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Her lashes fluttered up in disbelief. ‘That’s weird.’
‘Why? Neither of us was in a hurry to marry and we weren’t lovers either, so it wasn’t the unsavoury agreement you are obviously imagining,’ Leo derided.
We weren’t lovers. That phrase repeated inside Grace’s brain and stunned her. ‘You mean, you and Marina...er...never—?’
‘Never, but that is confidential.’
Grace was shocked into silence, recalling Marina’s comment about Leo’s indifference and finally understanding its source. That Leo had been content to stand back and allow Marina to do as she liked during their engagement spoke volumes about the chilling level of his detachment and it was hardly surprising that the brunette had ultimately decided that she would be happier with another man. And Marina’s statement that Leo was bad for her ego? Oh, yes, Grace finally understood that and the significant part it might well play in her own future. Would Leo be so detached with her that he froze her out too?
The jet landed in Tuscany and they transferred into a helicopter for the last leg of their journey. By that stage Grace was fed up bundling her long dress round her legs to cope with steps and looking forward to being free of its confines, not to mention her perilously high heels. She stole a tentative glance at Leo’s hard bronzed profile, recalling his declared intention to remove her dress. Steamy warmth engulfed her treacherous body, anticipation as potent as an electrical storm at its core. But then desire shimmied like intoxicating alcohol through her veins when Leo was close. A heady combination of memory and the physical craving he evoked put her on edge, mortified by her weakness and ill at ease with her own physical reactions.
Leo lifted her out of the helicopter when they landed and she straightened to look in wonder at the building a hundred yards from them. ‘It’s a castle!’
‘Yes, but a small one. Built by a wealthy eccentric in the nineteen twenties and bought by my mother. She owned a lot of property round the world. I turned the most promising into businesses and sold the rest,’ he volunteered, walking her towards the curiously elegant castle fashioned of cream-coloured stone and set in the midst of beautiful gardens. ‘At one time I planned to turn the castle into a small exclusive hotel but once I had renovated it I decided to keep it as a bolt-hole.’
‘It’s hot for this time of year,’ Grace remarked in pleasant surprise, moving into the cool shadow of the tree-lined stone path that led to the castle entrance. Back in London late summer was fading into evenings with steadily dropping temperatures while here in Tuscany the roses were still blooming and the bite of autumn’s approach had yet to register.
A cheerful housekeeper chattering in Italian met them on the doorstep. Leo introduced her as Josefina and responded smoothly in the same language before escorting Grace across the highly polished floor tiles in the hall and up the stone staircase. A selection of doors led off the wide landing but Leo headed straight for the set of double doors in the centre and into a massive bedroom with a turret at either corner. ‘Wow,’ she whispered, pulling away from him to explore the turrets, finding a bathroom in one and a fully furnished dressing room in the other.
An ebony brow lifted, Leo watched in amusement, enjoying the expressions crossing her mobile face while their cases were being stashed behind them. ‘You like?’
‘I love,’ Grace confided, kicking off the high heels, which pinched. She brushed the petal of an exquisite white lily in a dramatic floral arrangement, trailed an admiring finger along the gleaming wooden surface of an antique chest of drawers and studied the big bed with its snowy white linen and ice-blue silky throw. ‘It’s so romantic.’
‘I don’t do romance,’ he reminded her, unbuttoning his shirt, having long since discarded his jacket and tie.
‘Bite the bullet, Leo,’ Grace advised in amusement. ‘This is a very romantic setting.’
Leo stiffened, but looking away from Grace at that moment wasn’t an option; she looked so impossibly appealing. She had taken her hair down during the flight and the brilliantly colourful strands tumbled luxuriantly round her slim shoulders, glinting like her metallic dress in the sunlight coming through the windows. He moved forward, stepped behind her and ran down her zip, peeling the fabric back slowly from her shoulders while planting a kiss on the pale flesh he exposed.
