He wanted her. But did she want him? His instinct saidyes.She was skittish around him. Colour stained her cheeks and she looked at him as if she’d never seen a man before. Fascinated and also something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
He’d had dreams all night about peeling the white one-piece off her body and baring her to his gaze, dreaming of her breasts and nipples. Dreaming of spanning her waist with his hands and positioning her between his legs so that he could explore her breasts and taste her.
The awareness that had been humming in his blood since she’d entered the room, threatened to ignite fully. He did have a desire. He desired this woman. He clenched his jaw in a bid to control it, not welcoming this completely unexpected development.
He had the sense that Lili was the one woman who he might not be able to have but he wasn’t even going to test that theory. There was too much at stake here. And if they could work this agreement the way she seemed to be happy to, it couldn’t be better for both of them. He’d done business deals with more emotion involved than this.
He said, ‘Take the agreement and have a look at it, if you want to engage your own solicitor that’s fine.’
Lili picked up the sheaf of papers and held it to her chest. Cassian noticed the line of her jaw. He sensed a steeliness about her then and had to admire her for her balls in suggesting this audacious plan.
She said, ‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary but I’ll let you know if there’s anything I’m not happy with.’
‘I’m leaving this evening, I have to go to a motor race meeting in Miami.’
‘But you’re not racing?’
He shook his head. ‘No, as I said, not until Monte Carlo. I’ll be in Miami in my role as shareholder of the governing body and to have some meetings about new sustainability measures.’
‘l’ll get in touch with you…via your assistant as usual?’
Cassian pulled out a piece of paper and scrawled a number. ‘This is my private cell phone, use this if you need me.’
He handed it over the desk and saw how Lili looked at his hand for a moment before taking the very tip of the edge of the paper and snatching it out of his fingers. She’d looked at his hand like that yesterday and he’d noticed that she’d been slightly funny about shaking the solicitor’s hand too.
He pushed it aside. He was imagining things. Lili was perfect. He’d hardly ever see her once they were married, especially if they used IVF to have a baby.
Lili was at the door now but she stopped and turned back to face him, not quite looking him in the eye. ‘Um, obviously you’re going to continue to live your life…in all aspects… I would just ask that if we marry you’d be discreet?’
It took Cassian a moment to realise what she was saying and then he welcomed the interruption to thinking about the reality of a child.
But he was surprised to find that the first thing he felt was not relief that his prospective wife was giving him free rein to keep taking lovers. Lovers who had singularly failed to ignite much more than a spark lately. Yet she was igniting a spark. More than a spark.
He assured himself this attraction was an anomaly. An aberration. He said smoothly, ‘Of course, and I would ask the same of you.’
But the thought ofhertaking a lover, of some other man peeling that swimsuit from her body…gazing at her luscious curves instantly sent something dark and heavy into his gut.
Her eyes met his and they were very blue. There was almost a kind of a wry smile on her mouth and Cassian suddenly wanted to know what she would look like if she smiled properly. She said, ‘That really won’t be an issue.’ And she’d slipped out of the door before he could ask her to elaborate on that enigmatic response or wonder why the hell he wanted to see her smile.
Two weeks later
‘Signore Conti?’ said the voice into Cassian’s ear. He felt a frisson of awareness go straight to his groin. So much for this desire being an anomaly or an aberration.
Cassian responded, ‘Didn’t we already have this conversation? It’s Cassian.’
There was a pause, and then, ‘Okay… Cassian.’
The frisson of awareness got even stronger to hear Lili say his name in that low voice. Man, he was losing it. He looked out of his office window in Rome. From here he could see the Colosseum and it never failed to give him a sense of satisfaction but today he barely noticed it.
‘What can I do for you, Lili?’
‘Is it really necessary for a stylist to come and fit me for a new wardrobe and a wedding dress? I can go into the boutique in the village and get a dress. I’ll try not to embarrass you if that’s what you’re concerned about, I know my sense of style is a little, um…outdated.’
Cassian could agree with that when pictured the long flowing garments she wore and could well imagine her choosing the same but slightly different in cream or white for the wedding. He wanted to see her body revealed, like he had that night when she’d been swimming. That white swimsuit that had become an almost talismanic image, invading his thoughts at the most inappropriate moments.
‘A photographer will be there for the wedding and the pictures will be sent out globally.’
‘Oh.’
