sisters, all of whom had made headlines in the daily newspapers at one time or another, and three younger sisters—four now!—who looked to be heading the same way, Annie was the one who had always preferred to remain firmly in the shadows of the publicity so often connected with the Balfour name.
A fact her father had been well aware of when he encouraged her to join her university friends on that skiing holiday in Italy more than four years ago.
To Annie’s surprise, away from the pressure and publicity that so often accompanied being a Balfour, and the constant competitiveness so typical of a Balfour family holiday, she had found herself relaxing and enjoying herself.
Consequently, when Luc had flashed that dangerous grin at her and issued his challenge for her to accompany him down the steepest black run at the resort, Annie had been more than open to his heady brand of seduction.
So much so that she had behaved completely out of character after going back to Luc’s luxurious chalet with him. As he had suggested, they had drunk schnapps together while cooking a meal, Annie wrapped in a glorious rosy glow as the two of them made love in front of the blazing log fire.
It had been a time out of time. When she could just be Annie. And Luc could just be Luc.
But who was he really? Annie wondered now as she glanced at him cautiously. Because, from the expensive cut of his hair, the tailored suit, silk shirt and tie and handmade leather shoes, he was obviously someone important.
Not to mention someone she had wanted to avoid seeing again at all costs!
‘No apology is required,’ she assured him crisply. ‘Now, if you will excuse me, I really do have to finish my call.’
Luc regarded her with guarded intensity. ‘I cannot help feeling that the two of us have met before,’ he insisted.
‘In another lifetime perhaps,’ she retorted.
‘Perhaps,’ Luc echoed slowly.
There was something about the delicate curve of this woman’s jaw, the deep blue of her eyes, the husky, sexy softness of her voice, that he knew.
Nor had Luc missed her response to merely the touch of his fingers on her arm. Her breasts had visibly swelled beneath the jacket of the black suit, the nipples pebble hard against the soft material of her blouse.
And he thought her eyes once again widened in alarm at his persistence in suggesting that they had met before.
‘Will you be remaining at the hotel for long?’ he asked curiously.
‘The weekend only,’ she replied curtly. ‘But I’m here on business and expect to be kept very busy, so I doubt that we will have a chance to meet again,’ she added firmly.
She so obviously hoped that they would not meet again, Luc acknowledged.
Interesting.
Having taken over as head of the family business empire four years ago following his father’s near-fatal heart attack, Luc was accustomed to being hotly pursued by women intent on becoming his wife or, failing that, his mistress. Whereas this woman could not have shown her lack of interest in him any more clearly.
Which only increased Luc’s own interest in her. An interest he intended pursuing, with or without her cooperation…
He gave a determined smile. ‘I would not be too sure of that, if I were you.’
Once again she blinked, her creamy throat moving convulsively as she swallowed before speaking. ‘Just talking to you has already made me late for a meeting.’ She gave a pointed look at the slender gold watch on her wrist.
He shrugged broad shoulders. ‘Then a few minutes more will not make any difference, hmm?’
The woman shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, but I dislike tardiness, in myself as well as others.’
Luc knew she was not in the least sorry. In fact, she couldn’t wait to get away!
The fiery snap in her stunning eyes, and the stubborn set of her chin, told Luc that she had no idea how her obvious determination to get away from him only increased his interest rather than diminished it.
‘In that case, I will say goodbye. For now,’ he added softly.
‘We will not meet again, signore,’ she insisted, the delicate colour that entered her cheeks now due to temper rather than embarrassment at her previous rudeness.
Luc found himself giving her one of his rare smiles. ‘Fate has a way of deciding these things for us, I have found.’
Fate had already led Annie into behaving completely irrationally in this man’s company once, and she had no intention of putting that temptation in her way ever again.
Yet, if anything, this Luc was even more devastatingly attractive than the man Annie had met before. There was a hard ruthlessness about him now, a haughty remoteness, that challenged as much as it beguiled.
As for his smile…!
Those moulded, sculptured lips had pulled back briefly over white and perfectly straight teeth, in a familiar wolfish smile that, although fleeting, had nevertheless made Annie’s heart pound harder and louder.
Despite everything, she realised with horror that she was still attracted to him!
Her mouth firmed. ‘I really do have to finish this call.’
Luc’s mocking humour faded as he recalled that she had been talking to someone called Oliver when they had collided a few minutes ago.
A man named Oliver, who, from the lack of rings on her long and slender fingers, had not yet made a public claim on this woman, despite the fact that she’d huskily assured him that she loved him too.
He nodded abruptly. ‘I too am late for an appointment.’
The woman’s smile was saccharin sweet. ‘Then I really mustn’t delay you any longer, must I?’
This woman needed to be put across someone’s knee, and her bottom firmly spanked, Luc decided ruefully. Her bare bottom. Her lush and curvaceous bare bottom.
It was an erotic image that flowered and grew in Luc’s mind and caused his thighs to throb and harden as he became fully aroused—something that hadn’t happened to him in years at just the thought of making love to a specific woman.
Luc had spent years rebuilding his family’s wealth and business empire. Four long years when he had allowed no other distractions, least of all an interest in a woman, to interfere with those plans.
Attractive as this woman was, Luc very much doubted that she would hold that interest for very long either. But her prickly nature indicated a passion that might prove fun while it lasted.
‘Signorina.’ He inclined his head in farewell, secure in the knowledge, in the pleasure, of her presence at Lake Garda for several more days at least.
Annie held her breath as she watched Luc’s long and arrogantly confident strides until he turned left at the end of the hallway, leaning weakly
