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'Gosh, I owe you some money for our over¬night stay—'
'I will present you with a bill for all services rendered,' Luca asserted with sardonic cool.
"Thanks...a cheque might bounce if I wrote it today.' But Darcy's green eyes remained anxious. 'When are you planning to move in?' she asked abruptly.
'The day of our wedding,' Luca revealed.
'So what time will you be here, then?' she pressed.
'I'll be at the church in time for the ceremony.' An al¬most dangerous smile curved his wide, sensual mouth. 'You need cherish no fear that I might fail to show. After all, in this materialistic world, you get what you pay for.'
Disturbed at having her secret apprehensions so easily read, Darcy watched him stroll fluidly towards the Porsche. How did he do it? she wondered then in fierce frustration. How did he contrive to make her agonisingly aware of that dynamic masculinity and virile sexuality even as he walked away from her? The angle of his proud dark head, the strong set of his wide shoulders, the sleek twist of his lean hips and the indolent grace of those long, powerful legs as he moved all grabbed and held her attention.
As he opened the car door he glanced back at her.
Caught staring again, Darcy looked as guilty as she felt.
'By the way,' Luca murmured silkily, 'I forgot to men¬tion how impressed I was by that pre-nuptial contract I signed. That we each leave the marriage with exactly what we brought into it is very fair.'
'Sexual equality,' Darcy muttered, unable to take her eyes off the way the sunlight glistened over black hair she already knew felt like luxurious silk beneath her fingertips. And she recalled with a little frisson of helpless pleasure how good it had felt in Margo and Nina's radius to have a man by her side she could trust.
'I'm all for it,' Luca informed her lazily, angling the most shatteringly sensual smile of approval at her.
Even at a distance that fascinating smile had the power to jolt and send a current of all too warm appreciation quiv¬ering through her. As he drove off, Darcy gave him a jerky, self-conscious wave.
'Do you realise how often you have mentioned Luca's name over the past two days?' Karen prompted tautly.
'Luca is rather central to my plans, and we are getting married tomorrow,' Darcy pointed out with some amuse¬ment as she straightened Zia's bed, Karen having arrived in the midst of the bedtime story ritual. 'Love you, sweet¬heart,' she whispered, dropping a kiss on her daughter's smooth brow.
The toddler mumbled a sleepy response and burrowed below the duvet until only a cluster of black curls showed. Darcy switched off the bedside light and walked out into the corridor, leaving the door ajar.
'I'm scared that you're developing a crush on the guy,' Karen delivered baldly, determined to send the message of her concern fully home.
'I think I'm a little too mature for a crush, Karen—'
"That's what's worrying me.' The brunette grimaced. 'You are paying Luca to put on a good act. He's hired help—whatever you want to call it... You can't afford to fall in love with him!'
Darcy looked pained. 'I'm not going to fall in love with him.'
'Then why do you keep on talking about how much he shone at Margo's party?'
'Because I give honour where it's due and he did!'
'Not to mention how wonderful his manners are and how many and varied are the subjects on which he can converse like Einstein!' Karen completed doggedly.
'So I was impressed...' Darcy shrugged, but her cheeks were flushed, her eyes evasive.
'Darcy...you've had a pretty rough time the last couple of years and you're vulnerable,' Karen spelt out uncom¬fortably. 'I'm sure Luca is a really terrific bloke, but you don't know him well enough to trust him yet. In fact, he could be thinking you'll be a darned good catch with this house behind you.'
'He knows I'm in debt up to my eyeballs,' Darcy con¬tradicted.
Confronted with the full extent of her friend's unease, however, Darcy took some time to get to sleep that night. Was it so obvious that she was attracted to Luca? Was it obvious to him? She cringed at the suspicion. But, even so, Karen was mad to suggest that she was in danger of falling for Luca.
She had returned from Venice with a heart broken into so many pieces she had been torn apart by her own turmoil. Falling like a ton of bricks for a complete stranger in the space of one night had been a hard lesson indeed. Her bat¬tered pride, her pain and her despair had taken a very long time to fade. Darcy had not the slightest intention of allow¬ing her undeniable attraction to Luca go one step further than appreciation from a safe distance.
In its day, it had been a costly designer dress. The ivory silk wedding gown hugged Darcy's shoulders, smoothly clung to her slender waist and hips and fanned out into beautifully embroidered panels between mid-thigh and an¬kle. It had belonged to her late mother, and, foolish and uneasy as she felt at using the dress for such a purpose, she thought it would look very odd if she didn't make some effort to put on a show of being a real bride.
