Page 25 of The Maid Married To The Billionaire

Alana had suggested that she was acting like an idiot. She had even hinted that she thought that Skyecouldbe punishing Enzo for Ritchie’s sins...as if! But then Lorenzo Durante had no bigger fan than her sister, who believed the sun rose and set on him because he had come to her family’s rescue that night by the side of the road.

Alana had been very much looking forward to an evening with her little brother and sister in the comfort of the old house. In a sudden passion of regret and confusion over her troubled state of mind, Skye wished she were with her sister, but as soon as she glanced across the aisle at Enzo, she knew she was lying to herself to save face.

Enzo looked amazing in a dark pinstripe suit teamed with a fashionable royal-blue shirt and paler silk tie and it was a challenge for her to keep her eyes off him. What right had she to resent the stewardess trying to flirt with him? No right whatsoever, when she had directly warned him off. It was little wonder though that Enzo Durante had a reputation with women. He drew her sex like bees to a honeypot. With his height, athletic build and lean bronzed classic features, he was extravagantly good-looking. Even his voice, that husky purr he used in bed, had made her very toes curl! Wreathed in blushes and mortified heat at that last, far too intimate recollection, Skye lifted the magazine on her lap and attempted to read it.

Skye definitely didn’t like the stewardess flirting with him, Enzo ruminated. Was that a dog-in-the-manger attitude? And why did he care anyway? For several years he had had the vague suspicion thatallthe women he met were totally interchangeable in looks, clothing and personality, but Skye stood out from the crowd for him and had from the outset, though he still had to work out why. It wasn’t healthy to be brooding over one of the very few rejections he had ever received. It was done and dusted,over. As always, he remained free as a bird and that had always been his preference. So, what if it had been an incredible night? His preoccupation, his ongoing interest in her, was beginning to exasperate him.

They passed through the busy airport where Enzo attracted a good deal of fascinated feminine scrutiny. A luxurious limousine awaited them outside and Skye slid into it, feeling like a stranger in a foreign land and, much as she had felt on the luxury private jet, poorly dressed for such surroundings and out of place. The hotel, however, was even more intimidating from the moment they were greeted by name by their personal concierge in the echoing marble foyer, which contained various groups of clearly wealthy people, the women with perfect hair, clad in the subtle gleam of expensive jewellery and the latest fashions. Into the lift they went and then they were shown into a vast suite with sleek modern furniture and an elegant décor, other doors leading off to bedrooms.

While Skye was packing her small case, she had actually wondered if Enzo would somehow inveigle her into sharing a room with him, but evidently that wasnota scenario she needed to worry about. It was impossible to explain why Enzo choosing to go to the opposite extreme and proving that he was honourable should make her feel slightly depressed. Her face flushed, she went into the room designated as hers by the concierge and began to unpack. Beyond the doorway she could hear Enzo talking on the phone in Italian, the lyrical rise and fall of his dark drawl, the syllables sliding softly against each other striking her as outrageously sensual. So, you still have a bad case of the hots for your employer, Skye conceded. Stop it, juststop it.

‘I’m afraid there’s been a change in our itinerary,’ Enzo announced from the doorway. ‘Robinson has asked me to view a company he’s thinking of buying and, because it’s close to his home, he has invited us to stay there and dine with them tonight instead. And I may have underestimated Robinson’s lifestyle because, apparently, he lives in acastle.’

‘Oh, my goodness.’ Skye grimaced, thinking of the plain trousers and sweater she had decided would do for the non-fancy lunch date. ‘My outfit won’t pass muster at dinner in a castle!’

Enzo shrugged a broad shoulder. ‘Relax. I’ll get that sorted now.’

‘How?’Skye immediately bristled, her small figure going rigid. ‘I don’t want you spending any more money on me, Enzo!’

Enzo raised a perfectly shaped ebony brow at her raised tone of voice. ‘We’re only talking about a few props to aid the fake-girlfriend charade,’ he said very drily, as if she were making a fuss about nothing.

‘It’s not that simple,’ Skye protested.

‘It’s exactly that simple but, by all means, give away anything I buy you to a charity shop afterwards, if it makes you feel better,’ Enzo countered in the same flat, laconic tone. ‘Is that it?’

In frustration, Skye whirled away from him and stationed herself beside the window. Her teeth were gritted. ‘You don’t understand.’

‘Try me.’ Enzo heaved a sigh, while striving not to notice how shapely her legs were below the skirt she had worn to travel in. A memory of sliding between those slender thighs did not help and he frowned, the throb at his groin offending him. Where was his self-discipline? He was furious with himself, furious with her for making what he deemed to be a fuss about inconsequential stuff. What the hell did what she wore and who paid for it have to do with anything? How could that be important?

‘You buying me clothes, it makes me uncomfortable because Ritchie controlled what I wore while I was with him,’ she explained reluctantly. ‘It made me feel like he owned me.’

‘I’m not your ex. I know I don’t own you. I have no influence over what you do or where you go and you know it. We’re in companion territory,notrelationship territory,’ he reminded her with strong emphasis. ‘Even so, if you want to wear your own clothes and risk feeling underdressed this evening, that is your choice to make.’

Inwardly, Skye cringed at the prospect of being underdressed at acastle. ‘Possibly I was a bit hasty in my objections,’ she muttered grudgingly.

‘I thought you would see it that way,’ Enzo parried smoothly, relieved that common sense was once again in control of her. ‘Now let’s get this show on the road.’

Suitable outfits, she learned, would be brought to the hotel suite for her viewing while she could use the hotel beauty spa for any grooming requirements she felt necessary. And with that casual conclusion, Enzo apologised for the change of plan that their host’s new itinerary had forced on them and departed with his luggage. She would not see him again until she arrived at the castle and she didn’t much fancy arriving at a castle alone without Enzo to hide behind.

Enzo left the hotel feeling thoroughly dissatisfied and not quite sure why that should be the case. He was being sensible, he assured himself fiercely. He had got badly hurt in his one and only relationship and he refused to do anything like that to Skye. The more distance there was between them, the safer she would be.

The stylist and her assistant with a rail of glamorous clothes and bags of accessories arrived with Skye within the hour. She supposed that someone like Enzo always got top service of that nature and he took it for granted in a way she never would because he had, it seemed, grown up accustomed to such advantages.

Having picked a dress, she noted that nothing had a price tag attached and, wondering if that omission was at Enzo’s instigation, she also selected shoes with a heel because she had only brought flats. That achieved, she booked a late afternoon appointment for her hair at the hotel spa and was wondering what to do next when Paola arrived to inform her that she and a car were at her disposal.

‘I’m starting to feel like an overnight princess,’ she joked with the older woman.

‘Nothing wrong with that,’ Paola told her with a smile. ‘Have you any idea what you would like to do with the rest of the day?’

And Skye had a very good idea. She had watched a programme on television about the famous stately home, Dumfries House, saved for the public by the King’s intervention before his ascension to the throne. True, it was a winter day, but it was sunny and dry, and she knew that she would still enjoy the house and gardens.

As the estate was only forty miles from Glasgow, she and Paola decided to enjoy lunch there at the Coach House Café. They were just walking out of the house with its fabulous Chippendale collection of furniture into the gardens when she rang Alana to ask if she was comfortable staying at the house with the children.

Alana sighed. ‘Yes, but I’ve been too angry after Ritchie’s visit to relax.’

Skye froze in dismay. ‘Ritchie came to thehouse?’

‘This morning Yes, I should think your application for that non-molestation order will be easily granted now. I’m surprised Paola didn’t tell you about it,’ her sister rattled on. ‘She was marvellous and called the police and he was arrested. Apparently, he’d been suspended and he was trying to blame you for it. He’s also very worked up about you living in Enzo’s home. I was grateful you weren’t here. He’s put you through enough.’

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