didn’t have to ask. It was obvious. She could blame the storm, or the stress of being on her own, but what she had done was wrong. This very male man had seen it as an open invitation to tempt her with his eyes, his voice and the brush of his hand in passing. She could hardly expect him to do anything else after the reception she’d given him, but he must be put right straight away.
She sponged Vettor again, and gave him a cold drink. After settling him down, she sat on the edge of the bed and stroked his face until he was deeply asleep. It took quite a while. When she got up to creep out of the room, she was amazed to see Marco was barely a handspan away from her, a lazy smile in his eyes. He had been there all the time, watching.
Everything within Cheryl wanted him to pull her into a world of shameless passion. The feeling of relief when she’d fallen into his arms on the doorstep had been indescribable. Being held in that firm grip and reassured by his warm voice had been one moment of perfect calm in the midst of the storm. Now her body was throbbing with his presence. Strange sensations were making themselves felt, low down in her body. She had to fight the urge to brush her hand over a place that was fast filling up with liquid warmth.
The nearness of Marco reminded her of things she had wanted to experience a long time ago. But none of her dreams had come true, only nightmares. Her relationship with Nick had ended in disaster. That love rat had treated Cheryl’s emotions as badly as he’d treated her body. The experience had made her retreat from life, hiding away in her work among children. It was the one place she could be sure no one would ever hurt her again. Now this pirate of a man, Marco Rossi, seemed to promise things she was scared to experience.
His eyes focused on her full lips, and Cheryl felt her cheeks begin to pinken. ‘It looks as if you’re going to be one of my most capable members of staff.’ He spoke with easy charm, glancing back as he strolled towards the bedroom door.
Cheryl stared after him, finding his voice softly arousing. What did it all mean? Every word he spoke acted like an aphrodisiac on her. She had never received any praise from Nick. Marco’s confidence in her sent Cheryl’s spirits into overdrive.
Her mind and body tussled for control. She felt like kicking against every rule. Marco Rossi’s warm stability and the promise of his kisses made her want to go and offer herself to him right now. But her past cast such a long shadow. She had been a total failure in her one and only relationship, and now it looked as though she had totally misread the signs. Marco didn’t want to kiss her at all. If he had, he would have taken up where he’d left off, wouldn’t he? Her mother must be right. Thinking about sex blinded Cheryl to common sense.
I have had a very narrow escape, she thought. Making a fool of herself in front of Marco would have been agony. She couldn’t bear to be hurt again, so instinct quickly chained up her impulses. It nailed her feet firmly to the ground, and right now that was exactly what she needed. But still her nerves taunted her. How could she trust her reactions to him? He would be spending the rest of the night here. Not far from Vettor’s room, she thought, putting one hand to the neck of her shirt as though it was suddenly too hot and restricting.
Behave yourself! Girls like you never… Her mother’s voice suddenly rang through her head, leaving Cheryl to fill in the rest. It was the voice of cold, hard reality and it punctured all her dreams. As usual.
Once again Cheryl retreated into her work. There was no alternative. She knew she was brilliant at her job, and it was so much safer to stick with what she knew.
According to Nick, she was frigid. He had called her a total loser in love. It had been horrible enough to fail with a bully like him. She ought to be thanking her lucky stars Marco Rossi hadn’t kissed her after all. How much worse it would be to let a gorgeous man like him discover how bad she was at…
Cheryl swallowed hard. She couldn’t even bring herself to think the word. She would just have to put a lid on her lust. If she didn’t, it was sure to lead to disaster.
Thinking back to the tour she had been given earlier in the day by his chef, Cheryl followed Marco out of the nursery suite. Only then did she remember the laundry room was in the same direction as his suite. It might have been better to give Marco a head start. But it was too late now—he must have heard her close the door. She could hardly hang around in the corridor. It would seem suspicious. Keeping her head down, and without looking in the direction he had gone, she put on her most efficient voice.
‘I’ll put some towels out for you in your suite…Marco.’
His name was the only informality she could manage.
‘Fine.’
She expected to see him stride off. That would have given her a good excuse to hang back. She was so much shorter than him, and the distance between them would stifle her embarrassment—or so she thought. Instead, Marco waited for her to catch him up. Shortening his stride, he fell in step beside her. He was close enough for her to sense the musky, warm male smell about him. It tantalised her nostrils until she had to glance at his face. As usual he was smiling, but it was to himself now, not her.
‘I never thought it would be a relief to find a woman whose eyes don’t light up every time she says the word Marco!’ he murmured.
‘Don’t worry, I’m not unique. Graduates from the academy for advanced childcare professionals I attended are trained to deal with celebrity parents at close quarters,’ Cheryl replied, glad he had hit on a bland subject. ‘Our illusions soon go. We stop noticing people like you as individuals. In my experience, they all treat their children the same way in any case,’ she finished, managing a barb.
‘Oh? And you’re so much better than they are, I suppose?’ he probed.
‘That’s why they employ top-class nannies like me, yes,’ Cheryl retorted, but regretted it straight away. Marco Rossi’s expression had hardened. She knew then it was a mistake to go on digging in the knife over Vettor.
Luckily, they reached the door to Marco’s suite before either of them could react to her words. Cheryl stood aside. It was a good excuse for another change of tone.
‘I’ll go and fetch you some towels and pyjamas—’
He exploded with laughter. ‘I don’t need pyjamas! I haven’t worn those since I left home as a teenager!’
‘Then what—’ Cheryl began, and stopped. What else would Marco Rossi wear to bed, apart from that crooked smile of his? Flustered, she looked down at the toes of her shoes and blushed.
He stopped laughing the moment she realised her mistake. ‘Just towels will be fine.’
Only gentle amusement tinged his words now. It gave Cheryl the confidence to look up and carry on.
‘I’ll be as quick as I can, although I must look in on Vettor every few minutes. He’ll be so pleased to know you’re here when he wakes up properly!’ she said, hoping it was true.
‘When are the electricity people turning up?’ Marco strolled past her into his room, already peeling off his sodden jacket.
‘They wouldn’t give me an exact time.’
‘In that case, you concentrate on Vettor. I’ll tackle the workmen when they get here.’
‘But you haven’t had any sleep!’
‘Don’t worry about that. A shower
