Swept Away!: Accidentally Expecting! / Salzano's Captive Bride / Hawaiian Sunset, Dream Proposal

‘You told me you always had it. And the woman who was smart enough to record her lover’s infidelity wouldn’t miss a trick like this.’

She showed him how to work it, and they spent a few minutes out in the sun while she turned this way and that at his command.

‘Pull your blouse down this side,’ he said. ‘You’ve got pretty shoulders; let’s see them. Good. Now, shake your head so that your hair fluffs up.’

‘This is no good for passport pictures,’ she objected.

He grinned. ‘Who said anything about passport pictures? Maybe I have a wicked purpose of my own.’

Back inside, they switched the camera to ‘view’ and showed the results to the woman at the desk, who regarded them with saintly patience.

‘None of these are suitable. I think you should use the kiosk,’ she suggested.

‘We could have done that to start with,’ Ferne pointed out.

‘But then my wicked purpose wouldn’t have been fulfilled,’ Dante said unanswerably. ‘Come on; go into that kiosk and take some shots that make you look dreary and virtuous.’

‘Are you suggesting that I’m not dreary and virtuous?’

‘Which part of that question do you want me to answer?’

‘Let’s just get on with it,’ she said hastily.

When the formalities were complete, Dante took her to a café by the beach and they relaxed over coffee.

‘If you think the villa’s a madhouse now,’ he said, ‘wait until tomorrow when the rest of the family get here.’

‘There’s quite a lot of them, isn’t there? Six, I think Hope said.’

‘That’s right, although they don’t all live around here. Luke and Minnie will be coming from Rome. Justin and Evie from England, with Mark, Justin’s son, and their baby twins.’

A terrible thought struck Ferne. ‘Where will they be staying?’

‘At the villa, of course.’

‘And you’re there too, so whose room have I been given? Someone will end up sleeping on the sofa because of me, and I can’t have that. I’ve got to go.’

‘And stay where—in a hotel? With no money or paperwork?’

‘Well, if you could lend me some money I’ll pay it back…’

Dante shook his head firmly. ‘Sorry, no. To tell the hotel that you’re a trustworthy person, when actually I don’t know if you are, would be most improper. And we must always behave with propriety, mustn’t we?’

Despite her agitation, she couldn’t help laughing.

‘You,’ she said in a slow, deliberate voice, ‘wouldn’t recognise propriety if it came up and whacked you on the nose—which I am strongly tempted to do right now.’

‘Curses!’ he said theatrically. ‘She’s seen through me. All right, I’ll admit my true motive. I plan to keep you here, a prisoner, subject to my will. Cash would help you to escape, which doesn’t suit my evil purpose.’

‘I wonder if I can guess your evil purpose,’ she said dryly.

‘Well, I’m not exactly subtle, am I? But do I need to be? You’re in my power.’

‘In your dreams!’ she chuckled.

‘In those too,’ he said with a yearning look.

‘No, I didn’t mean—Oh, you know what I meant.’

‘Well, a man can dream, can’t he?’ he asked, eyeing her significantly.

‘He can dream all he likes, as long as he doesn’t confuse dreams with reality,’ she said, also significantly. ‘And you didn’t answer my question. Whose room have I been given?’

He didn’t reply, but his mouth twisted.

‘Oh no, please, don’t tell me…?’

‘If you feel that way, we could always share it,’ he suggested.

‘Will you just stop, please?’

‘All right, all right, don’t eat me. You can’t blame a man for trying.’

‘I can. I do.’

‘You wouldn’t if you could sit where I’m sitting, looking at you.’

She gave up. How could you talk sense to a man who had that wicked glint in his eyes?

But it could be fun finding out.

CHAPTER THREE

‘IF YOU’RE going to reject me, I’ll just have to console myself with those pictures of you that I took,’ Dante remarked.

‘I deleted them,’ she said at once.

‘Like hell you did! If you didn’t delete the evidence of your lover misbehaving, you aren’t going to wipe out the pics of you looking like every man’s dream of sexy.’

‘Will you stop talking to me like that?’

‘Why should I?’

What could she say? Because it gives me a fizz of excitement that I’m not ready for yet.

He was a clever man, she reckoned; he made it clear beyond doubt that he was sexually attracted to her, yet with such a light touch that she could relax in his company, free from pressure. She didn’t doubt that he would jump into her bed in an instant, if she gave him the barest hint. But without that hint he would sit here talking nonsense, biding his time.

She wondered how many other women had been beguiled into his arms, and what had happened to them when it was over. She suspected that Dante would always be the one to say goodbye, treating love easily, never lingering too long. But there was more to him than that; instinct, too deep to be analysed, told her so.