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‘I don’t flirt with customers,’ Amy said tightly.
‘I’m almost fifty and I’d flirt withhim, given half the encouragement he’s giving you,’ Denise said drily.
Sevastiano watched Oliver Lawson’s daughter with keen attention. She didn’t match his expectations of a former rebellious adolescent who had ended up in foster care: he had expected more attitude, a harder visible edge than she seemed to possess. She looked almost alarmingly innocent but that, he told himself, was probably a front. He had his plan, a simple plan, and to make it work heneededAmy Taylor to play a starring role.
Yet what he hadn’t counted on was the bolt of pure masculine lust that had gripped him the instant he laid eyes on his quarry and saw the name tag, ‘Amy’, on her uniform. She was tiny and curvy with silky golden hair swept up in a long ponytail, little tendrils framing her heart-shaped face, and the most extraordinary eyes, a real living doll. He didn’t think he had ever seen that shade of eyes before, a remarkable violet-blue that glowed against her porcelain skin. There had been no photo of Amy Taylor in the file and he had not expected her to be a beauty, but she was. It would make it easier for him, he told himself, because he wouldn’t be faking desire for her.
For the merest split second, Sev’s conscience twanged. He was going to take an ordinary girl out of her element and give her a whirl and in no other circumstances would he have considered such a move. While the world might consider him a player, he only played with women who knew the score. But he would show Amy a good time and give her a break from her dreary workaday world, he told himself impatiently, exasperated by that instant of doubt. She would enjoy herself. A young woman of twenty-two didn’t look for much more than fun from a man. It was not as though he intended to have sex with her—no, he would not be taking the illusionthatfar, because he wasn’t quite that cruel—but hewouldbe using her as a weapon against the father she had never met.
‘May I treat you to a cup of coffee?’ Sev asked as she approached him with his coffee.
‘Go ahead,’ Denise encouraged Amy, putting her on the spot when she would have politely turned the request down.
After all, Amy didn’t really ‘do’ men in any sense. Even when she was a teenager, dating had been a nerve-racking disappointment. She didn’t like being grabbed or mauled by men who were virtual strangers, and had soon realised that the overly large bust and generous behind she possessed, combined with her small frame, generally attracted the wrong sort of male attention and attitude. She wasn’t the type to jump into bed on a first date either but that seemed to be the expectation from most men she met. After a couple of distressing experiences with men who didn’t like taking no for an answer, her rosy dream of finding a man of her own, a best friend and lover combined, had died. As a rule, she avoided noticing flirtatious signals and kept her life simple, as she saw it, because she was perfectly happy without a man. Indeed, she literally didn’t have a space in her busy work schedule for one.
His dark scrutiny felt intense as she slid behind the table to sit opposite and she ducked her head, murmuring awkwardly, ‘This is not something I do... I mean, sit down with customers.’
Dio mio,she was shy, Sev registered in wonderment, inclined to view her as though she belonged on an endangered species list. ‘Tell me about yourself,’ he urged with greater warmth, seeking to instil confidence and trust.
Colliding with gorgeous liquid-bronze eyes enhanced by inky black lashes, Amy felt butterflies break loose in her tummy and her mouth ran bone dry. Denise slid her favourite coffee onto the table and quietly retreated back behind the counter like a woman unexpectedly finding herself watching a live soap opera. ‘I like animals more than people,’ she heard herself confide, and inwardly winced at that opening sally tripping off her paralysed tongue.
‘As do I. What sort of animals? I like horses.’
‘I’m fondest of dogs although I like cats as well. I’m training to be a veterinary nurse. It’s an apprenticeship and between the surgery and the rehoming charity that runs from the same base and working here, I don’t have much time for other interests. What’s your name?’ she heard herself ask breathlessly.
And it wasn’t even a little surprising, she acknowledged, that she was finding it a challenge to catch her breath that close to such a spectacular guy.
‘Sev, short for Sevastiano. It’s Italian,’ he told her, frantically wondering how on earth to make her relax in his company because nothing he usually said or did with other women seemed to work on her. Accustomed to women who came on to him simply if he smiled, Sev was in foreign territory because when he had tried to compliment her earlier by calling her sweet, she had visibly closed down and backed away, more intimidated by his interest than anything else.
‘I thought I heard a bit of accent...er...not that it’s that noticeable or anything,’ Amy hastened to add, afraid she shouldn’t have commented in that line, fearful it was rude.
‘So, you work for an animal rescue charity. That’s interesting. I’m looking for a dog,’ Sev informed her lazily, setting that last fear to rest. ‘I would like to have a pet.’
Amy’s heart-shaped face lit up and shone as though he had announced he could walk on water. The violet eyes sparkled and for the first time she lifted her head and awarded her whole attention to him. ‘What a coincidence!’ she exclaimed without any shade of irony.
In fact, looking directly into those wide open expressive violet eyes, Sev didn’t think she would be capable of sarcasm. On some level that gentle sincerity reminded him of Annabel, but he shoved that thought out of his head as soon as it appeared. She seemed to be a nice, if possibly naïve, young woman, so naturally he was a little out of his comfort zone, but he wasn’t planning to harm her in any way...was he? Through him, she would discover the identity of her father and possibly even pick up a little more gloss—nothing damaging about those developments, he assured himself smoothly.
‘A very convenient one though,’ Sev commented. ‘Presumably you know all the dogs currently in the shelter?’
‘Well, first and foremost, there’s Hopper, who’s getting old and only has three legs,’ Amy told him, reddening from inner discomfiture because she adored Hopper and didn’t want anyone else to take him home, which was selfish, as she often told herself.
‘Oh, yes... I could—’ she began with animation, until the sound of the door opening and the voices of new customers sent her head twisting round and she rose in haste to do her job. ‘Sorry, I have to work,’ she told him apologetically.
Sev sat over his coffee for several minutes, oddly content, he discovered in surprise, to watch her darting about serving people. She was fast on her feet and quick to smile, exceedingly cute even to his cynical appraisal and noticeably evasive when other men tried to chat to her. And every so often her bright gaze would dart back inhisdirection, as if to reassure herself that he was still around, before swiftly retreating again.Sì, she was hooked, Sev recognised with all the skill of a wolf. She was way too young for him, of course. And when the truth came out, as it certainly would at her father’s country house party, she would be shocked...or maybe not, he reasoned carelessly. Maybe she didn’t much care who her absent father was; she could hardly have much invested in the idea of a man she had never met.
To be fair to her, he would compensate her in some way afterwards, he decided abruptly. He would not simplyuseher, he wouldrewardher for her unintentional assistance. Satisfied by that decision, every concern laid to rest because, when it came to the female sex, Sev believed that sufficient money or a very generous gift could assuage any ill or offence caused, he pushed his coffee cup away and slowly rose to his full height, approaching the counter to settle his bill.
Amy landed at the counter to hand over an order almost simultaneously and, although he was not at all vain, Sev didn’t think it was a coincidence. ‘Sorry, we were interrupted. Where is the shelter you work at? Perhaps you could organise a visit for me,’ he suggested.
The violet eyes lit up and glowed and Sev, who rarely smiled, smiled and absolutely dazzled her. She hovered, momentarily in a daze, and blinked up at him, muttering the name and street the shelter was on, information that he naturally already knew but had had to request to maintain his pretence.
‘This evening, perhaps,’ Sev added, seeing no reason to waste time with the party only a couple of weeks away.
‘Er...y-yes,’ Amy stammered in a near whisper. ‘I’ll be back at the shelter between four and six. I could show you the dogs and see if there is one who suits.’
‘See you then,’ Sev completed, turning on his heel to head for the exit.
‘Itoldyou he was interested,’ Denise hissed over the counter after passing the food order back to the kitchen.
