Evie moaned as his mouth trailed along her jaw. ‘Those are all physical things. That’s just sex.’
‘Never underestimate the power of sex. Sex is a very important part of a relationship.’ One hand slid down her back to her bottom and Evie wriggled away, mortified.
‘Don’t do that—’
‘Why not?’
‘Well, for a start because someone might see you—’
His eyes gleamed into hers. ‘And that would be a problem because—?’
Evie could hardly breathe. For a moment she’d forgotten that the whole objective of this charade was for people to see them. Confused, she wondered whether he was faking the attraction. But then she remembered the kiss that had started all this…
‘Unless people have X-ray vision, they’re not going to be able to see your hand on my bottom,’ she croaked and he gave a wicked smile as he ran his fingers through her hair.
‘Any red-blooded male glancing into this car will have a pretty accurate idea of the location of my missing hand.’
‘You’re not funny.’ She’d barely thought about sex before she’d met him. Now she was finding it hard to think about anything else. Was he going to keep kissing her? Did he think she was made of stone? Embarrassed by the burning heat between her thighs, Evie pulled away from him and this time he released her, smiling slightly as he watched her shift to the furthest corner of her seat.
His whole attitude should have been enough to make her dislike him, but instead she found herself alarmingly turned on by the electric combination of smooth sophistication and command. It was humiliating, she thought, squirming in her seat, to find a man as basic as Rio so attractive. But evidently she wasn’t the only one. After all, he’d never been dumped…
They were driving through the upmarket streets of Knightsbridge. The windows of Harrods, the world famous store, were decorated for Christmas and everywhere she looked there were rich-looking women wearing fur and dark glasses, stepping out of expensive-looking cars.
By the time Rio’s driver pulled up outside an exclusive jewellers, Evie had lost all desire to be seen in public. Even in the smart outfit and sexy shoes, she didn’t fit.
Two guards stood either side of the heavy glass door and, even from the protective cocoon of Rio’s car, she could see that the few pieces on display in the window would have satisfied royalty.
Thoroughly intimidated, she thought about the tiny diamond that Jeff had given her when he’d proposed. At the time she’d thought it was small because they were saving for a deposit so that they could buy their own cottage. Now she realised it had been small because he’d been spending most of their shared savings on his other girlfriend.
She’d been a total idiot. But it was partly her fault, wasn’t it? She and Jeff had grown up together. Everyone had assumed that one day they’d get married. Evie had told herself that the fact she felt no spark was because she wasn’t a particularly passionate person. She’d assumed Jeff was the same. And then she’d discovered what he’d been doing with Cindy, the librarian from the next village…
She stole a sideways glance at Rio, her gaze resting on his mouth, remembering the sizzling, steamy kiss. Sparks had been shooting all over the place.
And now she was expected to pretend they were in a relationship.
‘You expect me to go in there? Why can’t they come to us? In the movies you just pick up the phone and loads of jewellers come running to the hotel with a selection of rings.’
‘In the movies, they’re not trying to attract the interest of the paparazzi.’ Rio leaned across her to undo her seat belt. ‘If I’d ordered them to bring the rings to the hotel, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as loud a statement.’
Flattening herself to the seat, Evie stared at him, determined not to be impressed. ‘I still don’t understand how this is going to work. If the whole point of this is to get the paparazzi to take a photograph of us, shouldn’t someone have called them and told them we’re here?’
‘No need. Wherever I go, you can find photographers.’ Rio’s tone was bored. ‘It’s part of my life, which means it’s now part of your life. Get used to it.’ As the driver opened the door Rio gestured for her to leave the car but Evie didn’t budge.
‘You mean there might be someone out there with a camera? Am I supposed to smile and wave?’
‘You’re not the Queen,’ Rio said dryly. ‘Just act normally.’
‘But none of this is normal for me! I wouldn’t find myself in front of rows of paparazzi,’ Evie said irritably. ‘I don’t know what I’d do. Look over my shoulder, probably, to see who they were photographing because it certainly wouldn’t be me. Unless they were taking snaps for a Miss Unbelievably Big Bottom contest.’
‘If you mention your bottom again, I will be forced to strip you naked and examine it in detail,’ Rio promised silkily and Evie exited the car faster than rum from a bottle.
Just as he’d predicted, a flashlight immediately exploded in her face and she would have stopped if he hadn’t propelled her forwards through the doors that had been opened for him as soon as he’d stepped out of the car.
‘I thought you wanted to be seen,’ Evie hissed under her breath and he curved his hand around her waist and guided her into the exclusive store.
‘I never talk to the press,’ he purred. ‘I never give interviews. I have no intention of altering that pattern. We want this to look as authentic as possible, remember?’
Exasperated, Evie stared up at him. ‘How are they supposed to know we’re engaged if you don’t tell them?’ Her face cleared. ‘Oh—I get it. I’m supposed to strategically flash the ring on the way out.’
‘We’ll leave by the back entrance so that no one will see us. In the event that there is a photographer covering the rear of the building, you hide the ring. You put your left hand in your pocket so that no one can get the shot.’
‘So we’re buying a ring to convince them we’re engaged, but we’re not going to let them see it?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Have you banged your head or something? You’re not making sense.’
‘I’m making perfect sense.’
‘Not to me. If we go out of the back of the building it’s going to look as though we don’t want them to see us.’
‘Exactly right.’ He smiled at the manager who was hovering discreetly. ‘Franco—’
‘Signor Zaccarelli—’ the man oozed deference ‘—it’s good to see you again.’
‘Again? How many women have you brought here?’ Evie muttered under her breath, but the only indication that Rio had heard her was his vice-like grip on her hand. ‘Squeeze any tighter and you’ll break my fingers and then you won’t get a ring over my knuckle.’
Rio released his grip and urged her forward. ‘We need a diamond, Franco.’ He glanced down at Evie, a smile on his lips. ‘A very special diamond for a very special woman.’
Evie was about to tell him that his smooth talk wasn’t the slightest bit convincing when he lowered his mouth and kissed her.
Somewhere in the distance, through the swirling clouds of desire that descended on her brain, she heard one of the sales assistants sigh with envy.
To her, it appeared completely staged but apparently Franco was convinced because he smiled, almost convulsing with delight as he led them through to a private room. ‘A very special diamond. Of course. You’ve come to the right place.’