The sun was a blazing circle of gold as it slowly dipped to the horizon, and the moon was already showing in the sky over the opposite cliff, creating a magical natural picture that no artist, however brilliant, could ever aspire to.
A slight breeze from the sea made her shiver slightly, and Zac, without saying a word, took his sweater and knotted it around her shoulders.
‘No, you keep it.’ She tried to object. ‘You are accustomed to a much hotter climate—you need it more than me.’
He laughed—a low, husky sound. ‘Sally, your concern is touching but not necessary.’ He placed an arm around her shoulders so she could not remove the sweater. ‘I am not likely feel a chill with you by my side.’ His eyes slid to hers, narrowed and unreadable. ‘Here or anywhere.’
Sally stared at him for a moment, trying to read the expression on his face and failing. Then she turned her head and watched the sea, evading his eyes.
‘I suppose, compared to Italy and the other places you have been, this does not look that spectacular.’
‘Trust me, this is spectacular,’ Zac drawled as they walked down towards the waterline and stopped just out of reach of the gently lapping waves. ‘But you’re right. The view of the sea and the southern Italian coastline from my home in Calabria is very beautiful.’
‘Is that where you live?’
‘I have a house in that area, yes, though I spend most of my time at my apartment in Rome, as the head office of my company is based there,’ he told her as they strolled along the beach. ‘At the moment I am staying in my apartment in London.’
‘You actually have an apartment in London?’ she asked, her curiosity aroused; she had thought he would be staying in some top-class hotel.
‘Yes. I keep an apartment in a block I own there. I tend to do that in most of the multi-occupancy properties I buy. I have others in New York, Sydney and South America. I have decided there is a better return on apartment blocks than hotels; they take less organising, much fewer staff and a fraction of the running costs.’
‘Nice…’ she murmured. He sounded like the tycoon he was,
and she would do well to remember that. He was an incredibly wealthy, sexy man. Not for him an assignation with his latest lady in a hotel, when he had apartments all over the world.
‘I’ll show you the apartment tomorrow night, if you like.’
‘Fine,’ she said, and stopped. ‘Sorry—it just slipped out.’
‘No need to apologise—now I know the reason behind your habit I think it is rather endearing.’ He grinned and, pulling her close, smoothed her hair back from her face and brushed her lips with his. She shivered.
‘You are cold. We are leaving,’ he said, for once totally misreading her reaction—for which she was grateful.
Zac got to her with an ease that amazed her and also made her afraid. Sex was one thing, she told herself, but she didn’t want to feel anything else for him. Yet it was becoming more and more difficult—especially after this evening, when he had revealed his upbringing to her.
‘Sally?’ She heard the deep-toned voice and slowly opened her eyes. ‘We are back.’
‘Oh…’ She had fallen asleep, with her head resting on Zac’s arm and her hand on his thigh. ‘Sorry—I didn’t mean to sleep,’ she said, her fingers flexing on his thigh as she straightened up.
A wry smile twisted his firm lips. ‘I rather enjoyed your hand stroking my thigh, but it did not do a lot for my driving skill,’ he drawled in self-mockery.
‘I didn’t—did I?’ she gasped.
He chuckled ‘You will never know, Sally. Come on, you are tired. Let’s get you to bed.’
And, stepping out of the car, he walked round the bonnet while Sally was trying to control her suddenly racing pulse. Was he coming to bed with her?
Zac opened the passenger door and held out a hand to her. She took it and stepped onto the pavement. She looked up into his darkly attractive face, lit by the street lamp. His expression was bland. He gave nothing away.
‘Thank you for a nice evening,’ she murmured politely as, fingers entwined, they walked into the foyer of her apartment block. Then, pulling her hand from his, she turned to face him. ‘You do know you are illegally parked, Zac? Your car will get either ticketed or towed, so you don’t need to come up with me,’ she told him, trying to be assertive.
‘Yes, I do need,’ he drawled softly, and dipped his head and took her lips in a long, lingering kiss.
Zac had set out this evening full of good intentions to wine and dine Sally, like on a conventional date, then leave her with a kiss at her door. But as the evening had progressed his good intentions had begun to fade, and, having endured an hour-long drive with her snuggled up against him, he was having trouble remembering them at all.
‘But what about your car?’
He put an arm around her shoulder and led her into the elevator. She looked up at him with big, wary eyes, but she could not disguise the awareness lurking in the smoky-blue depths.