eyed middle-aged woman who subjected her to open
scrutiny and then inclined her head. In excellent
English, she said calmly, 'If you will come this way,
please…'
Half an hour later Jodie had seen every room in
the apartment, which covered not one but two floors
of the Palazzo and included an astonishingly luxuriant
roof garden.
It was plain that Lorenzo favoured modern design
and furnishings over antiques, but she had to admit
that the strong lines of the furniture complemented
the large rooms with their high ceilings.
Her bedroom was across the corridor from
Lorenzo’s, and had its own dressing room and bathroom.
To Jodie’s relief, Assunta unbent enough to
explain that she had worked in London for a time at
a restaurant owned by a cousin of her father, which
was where she had learned her English. Now a
widow, who prized her independence, she added that
working for Lorenzo had up until now suited her very
nicely.
'I shan’t be wanting to interfere in the way you
manage things,' Jodie assured her, picking up her cue.
Indeed, she would not! She doubted that Lorenzo
would thank her if she were to be the cause of his
housekeeper handing in her notice.
'It is my cousin Theresa who is housekeeper at the
Duce’s villa near Sienna. It is a very good place for
bambini there, with much space and fresh air.'
Another hint? Jodie wondered as she stood beneath
the welcome spray of the shower, mentally revising
their conversation. Well, she certainly wouldn’t be
providing Lorenzo with his bambini. The shower continued
to pound her skin with its needle-sharp spray
whilst Jodie stood perfectly still and let images of
small dark haired children stampede over her defences
and trample them into nothing.
There was a sharp rap on her bathroom door and
she heard Lorenzo calling out briskly, 'It is time for
us to leave.'
'I’m nearly ready,' she fibbed, and then gave a
small gasp as he took her at her word and walked into
the bathroom.
Was it possible to be caught at any worse disadvantage
than naked and dripping wet? Jodie wondered,
pink-cheeked, as Lorenzo folded his arms and
leaned against the now closed door.
'That is nearly ready?' he demanded pithily.
'It won’t take me long to dry myself and get
dressed…' And it would take her even less time if he
wasn’t standing between her and the thick warm towels
on the towel rail on the other side of the bathroom.
Why didn’t he leave? Did he really expect her to walk
past him stark naked while he subjected her to more
of that steely scrutiny with which he was already
openly studying her legs? Out of habit she turned to
one side, trying to tuck her injured leg out of sight,
more anxious to conceal that from him than either her
breasts or the neat soft triangle of damp curls covering
her sex.
'Do you want to have a closer look at my leg?' she
demanded tartly. 'I know the scars aren’t a pretty
sight, but Don’t worry — I can cover them up.'
Lorenzo took his time about lifting his gaze from
her legs to her face, and when he eventually did so
her heart thumped heavily against her ribs.
'Perhaps I should have you painted like this,' he
told her softly. 'A fair-haired Northern water nymph,
with legs long enough to encourage a man to imagine
how it would feel to have them wrapped around him.
Or maybe spread on a silk-covered bed, with them
wantonly open, begging for the touch of your lover’s
lips against their tender flesh. There are sexual positions
that require… No! Do not look at me with that
hungry virgin look in your eyes,' he told her sharply.
'Otherwise I might be tempted to satisfy that hunger
for you.'
'You were the one who came in here,' Jodie reminded
him. 'I didn’t invite you.'
'Liar. You invite me every time you look at me,
with those virginal half-glances that say how curious
you are to know what it is like to lie with a man.'
'That is not true!' Jodie said hotly. 'If I wanted to
have sex with a man, which I do not, then you are
the last man I would choose.'
She realised immediately that she had gone too
far — Lorenzo was so arrogantly male that there was
no way he would allow her to get away with that kind
of challenge to his masculinity. But it was too late.
He was striding towards her, ignoring both her
shocked cry of protest and the effect her wet body
was having on his clothes as he hauled her out of the
shower and picked her up in his arms.
'Put me down,' Jodi demanded, but Lorenzo wasn’t
listening to her. Instead he was carrying her through
her bedroom and towards the bed, where he put her
down against the pale green silk coverlet and held her
there.
He knelt over her and demanded softly, 'So, what
