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She turned into the wind, lifted her arms and whooped as the boat gathered speed.
‘Hold that thought,’ he shouted above the rush of the sea, his rough chuckle a vindication. Then he tightened the arm he had banded around her waist. ‘But don’t fall out of the damn boat!’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘HEY,MARCO,tie up the boat for me.’
Roman threw the line to the dockhand, then leapt out of the dinghy, so eager to get to the villa, he was fizzing with energy for the first time in months.
‘Yes, Signor Garner,’ the young man replied as he caught the rope and tugged the boat alongside the dock.
Adrenaline charged through Roman’s veins as he grasped Milly’s hand and hauled her out. He was semi-erect, thanks to having Milly wriggling in his lap the whole journey—which had felt as if it had taken five times as long as the swim to the cove.
As soon as she climbed onto the dock, he placed his hand on her lower back, intending to direct her to the villa. He wanted her alone and naked, asap, before he exploded.
But before he could apply any pressure, she sidestepped his controlling hand to turn and address the boy. ‘Hi, Marco. I’m so sorry, I left your bike at the cove. I can go get it later, before you take me back to Sorrento.’
Roman frowned, his impatience turning to frustration.
And no small amount of irritation. Why was she arranging to leave, already? And how come she was on a first-name basis with the kid?
The boy blushed. ‘I will be happy to collect it,signorina. When do you wish to leave?’
‘In an hour or so,’ she said.
An hour?What was she talking about? No way were they going to be through with each other in an hour. Was she mad?
But while he was still trying to get his head around the preposterousness of her putting a time limit on their bootycall, she added: ‘If that’s okay with you, Marco,’ speaking to his employee with a deference she had never shown him.
The kid nodded and smiled, the flush on his cheeks becoming radioactive. ‘I am at your service,signorina.’
What. On. Earth?
‘Thesignorinaisnotleaving tonight. And certainly not with you,’ Roman barked.
Milly and the young man both spun around to stare at him, clearly startled by his outburst. Although he had no idea why. Was she playing some kind of game with him? Because they’d come to an agreement on the beach, and now she seemed to be reneging on it—and flirting with his boat boy to boot.
‘Sì, Signor Garner.’ The boy bowed, looking suitably chastened, and shot off to secure the boat, which was his actual job.
From the sharp frown on Milly’s face, though, he knew she was not going to be anywhere near as compliant.Quelle surprise.
‘Roman...?’ she gasped. ‘You mustn’t talk to Marco like that, or me either.’
‘Save it,’ he said, aware of the young man listening to their every word as he grasped her hand and proceeded to head up the path towards the villa.
Having Milly Devlin question his authority was nothing new. In fact, up to now he’d found her ballsy attitude towards him refreshing and... Well, hopelessly hot. But he’d be damned if he’d have a negotiation about the duration of their fling in front of an audience. Especially one who was likely to relay the whole conversation to his disapproving estate manager and his wife.
While he didn’t really care if his employees thought he had the ethics of an alley cat when it came to women, he did not appreciate being gossiped about in his own home. Or judged.
Especially because he had been struggling not to judge himself, and the intensity of his desire for this woman, on the sail back.
There was something about Milly—about her eagerness and openness and her livewire response to him as well as that kickass attitude—that made this liaison different from the many, many others he’d had.
Not only had he never been quite this eager to bed anyone, quite this captivated or enchanted by watching a woman succumb to her own pleasure, but she was younger and a lot less jaded than the women he usually dated—and there was still that niggling thought he had brought her here against her will last night. All of which made him feel responsible in a way he didn’t like.
He had no plans to demand anything of her she did not wish to give him, but he couldn’t quite get past the look in her eyes—dazed and wary and even a little shocked, after she’d climaxed earlier, while holding nothing back.
She’d looked as if she’d never experienced anything so intense before. Which had made her seem oddly vulnerable—almost as if she was the virgin he’d teased her about being.
