Page 28 of Unveiled As The Italian's Bride
What was he doing? Was he flirting with her? He wasn’t a flirt. No. No way.
‘I’m breaking the ice between us,’ he told her with a brisk smile.
‘I should have asked,’ Kate said stiltedly after a few seconds, nerves kicking in big time, ‘whether your friends and relatives know what this sudden party invitation is all about.’
‘Not in so many words.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘They’ll suspect an announcement of some sort, I’m sure. Gathering all these people together at short notice...? Not something I would normally do.’ He raised his eyebrows with a wry grin. ‘Italian tongues have a habit of wagging.’
If he was lightening the conversation to ease her nerves, then he was succeeding. She smiled back at him and thought how good he was at this, how cool and collected at steering them into a zone where emotions were absent.
‘I don’t think Italians have the monopoly on wagging tongues. But what about Antonio...?’
‘Has been requested to say nothing. I’d rather deliver the glad tidings myself.’
‘They’re going to be shocked,’ Kate muttered with a grimace. ‘I don’t suppose anyone would have predicted that Dante D’Agostino might have picked the nanny to wed, when the line of suitable candidates probably stretched from here right back to Milan.’
‘They’ll accept it.’ Dante’s answer was unequivocal. ‘And there will be congratulations all round.’
‘Yes, but they’re going to be horrified.’ Kate chewed her lip and imagined the scenario, which was reassuring on absolutely no level. ‘They’ll think I’m after your money.’
‘It is possible they may have a point, looking at it in the cold light of day...’ Dante mused wryly.
‘I’m not a gold-digger!’
‘I know that.’ He smiled and in passing appreciated the heated colour in her cheeks.
They had arrived but he wasn’t ready for his own party just yet. The conversation was stimulating, and of course the driver of the water-taxi would be content to wait for however long it took.
‘I—There’s no way on earth I would ever go after anyone just because they had money!’
‘Repeat—I know.’
‘This is a completely different situation.’
‘Kate...’ his voice was gentle ‘...Iknow.You’ve been working for me for over two years. Not once have you ever been anything but professional in your dealings. I realise that you are no more a gold-digger than I am a ballet dancer.’ Without thinking, he rested his finger on her chin and then absently outlined her lip before pulling back, startled at that brief, physical caress.
‘We have an arrangement.’ He looked away to the yacht he rarely used. ‘It’s one that suits us both. Don’t waste time and energy worrying about what the people you are about to meet might think of you or your motives.’ He smiled a warm, reassuring smile. ‘You might actually find,’ he murmured, ‘That some of them are actually rather pleasant and accepting.’
‘You would say that,’ Kate muttered. ‘You’re not in my shoes.’
‘They’d never fit. Smile at me, Kate. It’ll be just fine. I won’t leave you to the mercy of strangers.’
‘There’s no need to stick to me like glue. I mean, they’re your friends and relatives. Of course you’re going to want to circulate...’ she protested awkwardly, but the thought of him being next to her was warmly reassuring. He was a cold, forbidding man and yet...there was a strength inside him and a natural moral compass that anchored her and brought her fizzing anxieties under control.
‘Ready?’
‘As ready as I’ll ever be.’
‘I want you to understand something, Kate.’
‘What?’ On the verge of rising to her feet, unthinkingly supporting herself from the gentle rocking of the water-taxi by holding onto his shoulder, she paused and looked at him.
In the darkness, his eyes glittered and his handsome face was all shadows and angles. When she inhaled, she could breathe in the woody, intensely masculine scent of whatever aftershave he was wearing.
‘I would never have suggested this...arrangement...if I didn’t have the utmost respect for you. Not only have you excelled with Angelina, for which I am immensely grateful, but you frankly haven’t put a foot wrong. So when it comes to this...situation...you have my assurances that I consider you perfect for the role.’
