It was out.
Georgie was so appalled that she covered her mouth with her hand and her eyes widened as the implications of what she had said settled between them in the thick silence.
‘What I’msaying…’ she continued into the lengthening silence, ‘is that I know the rules so you don’t need to remind me by harping on about what…actuallydidn’t happen, just then.’
‘Right.’
‘Actually, you have nothing to fear from me. I had a very bad experience with a guy at my last posting at Val d’Isère. Enough to have warned me off a certain type of man.’
‘And I belong in that category?’
She heard outrage in his voice. For the guy who’d hauled himself up the ladder, starting from nothing, the thought of being lumped in a category with other mere mortals was obviously not to his liking.
‘I’m afraid so.’
‘What did the guy do to you?’
‘He didn’t have the sort of moral compass I’m interested in seeing in a guy.’
‘You caught him cheating.’
Georgie shrugged.
‘I can assure you that I have never cheated on any woman in my life before,’ Alessandro said coldly.
‘I don’t know how we got to this point and I’m not saying that you’re anything like Hans. I suppose…’ Honesty drove her to qualify what she had said even though it felt as if the hole she was digging was getting deeper with every passing word.
‘I’m listening.’
‘I could never be tempted by any guy who wasn’t serious when it comes to relationships.’ She thought back to Hans and realised that the most hurtful thing about that kiss under the mistletoe she’d seen was the fact that he’d found it a bit of a laugh.
‘What about fun?’
‘Fun, for me, is serious. Serious fun. Anyway. You should get some sleep. Should I wake you in the morning or will you come out if you’re up to it? Flora would be thrilled if you could make it out.’
‘I’ll see.’
His dark eyes were still on her flushed face but then he lowered them, which was the signal for her to go.
Everything she’d said to him made perfect sense and yet something about the man drew her like a magnet.
Which meant that she had to be careful around him. He made her want to swoon, but swooning was out. Lustful thoughts were out. Encouraging heart-to-hearts also out.
He would be back on his feet in no time at all and she would keep her distance by reminding herself and him why they were there, and it wasn’t about them, it was about his daughter. Involve him in everything…force him to throw himself into the thick of it and she would be able to take a step back and put things into perspective.
She would keep it light and stick to the brief.
It would do her good, anyway, to see him shorn of all that crazy self-confidence that was so sexy. Great big guys sitting on a mechanical horse on a merry-go-round could never be sexy.
Plus, once he was up and running, she would make sure that he spent every available minute with Flora, which would give her plenty of opportunities to sneak off on her own.
Downtime away from the man would also put things in perspective.
‘Serious fun,’ he murmured with amusement and Georgie made sure to keep her voice polite and her eyes safely focused on the picture hanging on the wall behind him. Amused dark eyes could do a lot to her nervous system, too much. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever come across that concept.’
‘That’s right. Serious fun. Romance. Love. Courtship and a marriage proposal followed by children in very quick succession. After Hans, that’s all that could ever work for me.’
She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows, challenging him to continue the conversation. She had plenty more descriptions up her sleeve when it came to her perfect guy and she was pretty sure they would all be anathema to the commitment-phobe staring at her with that annoying half-smile still on his face.
