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The way he said it all snide and snarky brought an angry flush to her face.
‘He is an innocent man.’
He gave a sigh. ‘This is out of your hands, you must see that?’ The stubborn set of her chin suggested she wasn’t ready to see anything and certainly not sense.
‘Just stay here tonight.’
‘This is your mother’s home—’
He dismissed the objection out of hand. ‘The fact is my mother has never been here. I bought the place hoping that... Not one of my best ideas... Look at that view!’
His comment bemused her; the view was worth several million. ‘It’s beautiful!’
‘Not if you’re agoraphobic.’ It was a classic example of outsourcing the wrong thing. He had just signed the agent’s cheques and hired the most expensive interior designer who had put in a bid—not the one who said she needed to meet the person who would be living here before she accepted the job.
So he got expensive white and glass!
‘Oh!’ Her eyes went from the wide expanse of glass to his face. ‘That’s spaces and—’
‘That’s not being able to step through your front door. My father’s death impacted her mental health and...but you really don’t want to hear this. Now, my proposal.’
‘I don’t want to hide.’
‘Then let’s just think of it as a temporary stepping away, a working holiday.’
Despite herself, she was intrigued. ‘Working...?’
‘My great-grandfather, over his lifetime, accumulated a rather impressive library, some important manuscripts and various...well, I believe that the word unique has been used to describe it, but the last time anyone with any knowledge of the subject saw it was in the sixties. My grandfather has been talking about cataloguing it for years. Last year he tasked me with it, and I haven’t got around to doing anything about it yet.’ He studied her face. ‘I see I have your attention.’
‘That sounds like an incredible opportunity for someone.’
‘How about you?’
He was offering her the professional gig of a lifetime. Did he even realise it? ‘That isn’t possible. My grandfather—’
‘Does not even recognise you.’
The brutal truth made her flinch.
‘Heis safe and I am sure he would want to think of you being safe too?’ He arched a brow. ‘Am I right, he would want the best for you, to protect you?’
‘I can protect myself. Where, as a matter of interest, is the library?’
‘A rather ancient palazzo in Sicily.’
‘Sicily!’ she yelped and chuckled. ‘I couldn’t go to Sicily. My grandfather—’
‘Should he need you, it’s a very short flight away and Sicily is not the moon. We have running water, fibre connection, and—’
‘You live there?’
‘Is that a selling point?’
Thinking of the kiss that was never going to happen again, she looked away, regaining her composure before she stuck her chin out and met his gaze head-on with an ‘I dare you to disbelieve me’ glare. ‘It is idle curiosity.’
‘I agree it is never a good idea to accept an offer until you know the full job description and conditions—’
‘I’m not considering,’ she said, a frown forming on her brow when she heard the almost wistful note in her voice. In her defence, it was the sort of job that anyone with expertise would have given a lot for.
