Back in his luxury flat in the heart of the city, Giovanni dragged his shirt over his head and unbuckled his jeans before going into the bathroom to shower. What a piece of good luck that he’d come across Emily again. She might have gone to any one of the countless restaurants on offer, or indeed might have already been on her way back home. And what luck that fate had given him the opportunity to approach her without causing any offence. He’d observed the young men attach themselves to the two girls, and had spotted at once that Emily had seemed uncomfortable about it. She’d certainly not appreciated the rather clumsy gesture she’d received from one of them. It was that which had made Giovanni intervene.
He stared at himself in the mirror for a second, a slight grin on his rugged face. He met many lovely women all the time, and this was hardly the first occasion that his masculine propensities had been briefly shaken and stirred. But, somehow, this felt different…He suddenly felt alive inside again, the persistent sense of guilt which he’d been suffering for the last eighteen months lessening slightly. He bit his lip. He was being introspective again, he thought. He must stop it. Wasn’t it time to give himself an emotional break and start looking forward, instead of back? And he was not going to deny that Emily had lit a particular spark in him which was both exciting and unexpected. On so short an acquaintance he was, quite simply, enchanted by her. She was not only beautiful, she was…thoughtful…wistful, maybe…some other quality that he couldn’t quite identify, but everything about her made him want to hold her and protect her. He had never, ever felt that instant, deep attraction to a woman before in his life—and the realization came as something of a shock.
Stepping into the shower, he let the water rush in cool, satisfying waves over the length of his taut, muscular body before beginning to soap himself vigorously. At least he knew where she’d be staying for the next few days, but he didn’t have long and he wanted to know more about this Englishwoman before it was too late.
He finished showering, then knotted the huge white towel around his waist and padded barefoot into his bedroom, feeling elated. Feeling eighteen again. Emily Sinclair had definitely sprinkled some magic dust over him that day, he admitted—and who knew what may lie ahead? Didn’t all his friends call him ‘Lucky Gio’?
CHAPTER TWO
‘OH, WHAT a night I’ve had!’
Coral sat on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands, then peered through her fingers at Emily, who was barely awake. ‘But I’m glad that I don’t appear to have disturbed you,’ she added a trifle sarcastically.
Emily sat up and stared at her friend sleepily. ‘No, I didn’t hear a thing. In fact, I had the best sleep I’ve had in ages. But—what happened—or shouldn’t I ask?’
‘Oh, it’s just that I’ve been in and out of the bathroom for the entire night,’ Coral replied. ‘I suppose it was something I ate for supper,’ she added.
‘Well, we had the same thing and it didn’t affect me,’ Emily said mildly, thinking that it was probably more to do with the amount Coral had had to drink. She’d almost single-handedly consumed the bottle of expensive wine which Giovanni had bought, and she’d had a lot before that. ‘Do you think you can manage breakfast?’ she asked doubtfully. The girl was still looking very white-faced.
‘Don’t! Don’t mention food!’ Coral said theatrically. ‘It’ll be nil by mouth for me today.’ She got up slowly and went across to the window, clasping her stomach. ‘It looks as if it’s going to be another scorcher,’ she said, ‘but I shan’t be coming with you, Ellie. I couldn’t trust myself to be anywhere but here for the next few hours.’ She turned to glance at Emily. ‘Do you mind?’
‘Of course I don’t mind,’ Emily said at once. ‘But you’re probably over the worst.’ She climbed out of bed, yawning. ‘I’ll ring your mobile at lunchtime to see if you’re able to come and meet me later.’
As soon as she’d had her breakfast, Emily took a few moments to read the instructions she’d been given. There were two hotels and two restaurants on her list for today and, although her map-reading skills weren’t particularly impressive, she felt reasonably confident that she’d be able to get around. A couple of the places looked fairly close to each other, but the others seemed more spread out.
After feeling as if she’d walked fifty miles on the unyielding pavements, Emily had tracked down the two more central establishments before deciding to stop at a small café for a few minutes to make some notes. And to order a long glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
Sitting with her pad on her knee, she sipped her drink, staring pensively out at the fast-moving traffic. She was doing OK, she thought, feeling quite pleased with herself-even if she had gone round in circles when given conflicting directions by two passers-by. But she decided that she’d hail a taxi to take her to the next stop-a rather nice-looking hotel, if the description on her notes was anything to go by.
Standing uncertainly on the pavement, she held out her hand as one cab after another swept past her, obviously all occupied, and after several fruitless minutes she began to walk a little way up the street before trying her luck again. She saw another one approaching her rapidly and, stepping off the kerb in order to get the driver to stop, she stumbled and almost fell as he, too, roared past her. Emily bit her lip in frustration-why was it proving so difficult? she asked herself, beginning to feel hot and bothered all over again.
Suddenly, a sleek black car pulled up alongside her and, glancing in quickly at the driver, she felt a rush of pleasure—and relief—when she saw who it was.
‘Buon giorno, signorina,’ Giovanni said through the open window, a roguish smile on his lips, his black eyes unashamedly taking in her appearance.
‘Oh…hello, Giovanni—I mean, Joe…’ Emily replied, hardly believing her luck. He’d be sure to offer to help find the place she was looking for—and in this heat she wouldn’t be turning him down.
Without switching off the engine, he got out of the car and came around to open the passenger door for her. Well, well, well—Lady Luck was on his side again, he thought. It was as if she had been planted neatly on that pavement for him to offer her a ride. He didn’t usually drive his car around the city at this time of day.
He got in beside her, turning to look at her for a second, noting her flushed cheeks and aware that she seemed out of breath. ‘You were obviously trying to get a taxi,’ he said. Well, there couldn’t have been any other reason for her to stand there alone with her arms in the air. ‘It can be difficult sometimes,’ he added.
‘So I see,’ Emily replied as they drew away smoothly. ‘None of them seem to need my custom today.’ She leaned her head back and sighed, grateful for the air-condition-ing—and to be with someone who knew where he was going. ‘I need to visit two hotels today…My work involves assessing places that might meet all the criteria for British visitors,’ she explained, ‘and I don’t know how to get to either of these.’
‘Well, what a good thing I’m not at the shop this afternoon,’ Giovanni said, ‘so I can take you wherever you want to go.’ Effortlessly, he pulled the car to the side of the road for a moment and looked across at her. ‘What names are you looking for?’
Emily handed him the sheet of paper with the instructions and a small map, and after a few seconds he nodded. ‘They’re a bit out of the way,’ he conceded, ‘but easy enough to find. That’s if you…are happy…for me to take you,’ he added.
Emily looked at him quickly, realizing that today it hadn’t struck her that the man was still the stranger