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‘I’ve done more than consider it,’ Benedetto pointed out. ‘And I’m more curious as to why you’d be intent on seducing someone who’s kidnapped you. You kissed me before you knew, so you can’t blame Stockholm syndrome.’
She actually laughed, it was so absurd, but it was a laugh that bordered on the maniacal, hysterical and unhinged, so she dropped her face into her hands and held it a moment.
‘I don’t know,’ was the simple, honest answer. ‘It just felt... I just wanted to.’
A frown jerked at his lips.
‘You kept pointing out that you have more experience than me, so presumably you’ve felt that before. I don’t like you. I mean, I really, really actively dislike you, and yet there’s something about you that...’
‘Yes?’ He growled.
‘Makes me want to tear your clothes off.’ She blinked away from him, both embarrassed and proud of her frankness.
‘And you haven’t felt that before.’
She wanted to lie. She certainly didn’t want to give him the ego-boost of admitting he was the only man who’d ever had that effect on her, but to what end? His ego was already full to the brim, a little extra wouldn’t make a fundamental difference to his behaviour. ‘No.’
He arched a brow, silently imploring her to continue, but Amelia was reticent to discuss Daniel.
‘You’ve dated men?’ Benedetto pushed.
Amelia bit into her lip. ‘Yes.’
‘And?’
‘And what?’
‘You didn’t feel a desire for them?’
Amelia hesitated. ‘I’ve dated men, but only one seriously, and it was...’ she searched for the right words, her cheeks flushing pink ‘...slow to warm up.’
Benedetto’s eyes met Amelia’s and held in a way that caused her whole body to simmer.
Amelia reached for her water, and was sipping it gratefully, when Cassidy strolled towards them. ‘Sorry, guys, I burned the first set of prawns and had to make more. But they look delicious. Hope you enjoy.’
The Australian woman was a veritable breath of fresh air after the intensity of Amelia’s conversation with Benedetto—not the conversation itself, but the way she felt when they were alone, as if there were an oppressive weight bearing down on her, making it hard to breathe and think and do anything but crave him.
Cassidy placed their meals down—a serving of enormous prawns in a sticky sweet sauce with a large salad. It was exactly the kind of thing Amelia might have ordered in a restaurant, had it been on the menu, and as her gaze drifted from their dinner to the view, the dusky sky quite breathtaking from the colours that burst through it, she thought how perfect and sublime this all would be under very different circumstances. If she’d met Benedetto in a bar, or on the street, instead of like this.
‘So if I’d met you some other way, if we weren’t connected through Anton, would you have stopped us from...you know...?’
He reached for his cutlery, slicing through one of his prawns. ‘I don’t deal in hypotheticals.’
‘Sure you do. Every time you consider your options for any decision you’re planning to make, you consider the hypothetical outcomes. That is just your way of saying you don’t want to talk about this.’
A smile was her reward, his appreciation for her quick retort obvious. ‘Fine. Let’s imagine then that we met randomly, and somehow ended up in a private space, with the chemistry we share.’ He kicked back in his seat, his legs brushing hers again, but this time, they stayed where they were, forming a trap around her own legs, so every time she shifted, even a little, she felt him, the static charge of electricity energising her. ‘It’s likely we would have shared a one-night stand.’
‘Only one night?’ she prompted, then could have kicked herself. Was she really offended by his reply to a hypothetical scenario that could never be?
He lifted his shoulders. ‘Perhaps a few nights.’
‘And then what?’
‘We’d part ways.’
‘That easily, huh?’
‘Why not?’
