Page 18 of Awakened in Her Enemy's Palazzo

Her eyes had flown to his face. They sank again now, and she felt the heat of shame rise in her cheeks as she thought of that kiss—a price that many women, she was sure, would be happy to pay.

‘Hard negotiator...’

Her blue gaze lifted and her long lashes fanned across her cheeks as she loosed a peal of infectious laughter, thinking of what her family would make of that statement. Her family who, with an eye-roll, called her sentimental and a soft touch on all the occasions when it didn’t suit them that she was.

‘That’s funny?’

She had a good laugh, he decided. Surprisingly deep and robust. It was actually bigger than she was.

Her delicacy made him feel like a bully, which he didn’t like, and yet he had the impression she would have been offended at the idea he needed to make allowances for her physical fragility or her sex.

More tragic than funny, Grace decided with a noncommittal shrug. Because the truth was she loved her family, and she was more amused by their assumptions than crushed.

It suddenly occurred to her how at home Theo would feel with her family. They were all over-achieving thoroughbreds who would have a lot in common, whereas she was just a—

‘Shetland pony.’

Oh, God, I said that out loud!

Her features froze.

‘Pardon.’

‘I was just—thinking of—breeding Shetland ponies...the miniature ones,’ she improvised.

‘You ride?’

She knew he did. There was a framed photo of him as a boy: skinny, all scratched legs and thick wild hair, as he sat bareback astride what looked like an excitable grey.

There was still a lot of leg, but nowadays they were muscled columns. She lifted her eyes from the hair-roughened surface she had been staring at, struggling to see the coltish boy with the mop of tangled hair and the cute gaps in his teeth in the man before her, who was the epitome of raw maleness.

‘One lesson and I fell off. I didn’t get back on.’

‘A mistake.’

She shrugged. ‘Shetlands are more my size,’ she retorted, having almost convinced herself that she wasn’t lying. She really was discovering her hidden depths.

‘So you’re afraid of horses?’

‘No, just of heights.’

‘Good to know you have your weaknesses.’

She got to her feet, ignoring the gleam of speculation in his dark eyes. Was he wondering how he could exploit her weakness for men who looked like him? Her eyes drifted to his mouth. Men who kissed like him?

Abruptly she veiled her eyes with her lashes and hid behind the wings of her pale hair.

‘We have things to discuss,’ he said.

She rolled her eyes and shook back her hair. As if he was telling her something she didn’t already know. It had actually been a lot better when their conversations had taken place through the intermediary of lawyers.

They did have things to discuss, but it would be a lot more comfortable from her point of view if any discussion took place when he had more clothes on.

She wouldn’t have put it past him to have engineered this situation. Actually, she wouldn’t putanythingpast him!

‘I have plans for this morning,’ she said.

His expression was momentarily bemused, as if no one had ever given him the brush-off.

---