His Forbidden Conquest: A Moment on the Lips / The Best Mistake of Her Life / Not Just Friends

‘I can’t give you his mother’s number. But if I accidentally leave my contacts book open on my computer and go to the toilet, I can’t help it if you’re incredibly nosey and look on my screen, can I?’

Carenza laughed. ‘And you say I’m devious?’ She gave the secretary a high five. ‘Thank you, Mariella. This is going to be perfect.’

CHAPTER NINE (#ulink_59581327-a248-50b9-969c-a177d8ae9469)

TEN o’clock on a Saturday night. Before Dante had met Carenza, he would’ve been working. Maybe in his office, maybe helping out in one of the restaurants, but definitely working. If anyone had told him a few weeks ago he’d be going clubbing with her—and even looking forward to it, just a tiny bit—he would’ve laughed.

You’ll definitely like my dress. And my shoes.

He wondered just what she had in mind. Possibilities bloomed in his head. One thing he did know, he was going to enjoy peeling her dress off afterwards. And so was she.

It still bothered him, the way she’d kissed him goodbye and left on Wednesday. Casual as anything. As if he didn’t really matter to her. Which was ridiculous. He didn’t want a relationship with her. He didn’t want to let her close, let her loosen his control over his emotions.

And yet, if he was honest with himself, part of him was starting to wish for exactly that.

‘Get a grip,’ he told himself sharply as he climbed out of the taxi and rang her doorbell.

The chances were, someone as high-maintenance as Carenza Tonielli would take hours to get ready to go out. Admittedly, she’d never once been late for a mentoring session with him; but this wasn’t one of their normal mentoring sessions. He’d agreed to let her set the agenda tonight. And he didn’t have a clue where this was going to take them.

She answered almost immediately and Dante’s jaw nearly hit the floor. She was wearing the highest heels he’d ever seen, her dress was short and clung in all the right places, and her hair was loose and looked incredibly sexy.

‘Let’s forget the dancing. I’ll tell the taxi driver to go home.’ Even to him, his voice sounded rusty, thick with desire.

She just laughed. ‘No way. I’m looking forward to going dancing.’ Mischief sparkled in her eyes. ‘I told you you’d like my dress.’

‘I’d like to take it off you, even more.’

A dimple appeared in her cheek. ‘Later. You know, patience is a virtue. And a business asset.’

‘Oh, yeah?’ He had a feeling that they’d both be at fever pitch by the time he took her home. ‘Just tell me this club isn’t going to be full of sixteen-year-olds.’

She laughed. ‘Of course not. We’re both too old for that kind of place.’

‘So where are we going?’

‘Somewhere they play decent music.’

She clearly wasn’t going to tell him. Worse still, when he opened the door and ushered her into the taxi, by the time he’d got in she’d already given the driver directions to the club and was chatting to him as if she’d known him her entire life.

Carenza definitely had people skills. He’d take back everything he’d said about her being a spoiled princess who didn’t know her staff or care about them. She might have a carefree attitude, but she cared, all right. And she made the world around her sparkle.

The taxi pulled up outside a shabby-looking building. Not promising, Dante thought, but he was careful to keep his voice neutral as he asked, ‘When was the last time you came here?’

‘About three years ago,’ she admitted. ‘But I did check with Lucia. My best friend,’ she added. ‘Lu says it’s still the same.’

‘So why didn’t you go dancing with her?’

‘Because she’s six and a half months pregnant and she’ll have been tucked up in bed for—’ she checked her watch ‘—about the last two hours.’

He held the door open for her, paid for their admission, and his heart sank as he heard the music. It really wasn’t to his taste, but he’d promised to take her dancing so he’d just have to put up with it. He was relieved to discover that she’d been right about one thing; most of the people there were over twenty-five, so he didn’t feel completely out of place.

‘What can I get you to drink?’

‘Still water, please.’ His surprise must have shown on his face, because she smiled. ‘We’re dancing. I don’t want to get dehydrated.’

‘OK.’ He ordered their drinks.

When she led him onto the dance floor, he could see admiring glances from the men round them, and the envy on their faces when she made it very clear that she was with him.

This really wasn’t something he did. Ever. Even in his teens, Dante had been too busy working and trying to better himself to go clubbing. When he’d bought his first business, most of his time and energy had gone into building up the business a bit more and a bit more still. Sure, he’d dated and gone to the odd party, but he’d kept all his relationships casual and ended them before things got too emotionally involved.

Right at that moment, he felt completely out of his depth.

He wished he’d paid more attention during his teens. He had no idea how you behaved in a club.

Carenza seemed to know. She was smiling, waving her arms about and clearly having a good time. Half the people on the dance floor were doing the same moves that she was; clearly this was a song they all knew and there were set movements to it. He didn’t have a clue what they were. And he felt completely out of place here.

‘Come on, get with the beat,’ she teased. ‘I thought all Italian men had a good sense of rhythm?’

‘Not this one.’ He grimaced. ‘Can we go?’

‘We’ve only just got here, Dante.’ She stroked his face. ‘I know I said we’d leave if you really hated it, but you haven’t given it a chance. Just relax. Go with the flow.’ She drew him closer. ‘Follow my lead.’

Now that was definitely something he wasn’t used to doing, following someone else’s lead. But he watched what she did, copied the moves. And, to his surprise, he found himself enjoying it. The dancing itself he could take or leave, but he loved seeing the sheer joy and exuberance on her face.

So this was what made her tick. What made her shine.

A nagging little voice in his head pointed out that he wanted to make her shine like this, too. That he knew just how to do it.

He rested his hands on her hips and fitted his movements to hers; her smile grew just that little bit wider, and finally he found himself relaxing.

But then there was a cold feeling at the base of his spine. Automatically he turned round to see what was going on. A man by the bar was shouting at his partner; Dante couldn’t hear the words over the volume of the music, but there was an ugly look on the man’s face. An ugly look he’d seen too many times on his father’s face—just before he raised his hand to strike Dante’s mother. Dante’s antennae had become so finely tuned throughout those years that he could spot a situation like this right at the earliest stages.

He glanced round, but couldn’t see any bouncers anywhere.

Hell, hell, hell. He couldn’t just stand by and let this happen.

He leaned forward so his mouth was by Carenza’s ear. ‘There’s a problem—can you go to the door and ask one of the bouncers to come to the bar?’

She looked worried. ‘But, Dante—’

‘Just go, Caz,’ he said, knowing that he sounded abrupt but also knowing that there wasn’t time to argue; he needed to stop this happening.

He reached the couple just as the man raised his hand to hit the woman. ‘Is there a problem here?’

The other man looked at him, curled his lip and swore. ‘Keep your nose out. This is none of your business.’

His voice was slurred; he’d clearly been drinking, and the situation pressed every single one of Dante’s buttons. He’d been there too many times in the past, and if he could stop someone else being there, he damned well would. ‘Correction. It’s my business when a coward starts hitting a woman,’ Dante said. ‘Leave her alone.’