make up for this morning’s unfortunate happenstance.’
It was perfect. Here it was on a plate. The opportunity to not only make up for contributing to any distresscaused by this morning’s incident but to do it in a manner that would be
fun
.
Except that Charlotte was looking at him as if he was totally crazy.
This was surreal.
Just having a personal conversation with a professional acquaintance would have been weird enough but this incredibly good-looking stranger seemed to be offering to pretend to be her
boyfriend
for an evening.
Imagine that!
Unfortunately, Charlotte
could
imagine it. She could imagine herself introducing him to her grandmother as a…as a
friend…and
Nico turning on his most charming smile and Gran putting two and two together and letting wishful thinking make the impossible a reality.
Oh…God…how happy would she be?
The distraction of a train trip to take her mind off what was coming was nothing compared to the joy she would have if she thought Charlotte had finally found ‘the one’.
It was crazy. Wasn’t it?
‘That’s crazy,’ she said aloud, hoping the spoken words would confirm it.
‘It’s only for an evening.’ Nico shrugged as if it was no big deal. ‘We could tell her we’ve met before, which is perfectly true. We could say that there’s something about Venice being such a romantic city and we’ve realised we can’t fight the attraction any longer. It was meant to be.’
Oh…my…If the look he was giving her right nowwas any indication of the performance he could put on for her grandmother, she would be totally convinced.
For a skipped heartbeat kind of moment, Charlotte almost believed it herself. She could feel it right down to her bones. How could anyone be so good at looking as if they had just fallen madly in love with someone? It was doing very strange things to something deep inside her. A process that had to be stopped immediately.
He’s acting, she reminded herself. And he’s only this good at it because he’s clearly had a lot of practice.
‘You may be an expert in pretending,’ she snapped, ‘but it’s not something I could carry off. I wouldn’t even want to try.’
He was still giving her
that
look.
‘I watched you this morning,’ he said softly. ‘I think you can carry off anything that’s important enough to you.’
There was a glint of mischief in those dark eyes. Good heavens, he was actually
enjoying
this, wasn’t he? He
wanted
to do it?
‘You might be surprised at how easy it is,’ he continued. ‘You might enjoy it.’
Charlotte snorted. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘And wouldn’t you even want to try? For your grandmother’s sake?’
‘No. It would be completely dishonest.’
‘Completely?’ Nico injected a hurt tone into the word. ‘Could you not summon even a tiny bit of attraction to me to work with?’
He tilted his head, moving it closer to her own, his gaze dropping from her eyes to her lips.
And, heaven help her, but Charlotte could actuallyfeel a curl of desire unfolding deep in her belly. It escaped from that place that was locked away. A place she could never enter because, if she did, she would have to remember…Have to face up to what was so wrong with her…
‘No.’
The word came out like the slamming of a door. It was time to get away from there.
Away from this man who was making her think about ridiculous things.
Feel
things she had no desire to feel.
‘At least think about it.’ His words followed her as she almost ran to get off the balcony. ‘I’ll see you at dinner.’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘O H, MY …’
‘What’s wrong, Gran? Are you all right?’ The lighting wasn’t so great in this dinner venue. A restaurant within easy walking distance of the conference venue, this ancient stone vault of a room had been transformed into a winter wonderland in honour of the season.
White church candles with multiple wicks, in a nest of holly leaves and poinsettia flowers, made a
It was perfect. Here it was on a plate. The opportunity to not only make up for contributing to any distresscaused by this morning’s incident but to do it in a manner that would be
fun
.
Except that Charlotte was looking at him as if he was totally crazy.
This was surreal.
Just having a personal conversation with a professional acquaintance would have been weird enough but this incredibly good-looking stranger seemed to be offering to pretend to be her
boyfriend
for an evening.
Imagine that!
Unfortunately, Charlotte
could
imagine it. She could imagine herself introducing him to her grandmother as a…as a
friend…and
Nico turning on his most charming smile and Gran putting two and two together and letting wishful thinking make the impossible a reality.
Oh…God…how happy would she be?
The distraction of a train trip to take her mind off what was coming was nothing compared to the joy she would have if she thought Charlotte had finally found ‘the one’.
It was crazy. Wasn’t it?
‘That’s crazy,’ she said aloud, hoping the spoken words would confirm it.
‘It’s only for an evening.’ Nico shrugged as if it was no big deal. ‘We could tell her we’ve met before, which is perfectly true. We could say that there’s something about Venice being such a romantic city and we’ve realised we can’t fight the attraction any longer. It was meant to be.’
Oh…my…If the look he was giving her right nowwas any indication of the performance he could put on for her grandmother, she would be totally convinced.
For a skipped heartbeat kind of moment, Charlotte almost believed it herself. She could feel it right down to her bones. How could anyone be so good at looking as if they had just fallen madly in love with someone? It was doing very strange things to something deep inside her. A process that had to be stopped immediately.
He’s acting, she reminded herself. And he’s only this good at it because he’s clearly had a lot of practice.
‘You may be an expert in pretending,’ she snapped, ‘but it’s not something I could carry off. I wouldn’t even want to try.’
He was still giving her
that
look.
‘I watched you this morning,’ he said softly. ‘I think you can carry off anything that’s important enough to you.’
There was a glint of mischief in those dark eyes. Good heavens, he was actually
enjoying
this, wasn’t he? He
wanted
to do it?
‘You might be surprised at how easy it is,’ he continued. ‘You might enjoy it.’
Charlotte snorted. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘And wouldn’t you even want to try? For your grandmother’s sake?’
‘No. It would be completely dishonest.’
‘Completely?’ Nico injected a hurt tone into the word. ‘Could you not summon even a tiny bit of attraction to me to work with?’
He tilted his head, moving it closer to her own, his gaze dropping from her eyes to her lips.
And, heaven help her, but Charlotte could actuallyfeel a curl of desire unfolding deep in her belly. It escaped from that place that was locked away. A place she could never enter because, if she did, she would have to remember…Have to face up to what was so wrong with her…
‘No.’
The word came out like the slamming of a door. It was time to get away from there.
Away from this man who was making her think about ridiculous things.
Feel
things she had no desire to feel.
‘At least think about it.’ His words followed her as she almost ran to get off the balcony. ‘I’ll see you at dinner.’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘O H, MY …’
‘What’s wrong, Gran? Are you all right?’ The lighting wasn’t so great in this dinner venue. A restaurant within easy walking distance of the conference venue, this ancient stone vault of a room had been transformed into a winter wonderland in honour of the season.
White church candles with multiple wicks, in a nest of holly leaves and poinsettia flowers, made a
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