“Take me to bed, Luca. Please.”
Please.The word was torment. It was a whispered plea. He wanted, so badly, to agree.
“Why are you fighting me on this?” she asked, moving even closer, so their lips were almost touching. “I know we both want to give into this. Maybe that’s why we ended up married?”
He frowned.
“Maybe we’ve already done it,” she added, eyes raking his face thoughtfully. “We don’t know for sure we didn’t have sex that first night.”
“Believe me, we’d remember.”
Her lips tugged to the side. “I do believe you.”
He cupped her face then, with one of his hands, tilting her towards him. “You have to understand, Allegra, I break things. I am not the kind of man you want to get involved with.”
He felt her swallow. “Isn’t that up to me to decide?”
“You think I’m exaggerating.”
“No, I don’t.” She breathed out. “I just don’t care. I’m giving you one year of my life, I’m asking for this in exchange.”
“I’m paying you a lot of money in exchange.”
She flinched slightly, and he realised the quick rejoinder might have sounded like this was more of a commercial agreement than it was. Though at its heart, that was their deal. It was why she’d agreed to be his wife for a year.
“So you’re saying I should go out and find someone else to sleep with?” she said, after a beat, the question asked carefully without emotion. But that didn’t matter. His own emotions more than made up for that.
Jealousy speared him with the heat and force of a thousand suns. “What are you talking about? You are my wife.”
“But you said as long as we are discreet, we could have affairs.”
He had said that. God, he’d said it as a warning to himself, not to get too involved with her. But now? It was anathema to think of touching another woman, and to even imagine her getting mixed up with some other guy. But what did that mean? That he was going to be celibate for the next twelve months?
As painful as that would be, it would be better than imagining her finding some random guy to take her virginity.
“That was before I knew you were a virgin.”
“So? What difference does it make?”
“It’s…different.”
“Then you’re saying our old deal isn’t valid.”
“Precisely.”
“So we need a new deal,” she remarked innocently. Trapping him with her perfect logic.
“One that involves no sex, for either of us,” he grunted.
The hand on his thigh shifted ever so slightly higher, closer to his arousal. Heat spiked in his bloodstream.
“I’m not interested in that deal.” Her words were a gentle murmur, provocative and tempting.
“Tough. It’s the only one I’m offering.”
She brushed her hand ever so lightly over his arousal, eyes mocking him. “We’ll see,” she said, laying back on the lounger, watching him with a knowing smile on those beautiful lips. He stared at her in consternation, completely unable to move. The lightest touch had all but paralysed him. But when she reachedfor her bikini top and went to remove it, he stood up as though a bolt of lightning had landed at his feet.
“Lunch will be on the terrace when you’re ready, Allegra. Please arrive fully dressed.” He left before he could see her no doubt glorious breasts, his body berating him the entire way back to the house.
