Emily stepped backwards, her eyes flitting around the room. “Please, don’t do that. You’ll get me in trouble.”
His laugh sent shivers of warmth down her spine.
“What’s funny about that? I don’t want to get fired!”
He appeared to sober, but there was still a mocking spark in his eyes. “I won’t let that happen.”
Emily re
sisted the urge to roll her eyes. “All the same, I’d better get back to work.”
“Keeping guests happy is your job, is it not? So consider yourself working.”
Emily felt as though she was caught in this man’s magnetic force. He was the sun and she was a tiny little planet, simply rotating about him. Her head was spinning and her toes were tingling.
Sabato took advantage of her brief hesitation and put a hand lightly against the small of her back. At the instant of contact, something hot seared along his arm, all the way to his gut. He compressed his lips.
Yes, he was hunting all right, but the stakes were so much higher than tracking a boar across his father’s Tuscan property.
“Where are we going?” Emily seemed to remember herself when they were at the fringe of the room.
Sabato didn’t reply. He didn’t want to say anything that might cause her to take fright. He pushed a door onto the balcony open, holding it for her with a growing sense of impatience.
Emily sucked in a deep breath and took a step outside. The night was warm, the sky glowing with the hues of dusk. “It’s as though a toddler has created the palette,” she murmured, staring at the oranges and pinks with the same sense of wonderment that the bookends of the day always seemed to inspire in her.
“Excuse me?” Sabato queried, easing the glass door closed and leading her a little way down the length of the area. Away from the party. Away from prying eyes. His English was excellent, but he couldn’t be sure he’d understood what she’d said, for it made little sense to a man such as him.
Emily spun around, positioning the tray between them. “The colours. They’re so beautiful. So harmonious. The most beautiful gradient in the world; wouldn’t you agree?”
Sabato ignored the food. His eyes lifted to the view beyond them. “How fortunate to enjoy something you get to see every day.”
“Twice a day sometimes,” she agreed with a small smile. “Dawn is just as stunning.”
Sabato raised his brows. “Do you make a habit of being up early enough to appreciate it?”
Her eyes lifted to his and she felt as though she’d taken a step off the edge of the balcony. She was free falling. “Not a habit. An effort.”
He looked at her enquiringly, waiting for her to expand.
“I always see the day start. Mind you, that’s easier in winter.”
Fascinating. “Why?”
Emily expelled a slow breath. “The sun rises later.” She swallowed. “I should go back in.”
He couldn’t help it. The hunt, so pleasurable, so captivating… He ran his finger down her cheek, pausing just at the edge of her delectable pink lips. “Should you?”
Emily’s body was quivering. His touch was both innocent and incendiary. She stepped a little to the side, just far enough to break the contact. “What are you doing?” She asked quietly, unable to meet his eyes.
“I should have thought that would be quite obvious. Am I not being clear?” His eyes raked her face, devouring her with concentration. “I want you.”
Is that what this was? The way her whole body felt ready to burst into flames and her breath was burning in her chest. “No, you don’t.” Her denial was soft and unconvincing.
Sabato laughed, and this time it was a low, quiet rumble, that came from deep in his chest. “Do you think not?”
“No.” Her tongue darted out and traced the outline of her lips. “I don’t know why you’re saying it, but it can’t be true.”
Sabato lifted his hands and took the platter from her. She was so confused by the things he was saying, and the way her body was responding, that she let him. “Tell me, cara, why would I lie to you?”