With a physical effort Sonia dragged herself back to the present.
‘I’m so sorry.’ She tried to smile but failed. Her muscles were stiff with shock. ‘Obviously I have the wrong apartment. Though the key worked.’ She shook her head. ‘How could that be?’
* * *
Renzo watched the cloud of long, caramel-coloured hair ripple and spill around her shoulders. Morning light from the window picked out gold highlights that winked in the tousled mass as if inviting him to reach out and test its softness.
She had the rumpled, dazed look of someone just out of bed, and when that sultry mouth pouted in confusion, lust shot straight to his groin.
For some reason she was half-undressed. Not that he objected. He was all for appreciating beautiful women. And this woman was beautiful.
She’d left her shoes and shirt behind her. All she wore was a pair of pale trousers and a flame-red lace bra cut so low it looked like her bounteous breasts would spill out with one deep breath. That bra was doing predictable things to his libido. Though it wasn’t the bra as much as those luscious breasts that trembled deliciously with each shaky breath.
Renzo found himself holding his own breath in anticipation. And wishing he had more than a towel to hide his burgeoning arousal. If she kept looking at him with those big green eyes...
His erection twitched and of course she noticed. She’d been eating him up with that wide gaze ever since she walked in.
Renzo was caught between surprise at her intrusion and amusement at her response. Like a kid staring into a sweet store, not knowing where to start.
But unlike many women Renzo knew, this one was shocked too, both by his nakedness and, he guessed, by her response. It was there in the fiery blush covering her from those high cheekbones to the hard nipples peaking just below the edge of her bra.
Whoever she was, his intruder wasn’t a sexual sophisticate, here to seduce him.
More’s the pity. He could do with the distraction.
He’d had his share of grasping women, eager for his body, his wealth or the cachet of his family name. He could spot one instantly. This woman was different.
‘Presumably the key worked because it’s for this apartment. Are you a friend of Marco’s?’ The sudden thought quenched his arousal. If she was Marco’s lover she was definitely off limits.
‘Marco? Marco Veracini?’ She nodded and Renzo felt disappointment spread like ice crackling in his veins. ‘That’s right. Though I don’t know him exactly.’
Renzo stifled a smile of relief. ‘That explains it. This is Marco’s apartment, which is why the key worked.’
But instead of returning his smile, the woman frowned. As that turned her ripe lips into a pout his body tightened painfully. Renzo wondered at the strength of his response to a stranger, but soon found himself fantasising about how that mouth would feel on his skin.
‘If it’s Signor Veracini’s apartment it’s supposed to be empty. I’m living here for the next two months.’ She tilted her head to one side, her gaze sharpening. Renzo had the feeling that assessing look was more usual than the glazed, hungry stare he’d seen in the last few minutes.
‘Really? He didn’t tell me.’ Renzo ran his hand around the back of his neck. Typical of Marco. He’d left for New York and not said a word about letting out the apartment. But then why should he? Since Renzo had his own place in Rome he never used this one anymore. Until this week.
‘And you are?’ She stood tall, her tone businesslike despite the fact she stood half-undressed. Her eyes fixed on his face as if he were the one who needed to explain.
It seemed both he and this intriguing stranger had a claim to the apartment.
The situation was ridiculous, but delicious.
‘Lorenzo Veracini. Renzo. I’m Marco’s cousin.’
He reached out and took her slim hand in his grasp. Renzo noted her tiny shiver of response, an echo of the clenching awareness tightening his own body. He liked her handshake too, firm and definite, despite the fact his hand easily engulfed hers. He guessed that she was a woman who stood up for herself. A woman of energy and enthusiasm.
The devil inside him hoped so. He enjoyed energetic women.
Renzo smiled down into wide green eyes the colour of a spring field. His week-long eviction from his own apartment suddenly seemed not a nuisance but a pleasure.
Pure pleasure.