‘I need to work, Aurelio.’ Her voice was husky, not like her own at all.
‘I’ll help you.’
Amber felt her forehead pucker in astonishment. ‘What’s caused the sudden change of heart? You made it clear you were leaving that to me.’
Something she couldn’t interpret flickered in his eyes, then he shrugged, making her even more aware of those wide shoulders. Had those sexy grooves in his cheeks deepened too? Usually they were only evident if he smiled or, she recalled, during moments of intense passion.
‘It’s my wine. I need to do my bit to promote it.’
‘Even though you hate bowties and socialites?’ she whispered.
Those creases deepened in his lean cheeks as he gave her a smile that did something terrible to her pulse. ‘Even then.’
Aurelio was as good as his word, never leaving her side despite the numerous invitations from women who wanted a private chat with him.
Together they spent the next hour circulating and, in the process, subtly getting word out about the latest, magnificent vintage. To Amber’s delight Aurelio was charming, witty and engaging, putting himself out, not just to join in the conversation, but draw others out too.
She shouldn’t be surprised. She’d thought him all those things and more the night they’d shared a table at the wine awards dinner. It’s just that the last ten days, since she’d turned up at the winery, he’d given a good impression of a recluse who only grudgingly gave time to the outside world.
Had Aurelio always been like that? Having met his siblings Amber thought it unlikely. Members of the De Laurentis family were clever and driven but they were all sociable.
Yet if this was an intrinsic part of Aurelio, why did it surface so rarely? What had happened to make him shun the world and people as much as he did?
‘Ah, little brother, how are you?’
Luca De Laurentis, host of tonight’s party in his flagship luxury hotel, approached them. It was the first time Amber had met the eldest of the De Laurentis siblings and she was struck by the family resemblance. Seriously, they all had the tall, dark and handsome thing down pat. Except to her mind Aurelio outshone them all.
She had to stop that line of thinking.
She had to separate herself mentally and emotionally from him.
Which was hard to do when he was glued to her side.
‘…introduce Amber Moncrieff.’ Amber blinked as Aurelio mentioned her name, realising to her horror, she’d zoned out for precious seconds. Truly, the sooner she made a clean break from Aurelio the better. He was messing with her head as well as her heart now.
Luca smiled and shook her hand. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.’
Before Amber could question that, he turned to the woman just crossing the room to join them. Voluptuously beautiful with raven hair and blue eyes, she wore a dress of blue-grey that might have been demure but for the thigh high slit up one side and the way it scintillated under the lights, showing off her figure. Amber sucked in a furtive breath, so pleased she’d pulled out all the stops with her outfit tonight. It would be easy to feel dowdy in such company.
The woman stopped and grinned directly at her. ‘You must be Amber. I’m so pleased to meet you at last.’ She reached out and shook Amber’s hand.
‘Allegra?’ Amber recognised that voice from several phone calls prior to the party, organising the wine and checking details to do with the press. Allegra Davis was Luca’s super-organised and incredibly helpful personal assistant. It had been a real pleasure working with her.
Allegra nodded. ‘That’s right, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you in person but we haven’t had two minutes to ourselves this evening, have we, Luca?’
To Amber’s silent astonishment Luca lifted his hand to Allegra’s face, drawing his knuckle down her cheek in a gesture of infinite tenderness. ‘Something we need to remedy soon,’ he purred and Amber watched in amazement as the ultra-efficient Allegra swayed towards him, a slightly dazed look in her eyes.
Obviously this pair were far more than boss and PA.
Aurelio cleared his throat. When he spoke his tone was pointed. ‘Don’t let us interrupt you two. The hotel rooms upstairs are the last word in luxury. Perhaps you should get one.’
Luca took his time turning around to his brother. When he did there was a devilish glint in those dark eyes so like Aurelio’s. ‘You don’t fob me off so easily, brother. We have some catching up to do.’
Did she imagine that Aurelio stiffened beside her?
‘Excellent,’ said Allegra. ‘That will give us a chance to get to know each other better. If that’s okay with you, Amber?’
‘Of course.’ Then, before she knew it, the two men had stepped away, already in conversation.