Christmas Seduction: The Twelve Nights of Christmas / His Christmas Acquisition / Caroselli's Christmas Baby

She tried to conjure up an image of Jeff’s face again but found that she couldn’t. Instead, her mind was filled with a vision of burnished skin and eyes full of sexual promise.

To make matters worse, two walls of the opulent bathroom were mirrored, which meant that his iron-hard physique was reproduced several times over, dominating her vision.

Seriously unsettled, Evie clutched at the throw. ‘If you’d give me five minutes privacy, I’ll get dressed.’

‘You own clothes?’

‘Of course I own clothes! They’re drying on the—’ Evie turned her head and her eyes widened. ‘I left them right there—on the radiator. They’re gone.’ Her mind explored possible explanations and came up with only one. Feeling the panic rise again, she looked at him and he lifted an eyebrow in weary mockery.

‘They walked out of the room under their own steam?’

‘Forget it.’ Her voice choked, Evie lifted her hand like a stop sign. ‘I’ve had enough of this! There’s no point in me saying anything because you’re not going to believe me anyway.’

‘Strangely enough, you’re wrong.’ His tone was grim. ‘I’m guessing that Carlos had something to do with the mysterious disappearance of your clothes. Am I right?’

Evie lowered her hand slowly. ‘H-how do you know that?’

‘Because he invited you to stay in the Penthouse and I doubt he did that out of generosity of spirit.’

Relief spurted through her veins. ‘I didn’t think you believed me—’

‘I never thought you acted alone. Now it’s all slotting together—’ A muscle flickered in his cheek and he muttered something in Italian under his breath.

Evie was rigid with tension. ‘I didn’t know what was going on. I still don’t, but it doesn’t really matter. I just want to get out of here. If someone could lend me some clothes, I can go.’

‘You’re not going anywhere.’

Her heart rate increased. ‘If that whole naked photograph thing was a set up then the best thing is surely for me to get as far away from here as possible. I’ll go somewhere no one can find me.’

He started to laugh, but there was no trace of humour in the rich masculine sound. It was loaded with cynicism and derision. ‘Are you really that naive? The press can find anyone.’

That news shook Evie. ‘But why would they want to? I’m no one.’

‘Perhaps you were “no one” before you chose to lie naked on my bed with me, but now you’re a person of extreme interest.’

‘I wasn’t with you.’

‘Yes, you were.’

‘Well, that part was your fault. You were the one who kissed me and, quite frankly, I have no idea why you did that.’ And she wished he hadn’t because, in the midst of this crisis, those feelings kept rushing back to torture her.

His mouth, moving over hers with erotic purpose.

‘None of this is my responsibility. You were the one lying there naked.’ He issued that statement with such arrogance that Evie simply gaped at him, wondering how it was possible to be terrified of someone and turned on at the same time.

‘And that means what? That you kiss every naked woman you see?’

‘Normally, the woman gets naked after I kiss her,’ he drawled. ‘That’s the usual order of things. Despite the lengths some women go to attract my attention, no one has ever gone quite as far as stripping naked and lying on my bed. That was a first.’

‘I thought we’d established that I was set up!’ Evie’s voice rose. ‘If I’d known you were going to arrive early, do you honestly think I would have been lying there?’

‘Yes. That photograph will sell for a fortune.’

‘Maybe it will, but it won’t be me making the fortune,’ Evie snapped, stalking out of the bathroom with the throw trailing behind her like a wedding gown.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

‘Out of here. I’m sick of seeing your reflection in the mirrors. One of you is bad enough. Ten is more than I can take. I’m going to ring Housekeeping and get them to send up a uniform and then I’m going to go and hide somewhere even the press can’t find me.’

‘Running is not the way to handle this.’

‘Well, if you can think of a different plan, I’d love to hear it. This is easy for you. You have bodyguards and you own tall buildings with fancy security. All you have to do is lock yourself in your gilded palace until the fuss dies down, but I have to live with the fact that photograph is out there. Everyone who wants a laugh can look at it. They’ll probably start a Facebook page for it—The biggest bottom in the world.’ Evie tripped on the throw and stumbled. Steadying herself, she blinked back tears. ‘I have to live with the fact that my eighty-six-year-old grandfather is going to see me with my naked bottom in the air, kissing a stranger! If he has another one of his turns it will be all your fault.’

‘Which is going to shock him most? Seeing your naked bottom, or the fact that you’re kissing a stranger?’

Evie snatched the phone up. ‘You’re not even funny.’

‘Do I look as though I’m laughing? You have no idea how serious this is for me. For you, it’s embarrassing; for me, it’s—’ He broke off, his voice unsteady and Evie paused with the handset in her hand, transfixed by the raw emotion she saw in his eyes.

‘For you it’s what? A deal you don’t want to lose? Is this an ego thing? It has to be because you clearly don’t care about the embarrassment and I can’t honestly believe you’d be making this much fuss about money. I mean, it’s not as if you don’t already have plenty!’ When he didn’t answer, she gave a humourless laugh. ‘Oh, forget it. I don’t know why I’m expecting you to care any more than Carlos cared. Why does it matter to you that one more woman’s reputation is shattered? I’m just another notch on your bedpost.’

‘I do not make notches on my bedpost,’ he said thickly. ‘I am very choosy about my relationships.’

And he wouldn’t be choosing a woman like her. Evie turned scarlet and stabbed the number for Housekeeping. ‘Hello? Margaret? I’m really sorry to bother you, but could you possibly deliver a fresh housekeeping uniform to the Penthouse, please. I’ve…spilled something…sorry?’ She blushed and turned her head away, lowering her voice. ‘Size twelve…I said size twelve…I’m not whispering—’ She gave a gasp as the phone was removed from her fingers.

‘She said size twelve,’ Rio drawled, ‘and, while you’re at it, send some underwear and shoes. She takes a—’ his gaze slid to her cleavage ‘—thirty-four DD and her feet are—’ He lifted an eyebrow in Evie’s direction.

‘Forty,’ she said faintly and he delivered that information in the same commanding tone and ended the call. Then he answered his mobile, which was buzzing in his pocket and spoke at length in Italian, leaving Evie standing with a scarlet face, still trying to work out how he’d been able to guess her bra size so accurately.

He was still in mid-conversation when there was another buzzing sound and he drew his BlackBerry out of a different pocket without breaking conversation.

Evie watched in disbelief as he talked into one phone while emailing from the other.

‘Sì—Sì—Ciao.’ He ended the conversation and frowned at her. ‘Why are you staring?’

‘How many phones do you have?’

‘Three. It makes me more efficient.’

‘What happens if they ring at the same time? Most men aren’t that good at multi-tasking.’

He gave a cool smile. ‘I’m not most men. And I’m excellent at multi-tasking.’ As if to test that theory, two of his three phones rang simultaneously and Evie moved to the window as he dealt swiftly with one call and then the other.

It was still dark outside, but the roads far beneath her were already busy as cars and taxis inched their way over snowy streets.

She leaned her cheek against the glass, watching people carrying on with their lives, wishing she could swap with them. Or put the clock back. She wished she’d never spent the night in the Penthouse.

Her eyes stung with tears and she blinked rapidly, determined not to cry. It was just because she was tired, she told herself fiercely.