The tightness in his chest wasn’t nerves, because he’d long since vanquished those from his life. It wasn’t lust—he knew what that felt like, and while he could not deny the strange appeal Serena had, here in this moment it wasn’t a bolt, a sharp need that wound through him.
It was something else altogether. Something he wasn’t familiar with. He didn’t like it or trust it, so he shoved it away and focused on the plan. He released her neck, stepped back and then dropped to one knee.
And waited for her to turn to him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
SERENA BRACED HERSELFto deal with whatever Luciano had stopped for. Probably a kiss for the cameras. A romantic embrace. It was the smart thing to do, but something about the environment added dread to something she’d already decided.
Because it was romantic—the starlight, the soft lap of waves, the darkness. And when she turned, she would be faced with a far too attractive man, whose simple touch made her shudder and sigh even when she didn’twantto. When she had worked so hard all her life to make all her reactions just what she wanted them to be.
No matter how hard she tried, she could not make her reactions what she wanted them to be when it came to him. She could not find a safe place in her icy perfection.
Shewouldlet him touch her. Shewouldhave to let him kiss her. Perhaps she could continue to protest alittle, but she needed to start showing a weakening, so she lulled him into complacency.
And she desperately needed to think of it that way, so she did not think about what a kiss might actually feel like. Business over shivers and pulses.
She had already had her lawyers involved in drawing up papers that would solidify their business partnership once they were married. He would no doubt need his lawyers to go over them and counteroffer different things. It was likely to be drawn out, so yes, they should move forward.
But that meant moving forward with the marriage.
She had been so ready to do that, and then they had walked hand in hand, and her body had felt…foreign.
Then he had skimmed his hand along her spine. She understood why cats purred now. How the gentle caress of a hand could make a body feel content and pleasurable. Then he’d put his hand at her neck, and it had been like…little explosions in her bloodstream. No longer justcontent, something more…wanting.
She wanted to focus on business, on what needed to be done, and still her body pulsed even though he’d released her. She squeezed her eyes shut, tried to find some of her always available control.
Upper hand, remember?she told herself.Not for pleasure…for the upper hand.
Trying to find a smile, something flirtatious inside of her instead of concern over her body’s reactions, she turned to look at him. Except he wasn’t standing. He was kneeling in the sand and—
Serena’s breath caught. Not at the scene itself—romantic and movie-like as it might be. It was the ring. It glittered there under the celestial lights above, a beacon of pretty…perfection in its cozy little box that Luciano held out to her.
“I considered your style and mine,” Luciano said, his voice low and as lulling as the sea waves. “I could have had something designed, but I think we should strike while the iron is hot. It is expensive, indeed, but not quite gaudy as you had indicated you wished for last night. Still, this should do, shouldn’t it?”
It was gorgeous. Absolutely, thrillingly beautiful. She was not a flashy person, and the ring bordered on flashy, but not so far that she didn’t like it. It was a pink diamond, settled among other winking diamonds on a slim band that made the center stone look that much bigger.
It reminded her of being a child, going through her mother’s jewelry boxes. Enjoying the feel of cool precious metals on her fingers and wrists and neck.
But that was a reminder of her mother always telling her that she was too plain for such things. And she was, fair enough. She was plain and unassuming. Dull. This ring didn’t matchher.
But it matched the image of someone who’d caught Luciano Ascione’s attention, the fake fiancée for the fake marriage. So she had to go with it. Didn’t she?
He gripped her hand and held it still as he slid the ring onto her finger. She wanted to keep her gaze on the ring, but it seemed to move, of its own accord, up to meet his gaze. Dark and intense. Potent, looking up at her. Like a shot of liquor.
Why? She didn’t know. Maybe some men were just given that kind of power. So incredibly unfair, but impossible to deny in this moment. She had to lick her lips and swallow in order to speak. “This was a smart move,” she managed to say.
He got to his feet and looked down at her, his dark eyes alight with amusement, his mouth curved into something cutting and intriguing at once.
“Why, thank you,cara. I so appreciate your approval.” His tone was wry. “I suppose that is your way of sayingyes.”
She was afraid to speak. There were too many emotions battering around inside of her, making her throat feel tight. The way her body felt. The way this felt real, when she knew it wasn’t, and didn’t want it to be. And still, that pulsingneedthrobbing deep inside of her that she had to get a hold of to come out on top. “I suppose it is,” she managed.
“Do you think your photographers caught any of that?”
Photographers. Theplaythey were essentially acting out. She had to remember that even if the ring was real, even if whatever papers they signed to be married and combine Valli and Ascione werereal, the whole…personal side of things wasn’t.
She wanted to rub at the odd pain in her chest, but couldn’t seem to find control of her own body.
