are family—’
‘Of course I don’t mind if you stay—’
The two women had spoken together, and although Grace’s subsequent laugh was easy, Claire’s was forced. She didn’t want him to stay, in fact there was nothing she wanted less, but he knew, and she knew, that she couldn’t very well say so.
‘That’s fine, then—a nice, cosy dinner party with all the people I love most,’ Grace said with an air of satisfaction.
Donato and Lorenzo arrived home just after seven o’clock—the former full of apologies for being unable to meet her as arranged. And although Claire made all the right noises she was vitally aware of Romano’s sardonic gaze as she said how well he had looked after her, and how nice lunch had been.
‘This “nice”, this is another word you English favour, is it not?’ Romano said softly in her ear as she rose to go and see Benito, Lorenzo’s parrot, at the boy’s request. ‘With Grace too, the weather is “nice”, the meal is “nice”. I find the word singularly unimaginative.’
‘Oh.’ She was dismayed to find he had chosen to walk with her through the hall to the back of the house, where Lorenzo’s own large sitting room was situated and where Benito resided most of the time. ‘What would you prefer me to say, then?’
‘The truth?’ The dark eyes looked down at her, daring her to respond, even as the man behind the mask asked himself why he was doing this, provoking her, trying to get a reaction. She seemed to have taken an instant dislike to him—well, so what? he thought grimly. She was Grace’s friend, over here for a few months to help out, that was all. He didn’t have to see her above half a dozen times if he didn’t want to.
‘Which is?’ Claire asked carefully, willing herself with all her heart to keep to the pledge she had made in the cloakroom of the restaurant and not let him get under her skin.
He shrugged slowly, his eyes narrowing, and again the sexual magnetism that was as much a part of the man as breathing had Claire’s breath catching in her throat. Did he know the effect he had on women? she thought weakly, before answering herself immediately with a curt, Of course he did. How could he not? He must have women throwing themselves at him every day of the week. There wasn’t a woman born who wouldn’t wonder what it would feel like to be in his arms, to have him make love to her, to have him want her. She didn’t like where her thoughts were leading and slammed the door shut on her mind before they could continue on such a dangerous path.
The Romano Bellinis of this world and the Claire Wilsons had no meeting point; she knew that. He was one of the beautiful people—rich, powerful, with a little black book that was no doubt bursting at the seams with the names of willing females ready to jump when he clicked his fingers. She had seen such women in the summer, when she had been here and the jet set had been in full residence—elegant, sophisticated beauties with model-like figures and dazzling smiles, all legs and teeth and glittering like Christmas trees with the amount of diamonds strewn about their persons. Women like his late wife, in fact.
‘Come on, Claire.’ Lorenzo, who had been a good few paces in front of them, turned at the door to his room and beckoned to her. ‘I told Benito this morning that you were coming and he does not like to be kept waiting.’
She didn’t doubt it, Claire thought wryly as she gratefully seized the excuse to finish her conversation with Romano, moving ahead of him as she hurried to Lorenzo’s side. Benito was a formidable bird in every sense of the word, but for some reason he had taken to her from the instant his bright, beady eyes had met hers, nuzzling his head, with its wickedly hooked bill, against her fingers whenever she petted him and ruffling his exotic plumage in obvious pleasure at her presence.
It was clear the bird had heard Lorenzo speak her name the second she stepped into the room. His eyes had been fixed on the doorway and the moment he saw her he began to dance clumsily on his perch, screeching her name. ‘Claire! Claire! Who’s a clever bird, then? Nice old fellow. Nice old bird.’ They were the words she had used to pet him in the summer, but she wished he had said something else, anything else, as she walked over to him. She could just sense Romano’s satisfaction at his point being emphasised so adroitly.
‘Hello, Benito. Who’s a clever bird, then?’ The big, compact body was as smooth as silk under her fingers as she stroked the beautiful feathers, his head immediately nuzzling into her hand as he continued to mutter his ecstasy at her presence.
‘You are not frightened of this old villain?’ Romano joined her, his words slightly disparaging, but as she glanced up at him, ready to defend the parrot’s cause, she surprised a look of real affection on his face as he gazed at the bird, before he became aware of her glance and his expression became blank.
‘Benito? Of course not, we’re friends—aren’t we, old fellow?’ she said quietly, returning her eyes to the parrot, who glanced up at her cheekily before setting Romano in his sights.
‘Romano...Claire, hmm?’ It was said with an air of consideration that was terribly human, further underlined by the fact that the irascible old bird glanced from one to the other enquiringly, like a benevolent matchmaking uncle. ‘Claire e Romano. Nice old fellows...’
‘You are getting a little confused, Benito.’ Romano’s voice was quite without embarrassment, as though he had no idea what the bird was getting at—something Claire hoped fervently wasn’t just good manners on his part. Her own face had turned a vivid and she was sure unattractive shade of crimson. ‘Claire is not a fellow, nice or otherwise; she is a lady.’
‘Lady, lady.’ Benito was revelling in the attention he was getting; he liked nothing more than to show off to all and sundry. ‘Frutta? Frutta?’ he asked hopefully, never one to miss an opportunity to ask for food. ‘Nice old bird,’ he added for good measure, giving an imitation of a heartfelt human sigh as he finished speaking.
‘Greedy old bird, more like.’ Claire couldn’t help laughing, in spite of her awkwardness, at the bird’s roguish manner. She knew all the family were devoted to him—Grace especially crediting him with almost human powers and spoiling him outrageously—and she had to admit that the parrot’s mischievous antics and wicked sense of humour were very endearing. But there were times, like a few moments ago, when he was too human for comfort.
‘Claire, come and see the new games I had for Christmas for my computer.’ Lorenzo saved the day again as he called to her across the room from where he was seated at his desk. ‘There is a two-player one,’ he added expectantly, augmenting the veiled request with an engaging grin.
‘I will leave you to it.’ Romano smiled that detached smile as he spoke, turning in the same instant, and as she stood for a moment, watching him leave the room, she found herself reflecting on the power in his male body before she realised what she was doing. A wave of fiery red burnt across her pale skin for the second time in as many minutes, but still the lithe, muscled body under the black silk shirt and casual but expensive black cotton trousers held her attention.
For goodness’ sake, had she completely lost reason? she scolded herself as the door closed and she and Lorenzo were alone. She had never in all her life ogled a man, she had never even wanted to, and she certainly wasn’t going to start now, and with Romano Bellini of all people. He was arrogant enough without her adding to his inflated ego.
Besides which—her mouth tightened as the little voice in her mind spoke with devastating honesty—she could just imagine his reaction to her body if he saw her partly undressed. Her hand made an involuntary protective movement over the flat surface of her stomach before Lorenzo’s, ‘Come on, Claire, it’s all set up,’ jerked her out of the brief fall into the black abyss all thoughts of her accident still produced.
Nevertheless, as she battled with Lorenzo for domination of the jungle, her Tyrannosaurus Rex versus his King Kong, her mind was only partly on the game.
It had all been so different before the accident, she thought painfully. She had been happy, confident, content in a job she loved and engaged to a man she was sure was the one and only. And then,