‘Ditto,’ Georgie agreed drowsily.
‘Would you believe that normally after making love the first thing I want to do is hit the bathroom, get dressed and see what work I have to get through? But look at me now. Talking.’
‘Just look at you.’ Georgie slid her fingers through his hair and cupped his beautiful face. ‘Why would you want to skip the bit where you lie in bed gazing into your lover’s eyes and whisper sweet nothings?’
She was teasing but suddenly there was a sharp pang for something she really wanted that felt impossibly out of reach.
She smiled to clear her head. ‘No, don’t answer that, you’re not asweet nothingskind of person.’
‘Never have been.’
‘I understand.’
‘Do you?’
‘You grew up to be so independent that sometimes it becomes impossible to do anything but pull away in moments of intimacy.’
Alessandro grinned and raised his eyebrows and kissed the tip of her nose.
This would be over in a matter of days, at the end of which reality would await and he would return to it refreshed, recharged and with a closer and more relaxed relationship with his daughter.
‘What pearls of wisdom,’ he murmured.
‘Passing observation.’ Georgie shrugged and nestled against him. ‘Feel free to ignore because, like you’ve said, this is just a bit of fun.’
Alessandro realised that he loathed having his words thrown back at him.
‘Never a truer word spoken,’ he agreed silkily but, even in the intimacy of what they were sharing, there was a sudden cool remoteness in his voice and Georgie could instantly recognise the sound of someone backing away.
She immediately changed the subject. Just in case the lines were getting blurry, he was subtly reminding her of their existence.
He’d crossed a few himself. Was he also reminding himself of their existence? Or was that optimism on her part that he was sensing something between them that was deeper than simply a physical connection?
He was a lot more experienced than her and primed to protect himself from emotional involvement.
The feathery unease of danger made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. He represented everything logic warned her against when it came to her heart.
She’d given him a long speech about just how unsuitable he was, just how safe he could feel with her because she wasn’t interested in him as a life partner.
There would be no awkward business about her falling for him because he wasn’t on her radar when it came to those types of emotions.
But how much chance did logic stand when her heart decided to go its own way?
Alessandro was powerfully attractive, extremely sexual and stupendously clever and with all those attributes came a level of self-assurance rarely encountered.
What chance did her heart stand against all that?
She buried her head against him to hide her inner confusion from his sharp gaze.
Was she falling in love with him?
How could that be possible? After the debacle with Hans, she had set strict guidelines when it came to falling for a guy.
Surely she couldn’t have been thrown so off course after, literally,fiveminutes by a little good looks and charm?
Except, a voice in her head murmured,this man was so much more than that, wasn’t he?
She took a deep breath and when she angled herself to meet his eyes, she was back in control, at least on the surface, even if underneath the turmoil continued unabated.
