Page 12 of Unveiled As The Italian's Bride
‘No, of course not. Why should I?’
‘You want to say something. Say it. We’re on a different footing now.’ He relaxed back and stretched out his long legs to one side, crossing them at the ankles. His expression was cool and questioning, and that made her bristle. He was so composed, so assured, so controlled and basically so unperturbed by something that might not have been meant as a barb but had wounded like one.
If they were to embark on this different footing, then maybe it would be a good time to lay down her own ground rules or else risk getting lost without a voice, agreeing to every condition laid down whether she wanted to or not.
‘Fine. I get it,’ she said curtly. ‘If I am to play a convincing part, then it’s important that I play the part well. And, sure, if I show up on your arm and I’m no longer the dowdy nanny he’s accustomed to, he might get it into his head that perhaps the whole “overnight marriage” thing isn’t quite as preposterous as it seems... But please don’t think that you can give orders and expect instant obedience,Dante.How would you feel ifIaskedyouto change elements ofyourwardrobe?’
‘What elements?’
‘Your...your shirts,’ she said, waving vaguely at him and scowling. ‘Maybe I don’t really like shirts with monograms on the pockets. Maybe I find them stuffy.’
‘Do you?’
‘Possibly.’ She was suddenly horrified at this change of role and disoriented by the speed with which everything was suddenly happening.
‘What else?’
‘I don’t have a list at my disposal. I just want...’ She sighed. ‘I just want...’
‘You won’t be.’
‘You don’t know what I’m going to say.’
‘You don’t want to think that you’re jumping into a fast-flowing current with no control over any riptides underneath that might drag you away.’
‘How did you know?’
‘My apologies for offending you by suggesting a rethink on your wardrobe. If you really want to stick with what you have, then of course I’m not going to force you into a shopping spree. But, aside from the business of enticing my uncle into believing our piece of fiction, there will be functions and galas you’ll be required to attend...’
He grimaced and smiled. ‘As few as humanly possible, if I have anything to do with it, but that aside there will undoubtedly be numerous occasions that call for...dressier outfits than you probably have. You might find that it’s just a lot more comfortable if you choose to blend in by wearing them.
‘And then my uncle... He might be a little sceptical, if I’m to be completely honest. It would certainly mark a seismic change for me to be suddenly seriously involved with a woman who can’t relax in my company and shows up dressed for a day at the office when we go out together.’ He grinned. ‘And if, in return, you want me to put my monogrammed shirts into storage for the duration of our marriage, then consider it done.’
‘I don’t care about the shirts,’ she said truthfully. ‘Like you said, what I do care about is an arrangement where I feel I’ve relinquished control.’
‘Trust me.’ He leaned forward and his dark eyes were urgent and serious. ‘This is a pact, and we each hold one half of the steering wheel. We’ll adjust to move around one another in harmony. I would never ask you to do anything you wouldn’t want to do. Of course, should you wish to have an...arrangement...with someone, then discretion would be imperative...’
Dante lowered his eyes and his thoughts flew with unerring speed to a scenario that made his senses stir. This woman, naked on a bed, her clothes discarded, wearing only a small, slow half-smile, beckoning with the promise of sexual gratification. He felt sudden heat pour through him and gritted his teeth in exasperation.
‘When I have an arrangement with someone—by which I guess you mean find a guy—then I won’t be in a different kind of arrangementwith someone else. When I choose to have a relationship with someone, then I will do so as a free person so I can have a meaningful relationship that’s actually going somewhere. Two years isn’t exactly a lifetime to wait.’
‘Have you ever had one of those meaningful relationships as a free person before?’ Dante asked with genuine curiosity, and Kate blushed and stammered.
‘I’m still young. I’ve...been busy forging a career and of course, being over here, working...’
‘You know there were never restrictions imposed on how you spent your free time here,’ he returned quietly with some consternation, and she smiled shyly.
‘I know.’ She wondered what he would have made of her life lived on the move. Of her parents, happy to globe-trot with her in tow. In many ways, he’d been right when he said that she would be good in this role, because they were so very different that there would never be any chance of either of them being confused into thinking that what they had might be more than it was.
Two people from different planets could never forge bonds that were anything but superficial. She relaxed and smiled with real warmth. Theywouldmove round one another in harmony, and it was fantastic of him to suggest that she keep in touch with Angelina when it was all over—as she would with Antonio, no doubt.
And, in the meantime, a frightened old man would feel calm and content and able to deal with what the immediate future might have in store for him.
This would work, and the thought of not having to shoulder a future of potential financial problems, of her parents being happy and her father’s mental health getting back to where it once used to be, filled her with sudden, soaring euphoria.
‘I’m happy to have the Cinderella makeover,’ she said with a tentative smile. ‘Now that the pumpkin is going to become a carriage, and the dress code for a carriage is completely different...’
‘Good! As long as you realise that I’ll never be your Prince Charming...’
