jerkily heading to her suitcase and flipping it open so that he would get the message that it was time for him to leave.
Which he did.
‘If you need anything...’ Leo pointed to a bell which she hadn’t noticed on the table next to the bed ‘...summon me...’
‘Really?’ Maddie almost smiled at his use of the expression. Without thinking, she added, half to herself, ‘And what would you do?’ Then she realised what she’d said and reddened.
‘You’re here to do nothing,’ Leo told her, straight-faced, ‘so basically I’ll do whatever you want.’
The quiet charge of electricity thrummed between them.
‘Oh? You’d cook and clean for me?’ Maddie quipped, perversely tempted to keep him in the bedroom now that he was clearly itching to leave. ‘Somehow I can’t picture you doing any of that stuff, Leo.’
‘Cleaning might be a problem,’ he conceded with amusement. ‘But I could definitely rise to the challenge of cooking—although there will be no need for that, bearing in mind I have round-the-clock staff who are paid to take care of those duties.’
For the first time in living memory he didn’t flinch at the vision of domesticity that presented itself to him. He had a strangely satisfying vision of her resting on the sofa in his living room, heavy with his child, while he brought her home-cooked food.
He’d never cooked anything that hadn’t come with printed instructions on the packet in which it was wrapped, but he was sure he could rustle up something and he rather enjoyed playing with that thought. Maybe in due course he would invest in a recipe book. Who knew? His life was changing, and it was going to change even more dramatically after the baby was born. Could he say with any certainty that he wouldn’t be spending evenings in, wearing an apron and brandishing a spatula in front of the stove?
He grinned. The faster you accepted the inevitable, the better off you were. Fact.
He was pro-active, creative, solution-orientated, and he seldom wasted energy pushing boulders up hills when they were very likely to come rolling right back down.
If you worked with what you’d got, however troublesome, you usually ended up coming out the victor. And, since Leo intended to come out the victor in this scenario, he was proud of the unusual tramline his thoughts were travelling along.
‘Of course,’ Maddie said politely.
‘Although,’ he mused, ‘I might relieve them of some of their culinary duties.’
He wondered where the pots and pans were kept. It was an area of the kitchen he’d never felt the need to explore.
‘Why would you do that?’
‘Necessity,’ Leo said succinctly. He lowered his eyes and looked at her lazily, each syllable leaving his mouth replete with intent. ‘You will find that I’m a man who doesn’t take shortcuts when it comes to the things that matter to me. My child will top that list. Having someone else prepare food will naturally work occasionally, but I’ll do much of that myself.’
‘You will?’
‘What sort of father do you think I will be?’
‘I—I haven’t really given it much thought,’ Maddie stammered, caught on the back foot at this unexpected tangent.
‘I’m sure you have,’ Leo responded wryly. ‘Just as I’m sure that I don’t emerge in those thoughts with flying colours. You think I would be an unsuitable rich husband who fails to live up to the storybook image in your head, and a likewise unsuitable rich father who thinks that money can take the place of time.’
‘I’ve never thought anything of the sort!’
‘Of course you did. At the risk of disillusioning you, I intend to be a hands-on father. My work life will be tailored to accommodate my child. I didn’t envisage myself in the role of a father until it was sprung on me, but now that I am I will be giving it everything I have.’
He patiently waited for her to pounce. He almost felt that he knew her better than she knew herself.
Maddie shuffled as she sifted through what he was saying. Okay, so maybe she had been guilty of typecasting him as the wealthy but absent parent—but was that her fault? Workaholics were never interested in the small stuff, were they? Since when could she have expected the most eligible bachelor on the planet to willingly immerse himself in nappy-changing duties?
Was he just saying that to make a good impression?
No, why should he?
‘So cooking practice might be just the thing.’ Leo paused and looked at her after a moment’s silence. ‘And of course,’ he continued, ‘it would carry on, I imagine, even after I have found someone...’
‘Found someone?’ Maddie looked at him, disorientated. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Well,’ Leo said crisply, all business now, wrapping up their little tête-à-tête just at the point when she was hanging on to his every word, her heart beating like a crazy, caged bird inside her chest, ‘you don’t think that while you’re roaming the streets in search of Prince Charming I’m going to be sitting in my apartment keeping the home fires burning as I pine for the marriage that never was, do you?’
Leo let the silence settle between them like a piece of lead dropping into still water, only to send concentric ripples across the surface, turning the stillness into a frenzy of motion.
He was by the bedroom door now, and he lounged against the doorframe, his lean, rangy body relaxed and at ease.
‘Of course not!’ Maddie was aware of her voice sounding a little less stable than usual and she cleared her throat.
‘Good!’ he said brightly. ‘Because I won’t be.’
‘Although I really don’t think it’s acceptable for any child to be exposed to a constant carousel of women coming and going,’ she protested stoutly, and Leo raised his eyebrows with an expression she understood completely. She was quick to clarify. ‘I have no intention of entertaining a series of men in front of any child of mine!’
‘And you have my word that I will likewise be extremely discreet in all my relationships.’
He watched as she fidgeted and stared at him. For a few seconds he was distracted by the lushness of her parted mouth and the soft little breaths coming from her. It surprised him
how many of her mannerisms he had absorbed over time—right down to the way she had just tossed her hair back in a gesture that was proud, feisty and unconsciously sexy.
He had no intention of stressing her out. He had brought her here so that she could de-stress. But neither was he going to spend this valuable one-on-one time tiptoeing around her and waiting patiently for her to come to her senses.
When they returned to London and Benito was back from his cruise, he would condescend to meet the mother of his much longed-for grandchild, and Leo intended the picture to be complete, with wedding bells chiming in the not too distant future if not immediately imminent. He knew that Benito Conti would be bitterly disappointed to be presented with a complicated scenario of joint custody and visiting rights.
‘The only woman our child will meet will be the woman who will become his or her stepmother.’
A dull pain spread through Maddie, making her limbs heavy. She suddenly wanted to be sick, because this very likely possibility was one she had not considered in much detail. She’d been far too wrapped up in standing her ground and refusing to compromise on her principles.
‘I know you’ll agree with me that our child would benefit from that.’
‘So you wouldn’t object if I found someone else?’
‘What could I do?’
Leo gritted his teeth and controlled the insane thought that he would be tempted to pummel whoever she happened to find, which had to be double standards at their very worst.
‘As you pointed out, isn’t that the way of the world these days? Split families and children being ferried from one set of parents to the other? Half-brothers and stepsisters and stepfathers and Christmas celebrated ten times a year so that everyone can get a look-in?’
Maddie didn’t reply, because she was busy wondering what this wife-to-be of his would look like. It was galling, but true, that whilst as a single mother her ranking on the eligibility scale would plummet, he, as a single father, would discover that his had hit the stratosphere.
There was nothing a woman loved more than a guy with a baby. It brought out every maternal instinct in them. Throw rich beyond belief and sinfully sexy into the mix and Leo would be lucky if he could get two steps out of his penthouse apartment before finding a queue of eager candidates waiting to interview for the job of perfect stepmother to his child. Her child!
‘But enough of this,’ he concluded. ‘Towels should be in the bathroom, and there are more beauty products in the cupboard than on the beauty counter at the store. I gave very precise instructions as to the stocking of essentials while we were here.’
‘Okay...’ Maddie said, in a daze.
‘No routine out here. I will continue working for much of the day, but I’m sure I can find time to show you around the island. Primarily, though, you’re to do as you please. Come and go as you want. You may have spotted the swimming pool? You’ll find it quite stunning. It overlooks the ocean. If you need anything at all, there’s the bell...’
He grinned and gave her a little half-salute, but she was too distracted to respond in kind. Instead she nodded, and found that she actually needed to force herself to breathe when the bedroom door had closed quietly behind him.
CHAPTER NINE
‘I’VE MADE A SCHEDULE,’ Leo said, brandishing a printed sheet of paper as Maddie walked into the kitchen the following morning at a little after nine.
‘You should have woken me up,’ she said, sniffing and clearly detecting the smell of bacon. ‘I never get up this late.’
‘It’s important that you get your rest.’ He ushered her to a chair and sat her down. ‘Sleep well?’
‘Have you...cooked?’
‘“Cooked” is a big word. I prefer to say dabbled. I thought I’d give the staff some time off while we’re here. After all, in my role of father I’m going to have to function without a team of people picking up the pieces behind me all the time.’
Leo had had time to think. She disliked the notion of marriage as a business transaction. She wanted romance. She wanted to be swept off her feet by the perfect guy. He wasn’t the perfect guy for her, and he wasn’t going to pretend that he was. He wasn’t going to wax lyrical about love. But he was going to show her what he was made of when it came to fulfilling his responsibilities.
As a bonus, he would also be showing her what another woman might find appealing. Goodbye Leo the womaniser and hello Leo the dutiful dad with apron and spatula. And, of course, the baby...
All’s fair in love and war, he thought and finding solutions to problems was his forte, whatever the problem might be.
This was his solution and he was going to bring everything to the table.
‘So what did you...er...dabble in?’ Maddie asked.
‘Bacon. Eggs. Bread.’ He brought two plates to the table and continued doing whatever he was doing with his back to her, a tea towel slung over one shoulder.
He looked drop-dead gorgeous, and Maddie had to stare. He was wearing low-slung khaki shorts and a faded tee shirt and he was barefoot. With his back to her, she could appreciate the long lines of his lean body, the strength of his muscular legs, the width of his broad shoulders.
It didn’t seem fair that a man in old clothes with a tea towel over his shoulder should look so mouthwatering.
Any woman looking at him right now wouldn’t be able to resist.
Stick a baby in a high chair next to him and he’d have to beat them away with sticks.
She felt queasy thinking about it.
‘Have you ever done anything this...ambitious...before?’
Leo produced a big white plate on which some charred bacon sat, spread across four fried eggs.
‘Timing may have been an issue,’ Leo declared, fetching a heaping mound of toast, ‘but practice will make perfect. Eat up. You need to get nutrients into you after the fiasco with your kitchen. By the way, I got an email this morning. Things are already moving on that front.’
‘Really?’ Maddie helped herself to a slice of toast and then to one of the less dangerously overcooked rashers of bacon. ‘But it’s only been a matter of a day...’
‘I said I’d sort it, and it’ll be sorted in record time. I snap my fingers and people jump. Now, about this schedule.’
‘Schedule?’
‘I don’t want you feeling bored while you’re here.’
‘Leo, I don’t think it would be possible to feel bored here. There’s the pool and the wonderful gardens to explore, and I’m very happy to wander into town and have a look around. I don’t want you to think that you have to put yourself out for me.’
Leo paused, fork raised to his mouth, and looked at her. ‘Wander into town?’ In that little flowered sundress that made her look as pure as the driven snow and as sexy as the hottest siren? Over his dead body. No one would guess that she was pregnant. She’d be knee-deep in lecherous men within seconds.
‘A tour of the island.’ He swept aside her contribution and carried on eating. ‘I have a boat docked in one of the sheltered bays. Nothing fancy.’
‘You keep a boat here? Whatever for, when you hardly use the villa?’
‘Guests at the villa are welcome to use it. It gets used. How are you on the swimming front?’
‘I’m not exactly a fish...’
‘I thought Australia was all about the outdoor life...?’
‘Swimming lessons are pricey. I’m a self-taught swimmer. I get by, but I wouldn’t put money on my chances of surviving in a riptide.’
‘Then it’s just as well,’ Leo said smugly, ‘that I’ll be there every step of the way to keep an eye on you. Fortunately I’m a first-class swimmer.’
Maddie rolled her eyes. He was determined to treat her like an invalid. She should protest, but there was a warm, cosy feeling inside her created by the attention and she was rather enjoying it.
She’d never had attention—not really. Her mother had loved her, but she had been so busy working to make ends meet that there hadn’t been time for lots of bonding sessions, and for the last few years of her life she had been the one requiring attention.
Then Maddie had gone into the business of caring for Lacey. And when Adam had come along, she had basked in the glow of thinking that she was loved. But, looking back, she could see that Adam had dressed her like a doll to be showcased, and had never shown that he loved her for who she was when she wasn’t draped in the latest fashions and expensive jewellery. She could see now that he had been so conscious of the disparity in their status that cossetting her had never even occurred to him. She’d been arm candy. Nothing more.
There had been no other relatives in her life to lean on—no siblings, no doting grandparents, no aunts or uncles or cousins.
So what was the harm in accepting a little pampering from Leo?
‘So, if you get your swimsuit...’ He stood up briskly. ‘I’ll meet you in the hall in say...half an hour?’
‘We should tidy the kitchen.’
‘Leave all that.’ Leo removed the plate from her hand. ‘I’ll deal with it later, once we’re back from our day’s activities.’
‘We’re going for the day?’
‘Unless you have an unavoidable appointment?’
‘No, but...’
Don’t do this, don’t be so nice that I start regretting my decision.
‘What about work?’
‘I can’t remember the last time I had a holiday. A few days off isn’t going to kill me. And, anyway, I’m keeping on top of things via email.’
* * *
Maddie was amused and a little relieved to find out that there would be no burnt offerings for lunch, because forty minutes later they were swinging by one of the few restaurants in the town, where he collected a picnic hamper and a cooler bag of drinks.
It was hot, the sun beating down from a cloudless turquoise sky, and the island was so small that it was possible to see the distant strip of sea from either side of the car as it bumped along away from the town.
The Italian's One-Night Consequence Page 13
