The Italian's Blushing Gardener

chapter Four



THE universe held its breath. Kira gazed at the gorgeous man standing just out of her reach. Her body ached to touch him. She could think of a million and one reasons why she should take that single step down into his arms. Only one thing stopped her. There was already a monumental mistake in her past. Kira was no longer the innocent girl she had once been, long ago and far away. She had forged a new life since then and almost learned to trust her instincts again, but she had never been faced by a choice like this before. Every fibre screamed at her to fall into Stefano’s arms. At the same time, every cruel word and accusation she had suffered in the past kept her nailed to the spot.

Stefano came up a step to join her. Taking the towel from her hands, he draped it over her head. Very gently, he began massaging her hair dry. His light, sure touches made Kira wonder how many other women he had treated in this way. It was impossible to know. That was the danger. She knew what powerful men were like. They acted with confidence, and never left any room for refusal. She had the horrible fear that once she was in his arms he would give her no time to think. It would be bed, and then treachery. It might take a day, a week or a month before he deceived her, but the result would be the same. He would carry on as though nothing had happened. She would be totally crushed. It had happened to her once before, and Kira was not about to let herself become a victim again.

She put up her hands, shrinking back and trying to intercept his movements. His fingers closed over hers and gently pushed the towel back over her head. The clip securing her tumble of auburn hair fell away. It clattered down the staircase. Kira barely noticed. She was completely absorbed by the look in Stefano’s eyes as he drew the towel away from her hair. The appreciation she saw was all for her. She began to tremble, but now it was with anticipation, not fear. She had never known such a wild yearning before.

She swallowed hard. There was nothing in her mouth but the taste of temptation. His eyes levelled a steady, questioning gaze, willing Kira to read what she wanted in them. It was mesmerising, but she could not escape the feeling of being confined in her own home. To take a step forward would lead straight into his arms. Kira refused to repeat her mistakes, and the irresistible Stefano Albani showed all the signs of being a disaster waiting to happen—to her.

She couldn’t allow herself to fall under his spell.

‘This is dangerous,’ she said, forcing a laugh when he showed no sign of moving. ‘Didn’t you ever get told not to fool about on stairs?’

‘No. But then, if I had I wouldn’t be where I am today.’

Turning, he headed back down the stairs.

Kira was torn between relief and disappointment. When he walked away it was because he was unwilling to open up about himself. They had that in common, she recognised. It gave her enough courage to follow him downstairs. Although unable to take that one momentous step into his arms, she did not want to lose touch with him altogether.

‘It’s still pouring out there, Stefano. Why don’t you stay for a coffee?’ she ventured.

He did not look at her. Instead, he went over to the open front door. There he stood with one hand on either side of the door frame. When he spoke, his voice was as light and careless as hers.

‘That would be great. And I meant what I said about wanting you to work for me.’

They might as well have still been discussing the weather. His attention was riveted on the curtains of rain rippling over her drenched and glittering garden.

‘And I’m equally determined to take my time over considering your offer,’ Kira said firmly, fixing him the macchiato he requested. She poured herself an identical drink, keen to keep a clear head while he was under her roof. ‘I need to know what strings are attached, Stefano.’

‘There won’t be any. I like to keep my affairs simple.’

He was still watching the rain. As Kira reached his side with the coffee, the downpour wavered and began to ease. A final flurry of thunder rattled away into the distance.

‘I like to keep my affairs completely separate from my work,’ she said, handing him his cup.

He was silhouetted against the doorway, surveying the land beyond her garden fence as though it was already part of his very own kingdom. At last he turned his head and looked at her. A man who took control so naturally would never expect a woman to refuse him anything. That thought made Kira fizz with an illicit thrill. Stefano Albani might be about to buy the Bella Terra estate, but the power he had over her had nothing to do with territory. She felt the need for him growing within her. That desire was reflected in his beautiful blue eyes. His gaze was as tempting as evening sunshine. Kira knew she held the key to her own escape from solitude, and that made her powerful. She could choose to satisfy the cravings he was awakening in her body, or tighten her armour of self-reliance. The choice was hers and she was glad, but it disturbed her. It would be so easy to give in, right here and now. She was afraid that if she did, Stefano would turn out to be no better than the last man she had learned to trust.

Some dreams needed to be kept at arm’s length. That way they could last for as long as she wanted.

As she passed Stefano the coffee, his fingers made contact with hers again. It was only for a fraction of a second, but it would linger in her memory for the rest of her life. Their eyes met as he drained the small cup in one movement. Then he walked over and placed it on the coffee table.

‘The rain has stopped, so I must go. Thank you for being such a delightful hostess, Kira. I don’t like to mix women and work, but as you aren’t quite on my payroll yet…’

Before Kira knew what was happening she was in his arms. He took complete control as his body spoke for them both. His lips were cool and totally irresistible. She dissolved under the pressure, and he was there to catch her. Despite all her good intentions, she let herself reach out to him. She delighted in the delicacy of the thin, smooth skin stretched taut over his finely drawn cheekbones. Her fingers ran through the silkiness of his dark hair as she drew him ever closer to her, hungry to experience every nuance of him. In response, his fingers stroked lightly over her bare arms, forming a prison she never wanted to escape. When he began to draw away, she instinctively tried to follow. Gently, he detached her arms from his neck. Holding her hands between his, he squeezed them lightly.


‘No. After what you have said to me today, Kira, I know you would never forgive yourself for mixing business with pleasure,’ he said, his expression carefully innocent, but a wicked sparkle in his eyes belying his words. ‘I’ll tell my staff to get a draft contract out to you as soon as possible. Until then, goodbye.’

Lifting his hand to his lips, he blew her one final kiss, and then strode right out of her house.

It was all Kira could do not to rush after him. Fighting every instinct, she forced herself to stay exactly where she was. She wanted go out and wave him off, but a man like Stefano would see that as his right. Women were probably doing it every day of the week. It would do him good to think there was one woman who didn’t keep him at the centre of her universe. The thought gave Kira a funny twist of pleasure, and she almost smiled. The racket his helicopter made as it roared into life was almost as hard to ignore as its pilot.

Kira only went out onto the veranda when the throbbing engine sound had dwindled away. Stefano’s helicopter was high in the sky, reduced to the size of a child’s toy. It made several slow circuits overhead like a bird of prey, and then headed off swiftly in the direction of Florence. This time she really did allow herself to smile.

Kira had run from romance for years. After that first disastrous affair with Hugh, she vowed never to get entangled again. And now Stefano Albani breezed into her life, attacking the walls of her reserve. She told herself it didn’t matter, as the way she was feeling had nothing to do with love. Her heart was not involved. That meant there was no danger she could be hurt a second time. Her response to Stefano was on a purely physical level, and that was how she intended to keep it. He aroused her body to a pitch she had never before experienced. It was unprecedented, startling, but at least it was simple.

It was love that would complicate matters, and Kira had absolutely no intention of allowing that.





Stefano was a happy man as he flew back towards Florence. He hummed a snatch of Don Giovanni to himself, revelling in the comfort of his air-conditioned cockpit. The Bella Terra estate was what life was all about. That was why he worked so hard, and put up with all the long hours and pressure. His features sharpened with their usual hawklike intensity. Memory was a savage goad. Whatever he had to put up with, he could do it in luxurious surroundings waited on by dozens of staff. As a teenager he had heard English tourists talk of their villas in Tuscany and vowed he would live like them one day. Whatever they could do, he would do better. It had taken him nearly twenty years, but he had managed it. He was going to own the most beautiful valley in all Italy.

His blue eyes veiled. It contained the most beautiful woman in the country as well. The enigmatic Miss Banks might well prove a bigger challenge than he had at first anticipated. Her failure to be swayed by his wealth or reputation made her unique, in his experience. A slow smile spread over his face the more he thought about her. Novelty wasn’t the only reason why she leapt into his mind. Kissing her senseless had kindled a need for her within his body. The temptation to carry on softening her resistance beneath his lips and hands had been difficult to resist. It had threatened to overcome him, but he had conquered it. There was no shortage of sex in Stefano’s life, but his reactions to Kira Banks felt somehow different. For once in his adult life, he was wondering less about her beautiful body, and more about the woman within.

He found himself wanting to see her again. That thought made him feel uneasy.





Miles away and far below, Kira shared his feelings. It had taken her so long to get over the horror that had been Hugh Taylor, she was determined never to be taken in by a man again. Yet Stefano Albani made her feel weak at the knees. And weak in the head, she told herself crossly, but it was impossible to think about him and frown. That was a revelation. Her only experience of men so far had ended in tears. Now, for the first time in years, a man was forcing her to reconsider. Stefano hadn’t made her cry. In fact, every time she thought about him, she smiled. That will have to stop, she told herself sternly.

Memories usually knocked all the daydreams out of her head. Thoughts about Stefano didn’t. Instead, she was filled with a wonderful warm feeling. It was such an unfamiliar sensation it took her a while to recognise it as lust. Shy amusement engulfed her in a wave of embarrassment, but that vanished when she caught sight of the envelope lying on her table. Stefano had stroked all thoughts of it from her mind. She picked it up. Meeting him put this letter from her stepparents into perspective. If she could cope so well with a man like that, what was to stop her dealing with a call from home? Full of unusual optimism, she tore the envelope open. It was the usual tissue-lined affair, drenched in her stepmother’s trademark perfume. Unfolding the stiff sheet of handmade paper, Kira cut straight to the chase. Glancing at the foot of the letter, she read the words, ‘All our love, Henrietta and Charles.’

She scowled. That was all she needed to know. Her stepparents only sent her their love when they wanted money. If things were going well, they conveniently forgot about the girl who had disappointed them in every way, except in her capacity as a cash cow.

She scanned the rest of the copperplate handwriting. Mr and Mrs Banks weren’t stupid. They never came straight out with a request for cash. Hints were threaded through the glowing reports of their younger daughter Miranda’s success as an actress, and her new romance with a millionaire. Of course, this meant the Banks family wanted to entertain on a grand scale. Kira chuckled, imagining her stepmother circling Miranda’s boy-friend with canapés brought all the way from Fortnum and Mason. They were her preferred bait for a future son-in-law. The Bankses’ mortgage was unpaid and their house was falling apart. Despite that, the expensive perfume was still on draft and hopes of coming into money from somewhere or another were still high. Some things never changed.

Kira’s face fell again as she read the final paragraph of the letter: ‘When you ring each week, could you make it a little earlier? Six o’clock is such an inconvenient time as we’re nearly always on the way out.’

Their instructions usually made her feel nine years old again, but today was different. Stefano Albani was stronger than all Kira’s bad memories put together. Impulsively, she screwed up the letter and lobbed it towards the waste bin. It missed, but Kira was in good spirits as she got up to retrieve it. It was amazing what a little boost to the self-esteem could do.

And a kiss from Stefano Albani worked like rocket fuel.





Next day, Stefano’s legal team presented him with a contract for the landscaping and design work he wanted done on his town house in Florence. His PA scheduled a call for him, summoning Miss Kira Banks to his office. While Stefano held meetings, Kira was pushed to the back of his mind. However, the moment he pulled her file from his in-box to make the call, things changed. At the sight of her name, he paused. One look at the neatly printed contract catapulted her to the front of his consciousness again. This wasn’t some run-of-the-mill conquest. This was Miss Kira Banks, who had been funny and spiky and brought back powerful memories of the last time someone stood up to him. He found himself going back over every second of the previous day.

He inhaled deeply, bringing to mind the sweet lavender and lemon fragrance of her. She was perfumed by soap and fresh air. He spent a few moments revelling in her image. It was a mystery why she hid behind such a prickly attitude. He knew it was only a front. The warm surrender of her body beneath his hands when he touched her assured him of that. Her reactions were perfect. It was her mind he needed to explore. That idea made him uncomfortable.

Suddenly he leaned forward and snapped a button on his office intercom.

‘Cancel that call, and the contract in the name of Kira Banks,’ he growled. ‘I need to do some more research.’

Stefano believed in being the best, and having the best. To keep up his high standards, he used only the top people. He wanted to employ Kira Banks because she really was the best person for the job, not just because he wanted to bed her.

Slumping back in his seat he gnawed the side of his thumb, deep in thought. Work and women were totally separate compartments of his life. He had fancied Kira from the first moment he saw her, but that was the very worst reason for giving anyone a job. Her work was great, but he had only seen one of her projects. For her body and spirit to haunt him like this, it could only be a bad thing. Emotion mustn’t be allowed to affect his judgement. He ought to distance himself from the process, and get some other opinions. He needed to be absolutely sure she was the right person for this project.

Picking up his pen, he drew two careful lines through the name and address on the cover of the file in front of him. He liked speed, but not at the expense of perfection. Besides, that faint air of mystery surrounding Miss Kira Banks might erupt into some sort of scandal for Albani International. It didn’t matter how Stefano wanted her, nothing could be allowed to taint the name of his company.

Not even the most beautiful Englishwoman in Italy.





Kira looked at Stefano’s stark-white business card every day. Her heart fluttered with excitement. She ran her finger over the engraved wording until his telephone number was burned into her brain, but she never rang it. That smooth, self-assured man must never be in any doubt that Kira was her own woman, with other projects and a lot of things on her mind.


Finally, exactly two weeks after Stefano had grabbed her by mistake in the garden, she couldn’t resist any longer. She sat down, cleared her throat and picked up the receiver. Then she put it down again. Maybe she should get her laptop up and running in case he started talking business straight away. She wanted him to think she was calm and efficient, even though she didn’t feel it as she lifted the phone to try once more. This time she paused to fetch a glass of water. It would be terrible if her mouth dried before she could speak to him.

Eventually, her heart rattling like a touch typist’s fingertips, she dialled the number.

‘Signor Albani’s office. How may I help you?’ a sunny female voice enquired.

Kira had no idea. Naively, she’d thought the number on Stefano’s own business card would have been a direct line to his desk.

‘Who is speaking, please?’ the voice asked as though she was only one among thousands.

‘Kira Banks.’ Kira made herself answer in the friendly, confident tone she reserved for clients. ‘I’m ringing to check on a contract that Signor Albani was going to arrange for me.’

‘Ah.’

That single sound was enough to bring her back to earth. While the receptionist went off to check, Kira was left to imagine exactly how many other women rang this number each day. Silver-tongued Stefano must make a million similar promises.

She was on hold for ages. The silence was almost as painful as piped music would have been. It gave her a long time to reflect on her foolishness. Finally, the receptionist returned, and Kira’s heart fell still further.

‘I’m sorry, Miss Banks, we have no record of a contract being issued in that name. Perhaps if you could give me a reference from the letter we sent you?’

‘No…no. It’s okay. I must have made a mistake,’ Kira muttered indistinctly. And not for the first time, she thought bitterly as she put down the receiver.

Kira stared at the telephone for a long, long time. She felt totally deflated. In her daydreams, Stefano Albani couldn’t wait to get back to her side. He would have paid cash for the Bella Terra estate, simply so he could move in as soon as possible. Instead, he must have forgotten about her the moment he climbed back into his helicopter. He had turned out to be no different from any of the other rich men she had worked for. All of them could spin a fine yarn. They couldn’t make and hang onto big money without being able to charm investors. And women, she thought ruefully, touching her lips. Remembering the rasp of Stefano’s cheek against her skin sent a tingle coursing through her body. She smiled, recalling the wonderful experience of being held and kissed until her worries spun away. The man was a rat, but why had she expected anything else?

She would cope. She had survived a worse disaster—and at least her brush with Stefano had happened in private. Her life was her own, and from now on that was how it would stay. She smiled sadly. Her single, unforgettable contact with him was a total one-off. It was destined never to happen again. I should have known that from the start, she told herself briskly.

She tried to smile again, but it was impossible.





Kira’s disappointment over the contract squashed all her fantasies flat. No one did anything for nothing. Mentally she shrugged her shoulders, but Stefano refused to be forgotten. He had set such an exciting fire into her soul. Long ago, life had taught her to expect nothing when it came to men. She knew in her bones Stefano could be no different, but it had been a lovely fantasy. Those sweet memories of him refused to leave her. Whether drifting through her dreams or sending shock waves through her day when she thought she glimpsed his familiar figure in the street, Stefano would not let her go.

She was putting the finishing touches to a very chic project on the outskirts of Florence when her mobile rang.

‘Miss Kira Banks?’

Kira couldn’t recognise either the woman’s voice, or the number that flashed up on her phone’s screen. The only people who used this number were clients. Instantly on her guard, she hesitated.

‘Who wants to know?’

‘I work for Signor Albani. We understand you are on the point of completing a project for Prince Alfonse. Signor Albani wants you to leave it and travel straight to his office. A car will pick you up in approximately—’

‘Wait a minute!’ Kira interrupted angrily. ‘When I rang your office to check about this, you didn’t even have any knowledge of a contract in my name!’

‘When was this?’

‘The day before yesterday.’

‘Then perhaps you were a little impatient, Miss Banks.’ The voice was cool.

Kira was in no mood to be treated like an idiot.

‘If Signor Albani is clever enough to have found out where I’m working, then he ought to know better than to interrupt me when I’m busy. I don’t have time to waste on idle chit-chat with an unreliable man.’

She heard a little gasp at the other end of the line. The voice became a shocked whisper.

‘Miss Banks, what are you saying? No one refuses Signor Albani!’

‘Well, I’m very sorry, but no one disappoints the person I’m currently working for, either. Especially not me,’ Kira said firmly. ‘And if you aren’t willing to tell him that, maybe you could put me through to Signor Albani, direct?’

The woman wasn’t happy, but put her on hold to see if the boss was taking calls. It gave Kira plenty of time to decide she had gone too far. She was being too emotional about this. Much as she hated to back down in any situation, where work was concerned she was a realist. She needed contracts. This one had the delightfully infuriating Stefano Albani at the other end, and that might make it more of a liability than a blessing. Autocratic behaviour was part of every billionaire’s job description, but this particular man had got right under her skin. She wanted to be known for the quality of her work, not for making a fool of herself over a man.

Suddenly a voice purred in her ear.

‘Kira, it’s Stefano.’ The sound was so deliciously accented, those few words were enough to wipe all the arguments from her mind.

‘Hello,’ she said, unable to think of anything else.

‘You wanted to speak to me, Kira?’

‘Yes.’ Everything sensible and businesslike seemed to have been swept out of her head. She gave herself a mental shake. ‘Thank you for having your secretary ring me, but I’m working on a very important project,’ she snapped, hoping her brisk tone would put some distance between them again. ‘I can’t simply drop everything and rush to your side.’

‘I know. You’re a woman of spirit.’ The laughter in his voice was infuriatingly engaging. ‘Alphonse tells me you’re practically finished at his place,’ Stefano continued. ‘I’m going to be out of the country for a while, and I wanted to discuss your contract with you, face to face, before I leave. I thought this would be a good opportunity for both of us,’ he added.

Kira needed this job. She was also desperate to see Stefano again. After all, it does make good business sense, she told herself. There couldn’t be any harm in a formal discussion. It would be like gazing at temptation through the window of a locked cake shop. Work would form an invisible shield between them, keeping her from disaster.

‘You could be right…’ She tried to sound grudging. ‘How do I find you?’

She could hear his lack of surprise at her decision. ‘Don’t worry. I found you, don’t forget. A car will be arriving to collect you…’ There was a brief pause. Kira visualised him glancing at the designer watch clamped to his beautiful bronzed wrist as he added, ‘In exactly fifteen minutes.’

And it was.





As her chauffeur-driven limousine glided to a halt at the main entrance of Albani International, Kira looked up at the grand old building with a hint of anxiety. It was enormous, and a constant stream of people flowed in and out of the revolving glass doors. A commissionaire stepped forward to open the car door for her. Thanking him, Kira took a few moments to compose herself before walking into the reception area. She had worked in palaces, villas and condos, but this place had something extra—Stefano Albani. Taking a deep breath, she went in to meet him.

To Kira’s relief, there was no hanging around. That would have shredded her nerves beyond repair. She had been desperate to see Stefano again from the moment he left her house. Now she realised dreams were one thing, but reality was terrifying. The moment he spoke, her insides would turn to jelly. Her instinctive reaction was to keep her head down and pretend she was invisible, but that wasn’t the way contracts were won. Instead, she lifted her chin, ready to meet his gaze with an equally bold stare. It took a huge effort.

The man of her dreams was lounging back in a big black chair. His feet were on his desk. He was dictating into a voice recorder and although his eyes instantly locked onto hers he did not stop speaking into it as she walked towards his visitor’s chair.

Stefano looked every bit as intimidating as she remembered. Despite his casual attitude, he was dressed in a beautifully cut dark suit. The formality of classically designed business wear suited him so well it was hard not to stare. Kira gave in to the temptation.


Completing his letter, Stefano switched off the recorder and tossed it aside.

‘We meet again, Miss Banks.’

‘Indeed we do.’ Kira purposely kept her voice light and professional, but couldn’t resist a question that had been tormenting her since he left her side. ‘Did you buy the Bella Terra estate, signore?’

‘Yes, but I’ve been too busy to visit since then. I suppose you’ve been wondering where I’ve been?’

‘No, not at all,’ Kira said coolly, determined not to betray any trace of the embarrassingly large amount of time she had spent wondering what he was getting up to while he was out of her sight.

She saw from a subtle change in his expression that the stony nature of her reply had given him pause. His reaction gave her a little lift, and added some real amusement to her smile.

‘In fact, Signor Albani, when your assistant rang it took me a little while to remember who you were.’ She batted the words easily across the desk at him.

He parried with a wicked smile. ‘I knew you were one in a million, Kira. Now it seems you are unique.’

He took his feet off the desk and sat up straight in his chair, his suddenly businesslike attitude making him even more imposing. Kira fought to keep her expression impassive.

Don’t overdo the flip answers! she thought. I might not want him to think he means anything to me, but he is a man who managed to borrow me from Prince Alfonse!

‘I want you to work for me, Kira. Name your price,’ he drawled, glancing down as he threaded a pair of solid-gold cufflinks into his cuffs.

‘I’d rather find out what I’m letting myself in for first.’ Kira was proud of the careful neutrality of her tone. It was a shame the rest of her being was entirely focused on the man she had been fantasising about for the past few days. ‘I want to make sure I’m the right person for the job. I’d rather you offered the position to someone else if I thought I couldn’t give you exactly what you wanted.’

‘I agree completely,’ Stefano said. ‘However, I wouldn’t have asked you here today were I not already certain. You, Kira Banks, are capable of giving me exactly what I want.’ His face remained expressionless but the ambiguity of his words made her cheeks flush red and her breathing catch.

In a quick, carefully judged gesture he spun the file across the desk at her. ‘So why don’t you read that, and tell me what you think?’

Kira did not move, but regarded him coolly.

‘What? Now?’

Stefano raised an eyebrow. ‘Unless you have some objection?’

Kira had spent too many restless hours since their first meeting. After her roller-coaster ride of hope, disappointment and surprise, she did not find his words at all funny.

‘No. This is so important to me, and it deserves to be studied carefully. I take my work very seriously,’ she said slowly, trying to gauge his reaction.

Stefano nodded appreciatively. ‘That’s exactly the sort of attitude I expect from the people I employ. It’s why I want you on board. I had my staff check out some of the other projects you’ve completed. I needed to make sure I was offering you work for all the right reasons, not simply the wrong one.’

His smile became enigmatic and Kira had to look away. She transferred her gaze back to the cover of the file in front of her. If he paid such careful attention to detail, she wondered what else his people might have found out about her.

‘Could you give me an overview?’ she said eventually. ‘Isn’t it simply a contract to work on the gardens at Bella Terra?’

‘That, and my Florentine town house as well…’

It had been at the back of Kira’s mind, but she’d hardly dared hope he would remember his casual offer.

‘Words are cheap. Nobody knows that better than I do, Stefano. Men often say things they don’t mean,’ she said quietly.

He stared at her. ‘Not when it comes to business. Honesty is the only policy there,’ he said firmly. ‘Since we met and I’ve had such favourable reviews of your work, I thought I’d raise the stakes. This contract offers you employment not only at Bella Terra, and Florence, but also on my new property in the Caribbean.’

Kira could have bounced straight up to the ceiling in sheer delight. It sounded like her dream contract. Instead, she frowned and bit her lip. ‘I’ve never worked in the Caribbean.’

‘Then you’re in for a treat. It will be a wonderful experience,’ Stefano assured her. ‘Silver Island has everything. One hundred hectares of tropical wilderness surrounded by beaches as fine as sugar, set in a warm blue sea.’

Despite her determination to play it cool, Kira’s eyes sparkled.

‘It sounds lovely already,’ she said wistfully.

Stefano had no illusions. He frowned. ‘I thought so, too, when I first bought it. But despite all the luxury there’s still something lacking. It’ll be your job to make the whole place more—’ he grimaced, so used to total satisfaction that he couldn’t find the words to identify the problem ‘—user-friendly,’ he said eventually, but looked no happier with the phrase than Kira felt.

‘That doesn’t give me much of a clue.’ She shrugged.

‘Silver Island is a perfect hideaway. No expense was spared in setting it up, and yet—’ he ran his fingertip pensively across his lips ‘—for all its qualities, it lacks something. I want to import the magic you have worked on the Bella Terra estate. In the same way that you can live in the town house here in Florence while you’re working on it, you could stay in the Caribbean while you restructure Silver Island. You’ll be on the spot, all the time.’

And where will you be? Kira was appalled to find herself thinking.

‘I don’t suppose you noticed exactly how interested I was in your garden?’ Stefano continued.

‘I did,’ Kira said, trying to concentrate on their moments of light, insubstantial chit-chat and forget the instant he took her in his arms. It was hopeless. The way she felt about him surged into her mind again. The force of his presence overwhelmed every other memory. A tiny tremble in her voice betrayed her. He noticed, and suddenly his devastating mouth curled up at the corners.

‘Yes, I can see…’

All Kira’s worries about the Bella Terra valley faded. The intensity of his stare focused on her to the exclusion of everything else. He looked like a tiger ready to pounce. The tremble extended throughout her body and she felt her self-control slipping away into warm arousal. It gathered in all her most feminine places, waiting for one word, one movement from him, to unleash its power.

‘Good…so as soon as you’re happy with your contract, we’ll be on our way.’

‘Where?’ Kira asked faintly.

Stefano put his elbows on the desk and netted his fingers. ‘To Silver Island—you’ll need to experience the place in all its glory before you can hope to do it justice. The computer hasn’t been built that can give you the experience of warm sand between your toes, and swaying palms beneath a tropical sky.’

The words flowed from him like the tropical breezes he spoke of—warm, gentle and so very seductive.