Page 19 of The Virgin's Dance with the Devil
“And I bet I was the kind of boy you avoided.”
“You were one of the bad boys, so yes. I’ve always been frightened of rule breakers.”
“Because you’re frightened of the temptation we bring?”
Having never considered this, she thought about it and muttered, “Maybe.”
“Do you know what I think?”
She shook her head.
“That if we’d known each other as children, I’d have teased you mercilessly. I’d have pulled your hair and called you names and made you cry.”
“Why would you have done that?”
“Because I would have fancied you, and that’s how boys express their feelings to girls, and I would have shown off mercilessly around you too. I would have climbed the highest tree or taken any dare in the hope of getting your attention and impressing you.”
It was an image that made her smile. She’d known boys like Rico. They’d been the risk takers, the boys whose cheekiness meant they got away with more than other kids did, but who had an edge about them everyone instinctively knew not to mess with. “If we’d known each other as children, you wouldn’t have even noticed me. I was the girl who spent her lunch breaks hiding in the school library. I was invisible toeveryone.” Whereas he’d been the boy all the girls, good and bad, wanted. The air of danger about him made him close to being irresistible, and it was painful to recognise she was no more immune to him than all the women – and there had been many of them – who’d come before her.
“I noticed you the moment you arrived at Siena and Niccolo’s engagement party. You could never be invisible to me.”
Her cheeks warmed all over again.
The first thing she noticed when they reached the beach was that all the drapes of the Bali beds were tied back.
Apart from the lone barman, they had the beach entirely to themselves.
Chapter Six
Cocktails and food ordered,they grabbed some towels and chose the same Bali bed closest to the sea. As they were spreading the towels out, Marisa caught sight of the mammoth yacht sailing past their cove, close enough for her to see figures on it.
“Is that your father’s yacht?” she asked.
Rico narrowed his eyes to see more clearly, then broke into a grin. “It is. They won’t be back for hours.”
“They picked the right day for it,” she murmured as equal amounts of excitement and terror shot through her veins at how very isolated they were. Those feelings ramped up when Rico nonchalantly stripped off his t-shirt; ramped up and thickened her blood.
His body was incredible, smooth and muscular, the only hair on his torso running in a line beneath his navel to…
For a moment, she felt all giddy.
Climbing onto the bed, he stretched himself out and patted the space beside him with a smile that made her bones melt enough for her to want to bolt.
As if sensing her fear, he smiled and gently said, “Remember, my angel, I don’t bite.”
She couldn’t move her mouth to quip about him only biting if she wanted him to.
There was a growing part of her thatwantedhim to bite.
Making no effort to remove her sundress, her heart a loud drum in her ears, she got onto the bed and hugged her knees.
Their lunch arrived. This time, she barely managed half of what she’d eaten the day before. Rico had no such problem, devouring her leftovers as he eyed her speculatively.
After putting their plates on his side table, he lay himself onto his side facing her. “You look frightened.”
She pulled a tight smile and hugged her knees even tighter.
She jolted when he stroked a finger over her shoulder just below the spaghetti strap of her dress. “You know I would never hurt you, don’t you?”
