in case he wanted them for inspiration about future projects.
A single in tray from one of the mapping rooms held everything that needed attention and all of the unopened mail.
He had taken one look at the pile and the fact that Antonia was wearing her hat, coat and gloves to work in and decided that his first executive decision was to try and get the heating working in at least the first floor of the building before she froze.
It had taken him almost an hour to coax the ancient gas boiler down in the freezing dark basement back into life. At least that hadn’t changed. It was as temperamental as ever and the tangle of electrical wiring looked as though a toddler had been at play but he could be as stubborn as Antonia when he wanted to be. Any gas engineer would probably condemn the old kit, but right now? That was what they had to work with. And by six she had taken off her hat and coat. So he had achieved something positive today. Maybe tomorrow she could work without the gloves?
Good news was in short supply. He would take what he could.
Starting with Antonia Baldoni.
Apparently he hadn’t noticed how messy the house was that morning when he’d left but there was a lot of clearing up still to be done after her birthday party. So she had left the office earlier to tidy up the house.
Scott strolled into the kitchen and turned on the kettle. He could smell something delicious and savoury cooking in the oven and the room felt warm and cosy. Hanging up his coat, he lifted one arm and then the other towards the ceiling, wincing as the tense muscles complained.
Nothing that about ten hours of decent sleep wouldn’t fix.
Yeah. Like that was going to happen. Not in that bedroom. Too many memories. The ghost of his ex-wife was right there every time he’d woken from a restless dream of falling through the ice. He didn’t need a photograph to bring back her beautiful face. Just walking into that boardroom at Elstrom had been traumatic enough.
How could he tell Antonia that his last memory of that room had been finding his wife having sex with his stepbrother on the boardroom table?
Not something a man forgot in a hurry. And definitely not an image he was going to share any time soon.
He closed his eyes for a second then blinked awake.
Get over it.
There was no sign of Antonia so he slowly dragged his weary body up the stairs and had only taken a few steps towards his room when the door to the large family bathroom opened.
And through a cloud of hot fragrant steam a small figure emerged.
Antonia was wrapped in a white bath towel which was just large enough to cover her chest to the top of her thighs.
But it was what the towel was not covering which rocked him back on his heels and lighted a fire in his belly hotter than any gas boiler could manage.
Her spectacular arms and shoulders were slick and steamy from the bath and her face was flushed pink and absolutely gorgeous.
Problem was, she was winding a smaller towel around her head as she strolled out on to the landing, with her feet pushed into those silly fluffy slippers she had been wearing the night before.
This meant that her arms were lifted, stretching the towel around her chest and making it slip a little lower, then lower until it was heading for her waist.
So what if he was a boob man and proud of it?
As a gentleman, he should probably say something...but as a man? Strange how it took a few seconds before his brain took over from the other parts of his anatomy, which were waking up on their own and enjoying the view way too much.
The scent of her warm body and her sensuous movements started turning on switches which he had started to believe Alexa had turned off for good.
A hot flush of desire hit him hard and then hit him again. Apparently he still had what it took after all. That was a relief. He had started to wonder. It was hardly surprising—Antonia was absolutely stunning!
Just for a second a totally off-the-wall idea flitted through his brain.
Would she be interested in him?
A week was not long enough for anything serious but a short casual fling could be just what he needed to bring some spice back into his life. He had barely looked at another woman for the last two years but, now he was back in London, maybe it was time to find out if he was ready to share his life again.
A fling. No strings. No commitment or promises and definitely no emotional mess. Just two people enjoying one another for a casual affair.
He was certainly enjoying her right now. Thank you, Miss Baldoni!
Maybe it was time to play fair.
‘Hello,’ Scott said and Antonia gasped and flung herself back towards the bathroom.
‘I didn’t mean to startle you—’ he coughed ‘—but...’ He gestured towards the towel with his head and she immediately hoisted it higher.
‘Sorry about that.’ She tugged the towel a little closer to her chest. ‘I don’t have any hot water in my house at the moment. The plumber has the flu. Won’t be back to work for another few days. And I like a bath.’ Her tongue flicked out over her hot lips and every male hormone in his body pinged to attention. ‘Sorry.’
‘No problem.’ Scott smiled and ran his hand over his beard before saying in a casual voice, ‘Stay the night if you want. You won’t be disturbing me.’
‘Really?’ Antonia asked, her voice a high-pitched squeak.
‘Sure. How about some dinner? It smells good. See you downstairs in...’ Then his throat went dry as the back of the towel slipped a little, revealing a back with flawless creamy skin which was moist and warm and smelt of all of the good sweet things in his life which he’d been putting on hold since he’d divorced Alexa.
She turned slightly towards him and he noticed for the first time, in the warm ceiling lights, that Toni’s eyes were not brown but a shade of copper the colour of autumn leaves. The same colour as the highlights that burnished her damp hair. And at that moment those eyes were staring very intently at him.
On another day and another time he might even have said that she was more gorgeous than merely pretty. Slender, funny and so sharp-witted that she matched him round for round.
But even the loveliest of girls had their flaws. He had learnt that from bitter experience.
Even sweet Antonia Baldoni would be hiding something from the world.
He leant closer into the light and in the harsh shadows her cheekbones were sharp angles and her chin strong and resigned. Strong. Stubborn, that was sure. But not harsh or cruel. He couldn’t see that about her.
‘Twenty minutes.’ He grinned then waved towards her head. ‘Hairdryer. Okay.’
Then he turned and almost jogged back to his room and the hot shower he wanted and the cold shower he needed.
* * *
The howling icy wind had finally eased away when Toni gave up tossing and turning from side to side and threw back the covers on the perfectly comfortable double bed in Freya’s spare bedroom.
Somewhere in the house a large mechanical clock was striking every quarter hour with a musical chime but, apart from that comforting sound, the house was completely silent, as though it was a sleeping giant waiting for some magical spell to be broken.
Scott looked so exhausted and jet-lagged after dinner that he must have dropped off to sleep the minute his head hit his pillow.
The pest.
How did he expect her to sleep after walking into her coming out of the bathroom like that? She couldn’t go home to have her bath—she didn’t have any heating! But that didn’t mean she was any less embarrassed.
To