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‘There’s only so much self-sacrifice a guy is capable of...’
With the restaurant in front of them, and expensively dressed people walking around them, and the bright blue skies reflecting the mirror shine of the lake, he swivelled her to make her look at him.
‘Let me tell you in detail about all the other things we’re going to get up to... I’m sure you won’t be too surprised by any of it...’
There was one surprise.
After a long, lazy lunch, Sophie found that he’d booked them a room at one of the most exclusive hotels in the small town.
‘I promised that I’d show you just how signed up I am to our little charade...’ he murmured, in a devilishly sexy undertone.
‘We can’t stay here for the night!’ Sophie gasped, walking into a room adorned in sumptuous deep blues and creams and dominated by the most romantic four-poster bed she had ever seen. ‘Leonard—’
‘Who said anything about spending the night?’
They spent two hours luxuriating in a hotel where one night probably cost the same as a month’s worth of her pay.
This was what a woman got when she became the sole focus of this man’s attention. She got luxury and opulence on a biblical scale.
She got envious glances from every woman who walked by.
She got the sort of undivided attention that could make her head swim and make her forget the importance of common sense.
She got a guy committed to a charade he would enjoy while it lasted but discard when the time came without a backward glance.
She got a guy who had the attention span of a toddler when it came to relationships.
She got the one guy in the world she knew she should never have become involved with but, now that she had, could not detach from.
It was a wildly decadent afternoon, with the banks of ivory shutters closed against the world outside.
It was clandestine and sneaky and thrilling.
She feasted on his nakedness, openly admiring the flex of muscle and sinew and the darkness of his olive skin so defined against her much paler English tone.
She gave herself utterly to him as he explored her body. His fingers were magical as they teased her into a complete meltdown, and the world outside was forgotten under the onslaught of their lovemaking.
They surfaced to strewn clothes, into which they both had to climb after luxuriating in a circular bath that was as big as a swimming pool.
‘Now, tell me that wasn’t fun,’ Alessio purred once they were outside, where the blast of cold sunshine was an unpleasant intrusion.
Sophie slipped her arm around his waist, underneath his coat, and could feel the warm vibrancy of his body...the very body that had taken her to the moon and beyond.
It had been fun.
There hadn’t been a second in that bed, with the sounds of real life snuffed out for a couple of hours, that she hadn’t enjoyed.
Alessio had said that it was a straightforward situation. He’d told her to trust him—that bridges could be crossed later. Living in the moment would be good for Leonard...it was just one small lie, one tiny reworking of the truth...
They hadn’t asked for this situation, but it had happened and it would be fine.
So why did she feel uneasy? Was it because she was inherently cautious? Was there such a thing astoocautious? Would loosening up a little rub out her unease?
Did it matter? They were where they were, after all.
It was nearly five in the afternoon by the time they made it back to Alessio’s villa, and before they could ring the doorbell Leonard was there, pulling open the door to greet them with a broad smile as he hustled them in.
‘Nice afternoon?’ he asked.
