Page 16 of Hired By The Forbidden Italian
What was it about sharing space with a guy who got under her skin like an itch she needed to scratch that cleared her head?
After lunch she and Annalise headed back to the house, but not before Niccolo told her that he would want to chat to her after his daughter was in bed.
‘I’ll be late.’ He had been distractedly looking at his computer as he’d spoken, propped up with his hands flat on his desk while, on the other side, Sophie could feel Annalise yawning, exhausted after the excitement of the day. When he’d glanced at her, she’d known that his mind was already somewhere else. He had had his window with them and now it was time for him to return to the business of making vast amounts of money.
‘I’m in the final stages of an extremely sensitive deal and it’s proving a mammoth task co-ordinating the participants to meet because they’re from all over Europe.’ He had smiled crookedly at her and her heart had flip-flopped madly, even though she had successfully maintained an interested but reasonably vague expression on her face. ‘So, my timing is unpredictable.’ He glanced at his watch and then back to her. ‘Expect me back by eight-thirty, at the latest. Or is that too late for you?’
‘I think I can keep my eyes open until then,’ Sophie had returned politely.
‘And I should have asked. Will I be interrupting any plans you might have made?’
She’d flushed because no, no plans had been made.
‘I’ll eat with Annalise,’ she had said quickly.
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘It was a huge lunch.’
‘You had an ornate salad,’ he had responded drily. ‘A bird would find it hard to keep going on that for the remainder of the day. I’ll bring something back with me.’
And that had been the end of the conversation.
Waiting for him now, in the kitchen, Sophie felt a revival of the curiosity that had bitten into her earlier on in the day.
He’d warned her he’d be late, so she’d expected his eight-thirty to be more along the lines of nine-fifteen, but in fact she heard the sound of the front door at a little before eight and instantly all thoughts flew out of her head and every muscle in her body tensed while her nervous system went into overdrive.
She was half standing when he strode into the kitchen, laden with various bags and bringing with him the mouth-watering aroma of Chinese food.
‘I...’ Her mind raced, her mouth went dry, and as always the responses she least wanted were the first to announce themselves. ‘You look tired...’
‘Say that again?’ Niccolo stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her with his head tilted to one side. He slowly deposited the bags on the table, but his eyes were still on her and they remained there.
She looked flustered and he realised with a start that, aside from his aunt, no one usually made any kind of comments to him of that nature, and yet it was a simple enough observation and genuinely meant.
‘It’s been a long day,’ he said eventually, breaking the silence, and sat opposite her at the kitchen table.
‘But at least not as long as you’d thought. I was expecting you later.’ She smiled. ‘The food smells delicious.’
‘You need to do it justice, so I hope you haven’t eaten already...’
‘Annalise ate just a little too early for me. I draw the line at five-thirty, but she could hardly keep her eyes open after all the high excitement of today. Shall I fetch some plates?’
‘And two wine glasses. Join me.’
His dark eyes were thoughtful when they rested on her as she dutifully fetched the wine glasses and poured them both a glass while he began opening boxes, releasing divine aromas.
‘We haven’t really chatted in any great detail about how you’re finding it working here, generally speaking,’ he said, when she had finished bustling with the crockery and the cutlery and the glasses, notably uncomfortable at the prospect of once again having a meal with him.
Sophie glanced at him as she slowly took her place at the table. She had braided her long hair into a single plait and she absently flipped it over her shoulder and played with the end, twirling the fine, platinum blonde strands between her fingers.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Are you enjoying looking after Annalise? Forget about the money...are you satisfied with the work that’s being asked of you?’
‘Of course!’ She sounded genuinely surprised at the question.
‘I wouldn’t want you to think that you’re being asked to work too many hours, whatever you’re being paid.’
