tempted,’ Luca admitted. ‘But I figured that would be too hard to pull off.’
‘How pragmatic of you,’ Hannah murmured. Her mind was still spinning but some of her self-righteous fury had deflated. She didn’t know whether it was simply the awesome force of Luca’s personality or because she actually sympathised with him a little. Or maybe it was because she was just too tired to keep it up.
Slowly she walked to a cream divan positioned in an alcove and sank onto its soft seat. ‘So how do you propose—no pun intended—to make this work? Not,’ she informed him with swift asperity, ‘that I’m actually thinking of going along with this idea.’
‘Of course not,’ Luca murmured. Hannah watched, mesmerised, as he tugged off his tie and then began to unbutton his shirt.
‘What are you doing?’ she squeaked.
‘Changing. We’re due for cocktails in less than an hour.’
‘Can’t you use the bathroom?’ She nodded towards the door that led to what looked like a sumptuous en suite.
‘Why should I?’ Luca’s smile was wicked. ‘We’re engaged to be married, after all.’
‘You’re impossible.’ Hannah closed her eyes against the sight of Luca shrugging off his shirt. Even so she’d had a glimpse of bronzed, burnished skin, rippling muscles, and crisp, dark hair that veed down to the waistband of his trousers.
‘You’re not the first person to say so,’ Luca answered. She could hear him undressing and even with her eyes closed she could imagine it, picture him kicking off his trousers, revealing long, muscular legs, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts, perhaps in navy satin...
Good grief, but she needed to get a grip. Hannah took a deep breath. ‘So you still haven’t told me how this is going to work.’
‘We’re going to act like we’re engaged. Simple.’
‘Simple?’ She opened her eyes to glare at Luca; he stood across the room, buckling the belt on a pair of grey trousers. His chest was still gloriously bare. ‘It’s not simple, Luca. We’re not engaged. We barely know each other. If someone asks either one of us anything about our relationship or how we met, we’ll have no idea what to say.’
‘It’s best to keep as close to the truth as possible,’ Luca advised as he reached for a light blue shirt and shrugged into it. ‘You’re still my PA.’
‘And we just happen to be engaged. Convenient.’
He shot her a quick, hard smile. ‘It is, isn’t it? Now you should get ready. We’re due to meet Tyson for cocktails shortly.’
LUCA STARED OUT at the setting sun turning the placid sea to gold and waited for Hannah to emerge from the bathroom. He tried to ignore the guilt that flickered through him, an unpleasant ripple of sensation. All right, so he’d tricked her. He shouldn’t have. But he hadn’t had any choice. Not that Hannah would be able to understand that, and he had no intention of explaining it to her. She didn’t seem to be quite so angry now, although she had shut the door rather firmly after flouncing in there to get changed.
Sighing restlessly, Luca turned away from the spectacular view. Every nerve ending tingled with anticipation at coming face to face with Andrew Tyson. In the three months since Tyson had announced he was selling his chain of family resorts, Luca hadn’t actually spoken to the man, not even on the telephone. Everything had been done through intermediaries, until this weekend. Until now, when he would finally look upon the man he’d hated for so long. He had to close this deal. And he’d do whatever it took to accomplish that.
‘Are you ready?’ he called to Hannah. They were due on the terrace for drinks in five minutes.
‘Yes.’ She unlocked and opened the door, emerging from the bathroom with her head held high even as uncertainty flickered in her eyes. Luca felt the breath rush from his lungs as he took in her appearance.
She wore a cocktail dress in plum-coloured silk; the pure, clean line of the material across her collarbone drew his attention to the elegance of her shoulders and neck as well as the slight, enticing curve of her breasts. The dress fitted perfectly to her tiny waist and then flared out around her thighs, ending at her knees. Her long, shapely legs were encased in sheer stockings and she’d worn her hair not in its usual neat ponytail, but in loose waves about her face. She looked clean and fresh and utterly alluring.
Luca finally found his voice. ‘You look...good.’
‘I meet with your approval?’ Hannah surmised tartly. ‘Well, I need to look the part, don’t I?’ She went over to her suitcase and riffled through her belongings. ‘I don’t feel at all guilty for letting you buy me a fortune in clothes, by the way.’
‘And so you shouldn’t.’ The rays of the setting sun caught the golden glints in her hair. Luca watched as she moved her hair over to one shoulder in order to put on her earrings. He found something almost unbearably erotic about watching her do this, her neck exposed, her slender hands fitting the earring into her ear. Her feet, he saw, were bare.
‘I suppose I’ll have to give them back when this charade is over?’ she asked as she reached for a pearl necklace.
‘No, not at all. You may keep them. They’re yours.’
She fiddled with the necklace, unable to do the clasp, and Luca walked towards her. ‘Here, let me.’ His fingers brushed her nape as he did the clasp and he felt a shudder go through her. Felt it go through himself. He couldn’t resist brushing his fingers against that tender, silky skin one more time before he stepped away.
‘Thank you,’ she murmured, not looking at him. He could see a rosy flush spreading across the creamy skin of her throat and face.
‘I should have bought you some appropriate jewellery.’
‘I think that would be going above and beyond,’ she answered lightly. ‘Pearls surely suffice.’
‘Yes...but I’d like to see you with diamonds. And sapphires. They’d look lovely against your pale skin.’
She dipped her head, hiding her expression. ‘Thank you.’
Luca watched her, wishing he had a reason to touch her again. ‘You don’t seem as angry as you were before.’
She glanced quickly at him before lowering her lashes. ‘I suppose I’m not. The truth is, I actually do like you, Mr—’
‘Surely now is the time to call me Luca.’
‘Luca. Sorry, old habits die hard, I suppose.’ She sighed and then straightened before moving away from him. ‘I’d better not slip up with that one, huh? Anyway.’ She reached for a wrap in matching plum-coloured lace; it looked as fragile and delicate as cobwebs. ‘I like working for you, even if I resent having to participate in this farce of an engagement. I don’t want you to lose face or your job, and I certainly don’t want to lose mine. So.’ She turned to him, a determined smile on her face. ‘Here we are.’
‘Here we are.’ He gazed at
