Page 18 of The Maid Married To The Billionaire

‘Mum was a care assistant. She didn’t earn enough to keep Mavis maintained. Keeping heronthe road was a big enough challenge.’

‘I want another favour from you,’ Enzo said bluntly. ‘But I know you’re not in the mood to hear it, right now.’

CHAPTER FIVE

‘I’MNOTAmoody person!’ Skye proclaimed defensively.

‘Either that or you’re a little puritanical,’ Enzo retorted. ‘We shared a single kiss, nothing more.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Skye framed shakily, reaching for her morning coffee only to meet Enzo’s hand instead. Long brown fingers enclosed hers in silence.

Regrettably that silence thrummed like a drumbeat inside her and she dropped her eyes to the table top as her insides liquefied at even that minor physical contact. She felt as if she were burning up and the ache between her legs appalled her. It was exactly that same feeling that had made her want to throw herself at him the night before. No guy had ever made her feel like that, certainly not her ex. It was as terrifying as it was thrilling and it was her problem,nothis.

‘What’s the favour?’

‘It’s a big one this time but, as I own the Blackthorn Hotel, youcouldaccommodate me, if you chose to do so, because I can free up your sister to take care of the kids while we’re away.’

‘Youownthe Blackthorn Hotel?’ Skye studied him, eyes wide. ‘I thought your family business was related to packaging?’

‘Companies diversify.’ Enzo shrugged. ‘I own hotel chains, property, all sorts of stuff in different fields. The Blackthorn belongs to one of the luxury chains.’

‘Oh...’ Skye said, shattered by the thought of any one man owning so many businesses because it made the extent of his wealth much more obvious and real to her. And you don’t like that, do you? She scolded herself with a mentally curled lip of scorn. After all, the richer Enzo was, the more out of her league he was. As if he weren’t already out of her league! With his devastating good looks and charisma and even hotter kisses, never mind the playboy reputation that would enhance him in the eyes of some women.

‘This favour?’

Enzo let go of her fingers to make an uncharacteristically jerky gesture and frowned. ‘I refuse to go into any details but, two months ago, I went to a dinner party drunk with a drunk and not very ladylike partner and something very embarrassing happened. I was in disgrace with my family.Madre di Dio...I made my grandmothercry...’

‘Everyone makes mistakes, Enzo.’ Skye recaptured his hand to smooth the back of it gently, recognising that the recollection still filled him with regret.

‘You’re very tactile...’ Enzo breathed.

Skye reddened and immediately let go of his hand, clasping her hands together on her lap to keep them from temptation. ‘It’s the kids. I’m always touching them, and it gets to be a habit. Sorry.’

Enzo didn’t know how to tell her that he liked her easy way of touching him because if he did admit that he would be giving her the wrong impression, wouldn’t he? Creating complications he didn’t need, possibly hurting her as well, not a risk he should take, he acknowledged grimly.

‘Look, I have to go up to Glasgow to see this old guy who is a silent partner in Mackies with my grandfather. He’s entitled to a personal report on the firm. But Robinson Davies was at that ghastly dinner party in Italy with his wife and everyone present was very shocked by what happened. I could do with some company to get through lunch with the couple.’

‘What happened?’

‘I already said that I’m not going to give you the details. Not even thumbscrews would get that confession out of me,’ he stated with a sardonic twist of his beautiful stubborn mouth. ‘But will you accompany me to Glasgow if your sister is able to stay here to take care of the kids?’

Skye thought about it in the space of a moment. She knew she should say no. She knew that further extended exposure to Lorenzo Durante was bad for her and that she would be wiser to avoid him to the best of her ability. But she also knew how much she owed him for their current safety and stability.

Besides, it wasn’t his fault that she was absolutely fascinated with him. Around Enzo, she was starting to feel like a teenager with an outsized crush she couldn’t handle. As he had reminded her, she was no longer a teenager and she knew that sheshouldhave better control of her feelings. Especially so soon after her misjudgement of Ritchie’s character, she affixed with regret. But perhaps, she thought, with Enzo it was literally a pure sexual attraction sort of a thing and hitting her all the harder because she had never experienced reactions that powerful with anyone else. It was even possible that that was why everything in the bedroom had been a disaster with Ritchie, because she hadn’t been sufficiently attracted to her ex from the start. Whichever, she knew she wanted to know and running away from that attraction was foolish when she had still to live in the same house with Enzo.

‘I’ll do it. Glasgow?’

‘We’re flying up. I have a business meeting with Robinson first and then I’ll pick you up at the hotel and we’ll go to lunch at their home the next day.’

‘I can wear the same dress I wore last night.’

‘No, you can’t. They’re a very traditional couple and they don’t do anything flash. If you have a reasonable outfit of your own, it will do fine,’ he advanced.

‘That’s a relief,’ Skye told him cheerfully. ‘I didn’t want you to have to buy me anything more.’

‘You really need to be greedier around me,’ Enzo complained. ‘I’m used to buying stuff for women.’

‘Well, you’re not buying stuff for me. It’s...just uncomfortable,’ she explained with a wry shake of her blonde curly head as Shona clasped her knees and she lifted her baby sister onto her lap. ‘You can’t mix as equals when one person is doing all the giving.’

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