The Valtieri Marriage Deal by Caroline Anderson Page B

smiled at him. ‘That was really lovely. Thank you. And now I hate to be rude but I ought to be getting home.’
    ‘No dessert?’
    ‘Did you make one?’
    He chuckled. ‘No. But I have gelato—proper Italian ice cream, made by my cousin’s family, that will make your toes curl.’
    ‘What flavour?’ she asked, hating herself for weakening, and as if he knew that, he leant closer and murmured in her ear.
    ‘Ripe, juicy strawberry with fresh cream, or deep, dark chocolate—irresistible…’
    Oh, lord. It was only ice cream!
    ‘Chocolate,’ she said, but then hesitated.
    ‘You can have both,’ he said, luring her with a double whammy, and she weakened.
    ‘A little of each—not too much. And then I really must go.’
    It was, as he’d promised, enough to make her toes curl. And she had a sudden picture of him feeding it to her in bed, a sensual image that made her want to whimper. She pushed the bowl away before she actually licked it, and braced her hands on the edge of the glass shelf.
    ‘Luca, I have to go now.’
    ‘Of course. Leave this lot, I’ll sort it later. Come on.’
    And he ushered her out of the door to his car and drove her home through the hubbub of London at night, until at last they turned into her quiet little street and he pulled up outside her house and cut the engine.
    ‘I think you owe me coffee,’ he said, a teasing smile playing round his mouth, and she thought, Damn him, he’s going to be charming and he’s hard enough to resist under normal circumstances!
    ‘I gave you coffee last night.’
    ‘So you did. It must be a tradition, then, and you can’t mess with tradition.’
    He was irrepressible, but she wasn’t falling for it.
    ‘I need my sleep. I didn’t get enough last night.’
    She saw the brow twitch, and tried to glare at him but he wasn’t impressed. Instead he just grinned, and she ignored him and opened the car door.
    He was there almost before she’d got out of the car, shutting the door behind her and escorting her down her little path. ‘Just seeing you safely home,’ he murmured as she turned to protest, and she caught the scent of his cologne overlying the raw, male essence that was so much more intoxicating.
    ‘I’m safe. You can go now. Thank you for my supper.’
    ‘You’re welcome. When will I see you again?’
    Her heart hiccuped, and she reminded herself that he wasn’t asking her for a date and she wasn’t going even if he was asking. ‘I’m back in on Friday,’ she told him, but his nearness was getting to her and she swallowed, and his eyes flicked to her mouth.
    ‘I want to kiss you,’ he murmured, and she shook her head.
    ‘No.’
    ‘You didn’t say no in Florence.’
    ‘Perhaps I should have done, then we wouldn’t be in this crazy position now.’
    ‘You think? I don’t agree. We were destined to happen, cara.’
    She shook her head. ‘No. It was just sex, Luca,’ she said, herheart pounding because of his nearness, because of the scent of his body drifting over her in the cold night air. ‘That was all.’
    Nothing out of the ordinary.
    Her earlier words came back to taunt him, echoing in his head as they had been all day, and his mouth twisted in a fleeting smile. ‘I don’t think so,’ he murmured. ‘I don’t think there was anything just about it. I think it was exceptional.’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Yes,’ he said softly, and because he couldn’t resist it, because she looked delectable and there was a trace of chocolate ice cream in the corner of her mouth, he leant in towards her and let his lips brush over hers.
    His hands were rammed in his trouser pockets, hers hung by her sides. There was nothing holding them together but the touch of their lips, and as he stroked his tongue against her mouth, her lips parted for him and he was lost.
    He freed his hands, tunnelled them through her hair and cradled her head to steady her, and with a tiny whimper she fisted her hands in his shirt and hung on while his mouth