wanted to turn her around and speak into her ear and put on a high voice, just to make her laugh as he told her what a fabulous jockey he was. And then Matteo wanted to be warned that public displays of affection could not happen here.
And then...
‘Come on,’ Matteo said. ‘The fashion show’s starting. You used...’ He faltered; it had been her father who had told him that she’d once studied fashion.
‘Used to what?’
‘I thought I read somewhere that you used to study fashion?’
‘I did,’ Abby said. ‘Where did you hear that?’
‘I can’t remember.’ Matteo shrugged. ‘I must have come across it when I was researching the team.’
He’d lied.
Matteo sat there beside her and he knew he’d lied, only not in the same way that he had to his sister—that had been about protecting Allegra, this had been about protecting himself.
It didn’t matter, Matteo told himself.
He and Abby weren’t going anywhere.
Even if they slept together, and from the heat between them that was becoming increasingly likely, he knew that they wouldn’t last.
Matteo meant it—he would never get close to another.
Abby didn’t notice the silence. It was actually so nice to be away from cars and she had never felt like that. Cars were both her work and her hobby but it was just nice to take a day off, but more than that, she knew it was because of Matteo.
They watched the fashion show and every second model who walked out onto the runway Matteo said, ‘You’d look good in that.’
And then out came the underwear and he made no comment.
Not one.
They were both trying so hard to behave and, for Abby, to even have to try to behave was a revelation.
Finally, with the fashion show over they decided to call it a day.
‘I just want to say goodbye to Allegra...’
‘Go,’ Abby said.
‘Thanks.’
He appreciated it.
She wasn’t needy and he liked that.
He liked her.
As they sat in the car on the way back to her hotel, he handed her his phone and Abby looked at a photo of the two of them, both laughing as they sat watching the fashion show.
Neither with a care in the world, it would seem.
Business or Romance? the headline said.
‘Oh, no,’ Abby wailed. ‘Why would they jump to that?’
‘Don’t worry about it.’ Matteo shrugged.
‘But we want them to think...’
‘Oh, they’ll be thinking,’ he said.
The car pulled up at her hotel and Abby wondered if he’d suggest dinner and she wondered if she might accept.
But Matteo, being Matteo, skipped entrée, main and dessert and, after such a lovely day, for him the ending was inevitable.
‘We could,’ Matteo said, ‘always go to mine.’
That delicious mouth moved in for the kill and what startled Abby the most was that she wanted to accept, to just close her eyes and give in to the bliss he offered, except she jerked her head back.
‘I’m assuming we’re not talking about the restaurant at your hotel?’
‘We’re not.’
For Matteo sex was as straightforward and as simple as that.
‘What happened to keeping it strictly business?’ Abby asked.
‘I can juggle both.’
He looked into green eyes that had been relaxed and smiling all day but now had turned to sleet.
‘I’ll see you on race day.’ Abby’s voice was tart—he could feel her anger and indignation emanating—and Matteo, who only ever played with the willing, leant back. ‘If you’re still interested, that is.’ She didn’t wait for the driver to open the door for her; instead she got out and slammed the door shut.
You’re not here to seduce, Matteo reminded himself as the driver took his rarely rejected passenger back to his hotel.
Matteo never misread signs.
Today the two of them had blasted a heat to rival a Dubai sun.
It was better this way, he conceded as he climbed out of the car and headed to his luxury suite.
If ever he’d been glad that he hadn’t told Abby about the origins of them, then it was now, because he was seriously interested in the Boucher team.
And, far more worryingly for Matteo, he was also seriously interested in Abby herself.
Which was, for a die-hard bachelor, very troubling indeed.
He was now terribly glad that Abby had said no.
HOW HAD HE ever lived his life without this? Matteo wondered when racing day dawned.
It made the casino look like a playground.
The noise, the crowd, the scent, just the complete buzz was made all the better for having a stake in it, Matteo thought as he made his way to the Boucher shed.
He wondered as to his reception but soon found out he needn’t have.
It was quite refreshing to have no one remotely interested in him.
Pedro was playing video games and just blocking out everyone as he did what he had to do to get himself into the zone. Abby, dressed like some man in bottle-green trousers and top, with a baseball cap on, was doing some last-minute checks on the computer. The team were working on the car and Matteo knew when to stay back.
Of course she noticed him.
Abby had been wondering all week if she’d blown her chance with an amazing sponsor. Absolutely she knew she had been giving out mixed signals the entire time they spent together.
Matteo just didn’t need to know why.
Yes, it was a relief to see him and an even bigger relief when he left without demanding an update or even a minute of anyone’s time.
