Page 35 of A Wedding Negotiation with Her Boss

The colour had complemented her complexion and matched the shade of lip gloss she had chosen to wear. If she’d aimed to garner all his attention, then it had worked perfectly. And he knew that Arturio and Isabella had been looking at him with affectionate approval, because the dark flush slanting his cheekbones and his loss of speech had certainly pointed in the direction of a guy in love. Not true, but what else would they have thought?

And the remainder of the evening had passed in a daze. He’d talked and chatted as normal, autopilot taking over, but his eyes had kept straying to her, taking her in, appreciating every gesture and admiring the way she engaged with people she didn’t know from Adam.

She had some Italian, and used the little she knew to draw in the younger contingent, of which there were eight, and laughing with delight, begging them to correct her.

The cold water barely contained a raging libido, and he was glad he’d invested in some very staid pyjamas, because had he done his usual and slept in only his boxers then his erection would have been way too easy to spot for his liking.

‘Taking no chances, I see,’ he drawled, just as soon as he was in the bedroom and had closed the door behind him.

She’d set up camp on the enormous bed and drawn the curtains around it, with only one side open, so that he could see her safely tucked away with her book in her hand and a tense expression on her face.

‘I’ve put some linen on thechaise longue.’

‘So I see. I’m not anticipating getting much sleep, if I’m honest. A hard five-fivechaise longueisn’t going to work wonders for a guy who’s six-three.’

‘I’m sorry about that,’ she said politely, and Gabriel grinned and sauntered towards her. He thought back to the way she’d blushed and sighed when he’d touched her and he thought of how far they had strayed from their normal working relationship. This arrangement made sense but it certainly didn’t take into account the vagaries of his imagination. Was her imagination doing loops as well? Or had common sense won out at the end of the day?

‘Are you?’

‘No.’

‘Theoretically, I should get the four-poster with the curtains, considering this little adventure is all of your doing.’ Then he laughed at her obvious discomfort and added, placatingly, ‘Fortunately you’re dealing with a gentleman, and I wouldn’t dream of depriving you of your beauty sleep. By the way, you were brilliant tonight. I do believe you charmed your audience.’

Helen was busy wondering how a pair of very sensible navy-blue pyjamas could look so unfairly sexy on a man. She wanted to tear her eyes away but she couldn’t. They surreptitiously roved over the way the sleeves were shoved up to reveal the dark hair on his sinewy forearms, and her mind was all of a tizzy, imagining what would be revealed if the drawstring of the bottoms was loosened.

‘All in a day’s work,’ she said, clearing her throat, which was dry. ‘If you want to lie in, let me know and I’ll make sure I’m out of the room before you.’

‘There’s no need to be quite so formal, Helen, but, if it helps, I’ll be up by five and I’ll hit the ground running. If I’m to work on the place, fix it where it’s in the process of falling down, then I’ll need to get an idea of what work might need doing and start mentally doing some costings. So you can lock the bedroom door behind me and take your time getting ready.’

‘Good. Yes.’

‘There’s a strict itinerary for tomorrow and then we can make noises about going. I haven’t quite confirmed how long we can stay here, but Arturio knows it won’t be longer than three days.’

‘Great.’

‘Additionally—and you’ll be pleased to hear—there’ll be some work to do tomorrow, despite the relaxation criteria laid down. I’ll want you to schedule all the details of what might need to be done to this place so that I can put things in place as soon as possible.’

He raked his fingers through his hair and shot her a crooked smile. ‘Don’t fret, Helen, this will all be over in the blink of an eye, and we’ll put the whole episode firmly behind us. Indeed, I’m thinking of flying straight to Hong Kong from here to start talks on a little company I’m thinking of merging with one of my own. By the time I’m back in London, you’ll be surprised how all of this, everything, will just become a vague and distant memory...’

Time couldn’t pass fast enough, as far as Helen was concerned.

She had no idea what she’d been thinking when she’d recklessly abandoned common sense and chosen a wardrobe to impress. Had she wanted to impress Gabriel—show off her assets?

Of course, she’d seen his eyes widen the evening before when she’d daringly worn red. But if anything he was less touchy-feely than before, now that they were here, and he was true to his word when it came to keeping to his side of the bedroom, as per her instructions.

She’d heard him breathing but the old-fashioned curtains around the four-poster bed had cocooned her from the nerve-racking sight of him on thatchaise longue. Eventually she’d nodded off and he’d been nowhere in sight when she’d awakened the following morning at a little past eight-thirty.

And then there was work—exploring the vast, old mansion, which showed visible signs of decay; jotting down everything he said in a way that made sense only to her. Arturio was with them the whole time. Then they had lunch with Arturio and Isabella, when they discussed myriad possibilities for the place, including restoring one of the wings as a landmark treasure where visitors could pay to visit and sample authentic Italian cuisine in exclusive, traditional surroundings.

And now...another dinner, yet more people to meet, and another dress she wished she hadn’t bought...

Because these outfits made her lose control of her thoughts: made her think of herself as a siren out to seduce her man; made her forget that she was just the secretary obeying an instruction from her boss that appropriate clothing would suit their temporary charade.

She eyed the blue number on the bed with a jaundiced, resigned look. It was a wraparound dress in silk that would fall softly to mid-calf, and in the process expose most of her back. She had felt like a million dollars when she’d tried it on in the boutique and she’d imagined the look on Gabriel’s face when he saw her in it.

Now? Not so much. She hadn’t bargained on wanting too much when she was in these clothes that made her feel sexy and expensive—too much of those dark eyes on her, too much of his hands on her, too much of everything. The confidences they’d shared had bridged a gap between them and it was hard to look at him and remain detached.

She strolled over and held the dress on its hanger up in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror by the window, trying to work out whether her breasts would be visible under the thin silk. She was wearing only her cotton underwear and was barefoot—no bra, no shoes, no anything but her panties, and oblivious to everything but what was going on in her head.

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