“Are you a local?” Sabrina continued acting, pretending she hadn’t researched him to death last night. She felt annoyed that after learning what she needed to, she found herself continuing to click the keyboard. Image after image of Luca Argenti in the arms of beautiful women filled the screen.
She felt uncomfortable doing it. It was like invading his privacy. Chase had often complained of his life in a fish bowl. But in this instance, knowledge was power. Or rather her pretend ignorance was, if things went according to her plan.
“I’m related to some of them.” His lips twisted in amusement.
Of course. Sabrina remembered. The Argentis and the present generation royals of the House of Ligueria were cousins. Luca Argenti was here to attend the wedding. And so were the Konstantinos! Now to find out if he already had a date…it might be her only chance.
“Did you find a lot?”
“A l-lot? Of what?” How had he known she had been looking him up?
“Sea glass.”
“Oh. Sea glass.” Sabrina looked away, flustered. This was the problem with being sneaky and underhanded. She couldn’t multi-plot. “Around five pieces I can work with. I make them into jewelry.” She rooted in her bag. She didn’t know why she was discussing sea glass with someone she was supposed to be flirting with. Maybe because she wouldn’t know the first thing about trying to attract a man she was attracted to.
“I found this beauty.” She extended her palm where a ruby red shard rested and suddenly felt foolish about calling a fragment of glass beautiful to a rich, worldly man like him. She started pulling her hand back.
His hand shot out and encircled her wrist. He bent his head to examine the glass.
Sabrina kept her eyes locked on the thin leather bracelets stacked on his wrist. It looked so hip and sexy on his arm. The breeze wafted the faintest scent of cologne to her nose. It wasn’t sharp. It smelled faded, like it had blended with cologne and man. DO NOT HYPERVENTILATE.
“It’s a very rare color,” he murmured.
Sabrina was grateful he ignored her slight trembling. She knew he had felt it by the way he had stilled before speaking. The heat of his hand on her wrist sent her pulse skittering madly. He released her before she crumpled into a dead faint. Sabrina wondered how she was going to survive more than a touch from this man.
“How did you know?” There was a one in five thousand chance of finding a red-colored sea glass. It was that rare.
“We have an accessory line in the business. I headed the department once.” He stood and stepped closer, his height blocking the sun. “That will fetch a pretty sum.”
“You must be my lucky charm then.” It came out all stilted. So far removed from the breathy, eyelid-batting way she should have delivered that line.
His eyes gleamed, as if amused at her paltry attempt at flirting. “Did you make this?” His hand shot out again and captured the pendant between her breasts.
Sabrina’s breath stuttered. His knuckle had inadvertently brushed against the inner side of one of her breasts. He was invading her personal space. Deliberately. Her senses heightened, but oddly she didn’t feel threatened. It was like adjusting the blurry lens of a binocular and suddenly the image came into sharp focus. He studied the pendant before releasing it gently then stepped back.
Sabrina realized she had been holding her breath the whole time. She nodded.
“Interesting,” he murmured. He didn’t seem particularly impressed, judging by his small frown.
She rushed on defensively, “This is experimental. Some clients might not like it because when it’s encased like this, the glass is not tactile. You can’t touch the little marks the sea has etched on its surface.”
“I like the way you embedded it in the clear resin. It protects the glass yet it showcases all its facets,” he said with some consideration. “You can look, but not touch,” he volleyed, spearing her with an enigmatic look
Somehow Sabrina felt like they were not only talking about the sea glass. “I like embedding them, especially the little pieces, because they break easily.”
“You should try working with something less fragile, si?”
Sabrina smiled wryly. “You mean like gemstones? Diamonds?”
He shrugged.
“I can’t afford them.”
He appeared incredulous. “None of your lovers have given you diamonds?”
Sabrina shook her head before the full import of his assumption dawned on her. Lovers? Had he recognized her? He didn’t look like the type who wasted his time reading American tabloids. He was the type who landed on those pages. In fact, he had. With regularity, as she had seen by her search on the Internet. With his high-profile business, family name, and sheer gorgeousness, he would always make for an interesting article. And she couldn’t blame the eye candies that were seen frequently hanging on his arm for being thrilled to be photographed with a handsome and wealthy bachelor.