I think you like it very much.’
Michelle couldn’t answer. Telling the truth at a time like this would only catapult her straight into trouble.
‘Tonight belongs to you and me, Michelle. There are no spectators, no listeners behind doors. We are free to be ourselves for once.’
He looked her up and down with a practised eye. She felt like a rabbit, cornered by a very attractive fox. She sat down again, faintly surprised by her new courage. A slow smile warmed his eyes. He stretched out his limbs, extending his legs across the gravel in front of the studio house. His body language and his expression were so open and inviting. He looked a completely different man from the world-weary professional who had stamped up to the villa a few days earlier.
Michelle caught her breath. He was wonderful. Wonderfully dangerous, she reminded herself. Something about that look in his eyes warned her to take care. She was only the hired help, after all. She would be mad to encourage him. He had burst into her life from nowhere, and he would vanish with the same speed.
A mischevious breeze ruffled his night-dark hair.
‘Would you like some more champagne, signor?’ she said, before he could draw her further into his orbit.
He shook his head, and she pursed her lips. He must think she was a complete innocent, talking about wine when there might be so much more on offer. It was a short step from that to imagining she was stupid. Michelle knew that wasn’t true—despite the number of times her mother had said it.
‘So—what’s your answer?’ he went on. ‘Will you move out of here so I can indulge myself in Terence’s purpose built art studio? The change would do us both a lot of good. Trust me,’ he repeated.
Michelle sensed it was the last thing she should do. On the other hand…she needed to prove she wasn’t a naïve fool. Alessandro had looked so careworn when he’d arrived. He already looked a lot better. How much more improvement might there be if she gave in to him over this little matter? Music was supposed to work wonders as a form of therapy. Art might do the same for him.
‘All right,’ she agreed, before she could change her mind. But she knew his reputation couldn’t be allowed to frighten her into falling in with all his plans. She was determined to have boundaries.
‘Good…you’re making a work-worn billionaire very happy.’ He laughed softly.
Michelle could tell he hadn’t said it to pull rank. His words had been hollow, and his gaze told of something deeper behind his words. Michelle shivered, and he snapped out of his reverie.
‘You are cold. I can’t keep you from your bed any longer, Michelle. I must go.’ He stood up and, bending forward until his head was almost touching hers, took her hand and raised it to his lips. His parting kiss was the light touch of a butterfly dancing on her skin, but it burned like the passion that fuelled his life.
‘Buona notte, Michelle. Sweet dreams,’ he added with a flash of mischief as he swung away into the night.
Michelle watched him move away through the shadowy garden. His white shirt was visible for a long way, despite the gloom. It only disappeared when he closed the villa door behind him. It extinguished the last hold he had over her. Standing up, she went slowly into the studio house. How could she have been so wrong about him? Although there was no doubt that beneath his handsome exterior Signor Alessandro Castiglione was ruthless, tonight he had been devastatingly charming. She drifted back into the studio house in a daze.
Michelle set her alarm clock for 4:00 a.m., but was awake in time to switch it off. It would have echoed through the peace and quiet of the Jolie Fleur estate. The memory of Alessandro’s midnight visit was still hot in her mind.
It took her no time at all to pack. When she had stacked her few possessions on the doorstep of the studio house, she showered and then dressed in her bikini. It had been a long night, with not enough sleep. A swim before breakfast would perk her up. Dawn in the garden was as magical as dusk, and she could hardly wait to experience it again. She pulled on her dressing gown for the short walk to the villa’s outdoor pool. The sun was still low, and filtered by a slight sea mist.
Leaving her studio apartment for the last time, she immersed herself in the chilly dawn. Rounding the hedge sheltering the pool she stopped and stared. Alessandro was already in the water, moving through it as though he owned the element.
‘Buongiorno, Michelle.’ He raised a hand to her. Water cascaded from his long, muscular limbs. He swam to the side of the pool in a few strokes. Folding his arms on the edge, he looked up at her appreciatively.
‘The water is cold, but this is a great way to kick-start your system first thing in the morning. Come on in.’
‘Er…no, thanks. I’m not here to swim. I—I only came for a walk around the grounds.’
Alessandro threw himself backwards in a creamy foam of water. Michelle knew only too well where to look, but didn’t. The temptation was unbearable, but she tried to act as though muscular men stripped down to their Speedos were an everyday part of her life.
‘If you didn’t come to swim, why are you wearing that bikini?’
Michelle dropped her attention to the tiles at her feet. As she did so, she saw that the ties of her dressing gown had worked loose during her headlong dash to the pool. Wrapping it tightly around herself, she secured it with a firm knot.
Alessandro slid through the water like a seal to take up a position at the side of the pool again. Heat flared in Michelle’s cheeks. She went over in her mind everything that had gone on between them the night before. The embarrassment had all been on her side, the easy charm on his. As she burned, she wished with all her heart she could come up with some wonderful remark. Anything—anything—to recapture the magic of last night…
‘So? What are you waiting for? Join me.’
She twiddled the tie of her dressing gown. ‘I couldn’t possibly…I only work here. You’re a guest.’
‘And I’m only inviting you into the water. There’s no rule that says staff can’t come in with me, is there?’ He shrugged.
With her body reacting to everything Alessandro had on show, Michelle didn’t know what to do. Instinct told her to take a chance, but her sense of decency said run. She stared down at a ladybird creeping across the tiled surround of the pool. It was heading for her toes with the sort of determination she desperately needed.
‘I’m sorry, Alessandro,’ she said, with more truth that he could ever have imagined. ‘It’s not my place.’
He was floating on his back, watching her. When she said that, he stood up in a shower of droplets. Michelle’s eyes were instantly riveted on him. She couldn’t tear them away. He looked magnificent. Two metres of tightly packed muscles and smooth, flawless skin. He had the pale colouring of someone who spent all day behind a desk, but who would toast to a golden tan in no time at all. Michelle was imagining the effect already. Tiny trickles of water led her gaze down over his bunched pectorals and his flat, muscular belly.
Laughing at her expression, when he said his next words he gave her exactly the push she needed.
‘If you’re determined to be a member of staff, then I’ll stick to the rules too. I’m going to give you a direct
