The Italian's Secretary Bride (12 page)

A
LICE
stood in for the absent Roman at the next morning's meeting. Armed with a confident smile and copies of a comprehensive independent report on the impact of the proposed development on the local flora and fauna, plus attached recommendations to protect the above-mentioned, she took her place at the table.

‘I'm deputising for Mr O'Hagan. I hope nobody has a problem with that?'

The spokesperson of the conservation group caught up with her as she was leaving the building. ‘Excellent meeting,' he congratulated her.

Alice, professional-looking in her grey tailored suit and silk blouse, smiled as he shook her hand. ‘Yes, it did go well, didn't it?'

‘Refreshing in this day and age to deal with a developer who doesn't put profit ahead of the environment,' he commended.

Alice stepped into the cab feeling pretty pleased with her morning's work, but by the time she had reached the hotel the warm glow of achievement had cooled considerably. The concerns that she'd managed to push to the back of her mind while she'd been having to field questions, not all friendly, resurfaced.

Or rather
one
resurfaced, the one being what had almost happened the night before. It had been Luca who had called a halt and for some reason that made her frustration a million times worse. Alice knew she
ought
to feel grateful to him for showing restraint.

At least it wasn't lack of interest that had motivated him, she thought with a surge of relief not untinged by complacency. Her skin got hot and her stomach muscles clenched as she recalled the raw hunger in his incredible eyes as he'd looked at her. No man had ever looked at her that way or made her feel so feminine and desired. And no comprehensive independent report ever commissioned was going to cure the gnawing knot of need in the pit of her stomach!

Nothing except showing Luca that his desire was fully reciprocated was going to do that.

He might have guessed, the ironic voice in her head drily suggested.

The previous night now seemed like some erotic dream. Thinking of the frankly wanton things she had done, and said, made Alice get even hotter, and the thing was she couldn't
not
think about them!

How was she going to act when she saw him again? She knew he had a mental image of her trying to rip his clothes off…well, as good as! She was going to seduce Luca O'Hagan; the questions were how and where, as her experience of seducing men was severely limited.

What she needed was to focus. When she needed to think she often swam. Maybe this sort of thinking called for a more extreme form of exercise? She had already used the hotel pool a couple of times that week. Normally Alice had very little interest in breaking the pain barrier, but she knew the hotel also boasted a particularly well-equipped state-of-the-art gym. Perhaps a visit was called for?

After emailing the boss with the results of the meeting she stripped off her working gear and donned a pair of joggers and a tee shirt. Stuffing her swimsuit in a bag, she headed for the hotel spa.

Glancing through the glass wall of the gym at the sweaty bodies and high-tech equipment, Alice grimaced. The atmosphere seemed a bit too testosterone-packed for her and the females who were there were all wearing Lycra that clung to every taut muscle of their beautifully toned, lissom bodies like a second skin. This was the sort of place where you probably had to pass a midriff test before they let you in—tanned and taut only!

Maybe a swim first would be a good compromise; it was excellent aerobic exercise. And she might get inspiration without resorting to lifting weights, getting red in the face on a treadmill and standing out like a sore thumb in her baggy top and joggers.

She was negotiating her way around a lavish arrangement of flowers balanced on a Grecian-urn-type marble display stand when the glass doors of the gym slid open allowing the blast of loud music from inside to spill out into the sitting area. Alice automatically turned her head in the direction of the sound. At that exact second the person she wanted to run into more than anyone else on the planet walked through.

She was only dimly conscious that the two women sipping a herbal tea while earnestly debating the merits of a new wonder cream for cellulite had stopped mid-sentence as the tall figure dressed in a vest and shorts stood framed in the open doorway. A tidal wave of lust and longing washed over her.

‘Oh, boy!'
Alice heard the soft exclamation but didn't look to see who had made it. She couldn't; her feet were glued to the floor.

Luca, still breathing hard from his workout, had a towel looped casually around his neck. As she watched he dabbed the towel across his face before crumpling the paper cup he was carrying. As he turned he gave a perfunctory smile to the two women sitting there; the smile was still there as his eyes moved past her and then almost immediately back.

The smile vanished.

She saw his chest lift as he inhaled, shock flaring for a split second in his eyes. Then the smile was back, not so impersonal this time and tinged with caution.

It didn't take a genius to figure out why he viewed her presence with caution. He probably thought she was about to take up where she'd left off. Is she going to act as if last night was the start of something deep and meaningful? Alice could almost hear the thought going through his head.

As he came towards her she took a deep restorative breath and smiled. You could say a lot with a smile and body language and she was aiming for something unclingy with hers. If he picked up on ‘I really am interested', so much the better.

‘Alice.'

You're staring…say something.
Put on some clothes
was not an option, so she settled for a safe, if uninspired, ‘You look hot.'

‘That's the general idea.'

She tore her eyes from the drop of sweat running down the side of his neck and gave a flustered smile. ‘Of course it is.'

‘I didn't expect to see you here.'

If it was immediately obvious to him that she didn't work out it was equally obvious to her he did! It was all she could do to keep her eyes on his face. She had never before associated sweaty with sexy but the sheen of perspiration that made his sleek bronzed body gleam made her quiver.

Face the facts, girl, you're incapable of looking at Luca without wanting to touch.

‘I thought I might as well make use of the facilities.'

To her immense relief, even though her throat felt dry and achy her voice emerged sounding passably normal. Her arched brows lifted in enquiry. ‘Are you staying here?' she added, unable to hide her hope.

‘No, I'm not.' His lips twitched faintly as her lips turned down at the corners. ‘The building where I live is doing some renovations; our pool and gym are out of action this month. The residents' group have worked out an arrangement with the spa here,' he explained.

‘Great.' At least she now had a legitimate reason not to go to the gym for the rest of her stay.

He looked around, brows lifted. ‘No Roman?'

Alice shook her head. ‘No, he's had to go to Boston for some pet project of his. He flew out last night.'

Luca was acting as if nothing had happened. From his perspective it probably hadn't; nothing that couldn't be dismissed with a shrug anyhow. Oh, God, did I misread the signals that badly? she thought.

‘Did he miss his meeting this morning? It sounded important when we spoke.'

‘I stood in for him.'

‘Really!' He sounded surprised.

Her chin lifted. ‘You don't think I'm up to it?'

‘You obviously are; my brother wouldn't delegate responsibility on account of your blue eyes.' The militant sparkle in the blue eyes in question faded slightly at this conciliatory observation. ‘You must admit that it's a lot of responsibility for a secretary to take on.'

‘A lot of secretaries have very wide-ranging responsibilities,' she informed him. ‘Not all of them get paid for their extra duties.'

‘But you do?'

‘Very well. I'm well aware of my worth.'

‘I'm sure you are.' But presumably oblivious to the youth who had been ogling her through the plate-glass partition all the while they had been talking. Luca casually stepped a little to one side, effectively blocking the young admirer's uninterrupted view of Alice's rear, before enquiring casually, ‘So you haven't seen him today, then?'

She shook her head. If my skin gets any hotter I'm going to end up a greasy puddle on the floor, she thought, staring fixedly straight ahead.

‘Are you feeling better today?'

Her glance lifted. ‘If you mean have I been drinking, no.'

He ran a hand through his damp dark hair and fixed her with an exasperated glare. ‘That's not what I meant.'

‘No?'

‘No more flashbacks?'

‘What? Oh, no.' She found that she didn't know how to react to the genuine concern evident in his expression. ‘I'm sure that was just a one-off.'

‘A therapist might be able to put your mind at rest.'

Her jaw hardened at this piece of blatant interference. ‘My mind is at rest.'

‘Nevertheless it would be sensible to seek professional advice, especially as you quite obviously feel unable to confide in your friends or family,' he observed. ‘I've made a few enquiries,' he revealed casually. ‘And it seems the best person—'

Alice, her cheeks pink, interrupted. ‘I thought you wanted to sleep with me, not offer me therapy, because I should tell you the first interests and the second doesn't.'

After his audible intake of breath there was a charged silence.

Alice took a deep interest in her trainers. If it had been possible to die from sheer toe-curling embarrassment she would be stretched out on the carpet right now. She'd tried for bold; trouble was she'd gone overboard big time.

The warmth in Luca's eyes deepened as he looked down at the top of her head. This woman was born for him—she just didn't know it yet.

‘That is good to know and I hope you always feel able to tell me what you want,' he told her in all sincerity. ‘Were you just on your way in?'

Alice lifted her head just as he casually gestured towards the gym. Maybe it happened to him so often that he took women telling him they wanted to take him to bed in his stride?

‘I changed my mind. I thought I might go for a swim instead.' She pulled her swimsuit from her bag to back up the story.

‘Excellent. That's where I'm heading. I'll see you in there. Take care,' he added, touching her arm to prevent her colliding with the two women who were no longer sitting, but were now engaged in some extremely advanced-looking stretches.

Alice had been dimly aware of their exhibition, though unfortunately for them the person the graceful display was aimed at seemed totally oblivious to their contortions.

‘No!' she blurted, nursing the arm he had touched against her chest; the brief contact had left her skin tingling in a disturbing way.

In the act of turning away he swung back. ‘No…?'

‘I can't…can't…' There was nothing more alarming to read in his deep blue eyes than mild enquiry, yet the moment they locked onto hers Alice couldn't string a sentence together.

I look at him and I lose my mind. The things she wanted to say and do to Luca couldn't be said or done in a public place.

‘You can't swim.' He nodded in an understanding way.

‘Well…I'm…no, I can't.' Why did I say that?

‘Are you afraid of the water?'

‘No, I just can't swim.' Alice thought guiltily of the medals sitting proudly on her parents' bureau and added in a forced voice, ‘That is, I
do
swim, only not very well.'

‘Don't worry, I'll teach you.'

Was he serious? ‘I really couldn't impose.'

‘It's a matter of confidence really,' he told her.

‘In that case you must be a very good swimmer.'

He acknowledged her sly jibe with a lopsided grin. ‘I'm a very good teacher also.'

‘So I've heard.'

He gave his head an admonitory shake. ‘You don't want to believe everything you hear, Alice.' Leaving her to wonder about the meaning of his cryptic comment, he sauntered away. As he disappeared around the corner the two women straightened up.

The frustrated glares they gave Alice were hostile.

As she walked away she heard one of them say, ‘She's not even slim.'

‘God knows,' came the baffled response.

Alice took a couple more steps, then stopped. While she normally didn't engage in debate with ignorant, rude twits, these two hadn't even bothered to lower their voices. With an impish grin and dancing eyes she turned and walked back to them, emphasising the natural sway of her hips.