For a brief moment he contemplated backing her against the enormous bed and removing the dress he’d paid for, but he knew that such an unsubtle approach would just give her opportunity to reject him.
So instead he satisfied himself with a long, lazy look at her.
The colour of the dress was perfect for her skin and hair; turquoise shot with strands of blue and green, the dress fell from tiny beaded straps and was cut to display the tempting dip between her breasts. Alessio’s appreciative gaze lingered on the hollow cleft and he heard her sharp intake of breath.
‘Do you think you could remove your eyes from my cleavage?’
He smiled. ‘Why would I want to do that? You look spectacular.’
‘Thank you.’ She accepted the compliment in a businesslike fashion and walked briskly towards the door. Only once she’d created a safe distance between them, did she turn. ‘Are you coming?’
Alessio strolled towards her and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, feeling a flicker of satisfaction as he felt her initial resistance.
He knew that she was nowhere near as cool and indifferent as she was pretending to be.
But instead of withdrawing or arguing, she simply smiled again. ‘I’m looking forward to dinner. What are the local delicacies?’
You are, my beauty, Alessio thought, steering her through a lush tropical garden and down onto the silky white sand. You’re going to be my starter, main course and dessert.
Lindsay sat down at the table, trying not to show how disconcerted she was that they were dining alone on the private beach in front of the villa.
‘This is nice,’ she lied. Silver cutlery glinted in the late evening sunlight, a bunch of colourful tropical blooms formed the centrepiece of the table and several candles flickered in the gentle breeze. With the soft sound of the sea licking the shore, it was idyllic, romantic and totally inappropriate for their relationship. The clothes had been bad enough, but this—
This was the setting for seduction, not business. For lovers, not colleagues.
Another test?
Was he putting her through this on purpose?
She cast what she hoped was a casual glance in his direction, but he was as cool and controlled as ever, his handsome face revealing absolutely nothing of his thoughts. Instead he watched her with those dark eyes that she suspected saw far too much.
‘I would have thought you would have preferred to dine in the restaurant.’ Pleased with how relaxed she sounded, she reached for the cocktail.
‘We could have dined in the Beach Club, but this is more—intimate…’ he paused and the word hung in the air between them, heating the atmosphere and raising the tension ‘…and I know you’re a real fan of intimacy, Lindsay.’
‘Absolutely.’ But not with him. The last thing she wanted or needed was intimacy with Alessio Capelli.
‘You seem a little tense.’
Tense? Tense?
Her entire body was being overtaken by a ferocious sexual awareness and the feeling totally unsettled her. She really, really didn’t want to feel like this. ‘Why would I be tense? Who could possibly be tense in a place like this?’ Nervously looking for something to do with her hands, she leaned forward to help herself to a canapé and saw his eyes drift down to her cleavage.
Immediately she sat back in her chair, her skin heating as he gave a soft smile.
‘You don’t like the look of the canapés? I can instruct the staff to bring a different selection.’
‘Not at all. I decided to save myself for the main course.’ Hoping desperately that the staff would serve her, Lindsay struggled with the urge to glance down and check she was decent. She badly wanted to haul her dress up to her neck. It was one thing to be full of bravado when she was staring at her reflection in the mirror, and quite another to maintain that feeling when confronted by a man of Alessio’s sophistication and experience.
She suspected that he was playing with her and his next action confirmed it.
A faint smile on his hard mouth, he reached forward and selected a canapé for himself. ‘I find that the right taste on the palate actually increases the appetite.’ With a slow, deliberate flick of his tongue, he devoured the tiny pastry. ‘Sort of culinary foreplay.’
Her heart was thumping hard. ‘So you even think about sex when you eat.’
‘Sex and food are closely related. Each requires the full involvement of the senses and each satisfies a basic human need.’
Lindsay was desperately conscious of the slow build of warmth low in her pelvis and suddenly she was angry with him—angry with him for making her feel this way.