by Annie West
He switched off the engine and twisted in his seat, his absolute focus on Allegra. It was an odd sensation, seeing the woman he knew so well who somehow was an entirely different person.
The neat, obstinate angle of the jaw was the same, the straight nose and the slender throat. But the blue-grey flash of her eyes was arrestingly different, and her mouth looked more lush and ripe without those serious glasses as a counterpoint.
As for her hair… Luca’s fingers twitched at the idea of running his hand through those lush sable ripples.
Guilt hit with the force of a mountain avalanche. She’d just been in an accident. She was clearly distressed at revealing the abuse she’d suffered and here he was, imagining an altogether more intimate connection between them.
‘So why the costume? I assume the glasses aren’t needed?’
She pursed her mouth but instead of the action flattening her lips, it made them pout in a way he found far too delectable. Luca raked a hand through his hair, searching for the equilibrium he’d lost the moment he saw the crash. No, the moment Allegra had lifted the helmet and met his stare with that diamond-bright gaze.
‘No, they’re clear glass. They’re—’
‘A prop. But why did you think it necessary?’ Luca was proud of being a fair employer, even if he demanded the absolute best of his staff. Any hint of sexual harassment would be crushed mercilessly in his company.
She lifted her shoulders jerkily. ‘I didn’t know if it was necessary. I didn’t think so but it seemed a reasonable precaution.’ Her gaze flickered. ‘Better safe than sorry. I seem to attract the wrong sort of attention.’
‘You’re beautiful.’ The words were out before he’d considered them, but it was true. There was a gentle yet utterly sensuous beauty about Allegra that even her drab disguise couldn’t conceal.
He watched her eyes dilate at his words. Her lips parted and again he felt that tug of awareness, deep within.
‘But that’s no excuse for them molesting you.’ Pressure built inside at the thought and Luca had to make a conscious effort to draw down his shoulders and unclench his fists. His voice scratched his throat. ‘I can’t believe you thought I was like that. Or that you’d work for me in that case.’
‘I didn’t.’ She moved, one hand lifting towards him before dropping back. ‘But I couldn’t be sure.’ Her lips twisted. ‘You have to admit you’ve got a reputation as a ladies man. And you have trouble keeping executive PAs. It made me wonder.’
Luca laughed, but the sound was mirthless. ‘I had the same PA for years until she decided she wanted more time with her grandchildren. Since then I’ve had trouble keeping one because I seem to have a target painted on my back. Rich, single, possible meal ticket.’
‘And hunky.’ Her eyes widened and she froze. She looked as surprised as he was. Luca stilled. Heat coiled tight and hard in his belly at the idea of her attracted to him. The Allegra Davis he knew would never describe her employer as hunky.
But this was a new Allegra, wasn’t it? Or more correctly, an Allegra she’d never revealed before.
Faint colour washed her cheeks and he decided to ignore the comment. ‘I found they were more interested in trying to seduce me than in doing a decent job. You have no idea what a godsend you were. Capable, efficient, every bit as exceptional as your references said.’
‘Were?’ Was that fear in her eyes?
What, did she think he’d sack her for her masquerade?
But then, he’d threatened to do just that if she didn’t come clean, hadn’t he?
‘Are,’ he affirmed. ‘You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had.’
The colour was back in her too pale face but this time her eyes glowed too, and there was a hint of a smile at the edges of those ripe lips.
‘Thank you.’ She paused, her expression growing serious. ‘So that means I still have a job?’
Luca’s ego was bruised because she’d thought she needed to go to such lengths to protect herself. But logically he understood her thinking.
‘Of course. We make a good team.’ He nodded to the empty building before them. ‘And there’s a lot of work waiting for us. I’m relying on you.’
CHAPTER FIVE
* * *
He was relying on her.
Allegra didn’t know whether to be pleased or nervous.
Pleased. Of course she was. The last thing she wanted was to lose the job she adored, working for the man she—
Ruthlessly she scraped her hair back, deftly tugging it high and twisting it into a neat coil on the back of her head. Long practice meant not a strand escaped. That was better. Now she felt, and looked, like the Allegra Davis who could handle anything her demanding boss threw at her.
Except he wasn’t just a demanding boss. He was a caring one too.
Luca must have called the nearest medical practice before they even left the scene of her spill. They’d only been here at the hotel ten minutes when a doctor had arrived to give her a thorough check up. Allegra had no option but to submit to an examination, and secretly she’d been relieved when the doctor confirmed her own assessment of no significant injuries. She’d been very lucky.
Now, after a hot shower and a strong coffee, she felt ready to face Luca.
She smoothed her hands down the navy trouser suit with its deliberately concealing cut.
She remembered the lightweight skirts and jackets she’d worn when she worked in London. There’d been bright colours and the occasional pattern, in keeping with the woman she’d been then. Nothing revealing, nothing provocative, but clothes that were sunnier, more like the real her.
For a second resentment rose, that she’d felt it necessary to dress, not for herself, but to hide her figure. But after a year, she’d grown accustomed to the boxy suits, even found a strange liberation in hiding behind them, as if by playing down her femininity she was free to excel professionally.
How would Luca react if she came to work in a tangerine jersey skirt and cute black cropped jacket?
Allegra snorted. It wasn’t going to happen. She’d left that outfit behind in the UK. Anyway, she wasn’t dressing for Luca but herself. She was comfortable in this. Really!
It was strange though, how she felt bare without her clear glasses. She’d grown used to wearing them. There was no point putting them on, or her coloured contacts, now Luca had seen her without them.
So the woman looking back at her in the mirror of the partially completed resort bedroom looked disturbingly unfamiliar. A woman who wasn’t the same as the one who’d been victimised in London. Nor was she the one who’d risen to every challenge Luca had set.
Nervous tension danced down her spine. Strain was natural, facing Luca after deceiving him so long. He’d taken everything incredibly well once the shock had worn off and she’d explained her reasons. In fact, his anger over what had happened in her previous job had been palpable and comforting.
Now she knew Luca, she realised her early caution with him, and her camouflage, had been unnecessary. He wasn’t the sort to take advantage of an employee. He didn’t have that selfish, bullying style and he kept his sex life well away from the office.
The man was driven, proud and focused on success.
And charismatic, generous and mind-numbingly sexy.
Allegra shook her head, her mouth thinning. She couldn’t afford to think of him that way.
She turned, slipped her feet into sensible, low-heeled shoes and grabbed her electronic tablet.
It was time to show Luca she was as professional and efficient as ever. Even if she moved a little more gingerly after her fall.
But when she walked into the lobby, Luca too had undergone a transformation. Gone were the business clothes she was accustomed to. Instead he wore faded jeans that clung to powerful thighs and a shirt with sleeves rolled up, leaving bare his darkly tanned forearms and a V of bronzed flesh at the collar.
Allegra swallowed, her throat suddenly lined with sandpaper.
He turned w
hen the project manager he was talking with pointed to the deep balcony across the front of the main building. Her gaze dropped from wide shoulders to those jeans, filled out to perfection from behind as well as from the front.
A pulse of something hard and urgent throbbed through her.
Luca De Laurentis was extravagantly appealing in his dark suits and crisp shirts, but in casual gear he made her heart hammer so loud it was a wonder he hadn’t heard and turned around. Instead he was engrossed in a discussion about outdoor furniture and the question of summer shade for the guests using the hotel outside the ski season.
Allegra pressed a hand to her racing heart and told herself to get a grip. So she was attracted to the man. She’d been able to hide that in the office by focusing on work. She’d do the same here. Simple.
If only he didn’t look altogether too enticing in casual gear.
The project manager’s phone rang and he excused himself, moving away to take the call. Luca pivoted on his heel, his gaze locking with hers instantly, as if he knew unerringly where she was.
Heat washed her throat and to her horror her breasts swelled against her black lace demi-cup bra.
Surely she imagined the sizzle flaring between them? Luca hadn’t moved, his expression hadn’t changed. He just stood, looking at her, and fierce heat exploded in her belly.
Allegra lifted her hand to her head to adjust her glasses, then remembered she wasn’t wearing them. The realisation made her unaccountably nervous. As if she needed a shield! Luca was her boss. He wasn’t interested in her as anything but the woman who kept his business running smoothly.
Yet that silent stare unnerved her. Her tongue slicked out to moisten dry lips and his gaze dropped to her mouth. Lace scratched her burgeoning nipples and liquid heat pooled deep at her centre. She blinked, thrown completely by the depth of her response. It was one thing to have him feature in her most erotic dreams. She was a young, healthy woman, after all. But this blatantly sexual response, especially when she was supposed to be working, was scary new territory.
Allegra was still reeling when he smiled and approached. His smile was easy, like the ones he usually bestowed, and suddenly the febrile tension eased, as if he’d flicked off a switch.
‘Are you sure you’re up to this? If you need to rest today—’
‘No, I’m okay. Though I’m glad there’s already hot water here. That shower and the painkillers got rid of any stiffness.’ She still felt a little churned up but the remedy for that, surely, was to focus on work rather than think about those slow-motion moments of horror on the mountain road.
He surveyed her silently for what seemed an age before he nodded. ‘Okay, let’s start. There’s a lot to get through.’ One dark eyebrow arched mischievously. ‘Though you didn’t need to wear a suit for a site inspection.’
She shrugged, willing herself not to stare at the picture of physical male perfection before her. Instead she met his dark eyes. ‘It’s what I wear for work.’
‘I like you without the glasses,’ he murmured unexpectedly and suddenly there it was again, that thread of heat curling through her insides. Then, to her surprise he tilted his head and grinned. ‘Though I confess I rather liked them too.’
Liked her heavy glasses? Was he mad?
‘You don’t believe me?’
‘I’m just surprised.’
‘They made you look like a very prim librarian.’ There was a gleam in his eye that made her wonder for one foolish moment if he had a secret fantasy about prim librarians. Until he nodded to her tablet, suddenly all business.
‘Let’s start in the kitchens. There’s been a glitch with some of the commercial equipment. You may need to assist the project manager in following that up. Get someone from the office to chase it.’
He turned and led the way towards the back of the building.
It was a relief to be back on solid ground again, where Luca treated her solely as his indispensable PA.
Wasn’t it?
*
‘Right. I’ll have someone get onto the replacement ovens straightaway. Now, about scheduling the launch promotion…’
Luca watched his PA rattle off the daunting ‘to-do’ list they’d spent the afternoon compiling. She spoke with her usual quick precision and an excellent grasp of the priorities. There was even a smile as she conferred with his project manager. She looked like she enjoyed the challenge of so much work to get the resort ready.
No doubt about it, Allegra Davis was the most efficient, capable employee in his company. Even if he’d spent all afternoon distracted by the unfamiliar flash of those remarkable eyes, and the lush fullness of her mouth. Every time she spoke, and particularly when she said his name, it was an effort to drag his attention from those too-kissable lips.
Luca dragged a hand round the back of his neck, trying to ease the strain of tight muscles. This was his right hand woman, the one he’d worked with closely for twelve months. He couldn’t afford to see her as anything other than his super-organised assistant. Even if she’d morphed in one day from the woman he respected and liked, to one he respected, liked and wanted to undress.
He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and turned to the window, leaving the others to their discussion.
It wasn’t just the revelation of how beautiful Allegra was. Though that had hit him like a ton of bricks when she’d turned to him, her hair streaming around her shoulders, her bright eyes wide.
It was the discovery that there was far more to the woman who’d already attracted him even in her sombre, unflattering suits and too-serious glasses. Today he’d discovered a side to Allegra that spoke to something vital inside him. Far from being buttoned-up and sedate, she loved to ride, loved the power and thrill of biking on the magnificent, dangerous roads he adored. There was a vibrancy, and a vulnerability about her that drew him.
Luca set his jaw. That was another reason he couldn’t act on this attraction. It was one thing to fantasise in the dead of night about stripping the glasses and suit from his PA to discover the flesh and blood woman beneath. But anything more was impossible when she’d been the victim of sexual harassment. Actual sexual assault, if his hunch was correct. That would explain the lengths she’d gone to hide herself.
He couldn’t, absolutely wouldn’t, make a move on a woman who’d been victimised like that, especially by a previous boss.
‘Luca?’ Her soft voice made him spin round. ‘Is everything okay?’
She was right beside him, frowning up and he caught that light fragrance of vanilla and warm, feminine flesh. He swallowed, telling himself that once today was over and they were back in the office he’d manage to treat her as he always had.
‘No.’ He looked down into her beautiful face and knew things were far from okay. The attraction he’d felt for so long had blossomed today into something so urgent and powerful, it could undermine not only their working relationship but the clockwork precision of his world. ‘I want to check on a few things outside before we finish up.’
He glanced down at her slim-fitting, leather shoes. They were low-heeled and sensible. But the resort nestled on a steep slope and the landscaping hadn’t been completed. ‘You’d better stay here and make a start on those calls.’
She nodded. Was it imagination or was that a shadow of disappointment across her features?
‘Is there any news of my bike?’
‘Sorry. I forgot to mention that. A mechanic I know has had a look at it and reckons it’s in pretty good shape. He’s giving it a once over and will deliver it,’ he shot a look at his watch, ‘soon.’
‘A mechanic you know?’ Her head tilted to one side as she watched him quizzically.
‘I come from here.’ He waved to the panorama of jagged-toothed, snow-topped mountains that eased down into high alpine valleys of green. ‘I grew up further down this very valley.’
Much as he’d loved the place he hadn’t been able to get out quickly enough. Career options in the mountains were limited and
he’d craved the excitement of city living and the challenge of building his own corporate enterprise.
‘You were so lucky! I’m imagining lots of skiing, not to mention riding those fabulous alpine passes.’ Allegra’s eyes shone as she took in the vista.
‘You like skiing?’ He didn’t know why he was surprised. He’d already learned his buttoned-up assistant wasn’t the staid woman he’d imagined.
She nodded. ‘I like the thrill of it.’ Those luscious lips twisted. ‘Anything with speed has always appealed. Even go-kart racing.’ She turned back to him, a rare, unguarded smile lighting her face, and he felt the impact like a whack to the solar plexus. ‘What a fabulous place to grow up. I lived in London and there was no ski slope on the doorstep.’
Luca shrugged, tamping down his fascination at this glimpse of a woman who shared his own passions. Or maybe it was a fascination with that alluring mouth.
‘You’re right. I was lucky. But on the downside there were the hours chopping wood to keep the old house warm through the long winter. And there was no money for a motorbike. The first time I rode this pass it was on a pushbike and my thighs ached for days after.’
It had been worth it though, for the mad thrill of speeding down the other side, so fast he knew he diced with death. But he’d survived and gone on to other thrills, most recently in the corporate sector.
‘So you’re visiting your family?’ Allegra gestured to the first of the small towns just visible at the far end of the valley.
‘Tomorrow. Tonight I stay here as we planned.’ Because he wanted to experience the place, even in its unfinished state. An overnight stay would consolidate his ideas. It would also give him time to notice any final details they’d missed. He was a perfectionist when it came to his resorts and this one, a collaboration with his brother Gennaro, and built in his own home territory, was particularly special.
The only problem was, he realised as Allegra nodded and turned away, that the pair of them would be here alone. His project manager was going home to his heavily pregnant wife. There’d be no-one else in the almost-finished resort but Allegra.
