AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘You can drop me to the bus stop. It’s about a mile from here.’
‘Are you going back to your office? Perhaps I could go in, meet all these people you work with... Tell your boss what a great job you’ve done even though the shelter will be sold. At least you’ve got me to thank for a reasonably happy Beth.’
‘She’s not happy.’ Chase slid into the back seat, barely appreciating the terrific air conditioning as she grappled with the horror of having him invade her work space as well as having invaded her house. ‘And I’m going home, as a matter of fact. I have work I can do there.’
‘I’ve noticed that you try and avoid looking at me as much as possible,’ Alessandro said softly. ‘Why is that?’
As challenges went, that was about as direct as they came. Avoid looking at him? She wanted to laugh at the irony because all she seemed to do was look at him—it was just that she was careful with her staring. She looked at him now and the silence seemed to go on for ever as he gazed right back at her. Her mouth had gone dry and, although she knew that she should be breaking this yawning silence with a suitably innocuous remark, her mind refused to play along.
When he reached out and trailed one finger along her lips, she gasped with shock. There was a sudden, ferocious roaring in her ears and she couldn’t breathe. All the strategies she had adopted to keep him at arm’s length, to make him know that there was nothing whatsoever between them now aside from a brief, dubious past that no longer meant a thing, disappeared like mist on a hot summer’s day.
She was no longer the lawyer with her life under control and he was no longer public enemy number one, the guy who could ruin everything she had built for herself in one fell swoop. She was a woman and he was a man and she still, against all rhyme or reason, wanted him with every incomprehensible, yearning ounce of her being.
‘What are you doing?’ She finally found her voice and pulled back.
Alessandro smiled. If he had had any doubts that she was still attracted to him, then he had none now. ‘Maybe you’re right,’ he murmured, obediently removing his hand and observing her neutrally. ‘Your friend really doesn’t want to leave her home. The memories...the experiences... I don’t see a bungalow on the coast cutting it, do you?’
‘No.’ Chase glared at him suspiciously. Her lips were burning from where he had touched them but she refused to cool them with her fingers.
‘So I have an interesting proposal to put to you. You’d like me to believe that you’re all bleeding heart and caring for the defenceless. Well, how would you like to prove it?’
CHAPTER FOUR
CHASE DIDN’T ANSWER immediately. Alessandro slid back the partition and told the driver to deliver them to a well-known French restaurant. By the time that sank in, the car had already altered course.
‘What the heck do you think you’re doing?’
‘We’re going to discuss my proposal over food. It’s lunchtime.’
‘And I’ve told you that I need to get back to do some work! Besides, I can’t imagine what sort of proposal you have for me that involves you kidnapping me!’
‘I like your use of language. Colourful.’
Chase was still burning from where his finger had touched her lips. Her mouth tingled.
‘What made your friend decide to go into the good Samaritan business?’
Chase looked at him with unbridled suspicion. He was leaning indolently against the door and she got the feeling that it was all the better to see her. Like the big, bad wolf in the fairy story. ‘I don’t know what good it will do for you to hear Beth’s potted history.’
‘I’ve never known anyone who erects so many obstacles to complicate a perfectly harmless conversation.’
‘That’s because everyone kowtows to you, I imagine,’ Chase offered ungracefully. While he was supremely relaxed, legs slightly open, one arm along the back of the seat, the other hanging loosely over his thigh, she was as tense as a block of wood. Her legs were tightly pressed together. Her lips were tightly compressed. Her fingers were interlinked and white at the knuckles.
‘Rich people seem to have that effect,’ she continued, avoiding his speculative eyes. ‘I’ve seen it. They like throwing their weight around and they take it for granted that everyone is going to agree with everything they say.’
‘You’re getting all hot and bothered over nothing,’ Alessandro murmured with mild amusement. ‘The food at this restaurant is second to none. Have you been there? No? Then you should be looking forward to the experience. So why don’t you relax? Tell me about your friend.’
