Sophie and the Scorching Sicilian by Kim Lawrence Page B

.’
    â€˜It…’ She stopped her brows drawing together in a disconcerted frown as she pulled herself into a sitting position. ‘What did you just call me?’
    Lying on his back Marco tucked one hand behind his head and looked up at her. Her heart stumbled and skipped a beat as his eyes brushed her own before sliding down her body. ‘My imagination does not require props.’ It required a leash! Just looking at that creamy skin made him want to bury his face in her softness and taste all that sinfully tempting sweetness.
    Feeling several hundred degrees hotter than she had when she had removed her outer layers to cool off Sophie looked around frantically for something to cover herself.
    â€˜It’s warm, and I was…’
    â€˜Relax.’
    She dragged her eyes from his mouth and got as far as his shadowed jaw.
    â€˜I am relaxed!’ she heard herself bellow defiantly. ‘Totally relaxed.’
    â€˜Good…no, don’t move yet.’ He didn’t catch her arm but his fingers grazed it; her skin was so sensitized that her nerveendings reacted to the movement of air. ‘This is comfortable.’ He flexed his shoulders.
    Sophie, who felt ready to crawl out of her skin, gave a grunt that could at a push have passed as agreement.
    â€˜I haven’t been in the saddle for a month and I’m feeling it.’
    He would look good on a horse. He would look good on pretty much anything. ‘If you’re stiff you should take a hot bath.’
    â€˜I thought it was a cold shower?’
    That was it; she was out of here. His earthy laughter ringing in her ears, she tumbled out—elegance was not an option—of the waterbed.
    Marco followed suit and stood there, dragging a hand through his dark hair.
    Sophie rounded on him. ‘I suppose you think that was funny.’
    Bosom heaving, creamy satiny skin, freckles, flashing eyes and that mouth —the woman was killing him. ‘I simply mean that there is no hot water at the moment as we have a plumbing situation.’
    Sophie said, ‘Oh!’ and felt stupid.
    â€˜How did your exploration go? Do you have any questions?’
    â€˜Yes,’ Sophie admitted, thinking, Do you still love your wife?
    â€˜I need to know just how far you want me to go….’ She closed her eyes as the mortified colour rushed to her cheeks; she couldn’t seem to open her mouth without a double entendre escaping. ‘With the palazzo, I mean. Do I need to run every idea by you or…?’
    â€˜I am totally in your hands, cara .’
    His mockery stung. Did he think that just because she was plain and plump and probably didn’t even register a blip on his chart of female and desirable that she didn’t have feelings?
    His smile faded, leaving in its place an expression nothing like mockery, an expression that sent her sensitive stomach into a spiralling dive.
    â€˜You’re a very attractive woman.’
    It was an accusation and one she didn’t know how to respond to.
    â€˜I mention this because you’re going to be living under this roof while the place is filled with workmen—Italian workmen, Sicilian workmen—who need little encouragement.’
    Having delivered this lecture he turned abruptly and walked out of the room, leaving her staring in bewilderment after him.

CHAPTER NINE
    S OPHIE listened quietly, betraying no emotion while the man spoke, stabbing the air with an accusing finger towards her, as his attack grew more overtly personal.
    Very aware of the eyes watching, though not of the pair of green ones that observed from the shadows, Sophie took a deep breath. She knew that if she did not establish her authority now she never would.
    Since day one Franco’s resentment at being answerable to a woman and one who was young had been obvious. He made no secret of the fact that he thought he ought to be managing the project and he had lost no opportunity to