and then having lunch in a trendy restaurant with him.
The memory of that blistering kiss the night before had preyed on her mind all night, and she had awoken determined to make sure that they kept a cool distance from one another when there was no one around.
Her thoughts drifted while her mother chatted about rings and reflected on how fast she and Carlo had progressed from that first meeting—marrying within three months and never regretting a day of their long and happy marriage.
Naturally Alexa had known that the man was good-looking. But why did he have to be so good-looking? Averagely good-looking would have been all right. She felt that she might have been able to cope with that. But something about Theo De Angelis sparked a reaction in her that burned as fierce as a conflagration.
She didn’t understand it. It didn’t make sense, And it unsettled her. Scared her, even—although what was there to be scared about?
She surfaced to catch the tail-end of her mother informing her that Theo was going to be dashing off to New York—apparently called away on business. Carlo had wanted to show him around the electronics plant later in the week, talk men stuff, but unfortunately it was a visit that would have to wait.
‘He never mentioned that,’ Alexa murmured, brightening. ‘When? Exactly?’
‘Tomorrow, I believe. Your father called him first thing this morning about a visit to the plant and it seems that an emergency blew up overnight. So he wouldn’t have mentioned anything to you when you were out.’
‘I don’t suppose you know how long he’ll be away, do you, Mother?’
‘A week at the very least... I’m sure he’ll be most apologetic when he sees you later and will explain it all himself. If there’s one thing I can say for Stefano’s son it’s that he’s an extremely polite young man...’
Good humour restored on the back of the heartening news that she was going to have a break from Theo, Alexa spent the remainder of the morning looking through her law books, making sure her brain was still ticking over. She dealt with a variety of problems at the shelter on a daily basis, and some of them were practical—questions pertaining to government allowances, retrieving cash from runaway partners, applying for social housing. It paid to keep abreast of the law, and it was no great hardship because she enjoyed it anyway.
At precisely eleven-thirty she got dressed, but she didn’t rush.
This time, her spirits light because with Theo out of the country for maybe as long as a fortnight she would at least have some respite from his dangerously incendiary personality, choosing what to wear was far less of a chore than it had been the evening before.
Jeans, but smart black ones, a cream silk camisole top, because it was beautifully warm outside, and flat black pumps. Everything was brand-new, and she was in a good mood when, at twelve sharp, the doorbell rang and she forestalled her mother to answer it.
This time there was no driver, which was even better—because with Theo driving she would be spared those intense, speculative green eyes on her.
‘You’re in a good mood,’ he said flatly, starting the engine of a Ferrari and easing it out of the courtyard towards the buzzing town centre. ‘Why does that make me instantly suspicious?’
Alexa relaxed against the passenger’s door, her head resting on the window, rolled up thanks to the air-conditioning which kept the temperature wonderfully cool.
She absently noted his strong jawline and the sharp beauty of his lean face, in profile now as he focused on the road. He was wearing black sunglasses and a navy blue polo shirt and cream trousers. He looked impossibly elegant.
She tugged her eyes away from him, simultaneously deciding that this was just the sort of thing that had to stop—this mindless staring at him—and again applauding the fact that he was going to be away for the next few days. Plenty of time during which she could recover her equilibrium.
‘I have no idea,’ Alexa said chirpily. ‘Doesn’t every girl like going out shopping for her engagement ring?’
Theo glanced narrowly at her, then relaxed and smiled. ‘Indeed. That would explain your good mood. You’re right. I have yet to meet a woman whose heart doesn’t beat faster at the prospect of all things bridal...’
Alexa scowled, because her saccharine-sweet sarcastic rejoinder had clearly backfired. ‘I honestly don’t think we should waste much time traipsing through shops in search of a diamond ring,’ she told him loftily.
‘Agreed.’ He put the fast car into cruise mode and relaxed in his seat. ‘There’s no need for us to be seen going from one shop to another in search of the perfect ring. We’ve already got all the press coverage we need. Speculation is rife that marriage is in the air... If we went to the corner shop and bought a plastic washer it would probably be enough.’
Alexa grimaced as she recalled the spread of newspapers her mother had neatly laid out on the table for her perusal. ‘Maybe they’ll leave us alone now?’ She breathed a sigh of relief at the thought.
‘I expect they’ll only leave us alone when there’s a chunky wedding ring on your finger. Before then there are infinite possibilities for our relationship to crash and burn—and disasters always make better headlines.’
‘Why would they assume that it will crash and burn?’ How on earth did real celebrities survive? she wondered. Without going completely mad? ‘And who cares if our relationship crashes and burns anyway? Who’s interested?’
Alexa was genuinely bewildered, because she might come from a wealthy background but—of her choosing—she was as noticeable as wallpaper. Theo might be similarly rich, with the added bonus of his looks, but he wasn’t a star...was he...?
Theo shrugged. ‘Don’t know. Don’t care. I just know how the world of media operates and I deal with it. So if you don’t want some trigger-happy reporter to shoot you leaving the house without your make-up, be warned.’
‘I honestly don’t care.’
Theo found an empty space in a crowded square around which designer shops extended outwards in ripples—layers of them, sandwiched between cafés and restaurants. In the centre of the square a trio of mythological creatures figured in bronze cavorted in the centre of an enormous fountain.
He turned to her and said, with utter seriousness, ‘You don’t, do you?’
‘No. Do you?’
‘I’m a man. I don’t tend to go out wearing make-up. Well, not unless I have to. Sometimes after a long night at work I find a bit of foundation under the eyes...’
Alexa felt her mouth twitch and she grinned shyly and reluctantly at him.
He killed the engine, but she got the impression that there were more questions he wanted to ask her. It felt as if he had been testing her boundary lines...placing one foot over the perimeter of her electric fence, threatening to make inroads. That made her shiver a little.
‘Right,’ he said briskly. ‘Engagement ring.’
In case she started falling behind him he curled his fingers into her hair and pressed his hand to the nape of her neck, gently making sure she kept up with him and slowing his naturally long stride to accommodate her much shorter one.
People turned and looked.
They clearly didn’t know exactly who Theo was, but Alexa could almost see their brains churning, trying to figure out why he was famous—because he just had to be, looking the way he did.
Something weird rippled through her. A surge of pride. That he was with her.
They bypassed the first three jeweller’s they came to and went directly to the fourth, which was little more than a nondescript door leading into a shop that was barely visible from the street outside.
‘How on earth do you know about this place?’
‘You’re