possibly want her as badly as that. Wanting the
woman — the virgin — he had chosen to marry for
purely practical reasons was a complication he did not
need in his life right now.
How had he managed to find a woman who was
still a virgin — a hungry sexually curious virgin — who
looked at him with a question in her eyes as old as
Eve? But he couldn’t afford the time it would take to
find someone to replace her now. At the moment
Caterina was still shocked enough for him to gain the
upper hand in the war between them, but once she
had time to recover from that shock she would be
back to her plots and the subtle, mind-poisoning tricks
at which she excelled. And besides, by now the whole
of Florence probably knew the identity of his bride-
to-be.
What did one wear to buy clothes sold in a designer
showroom? Jodie wondered ruefully. Probably not
what she was wearing — which was her spare pair of
clean jeans and a clean top — but since she had
brought only the bare necessities to Italy with her,
they would have to do.
Lorenzo was waiting for her when she found her
way back to the main salon. As soon as she walked
into the room he announced grimly, as he ushered her
towards the main door, 'What happened earlier in
your room must not be allowed to happen again.'
He was looking at her, speaking to her — lecturing
her, almost! — as though it had been her fault, Jodie
recognised indignantly as they stepped into the lift.
'It certainly mustn’t,' she agreed fiercely. 'But I
wasn’t the one who instigated it.'
'Maybe not. But you didn’t stop me, did you?' The
lift had reached the ground floor.
'Why do men always blame women when it is they
who—?' Jodie began heatedly, only to be stopped by
Lorenzo.
'It was Eve who offered Adam the apple,' he reminded
her flatly, as he held open the lift door for
her.
'Man's eternal get-out,' Jodie seethed. 'The
woman tempted me…'
'So you admit that you did?' Lorenzo demanded as
he guided her towards the street exit.
'I admit no such thing,' Jodie retorted angrily,
blinking in the fierce sunlight.
'It will take less time if we walk to Via
Tornabuoni,' Lorenzo informed her as he took hold
of her arm and nodded in the direction they were to
walk, ignoring her fury. 'It is this way. We will cut
through this alleyway here, which brings us out into
this square.'
Jodie forgot her annoyance and caught her breath
in awed delight at her surroundings. She longed to be
able to take her time and absorb everything around
her, but Lorenzo was hurrying her through the square
and down another narrow street, where an ancient
church crouched between the other buildings, its
doors open in welcome.
Via Tornabuoni turned out to be a wide street filled
with imposing buildings and even more imposing
shops — so much so that Jodie found herself hanging
back a little when they reached one store. A uniformed
doorman opened the door for them and
Lorenzo ushered her inside. Almost immediately a
soigne.e, pencil-thin, immaculately groomed young
woman who looked more like a model than a sales
assistant glided towards them, her attention focused
on Lorenzo rather than Jodie. Of course Jodie
couldn’t understand what Lorenzo was saying to her,
but there was no mistaking its impact. They were ushered
towards the back of the store and into an enclosed
private area, where Ms Soigne.e disappeared
and was replaced by a slightly older, even more
dauntingly stunning woman, who quickly introduced
herself as the direttrice of the store.
'I received your message and conveyed it to the
maestro,' she informed them reverently in English.
'The designer has himself selected several gowns for
your consideration, and they have been couriered here
from Milano.'
They were being left in no doubt as to the great
honour being bestowed on them, Jodie reflected, but
she had to admit that it was equally obvious that the
direttrice was very impressed by Lorenzo.
She turned to look anxiously at Jodie and then exhaled
slightly. 'Bene, your fiance.e is not tall, it is true,
but she has the right slenderness for our clothes. If
you will come with me…'
'I am afraid that I have several business appointments
I must keep,' Lorenzo apologised. 'But I know
I can leave my fiance.e safely in your hands. I shall
return for her in two hours.'
The direttrice looked disappointed, but resigned,
whilst Jodie watched Lorenzo leave and told herself
that it was ridiculous for her to feel somehow abandoned.
She was taken to a private room, where she perched
on a small gilt chair as label-clad acolytes reverently
presented her with a selection of wedding gowns from
