‘Except that, like most celebrities, the press considers you public property.’
His choice of phrase triggered something inside her. ‘I’m a person, not property. I am not anyone’s meal ticket!’
‘Taylor—’
‘Enough, OK? I don’t even know why we’re talking about this. I just hate the press, that’s all you need to know. I don’t want to stay somewhere they can see me! If they’re pushing a camera in my face, I want to know about it.’ Shocked to discover just how much emotion was still simmering deep inside her, Taylor reached for the door handle but his hand covered hers.
‘Cristo, you’re shaking.’
‘No, I’m not.’
‘You are the most confusing woman I’ve ever met,’ he breathed. ‘Ballsy one minute and fragile the next.’
‘I’m not fragile.’
There was a long pause. ‘I’ll brief my security team. I’ll make sure this place is like a fortress. The only photographs those bastards get will be the ones we want them to take. Us doing engagement stuff—whatever that is. Talking of which, we’d better find out what we’re supposed to do.’ He released her and strolled across the bedroom as if nothing had happened, leaving Taylor shaken. It unsettled her to know she was nowhere near as in control as she liked to think she was.
Pulling herself together, she looked at him. ‘What are you doing now?’
He keyed something into his phone. ‘Given that you and I are clueless, I’m doing a search for the typical behaviour of engaged people. There has to be a website. It’s probably called getmeoutofhere.com. Or possibly killmenow.org.’ The remark was typical of him and for some reason that normality helped relax her.
‘We’re not just engaged, we’re newly engaged.’
‘And the significance of that is…?’
‘The first glow of excitement has yet to wear off. We have to be supersickly.’
‘No worries. The thought of being engaged makes me feel more sickly than you can possibly imagine.’
‘And you fed me spleen burger. Need I say more?’
‘No, but you’re a woman so no doubt you will anyway. If you want to sit down, sit on the bed. It can’t be seen from the window unless they have a lens shaped like a periscope.’ It was the only reference he made to her sudden loss of control. ‘Here you are. Ten habits of engaged couples. Can you believe someone researched that and then wrote about it? What a total waste of a life.’
Taylor glanced from the window to the bed and decided to follow his advice. She slid off her shoes and sat cross-legged on the end of the bed. ‘Go on. Read it out.’
He was staring at her legs. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Relaxing. I do yoga. It’s good for the core and helps keep me flexible.’
‘Flexible?’ His voice slightly rough, Luca lifted his gaze from her legs to her face, his phone forgotten. ‘How flexible?’
The temperature in the room shot up and suddenly all she could think of was the way his mouth had felt on hers.
‘Flexible enough to make sure that when we’re seen in public you’re looking very tired.’ Unable to resist teasing him, she wrapped one leg behind her neck and his brows rose.
‘That position has amazing possibilities but there’s no way I’d look tired in public. I have endless stamina. Maybe you’ll be the one who is looking tired, tesoro, from my male demands.’
Her heart thudded a little harder. ‘I’ve been working with a trainer for months in preparation for this role. I can cope with any physical demands you care to throw my way.’
‘Is that a challenge?’
‘Absolutely not.’ Taylor swallowed and allowed her leg to slide back into its original position. ‘So what advice does your website offer?’
His eyes lingered on hers and then eventually he looked back at the screen. ‘Touching.’
‘Pardon?’
‘According to this, newly engaged couples touch all the time. They can’t bear to be next to each other and not feel each other. Does that mean I have permission to stroke your breasts in public? Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.’
‘Public. Of course. We have to be seen in public.’ Taylor pushed away thoughts of his hands on her breasts. ‘We need to be seen, otherwise no one is going to believe this is real. We should go out for dinner or something.’
‘What’s the point of that? You don’t eat anything.’
‘All the better. People will assume my love for you is putting me off my food.’
‘Just as long as you don’t expect me to be off my food too, because I have no intention of starving myself for the role.’ He scanned the screen, his expression comical. ‘Cristo, is there anything good about being engaged?’