‘What sort of problems?’
‘I kept it vague. Why are you so interested?’
Alessandro flushed at her openly puzzled expression. He could hardly blame her.
Why wasn’t he sticking to the programme? Was it because he felt zoned out? Overtired?
‘I suppose because I’ve never met anyone quite like you before,’ he confessed.
‘Oh. Okay. That makes sense. You wouldn’t, moving in the circles that you would move in. I’ve never met anyone like you before either. I don’t get to meet too many billionaires.’ She paused. ‘I said something about trouble with one of their kids and that I would take the holiday time out to go visit because it would solve the problem of where to live while Alison recovers from her chickenpox.’
‘They didn’t know you’d decided to squat in my house?’
‘I mentioned that I had second thoughts because I felt uncomfortable doing that. I don’t like the wordsquat. I wasn’tsquatting.’
‘It’s good to have a bit of background information about you, Georgie.’
He stood up and then looked down at her.
‘We’re going to be sharing space and, if for no other reason, it makes things a little less stilted between us for the duration of the time we’re here together.’
So that’s what all that was about! No need to start getting all hot under the collar by his show of interest.
‘Yes, it does.’
‘Comfortable with the sleeping arrangements?’
‘Very comfortable. Thank you.’
‘And won’t you go out for something to eat? Like I said, feel free to eat wherever you choose and whatever you want. I will ensure that your account is suitably topped up and tomorrow I’ll let you have one of my cards. There’s no limit to what you can spend.’
‘That’s very trusting of you.’
‘Believe me, it’s not. I will keep an eye on all expenditure. Trust isn’t something I have much time for when it comes to money. I’m going to head in now.’
He pressed his thumbs on his eyes and she was struck again by just how tired he looked.
‘Anything else you want to know?’
‘Do you want me to check in on Flora during the night? Kids can sometimes wake up and feel a little spooked if they’re in a strange environment.’
‘Not your job.’
The irritation was back in his voice. Georgie heard it and her lips thinned but now, as she looked at him, she could see that all he wanted to do was get rid of her post haste.
Was he going to work?
Probably.
He was a workaholic.
‘You don’t look great,’ she said on impulse, springing to her feet and resting her hand on his forearm. ‘You should get some sleep and not do any work.’
‘You sound like my mother.’
But his voice was mild and, when their eyes met, he briefly smiled at her before staring at her hand on his forearm until she hurriedly yanked it off.
She stepped back and only realised how tense she was when he’d disappeared with the door of his rooms firmly shut behind him.
