‘You make it sound so...so cold...so businesslike...’
‘I could wrap it up in pretty paper if you’d prefer,’ Sergio said drily. ‘But would that change anything? We’re attracted to one another. I can feel it between us like something alive... And if you come a bit closer and touch me you’ll certainly feel just how attracted to you I am and just how much I want to make love to you right now...’
Her heart skipped a beat. She remained where she was. He was right. There was a spark of electricity between them that crackled and there was no point denying that. And so what if he was...practical about whatever this was...? So what if he was blunt when it came to doing something about it?
The romantic in her might want to hear all the flowery stuff that came at the start of a relationship—but that flowery stuff didn’t amount to very much most of the time, did it? He was giving her his own unvarnished view of what they had.
Mutual, physical attraction—take it or leave it.
‘Are you so...so cold and detached with other women?’ she asked. Or was he like this only with her because he’d known from the get-go that she wasn’t the sort of woman who would ever be able to hold his interest for very long?
‘You talk a lot...’
But he grinned and a little more of her melted. He had the most amazing grin. It altered the harsh contours of his beautiful face and made him seem suddenly, wildly accessible and even more mind-blowingly sexy. Did he have a turn-on switch for that smile? Was he even aware of how powerful it was?
She blushed, chin resting on her knees, her brown eyes unwavering.
‘Okay!’ Sergio flung his arms wide in a gesture that was a mixture of frustration and amused resignation. ‘So I’m realistic in my approach to relationships? I never make promises I’m in danger of not keeping. I don’t encourage slumber parties. At this stage in my life I’m not interested in playing for keeps...’
‘And you’re always on the lookout for anyone who wants to get too close just because you’re rich...?’
‘That’s right.’ His expression cooled.
‘Because you’ve had a bad experience?’ Susie mused.
‘You could say that,’ he drawled, relaxing. ‘And now is the question-and-answer session over?’
Susie didn’t answer. She was staring into space. He’d been hurt—badly hurt—by someone he’d trusted who had turned out to be after his money. She wondered what this mysterious woman looked like, had been like... It didn’t matter in the big picture, because she wasn’t going to get involved with him, but she was curious nevertheless.
Had he been madly in love with her?
Her stomach gave a little flip, because she couldn’t imagine him being madly in love with anyone. Even after only her brief contact with him he struck her as a man in total control of every aspect of his life.
What woman had had the power to bring this big, powerful man to his knees? She must have been quite something. Hence his learning curve...
‘Stop trying to work me out.’
‘Huh?’ Susie blinked and focused on him.
‘You’re trying to piece me together,’ Sergio said wryly. ‘Don’t. We can enjoy one another without too much in-depth analysis. Come and sit closer to me. It’s driving me crazy, seeing you and not being able to touch.’
Susie stood up, flexed her muscles, which had stiffened. and glanced at the roses taking up half her flat.
‘You’re going to have to take most of these back to your apartment,’ she said, buying time—because there was still a stubborn part of her that didn’t want to fall into his arms at the snap of his fingers. She felt like someone with one foot hanging off the edge of a cliff, even though she didn’t know why because, as he’d said, mutual lust didn’t involve the depth charge of a proper relationship...
This was going to be an adventure that would take her right out of her comfort zone.
She had tried the online dating in search of a soul mate and had found three losers and a would-be loser. She had been out with guys who had been the last word in fun, who had been laid-back and full of creative spark, and she had only been tempted to get close to one of them—and that one had ended up being just a little too much fun for her liking.