Page 3 of The Housekeeper and the Brooding Billionaire

It was confirmed by his body’s abrupt, almost violent response, a rush of what he could only label masculine appreciation. Because he refused to be more brutally honest about that sudden surge of blood and testosterone.

Alessio widened his stance, locking his knees, enduring a sensation like the thawing of snow-numbed flesh, painful yet invigorating. It had been years since he’d experienced anything like this.

Had his physical responses been frozen along with his heart?

He strode forward, furious with this interloper who’d mystified and aroused him, drawing responses he’d never expected to feel again. Never wanted to feel again.

‘You’re trespassing. Go away.’

It emerged as a growl from his tight throat. So be it. He, more than most of his ancestors, deserved the ancient, whispered appellation, Dragon of the Lake.

Yet the woman moved closer, swinging her arms wide as she waded. Sunlight caught the rest of her now, revealing hair the colour of the old gold jewellery locked in the vault below thecastello.

Alessio scowled. Didn’t she understand Italian? He repeated himself in English.

Even then she didn’t stop until she stood before him, ankle-deep in water.

‘I understood the first time. But I’m not trespassing. I’m Charlotte Symonds.’

Then she smiled.

Charlotte kept her smile pinned on as she looked up into his sombre face. Years of practice with demanding guests came to her aid, even if a warning voice cried out that this man was unlike any challenging hotel guest she’d ever had.

He was in a league of his own.

She breathed deep, searching for the calm that would help her through this meeting, and saw his gaze flicker as her chest rose. Something flashed in his deep green eyes that sent a jolt of heat to her very core.

The hair at the back of her nape prickled at her unexpected response. She wasn’t beautiful, but she’d encountered her share of male interest and had perfected the art of the deft brush-off.

At the moment she felt anything but deft. And for the first time in forever, her instinct wasn’t to deliver a brush-off. That derailed both her smile and her confidence.

‘I don’t care who you are,’ he growled. ‘This is private property.’

He crossed his arms, his stance pure challenge, as if preparing to repel her physically if she tried to get past him.

The idea was ludicrous. His cheeks might look hollowed beneath those high, aristocratic cheekbones, but he was tall and powerfully built. When he stood like that, feet wide and crossed arms emphasising the width of his chest, he looked immoveable and impervious. Not a man she could tackle physically.

‘What are you smiling at?’

Hastily she flattened her mouth. ‘I’m not smiling. It must have been a trick of the light.’ She reached out to shake hands. ‘How do you do, ConteAlessio? I’m—’

‘Not welcome here.’

That hard, beautiful face with its long, sharp planes and intriguing symmetry turned to stone.

Except for the pulse thudding at his temple. It proved he was flesh and blood. As did the dark shadowed jaw and shiny tangle of untamed black hair. The combination should have made him look like a scruffy pirate. And therewassomething piratical about him, the air of a man who’d break every rule without a second thought if it suited him. If it meant getting what he wanted. His expression told her he was used to getting exactly what he wanted.

Despite the chill air, a curl of heat low in her abdomen made Charlotte frown. As if she found such ruthlessness arousing, though she abhorred bossy men who expected to get their own way.

Instead of looking scruffy, the man before her looked...indomitable. Imposing. Intriguing.

Incredibly sexy.

Charlotte should have been prepared. But the old photos she’d seen—of him clean-shaven in a bespoke suit, the epitome of success, or impeccably casual and stylish boarding a private yacht—hadn’t revealed his raw energy. The stark, grab-at-the-throat magnetism.

She swallowed hard, trying to snatch control of her thoughts.

‘If you don’t leave immediately, I’ll personally see you off the premises.’

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