Rebel's Bargain by Annie West

trying.’
    Orsino smiled and wasn’t surprised when the man stepped back a pace. He felt like breaking something. Preferably the guy’s nose. No doubt it showed.
    That brought him up short. Since when did he care what people said of his soon-to-be ex? But the primitive urge to mark his property won out.
    ‘Oh, I won’t be wasting my time.’ He paused. ‘I’m her husband.’
    He barely heard the guy’s stammered apology as he scurried off. Orsino was too busy trying to work out why fury throbbed through him at the knowledge men wanted to hit on Poppy.
    And why she had a reputation for chastity.
    Surely after betraying her husband it got easier with each new lover? Unless she was a one-man woman, and she’d found her man in Mischa.
    His hands tightened into fists as potent, dark thoughts filled him.
    ‘Ignore him, Mr Chatsfield. He’s an idiot. He’d give his eyeteeth to be out there with your wife, taking the lead in this little extravaganza.’
    ‘I thought it was just a photo shoot.’ Orsino forced his mind back from the urge for blood. ‘I hadn’t realised there was filming, too.’
    The other man’s eyebrows rose but he was too circumspect to blurt surprise that Poppy hadn’t explained.
    ‘There are a series of still shots being taken, but we’re making a long ad that will run in cinemas and elsewhere. Baudin has made jewellery for over three hundred years so it’s a love story through the centuries. The same couple in different periods. Today it’s the roaring twenties.’
    Orsino had guessed that much. He nodded to another boat a little downstream.
    ‘It’s good to see they take safety so seriously.’The boat contained an oarsman and a diver already kitted out in a wetsuit.
    His companion cleared his throat. ‘Actually, he’s not there to rescue anyone. He’s there to retrieve the jewellery if it goes overboard. That armband alone contains several hundred carats in diamonds. It’s all vintage Baudin straight from the vault.’
    ‘So the stones are worth more than the models.’
    ‘I wouldn’t go that far but—’
    ‘But business is business.’ Orsino was glad his business was about people rather than profit.
    By the time Poppy came ashore her feet had frozen to blocks of ice in her jewelled shoes. She pressed her lips together so they wouldn’t chatter and concentrated on the hot bath she’d promised herself.
    The sun was up above the trees now but did little to combat the chill from sitting in silk, beads and little else in the middle of the river. Her hip and thigh ached from lounging artfully on weathered wood and her face was stiff from smiling instead of grimacing with pain. Finally the boat bumped the shore and hands reached for her, holding her steady as she lurched onto dry land.
    Soft warmth enveloped her as someone draped a huge coat around her shoulders.
    ‘Thank you.’
    Her words were drowned by a burst of laughter. She looked up the slope of the riverbank and blinked. Some of the other models were sprawledon a couple of rugs having what looked like an impromptu breakfast. In the thick of them, like a sultan relaxing with his harem, lounged Orsino, sexier than any male model on set.
    He said something and the laughter redoubled. One of the girls rapped him playfully on the shoulder, but Poppy saw her hand linger, stroking. He didn’t shift away. Instead his smile widened, that charming smile that could seduce any female. The woman looked dazzled and the rest leaned closer.
    Pain jabbed Poppy’s ribs, twisting as it went.
    She told herself the sight of Orsino charming the pants off her colleagues didn’t affect her.
    Poppy blinked.
Had
he charmed the pants off one of them? Heat scudded through her at the idea of Orsino with Gretel, or Sasha, or Amy, or … anyone.
    Was that why he’d been so undemanding? She’d expected him to make her life hell while he was here. Instead he’d been almost too quiet. She’d assumed his injuries held him back. But maybe his interest