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‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’
Sophie stared at him in dismay. She realised how much she didn’t want to hurt him, even though she knew that he was immune to being hurt by anything she said.
His opinion mattered to her.
Hemattered to her.
Had her lack of experience brought her to this dangerous point? What was she going to do about it?
Rather, how urgent was the need to do something about it? Just at the moment that need felt pressing.
‘How shallow do you think I am?’ he asked.
She tried to look down, but Alessio tilted her chin so that she was forced to meet his stare.
‘I don’t think you’re shallow. In fact,’ she said with searing honesty, ‘you’re one of the most complex human beings I’ve ever met in my entire life.’
Alessio relaxed and half smiled, and Sophie was stupidly pleased that some of the tension had been erased.
‘Why did you find what I said...offensive?’ she asked.
‘I’m not the kind of guy who decides to sleep with a woman just because she happens to be there. I slept with you because you’re sexy as hell. You’re smart, you’re funny, and you’re one of the most interesting women I’ve ever known.’
Sophie smiled back at him. ‘Yet, you’ve known me for a while,’ she pointed out gently.
‘Have I?’
‘I’ve been working for your father for over two years.’
‘You’ve always been very careful to keep yourself hidden from me.’
‘Have I?’
‘I’ve said this before. You’ve made a point of avoiding me. Why? And don’t tell me it was to give me quality time with my father. Things have improved in leaps and bounds between us, but for a very long time, quality time with him wasn’t a goal of mine.’
Sophie stilled. They had become close. And as that had happened, as her defences had fallen, he had gained insights into her. He was sharp and he was experienced when it came to the opposite sex. Vague mumbling about avoiding him so that he could bond with his dad no longer held water.
‘So, Sophie,’ he drawled, ‘did you avoid me because I made you nervous? Why would I have made you nervous?’ He grinned and brushed his finger across her cheek. ‘Maybe even then you were attracted to me...is that it? Was that why my fiery tigress was once a meek and mild little mouse?’
‘You have an ego the size of a continent, Alessio,’ she told him. But he was flustering her, and she knew that her colour was bright.
‘It’s a blessing and a curse.’
‘Like I said...’ her voice was an insistent hiss ‘...it was never my place to join you and your dad for dinner...or...or come into the sitting room to have coffee or...or brandy or whatever...’
Alessio tilted his head to one side and looked at her for a while in silence, his dark eyes assessing.
‘Maybe I’m just not very confident in myself,’ she said, breaking the silence to move the conversation on, because his silence was getting under skin. ‘I can’t understand why you would be attracted to me.’
‘Now you know.’
‘Still, there are huge differences between us...’ She took a deep breath and ploughed on with reality, rather than giving in to the rush of pleasure which was as powerful as an injection of adrenaline. ‘And the reason I asked whether you’d be heading back to London as soon as we get back is that I think I can start dropping hints to your father...you know...about those differences.’
Alessio frowned. He’d been basking in the pleasing satisfaction of wondering whether Sophie had always fancied him. He’d been musing on what he might have done had he been aware of that fact.
What if he had known that she’d been casting hot little sidelong glances in his direction?
The woman had practically made herself invisible every time he had made the trip to Yorkshire to see his father. She’d mastered the art of background dressing.
