Her toiletry case had been set near one of the sinks and she went over to make sure everything had made it. Luca’s steps coming up behind her echoed on the tiled floor but she didn’t look up until his warm breath tickled her neck. Their eyes met in the mirror.
“Do you have everything you need?”
His gaze burned into hers and it took a second for her to gather her wits and nod.
“Good. You can have your turn in here first. I need to go over a few things with Joe anyway.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice hardly more than a whisper.
He nodded but didn’t move, just kept staring at her in the mirror. His eyes roamed over her figure and the look in them when they met hers again was enough to make her catch her breath.
He stepped closer, lightly wrapping his hands around her upper arms, keeping his gaze locked with hers until the last second. She held her breath, not sure what he was going to do. Not sure what she wanted him to do.
He pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek and then released her.
“I’ll be back in a bit.”
She nodded and watched him walk out the door, her heart hammering. As soon as he disappeared she slumped against the counter. Good gracious, that man would be her downfall.
She yelped when he stuck his head back in the door.
“By the way, I sleep on the left, in case you get cold and want to crawl in with me,” he said with a huge grin, before disappearing again.
Despite the fact her nervous system was about to have a meltdown, an answering smile spread across her lips. His head appeared around the doorframe again.
“I also sleep in the nude.”
Her mouth dropped open and he ducked back out, the bathroom ringing with his laughter.
Chapter Nine
Luca wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be offended. After Constance had nearly fainted from his declaration he’d be going to bed in nothing but the skin God had given him, she’d taken her pajamas into the bathroom, and then wouldn’t come back out again until he’d turned out the lights, which he’d finally done in the interest of getting some sleep.
She headed straight for the couch, stopping short when she saw him stretched out on the overstuffed monstrosity.
“You can have the bed,” he said.
“That’s nice of you, but I’ll be fine on the couch.”
He shrugged. “But I’m already tucked in. Besides, you’re my guest. You can have the bed.”
She didn’t say anything for a second or move to get into the bed and he sighed.
“Constance, just get in the bed. Let me be chivalrous for once. I assure you, it’s not something that happens every day.”
He heard a faint snort but she at least decided to take him up on his offer, darting out of the shadows of the room. She didn’t exactly run to the bed, but she didn’t take her time, either. He’d seen a brief flash of skin in the moonlight shining in from the window, but as she’d promptly pulled the covers up to her chin, he couldn’t tell what she was wearing.
“I want you to know I find it highly inappropriate for you to be…you know…”
“Naked?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He shrugged, not bothering to make sure the sheet stayed in place at his waist. “I doubt you’ll believe me, but I’m not doing this for your benefit. It’s more comfortable to sleep this way. Though I’m always hopeful I can entice you out of that frigid little shell of yours.”
“I’m not frigid!”
“If you say so.”
She huffed and he laughed. “We’re engaged, Stanzia. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the company of your own fiancé.”
“There’s plenty wrong with it.”
“Like what?”
“We barely know each other.”
“So?” He pushed himself up so he was half sitting, half reclining against the arm of the couch. “We’ve got an amazing connection between us. I know you’ve felt it, so don’t even try and deny it. If it’s that good with just a little kiss, imagine how much better it could be.”
The bright moon illuminated the room, showing her lying rigid in the bed, her arms crossed over her chest, the sheets tucked around her and pulled up to her chin. Oh, how he’d love to see her lose control. Be the reason she loses control. Just once.
“Our engagement isn’t real.”
“Says who? I asked, you said yes, I gave you a ring, we announced it to the world. How is that not real?”
“Seriously?” She sat up against the pillows to glare at him. “You did not ask me to marry you; you blackmailed me into an engagement. You gave me a ring but without the intent behind it, it’s just a piece of jewelry. And the same goes for the engagement. If we have no real intention of marrying, then it’s not real.”