It took all the willpower she had to stand her ground. Six months and still her heart wrenched at the sight of him.
Finally she mastered herself, placing her briefcase on the gleaming table. It snicked open and she pulled out her neat précis of the Villa’s details as well as her tablet, ready to answer every question about the gracious old hotel.
When there was nothing else to distract her she took a deep breath and lifted her head, only to fall into that molten pewter stare that once had so effortlessly bewitched her.
Now it held no softness, just the threat of retribution.
CHAPTER TWO
‘THE VILLA BELLINI is a remarkable old hotel, as I’m sure you’re aware.’ Jenna planted her damp palms on the table and spoke to a point just over Fabrizio’s shoulder. ‘It’s maintained market share despite economic uncertainties that impacted on tourism performance elsewhere.’
Silence.
She paused and glanced down at her carefully prepared information. Not that she needed it. As relieving manager of the hotel, she knew this by heart.
‘What, in particular, did you want to know about the Villa?’
Again that brooding silence. Was it imagination or did she really feel Fabrizio’s gaze slide down from her face to her cleavage? Her breasts tingled and seemed to swell and she sucked in a furtive breath, willing herself not to react.
‘We could start,’ he said at last, his voice ringing in accusation, ‘with why you ran from me like a thief in the night.’
Jenna’s head jerked up. ‘Hardly a thief.’ She raised her brows, remembering the wardrobe of sexy, couture dresses she’d left behind, the jewelled sandals, dainty evening bags and slinky bikinis. Especially the bikinis. Fabrizio had enjoyed those so much. Heat flared anew beneath her skin as her head filled with a memory of the pair of them entwined by the pool, Fabrizio deftly peeling away a bikini he’d bought her. It was made entirely of string and gilt beads.
He shrugged and she kept her face on his deep red tie rather than the rise and dip of those broad shoulders.
‘You ran without a word.’
‘I did not run!’ She met his eyes and a jolt of adrenaline shot through her, tingling right to her soles in her black patent stiletto-heeled shoes. ‘And I left you a note.’
‘An email.’ His mouth twisted in a sneer. ‘What way is that to end a relationship?’
‘Is that what you called it? A relationship? How cosy that sounds.’ It was Jenna’s turn to curl her lip. Ice frosted her blood as she recalled how he’d dismissed her and all they’d shared with such easy contempt. ‘As far as I’m concerned, an email was entirely appropriate to end our
arrangement
.’
Fabrizio’s eyes narrowed to slits but she refused to back down.
‘An email that said nothing except that you’d decided to leave.’ A pulse ticked in his jaw and Jenna felt a moment’s triumph that she’d made Fabrizio Armati
feel
something. Even anger was a step up from simple sexual desire.
Jenna straightened, smoothing her clammy palms down her pencil skirt. His eyes followed the movement and she quickly grasped her hands behind her back, unnerved that he should knock her off balance so easily.
She’d spent the meeting with her gaze locked on his arrogant, beautiful face, eagerly memorising details already imprinted on her brain. His heavy-lidded eyes that made her think of the sultry passion they’d shared. The groove at one corner of his mouth that deepened when he smiled. The tiny, jagged scar on his chin that he’d acquired in a childhood accident.
It was infuriating that even now she found herself eating him up with her eyes.
‘What explanation do you have?’ He lounged back in his leather chair, but his eyes were sharp as lasers. ‘Why did you go like that?’
For a moment Jenna was tempted to blurt out everything. But that would serve no purpose. What she’d thought they’d shared hadn’t been real. Besides, she refused to reveal how much
Finally she mastered herself, placing her briefcase on the gleaming table. It snicked open and she pulled out her neat précis of the Villa’s details as well as her tablet, ready to answer every question about the gracious old hotel.
When there was nothing else to distract her she took a deep breath and lifted her head, only to fall into that molten pewter stare that once had so effortlessly bewitched her.
Now it held no softness, just the threat of retribution.
CHAPTER TWO
‘THE VILLA BELLINI is a remarkable old hotel, as I’m sure you’re aware.’ Jenna planted her damp palms on the table and spoke to a point just over Fabrizio’s shoulder. ‘It’s maintained market share despite economic uncertainties that impacted on tourism performance elsewhere.’
Silence.
She paused and glanced down at her carefully prepared information. Not that she needed it. As relieving manager of the hotel, she knew this by heart.
‘What, in particular, did you want to know about the Villa?’
Again that brooding silence. Was it imagination or did she really feel Fabrizio’s gaze slide down from her face to her cleavage? Her breasts tingled and seemed to swell and she sucked in a furtive breath, willing herself not to react.
‘We could start,’ he said at last, his voice ringing in accusation, ‘with why you ran from me like a thief in the night.’
Jenna’s head jerked up. ‘Hardly a thief.’ She raised her brows, remembering the wardrobe of sexy, couture dresses she’d left behind, the jewelled sandals, dainty evening bags and slinky bikinis. Especially the bikinis. Fabrizio had enjoyed those so much. Heat flared anew beneath her skin as her head filled with a memory of the pair of them entwined by the pool, Fabrizio deftly peeling away a bikini he’d bought her. It was made entirely of string and gilt beads.
He shrugged and she kept her face on his deep red tie rather than the rise and dip of those broad shoulders.
‘You ran without a word.’
‘I did not run!’ She met his eyes and a jolt of adrenaline shot through her, tingling right to her soles in her black patent stiletto-heeled shoes. ‘And I left you a note.’
‘An email.’ His mouth twisted in a sneer. ‘What way is that to end a relationship?’
‘Is that what you called it? A relationship? How cosy that sounds.’ It was Jenna’s turn to curl her lip. Ice frosted her blood as she recalled how he’d dismissed her and all they’d shared with such easy contempt. ‘As far as I’m concerned, an email was entirely appropriate to end our
arrangement
.’
Fabrizio’s eyes narrowed to slits but she refused to back down.
‘An email that said nothing except that you’d decided to leave.’ A pulse ticked in his jaw and Jenna felt a moment’s triumph that she’d made Fabrizio Armati
feel
something. Even anger was a step up from simple sexual desire.
Jenna straightened, smoothing her clammy palms down her pencil skirt. His eyes followed the movement and she quickly grasped her hands behind her back, unnerved that he should knock her off balance so easily.
She’d spent the meeting with her gaze locked on his arrogant, beautiful face, eagerly memorising details already imprinted on her brain. His heavy-lidded eyes that made her think of the sultry passion they’d shared. The groove at one corner of his mouth that deepened when he smiled. The tiny, jagged scar on his chin that he’d acquired in a childhood accident.
It was infuriating that even now she found herself eating him up with her eyes.
‘What explanation do you have?’ He lounged back in his leather chair, but his eyes were sharp as lasers. ‘Why did you go like that?’
For a moment Jenna was tempted to blurt out everything. But that would serve no purpose. What she’d thought they’d shared hadn’t been real. Besides, she refused to reveal how much
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