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Confident that she could handle whatever this night brought without falling into her mother’s trap of thinking
that a man wanted more from her than he did, Poppy glanced around the opulent space, her eyes lingering on two fashionably dressed women with wistful smiles on their faces.
Wondering if they had recognised a celebrity of some sort, Poppy followed the line of their stares to find that it was Sebastiano who had captured their appreciative gazes.
No doubt they were noting the powerful width of his shoulders beneath his dinner jacket, the thick curl of his hair that would soon need a trim and those piercing green eyes he had just turned her way.
Poppy’s breath stalled as his lips curved into a lazy smile, his gaze raking down over her in a slow burn.
Was there ever a man so gloriously male? So sensually appealing? No doubt he’d had so many women give themselves to him, just as she had done, that he couldn’t even remember their names.
She noticed one of the women eyeing her suspiciously, the other more openly hostile.
Don’t worry, ladies, she wanted to say. I know how just the look of him makes a woman’s heart skip a beat but he’ll be back on the market soon.
And in real life they were exactly the type he would choose. Beautiful. Refined. Elegant.
A dismal feeling jolted inside her chest. By contrast, she was just an ordinary girl who had stumbled into an extraordinary situation.
Poppy watched him walk towards her, his stride powerfully male, sexual intent etched into every long, measured stride. For a moment she felt real fear invade her limbs. Everything inside her said that this couldn’t end well. That it wouldn’t end well.
‘Ready, intern?’
He planted himself in front of her, shutting out the world behind him. She knew on some level that she was mad to put herself in the way of this freight train but she also knew that she would.
Not trusting that her voice wouldn’t tremble when she spoke, she nodded, letting Sebastiano usher her outside to their waiting water taxi.
Excitement coursed through her and she turned her face up to the soft fall of snowflakes that fell softly like confetti from the sky. ‘Oh,’ she breathed. ‘How magical.’ Impulsively she curved her arm through Sebastiano’s, snuggling close. ‘Can we walk?’
‘Walk?’ Sebastiano looked at her as if she’d just asked him to swim.
‘Yes.’ She laughed at his pained expression. ‘Please, Bastian. It’s so beautiful with the snow falling all around us and I don’t know if I’ll ever make it back to Venice again.’
Sebastiano bit back a curse, sexual need pushing him to get her back to the hotel as quickly as possible. ‘Of course.’
He fell into step beside her, an easy silence enfolding them as the enchantment of Venice wrapped them in its hazy black magic.
‘Where are we?’ she asked, looking around.
‘Venezia,’ he drawled.
‘You do have a sense of humour.’ She laughed, punching his shoulder lightly. Sebastiano smiled, enjoying the comfortable feeling between them.
‘Are you warm enough?’
‘Yes. And I meant where in Venice?’ She pressed closer to his body and he tucked her against his shoulder. ‘Where does this lane lead to?’
She pointed over a small wooden bridge and down a dimly lit alleyway. Sebastiano shrugged. ‘Let’s find out.’
They wandered aimlessly, traversing a series of narrow storybook canals and tiny lanes with elaborate shop fronts below lighted apartments, the smell of the sea heavy in the night air.
‘Oh, that’s a beautiful building.’
‘The Peggy Guggenheim Museum,’ Sebastiano said. ‘It has a wonderful sculpture garden at the back.’
‘The Nesher Garden,’ Poppy provided. ‘Eleanore said they have a new controversial artwork. It sounds interesting.’
‘Want to take a look?’
