The Italian Billionaire's Secret Love-Child(38)

But as promised the work was done, everything tidied up, by his personal assistant, she’d been told while they’d been at the club ‘having fun’. And Gina was exhausted. Too tired for anything more than her nightie and half a story.



Which just left them and a quiet house.



‘You’ll need a towel,’ she said wearily, sinking into a chair in the sitting room, all the better to contemplate the unravelling of her life. ‘Lord, Riccardo, I can’t believe you’ve done this.’ She rubbed her eyes with her thumbs and then closed them.



‘So, why don’t you try making the most of it?’



Charlotte opened her eyes to him sitting on the arm of her chair, but she was just too tired to respond to the invasion of privacy. ‘How? We don’t like each other, and yet I’m supposed to be happy sharing my space with you.’



For some reason, that hurt him. He stood up and walked towards the door, pausing to glance at her over his shoulder. ‘Well, if it’s any consolation, my routine at my office will continue as usual, and yes, I’ll be around in the evenings, but if this arrangement really doesn’t work out then we’ll reconsider the whole thing.’#p#分页标题#e#



‘Meaning what?’



Riccardo shrugged. ‘Meaning we’ll do the amicable joint-custody thing and I’ll just have to reconcile myself to not being around in a full-time capacity.’



‘You should have thought of that before you embarked on this crazy moving in idea!’



‘I’m going to have a shower. If you need me I’ll be working at the desk in my bedroom.’



He shut the door quietly behind him, leaving Charlotte a little disappointed that the argument she was fired up to conduct had fizzled out like a damp squib. But at least he had agreed to clear off if things didn’t work out. Which, naturally, they wouldn’t. Any fool would have predicted that. He didn’t like her and she didn’t like him. There was just too much water under the bridge, whether he wanted to admit it or not.



Except…except…



There had been moments at that wretched spa when she had forgotten her anger and experienced a little taste of family life, ordinary family life with laughter and teasing and fun, and someone else there sharing the little things. The frightening thing was that it could get to be a habit, but…



She stood up and headed up the stairs. It was a small house. Just the three bedrooms and a shared bathroom—and he wasn’t in it. There was no sound of running water and there was a crack of light under his bedroom door. At least for the time being she would have to get used to this inconvenience. She grabbed her clothes from her room and, head still full of ridiculous but tantalising thoughts, she gave a brief knock on the bathroom door and opened it.



Riccardo, naked and shaving in front of the bathroom-cabinet mirror, saw her enter and freeze. He rinsed his face and turned around.



‘What’s the problem? You’ve seen this body naked before.’



Charlotte, clutching her bundle of clothes for dear life, glued her eyes to his face. That was safe. And right now she needed that safe haven because her legs had turned to lead.



‘Argh…’



‘Did you want to use the bathroom?’ He strolled towards her. Eight years on and she still blushed like a virgin. He had been out with women who were willing to do the most explicit things and had never turned a hair, never mind looked as though they wanted the ground to open up and swallow them.



‘Ah…umm…’



‘What is it about me that you don’t like?’ That passing remark had been niggling away at him like a thorn in his side. Resentment and even hatred he could deal with, because he could tie them up to a reaction to how they had parted company, and whether or not he agreed with it he could now understand it. But just not liking him was a bit more difficult to get his head around. He knew that physically he could still affect her. Experience with the opposite sex had made him a master in reading their responses. But just not liking him implied something that bordered on emotional indifference, and for the first time in his life the physical was just not good enough. He wanted more from her, and he told himself that that was because their situation was so complicated.



Charlotte made an inarticulate sound and began feeling for the door behind her.



‘No, no. Not so fast.’ Physically, he had to admit, she certainly still affected him, evidence of which was all too visible should she allow her eyes to travel due south. He snatched his towel from where he had draped it over the shower rail and slung it around his waist. ‘There. Better?’#p#分页标题#e#