‘You don’t have to remind me. I’ve never been in a less real situation in my entire life. I spent most of the journey to the airport pinching myself and wondering whether I was due to wake up any minute.’
‘Good. Glad we’re on the same page because this isn’t a relationship. This is an inconvenience that’s been foisted onto me and you’ve been sucked into the drama through no fault of your own. But sucked into it you have been.’
He paused, giving her time to reach the obvious conclusions, but she was staring at him with clear brown eyes, her expression polite and questioning.
Alessandro suppressed a sigh but it was vital he spelt these things out so that misunderstandings didn’t arise.
‘What I’m saying is that it’s important you don’t get tempted into thinking that this necessary charade will ever develop into anything.’
‘Develop into anything?’
‘I don’t think I need to spell it out, do I?’
‘You think I’m suddenly going to start getting it into my head that I’m in love with you?’
‘In love might be over-egging the pudding.’
He flushed, coughed again and wondered what the hell was the matter with him. Was he coming down with something? Or was he just discomfited by the whole situation, which felt more perilous than it should have?
He could feel the nag of an impending headache.
‘You don’t have to worry that I’m going toget any ideas,’ Georgie said flatly, eyes narrowed. ‘This is going to sound weird, but I can’t see myself falling for a guy who threatened to hand me over to the authorities for breaking and entering before coercing me into pretending to be his fake girlfriend because his ex-wife was being difficult.’
Their eyes tangled and he burst out laughing before succumbing to a coughing fit.
‘By the way,’ Georgie added coldly, ‘you don’t look great.’
‘Never felt better.’
‘Is that what you had to tell me? Or is there more?’
‘We’ve pretty much covered it.’ The coughing had gone but he was smiling, a genuine, amused smile, and Georgie knew that she was blushing as they briefly looked at one another before he stood up. ‘Time for the fireworks to begin. I’ll take you to meet my daughter and remember…’
‘I haven’t forgotten. Business arrangement. Money has changed hands. Stick to the brief or else. Prison may or may not still await.’
He chuckled and it was a disarming, youthful sound that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She slid a surreptitious glance across at him and shivered at the thought of being in the same suite of rooms as him, business arrangement or no business arrangement.
Flora was sitting quietly in a circular arrangement of soft chairs with a round table between them on which was a pull-along emblazoned with Disney characters.
She was colouring and she looked up as soon as they approached, pushing away her book and sitting back and staring with her head tilted to one side.
Children were open with their curiosity but that didn’t faze Georgie because she was used to it. She smiled and remembered that talking would have to be kept to the minimum.
‘Is that your girlfriend?’ Flora asked in a soft, slightly breathless voice.
‘A friend,’ Alessandro corrected smoothly, taking it down a notch. ‘Georgie is a friend, who, yes, happens to be a girl. But mainly, a friend. Georgie, this is my daughter.’
He casually rested his hand on the small of her back in a gesture that was affectionate without being intimate, the sort of gesture that felt like a reminder of what he had just said.
‘Hi, Flora! Wow, what are you colouring? That’s amazing.’ The first thing that struck Georgie was just how beautiful the child was.
Long dark hair hung over one shoulder in a braid and the eyes that looked up at her were huge…dark…and serious.
Flora looked at Alessandro quickly and half smiled just as she stood up to politely reach out her hand in greeting.
‘Oh!’ Georgie grinned. ‘You’re a hand-shaker! Very pleased to meet you, Flora. I’ve heard a lot about you.’ She briefly held the tiny hand in hers.
‘From my dad?’
