Was he opening a can of worms?
She’d been through a tough time...so yes, he’d encouraged her to open up and he couldn’t beat himself up over that because she was in charge of his daughter and it made sense that he get to know her on a more personal basis than an employee in his company. But asking her about her love life...about her sex life...was that a step too far?
Yet he wanted to cross whatever lines should or shouldn’t be crossed. For the very first time in his life.
There was no way he would ever,couldever,notexert complete control over himself, over his decisions, but for the moment, relinquishing control felt like a good option. Everyone needed to take a break now and again and, as breaks went, they didn’t come safer than this.
‘The guy who broke your heart.’
Of course, he knew that she wasn’t going to give him an answer, but he was still taken aback when she said, recovering fast from her confidences of only moments ago, ‘You should tell me what my duties are while I’m on board your yacht. I know I’ll be in charge of Annalise, but we won’t be able to do our usual things and I’m guessing you’ll want to make sure your deal-making isn’t interrupted too much by the presence of your daughter.’
‘Have you always been as private as you are?’
‘Have you always found it hard to let yourself go?’
‘In actual fact,’ Niccolo murmured huskily, ‘I’m exceedingly good at letting myself go, given the right circumstances...’
He looked at her with lazy, brooding eyes, skewering her to the chair and obliterating all thought from her head.
Of course she knew what he was saying!
Was he aiming to shock?
Did her reticence challenge him, somehow? She suspected that perhaps it did. Maybe he enjoyed rustling her feathers. He was a man who had everything, and sometimes people who had everything took pleasure in finding those small things they didn’t have.
Like a nanny in his employ who reacted to everything he said without being able to help herself...a girl who had never quite learnt how to flirt, despite mixing in groups where that was the norm. A girl who, face it, had been slightly out of her depth at her expensive private school, too bookish and too shy, despite her looks, to cultivate the veneer of easy arrogance that so many of her peers had had.
Her parents had been too protective for her to really ever know what it felt like to be free to do exactly what she wanted without caring whether she disappointed them or not.
Did he find something amusing about the fact that she was at odds with her accent?
And yet, he had told her that his background was far from wealthy. Did he now surround himself with the sort of women a life of crazy money had opened up to him?
She lowered her eyes, her long lashes concealing her expression, but she could feel the heavy thudding of her heart at the graphic images his throwaway teasing rejoinder had kickstarted inside her.
‘I’ve made you uncomfortable,’ Niccolo said huskily. ‘I apologise.’
‘You enjoy making me uncomfortable.’ Sophie looked at him, clear eyed, her violet gaze unwavering.
‘Strangely,’ he raised his eyebrows, his dark eyes locking with hers, ‘I find you have a similar effect on me whether you enjoy it or not.’
The silence stretched and stretched until Sophie could almost hear it humming between them.
She licked her lips and this time the fire that was suddenly blazing between them was so hot that Niccolo could almost reach out and touch it.
Was she aware of it?
Ifshewasn’t, then he certainly was, and suddenly it no longer felt like an amusing game.
What the hell was going on?
He breathed in sharply, but it was the deferential knock on the door that severed the connection.
Food. How long had someone been trying to get their attention?
He vaulted upright, relieved when the young lad bowed his way into the suite, taking far too long to explain what salads had been prepared and apologising profusely because he should have been there ten minutes ago, but he was a new member of the crew and had yet to fully familiarise himself with the layout of the yacht.
Niccolo allowed him to ramble on for a while because it was preferable to returning to violet eyes that seemed capable of doing all sorts of uninvited things to his peace of mind.
