She needed to project this image to him, and so he nodded as though he believed her, even when he heard the heartbreak behind her carefully delivered lines. He sat back in his seat, dropping his hands into his lap, watching her with the full force of his concentration.
‘I take it this general family dysfunction explains why you’re still a virgin?’
Her eyes widened, showing how unexpected the question was. ‘Yes.’
He waited for her to continue, probing her eyes thoughtfully.
‘You said dating wasn’t approved of. Why not?’
‘This is really very boring, isn’t it?’
‘No.’
A plea filled her gaze, and Luca understood it, but he held to his resolve. ‘You are asking to modify our agreement. I need more information before I make a decision.’
‘I—’ She closed her eyes a moment, sucking in a deep breath, and her free hand trembled slightly as she reached for her Prosecco. ‘I didn’t understand why my mother was so adamant about this. After all, she was married young, and my father wasn’t her first lover. How come I couldn’t date? But I think—’ She paused, wincing, so he waited, curious as to what she might say. ‘My mother is a very vain person, Luca. She was always very beautiful, and then my father seemed to value only her looks, so that became what she focused on for a very long time.’
Luca’s lips formed a grim line. ‘And as you got older, and turned from a child to an adolescent to a stunning young woman, she became jealous of you.’
Olivia’s eyes grew wide. He was sure he was right, but some delicate sense of loyalty seemed to prevent Olivia from agreeing with him, so he continued.
‘This is why your wardrobe is as it is?’
Heat coloured her cheeks. She didn’t respond.
‘And she kept you from dating because to see men pay attention to you, and not her, would wound her vanity.’
Olivia pulled a face before looking away. He took her silence as all the confirmation he needed, and suddenly what he wanted, more than anything, was to erase every bit of pain and dejection Olivia had ever felt. What he wanted was to give her everything she wanted, to make up for all she’d been denied.
‘Are you hungry?’
She frowned. ‘I’m—not really, why?’
He stood, extending a hand to her. ‘Then let’s order room service. Later.’
His final word landed between them and her eyes widened as his meaning became clear. Later might as well have been ‘after’, and they both knew what that meant.
It was as though she’d forgotten how to walk, her legs were that unstable beneath her, her stomach in a thousand knots, her blood thundering through her fragile veins so she could hear rushing akin to a waterfall with every step she took. At the elevator, he pressed the button without looking at her, and when Olivia risked a glance at Luca she saw only an implacable, inscrutable face, his eyes hooded, his features set in a mask of determination. A thrill ran the length of her spine even as nerves seemed to be hammering her from the inside out.
This was really going to happen.
Delight and euphoria clipped through her. She fidgeted her hands in front of her waist as she stepped into the elevator, holding her breath as Luca came to stand beside her. The doors pinged halfway shut only to open once more as another couple stepped in, joining them. Olivia stepped back, her bottom touching the metal of the lift wall, and Luca mirrored her step, staying right beside her. As the elevator began to ascend, his hand brushed hers, and she startled as a thousand lightning bolts flashed across her skin. She glanced at his face to find him still looking straight ahead, but this time there was the hint of a smile on his lips and her heart stammered in her chest.
The lift opened and the other couple departed. Olivia’s breath sounds filled the cabin. Her skin was flushed from anticipation, her insides all contorted. Her body was wracked with a thousand and one emotions, none of them easy to interpret.
A moment later the doors pinged open to their floor. ‘After you.’ His words were deep and throaty, throbbing with the same emotions that were rolling through Olivia. She couldn’t look at him, and jelly seemed to have replaced her knee joints. At the end of the corridor, he pushed open the door to the honeymoon suite and this time, when Olivia crossed the threshold, she felt as though something fundamental had changed between them. There was an equality to their pairing, an honesty and openness that hadn’t been there at first. Inside the suite, she turned to face him, slowly, her eyes round, her lips parted. She’d focused so much of her energy on convincing him that they should do this that she hadn’t actually prepared for what that would entail. Nerves began to bounce through her.
Luca held her gaze as he removed his dinner jacket, placing it over the back of a nearby chair, before unfastening the top two buttons of his shirt. He then turned his attention to his sleeves, which he rolled up to just below the elbow, revealing tanned, toned forearms that were, even on their own, erotic enough to make her heart go full pelt.
She reached for the zip of her dress, but a short jerk of his head forestalled her. ‘I’ll do it.’
Her stomach swooped; her hands fell to her sides. ‘If we do this,’ he said, something impossible to interpret darkening his features.
‘If?’ she interrupted with soft incredulity.
He dipped his head in silent agreement. ‘I need you to promise you understand the limitations.’
‘Haven’t we already covered that?’