Because it was torture not to reach out and take Chloe in his arms, to kiss her, to touch her, as he so longed to do. He knew that he couldn’t do that if he intended to be with her again. He knew instinctively that she would use any physical coercion on his part now as a reason not to see him again."Of course," he replied. "Perhaps you would have lunch with me on your next day off?"He was rewarded by Chloe’s startled look. "Lunch?" she repeated.He gave a wry smile. "It is a meal, usually partaken of at some time between midday and three o’clock—""I know what lunch is, Gregorio," she said. "I just—I assumed you would be returning to Los Angeles some time during the next few days.""Did you?" he mused, his intention having been to go to Paris this week rather than Los Angeles. That was before he met Chloe.Before, he had decided that capturing her and taking her to his bed was the more urgent of the two.But, no matter what happened or didn’t happen between the two of them in the ne
Where are we going?Gregorio gave Chloe a brief glance from behind his dark sunglasses as she sat beside him in the black sports car that he had borrowed for the day from his cousin Tiziano. The soft top was down, and Chloe wore her long red tresses unconfined today, so that they tumbled in the wind and gleamed like fire as the sun shone down on the two of them.Chloe had been waiting for Gregorio at her apartment when he’d arrived just before one o’clock, relieving him of the trouble of having to go looking for her. Something he had considered as a distinct possibility after her obstinacy before leaving on Sunday evening.But he should have known that Chloe was made of much stronger stuff than that. That she wasn't the type of woman who would flee and hide from what she had to know was the inevitability of their relationship.At least, he hoped she realized it was inevitable.The last 36 hours had been incredibly long ones as far as Gregorio was concerned. Most of them had been spent
‘Better.’ Gregorio grimaced as he saw the laughter gleaming in those moss-green eyes. "Have a little faith, hmm, Chloe?" He sighed before getting out of the car and going around to open the boot, giving Chloe a few minutes to sit and think about her mistake about his intentions.Not completely, of course.He did not intend going back to London today without kissing Chloe. Maybe a little more than kissing her. But he really would prefer the comfort of a bed when he held her completely naked in his arms and worshiped that beautiful body from the top of her fiery head to the tips of her slender toes.Of course, it wasn’t helping his self-control that she looked so stunningly beautiful in a fitted black T-shirt and an above-the-knee-length white skirt that clung to the rounded contours of her bottom. Those long legs were bare, and her elegant feet were thrust into cork sandals.No, there was no way he was going to be able to resist at least kissing and caressing Chloe today!When she fina
Chloe looked at him from beneath lowered lashes and was struck anew by the way he looked: his hair was a gleaming gold, his eyes a warm, indulgent brown, and those aristocratic features were almost too perfect to be true. steely strength melded with raw sensuality. His body was lean and powerful, exuding that same sensuality even when relaxed, as it was now as he sat beside her on the blanket.The plain, totally honest truth was that this man didn’t need to do anything to make her completely aware of him!"You think I should have gone out this morning and bought the things for the picnic myself?" he guessed, sounding slightly miffed at her continued silence.Chloe understood what he meant; picturing Gregorio Di Costa wandering around a supermarket delicatessen selecting meats and cheeses for their picnic wasn't easy!It was also slightly disconcerting that, in some areas at least, Gregorio seemed to be able to read her mind.She only hoped he wasn’t as knowledgeable concerning her inc
His caresses became more demanding, more intimate, as he pushed her skirt up, his hand moving unerringly to the inferno that burned between Chloe’s thighs.She came to her senses as she felt the brush of cool air against her bare skin—as she realized that it was happening again!Maybe she had been wrong after all, and Gregorio was irresistible to all women.No!She couldn’t do this. wouldn’t do this. would not become just another woman that Gregorio Di Costa—the totally irresistible Gregorio Di Costa—had seduced.She wrenched her mouth from his to glare up at him. "Don’t, Gregorio!" she told him forcefully."Don’t you...?" he repeated in surprise, his eyes dark and stormy, a flush to those high cheekbones."No," she confirmed determinedly as she straightened her clothing. Unless it was a lie when you claimed you didn’t intend to make love to me on a bed of pinecones?Gregorio locked his gaze on her for several long, tense moments before rolling onto his side and then onto his back, hi
"Don’t touch me!" she snapped, and she wrenched her arm out of his grasp. She was probably bruising herself in the process, but she didn't care because she couldn't bear having Gregorio touch her when she was so emotionally vulnerable.Gregorio drew in a harsh breath as he teetered on the edge of losing his usual self-control.All of the Di Costa men had a temper—a red-hot temper that burned so deeply that it became icy and steely—but that cold control often gave the impression that they were without emotion at all.Chloe’s show of contempt for him was in serious danger of evoking that extreme reaction.And Gregorio would guarantee that she wouldn’t like it if it did!He released her to draw in several more controlling breaths. "You did not seem to find my touch so abhorrent a few minutes ago—in fact, the opposite!" He reminded her frostily, aware that his English had become stilted—a definite sign that he was in danger of losing his temper!It was something that he had no choice but
"To lie, you mean?" she challenged.He gave a terse inclination of his head. "To lie," he confirmed grimly."How dare you?" She turned on him, those green eyes sparkling angrily. ‘I—’"And no amount of feigned anger on your part is going to distract me from getting a truthful answer from you," Gregorio assured her softly."Feigned?" she repeated furiously, her hands clenched at her sides, those magnificently full breasts surging up and then down as she breathed agitatedly. "Let me assure you, Gregorio, that I don’t have to pretend to be angry with you." Most of the time, that’s exactly how I feel!He smiled tightly. "And the rest of the time, you're a puddle of desire in my arms..."‘You bast—’"No, I don’t think so, Chloe," he advised, and he caught her arm as her hand arced up with the obvious intention of slapping his face. "We are attracting attention," he warned her. He knew they were the focus of avid glances from the couple as he walked past them down the street.Color warmed C
He abhorred the men in his profession who did use such enticements on young and beautiful actresses, who were often tricked into believing that going to bed with those men would help their careers—especially as it invariably didn’t. It was usually the ones with little talent for acting who resorted to the casting couch, because any actress of any repute would make it on her own merits without having to reduce herself to that level.Chloe's belief that he had acted in this manner with a close friend of hers explained her strange behavior over the last few days.It also explained why Chloe was so confused about her own response to him.Gregorio realized grimly that she hadn't expected to be attracted to him.She had thought merely to attract him and then shun him as recompense for hurting her friend.All of this—Chloe’s barbed conversation that had so attracted him when they’d met at the film premiere, the way she had deliberately stood him up at Garstang two evenings later, the pointedl