An Invitation to Sin(15)

‘Nothing at all.' He deflected her question with ease. ‘My life is an open book.'

No one's life was an open book, she knew that now. There were hidden corners, areas of darkness, a graveyard of secrets.

She wondered what his were.

While she was musing on the comment he'd made about his mother, he  strode across the room, picked up the phone And spoke in Italian. ‘I'm  taking you out to dinner. My team will book us a table at Da Giovanni.  It's very elegant. And high-profile. You can push a lettuce leaf around  your plate and gaze at me adoringly.'

‘You'll have to gaze at me adoringly too.'

‘I can do that as long as you don't get confused and start thinking it's real.'

‘When I grab a gun and shoot myself through the head you'll know I'm  starting to think our relationship is real,' she told him in a cool  tone. ‘Until then, you're safe. Unfortunately I don't have any faith  that you are capable of even acting the part of a man in love, so  concentrate because I'm going to give you some hints.'

‘I've already told you I don't need an acting lesson.'

She ignored that. ‘The best way to convincingly play emotion is to  conjure up the feeling. So if I'm playing someone sad, I try and  remember a time when I was sad.'

‘I've never been engaged so I can't conjure up the horror that went with it.'

‘Very funny, but not helpful. Tonight you have to look as if I'm the  only woman in the world for you. Is there any chance you can do that?'                       
       
           



       

‘Are all the other women in the world dead? I suppose if that were the  case, I might be relieved to be shackled to you. You're not bad once  you're fed.'

Taylor clenched her jaw. ‘This is a nightmare. You are never going to be  able to act as if you're engaged. It isn't in your nature.'

‘Watch me prove you wrong. I can act. I can dredge emotions from deep  inside me or wherever it is emotions are stored. You want happiness,  right? I can do happiness as long as I'm not expected to associate it  with relationships.'

Taylor breathed slowly. ‘All right, let's try this another way. What is the happiest moment you can remember?'

He didn't hesitate. ‘The day they delivered my Ferrari.'

‘Fine! Tonight, you are going to look at me as if I'm your Ferrari.'

‘Do I get to put your top down?'

‘You are infuriating!' So why did she want to laugh? ‘This was such a  bad idea. You'll blow it and this will be the shortest engagement on  record.'

‘I am not going to blow it. I love my Ferrari. I love my Ferrari.' He  muttered the words under his breath and shot her a glance. ‘Perhaps I'd  better dress you in red, just so that there's a similarity.'

Taylor shook her head in despair. ‘And on that note, I have to go back  to my hotel. I can't go out to dinner in the same clothes I've been  wearing all day, and anyway, if we're going to stay here I need to pack  up my things and move them here.'

‘One of the advantages of being engaged to the head of a fashion house  is that clothes aren't a problem.' He sent a quick message on his phone.  ‘If we're going to be seen together, you might as well showcase  something from Corretti.'

‘So now you're using me for free publicity?'

‘Of course I'm using you. That's what this is all about. I'm using you. You're using me.'

Of course I'm using you.

Taylor ignored the uneasy feeling in her stomach. She told herself this  was different. Yes, she'd been used before but Luca was right-this time  she was using him too.

And that made this different from all the times people had used her before.





CHAPTER FIVE


LUCA DREW UP in a no-parking zone in front of the pretty waterside restaurant.

‘You can't park here.' Taylor turned her head, the sun glinting on her  sleek, shiny hair. She'd twisted it skilfully into an elaborate  confection on the back of her head and fastened it with a jewelled pin  that made her look very much the movie star. ‘It says no parking.'

‘Do you always obey rules?' The artist in Luca admired the perfect lines  of her jaw and cheekbones, those beautiful cat-like eyes and the hint  of a pout on that kissable mouth. ‘That dress looks good on you.'

‘I know. That's why I picked it.' Her cool, confident response threw him.

Raised by a woman who had needed constant reassurance and working in an  industry defined by its dedication to narcissism, he was conditioned to  offer praise and reassurance. These days it fell from his lips  unprompted, but Taylor appeared to have no need for his approval.  Presented with a choice of dresses, she'd selected one instantly,  without hesitation or consultation. The only help she'd needed from him  was fastening the zip.

‘Of course you'd look better out of that dress.'

‘I try not to trigger horrible headlines.'

‘Really? I try and trigger horrible headlines on a daily basis. If I  don't read at least one bad thing about myself every day I take a long  look at my behaviour and try harder to be shocking.'

Her response to that was to roll her eyes but he could see she was  holding back laughter and he hid his own smile because he didn't want  her to know she made him laugh.

She held everything back, he thought, remembering the way she'd tried to  resist the explosive chemistry in the maze. Always up for a challenge,  he wondered how hard he'd have to push before that control cracked.

She glanced towards the restaurant. ‘Isn't this place a bit obvious? I  would have chosen somewhere more discreet. That would have been my  normal behaviour.'

‘But not mine, dolcezza.' He flipped her chin gently with the tip of his  finger. ‘You're with me and I refuse to slink around like a criminal.  You're living by my list now and your idea of forbidden is my idea of  compulsory. Get used to it.'

‘If we're a couple then my list is as important and valid as yours.'

‘Not if it contains things like "don't speed" and "never park in a  no-parking zone." The idea of marriage isn't to die of boredom.'  Reaching across, he unfastened her seat belt, the backs of his fingers  brushing against the softness of her breasts as he released the strap.  The punch of desire was so powerful he sucked in a breath at the exact  moment Taylor flattened herself to the seat.                       
       
           



       

‘Hey, don't push your luck.'

‘We're engaged. That means my luck ran out a long time ago. And what is  the point of an engagement if you can't touch? Or is it simply to leave  an enormous hole in a guy's bank account and set one lucky jeweller up  for early retirement?' Gripped by a flash of instantaneous lust, Luca  found himself looking at her mouth and that mouth was so smooth, so  feminine, it seemed like a terrible waste not to just go ahead and kiss  it. Never one to deny himself, he did just that.

Fire and flame licked around the edges of his nerve endings. Within  seconds he was rock hard. What had started as exploration shifted to  something so primal and basic that he forgot everything except the urge  to strip her naked and get his hands on her glorious body. He wanted to  drive into her and watch all those restrictions she placed on herself  unravel.

His tongue was in her mouth, tangling with hers, when she shoved at his chest.

‘This is an engagement, not a one-night stand. You don't have to cram  the entire relationship into six hours.' She was out of the car so  quickly she almost stumbled and Luca stared after her for a moment, his  mind temporarily wiped. She was as jumpy as a kangaroo on a trampoline  and yet she was the one who had lectured him on playing his part  properly. How the hell was he expected to play his part when she was  running away from him? He didn't claim to be an expert on being engaged  but was willing to bet sprinting in the opposite direction during a kiss  counted as less than convincing behaviour.

He chose to ignore the tiny part of his brain that was telling him the kiss had nothing to do with role play.

Infuriated that she wasn't putting more effort into it, he sprang from  the car. ‘Taylor!' Aware someone might be listening, he clenched his jaw  and forced himself back into fiancé mode. It was as ill-fitting as a  secondhand suit. ‘Mi amore-' He'd never said those words to anyone  before and even knowing that they weren't genuine didn't make it any  easier. ‘Where are you going?'

There was a brief pause and then she spun on her heel and gave him an  easy smile that probably seemed genuine to all but him. ‘I was leaving  you to park the car.'

He sensed her tension but didn't understand it. Hell, he was breaking  his neck here to act like the devoted fiancé. ‘It's parked.'