‘Oh, well, that explains it,’ she returned, deadpan. ‘Seriously, though—that lovely couple before, for example, seemed awfully careful about what they said to you. It was almost as if they were walking on eggshells. The husband turned brick-red when he mentioned your parents and I thought his wife was going to stomp on his foot.’
‘Don’t you know, bella?’ Sebastiano’s teeth flashed white beneath the impressive chandeliers. ‘I am the big, bad wolf. Or—what did you call me?—a shark.’
Poppy scoffed. ‘You know I don’t think that any more. I’ve seen your softer side and I’m not so easily fooled by your bad-boy exterior.’
‘You are not only terrible for my ego, bella, but if I’m not careful my reputation as well.’
‘Be serious,’ she admonished. ‘What am I missing?’
He raised his champagne flute to his lips. ‘My mouth on yours.’
Poppy blinked, n
ot sure she had heard him correctly. ‘What did you just say?’
‘I want to kiss you again, bella mia. Why do you look so shocked after the incredible kiss we shared yesterday?’
Poppy swallowed heavily. ‘Because I am. That kiss was for show and—’
‘Was the way your eyes ate me up back in my office that Sunday morning for show?’
Heat surged through her at the memory. ‘My eyes did not eat you up.’
‘I nearly kissed you then, you know,’ he said almost conversationally. ‘When your busy fingers were knotting my tie.’
‘Sebastiano...’
‘You know the only reason I told you to get me a shirt was to get your hands off me.’
‘Well, I’m sorry if I over—’
‘Because I was aroused.’
Poppy’s breath caught in her lungs. His words were stripping away her more sensible side and rendering it obsolete.
He chuckled at her mute expression. ‘You seem surprised.’
‘I am. You date supermodels and beautiful actresses.’
‘And now I date women who wear Mickey Mouse watches. I bet no one in my office put money on that.’
‘No,’ she agreed. ‘But I knew I should have taken this off.’ She fidgeted with the band. ‘It’s never looked so out of place before, but I forgot.’
Refusing to let her retreat behind her safe walls, Sebastiano curled his hand around her waist. ‘Leave it on. It looks charming. Different. Original. You’ll probably see a couture version selling on the Internet by morning.’
‘I really don’t think—’
‘Poppy! Sebastiano! Eccovi. I have been looking for you everywhere.’
Poppy swung around at the sound of Giuseppe’s voice, her eyes wide, her cheeks on fire. After listening to Sebastiano tell her how much he wanted her, all she could picture was her and Sebastiano’s reflection in the mirror, his darker head bent to hers, his lips grazing her neck, his lean hands touching her. Stroking her.
‘How are you enjoying the party?’ his grandfather asked, clearly not picking up on the sexual tension that vibrated like a live wire between them.
‘It’s very good, Nonno,’ Sebastiano answered for both of them, and Poppy was glad that he had, because she couldn’t have strung a sensible sentence together if she’d tried.
* * *
Stunned by the strength of his need to enclose Poppy in his arms and lay claim to her, Sebastiano released her and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. He’d been trying to distract her from her perceptive questioning by telling her the effect she had on him but he’d only served to turn himself on. Big time.