The Count of Castelfino by Christina Hollis Page A

window at night but it’s just that your car always wakes me up when you drive past and I can never get back to sleep after that and it’s become a sort of habit that I have to get up and look out to make sure everything’s all right and you always happen to look up at the wrong time and—’
    Her first word stopped his pen. The rest of them lifted both it, and his head. By the time her voice trickled into silence he was staring at her with naked curiosity.
    ‘That’s interesting, Megan. That’s extremely interesting,’ he murmured at last, with a drawl that made her squirm. Throwing his pen down on the blotter, he sat back in his chair. Then he put the tips of his fingers together and looked at her keenly over the top of them.
    ‘Do you know, I had absolutely no idea you were doing that, Megan?’
    She squirmed some more.
    ‘I actually called you in to my office for a completely different reason. I wanted to find out how you’re settling in—nothing more exciting than that. Perhaps you would like to go out, come back in and we’ll start this interview all over again?’
    She threw another hunted look over her shoulder at the door. It was the only thing standing between her and the complete destruction of her self-esteem.
    ‘Do I have to?’
    He gave a low, throaty chuckle. It was calculated to snatch her attention straight back to him, and worked like a charm.
    ‘I wasn’t being entirely serious.’ His expression had all the delicious amusement she had enjoyed at the Chelsea Flower Show. It had the same effect, too, soothing her nerves just enough to let a little smile escape.
    ‘You might be on to something, Gianni. Running the gauntlet of your beautiful office staff without having had time to take a shower, change my clothes and put on a bit of make-up was a real challenge!’
    ‘There’s nothing wrong with the way you look.’ His eyes roamed over her body, giving weight to his words.
    ‘They seemed to think so,’ she said nervously. ‘That’s why they rolled this out for me.’ She pointed at the carpet protector. Once again he chuckled.
    ‘Don’t take it personally. It’s done for every visit from a member of my outdoor staff. As well as my own vineyard, I’ve inherited olive and citrus plantations and any number of farms. A lot of it would end up in here, scattered all over my office floor if they didn’t take precautions like that.’
    ‘Your indoor staff aren’t like the people who work in the grounds,’ Meg said, still stinging from the scornful looks she had been given.
    ‘My domestic staff are all fine, but it’s a jungle out there.’ He nodded towards the outer room before adding quickly, ‘But don’t worry—you’re of absolutely no interest to my office staff. They don’t see you as any sort of threat at all.’
    Meg wasn’t remotely reassured.
    ‘Is that supposed to cheer me up?’ she asked faintly.
    ‘Of course. Now—to business. How are you getting on here, Megan? I’ve been meaning to check up on you for the past few days, but no sooner do I spot you in the garden than you vanish. That’s why I’ve called you in here. I want to talk to you properly.’
    ‘And I wanted to do the same, Gianni,’ Meg said before she could stop herself. He was interested straight away.
    ‘That sounds promising. Take a seat.’ He indicated adeeply buttoned visitor’s chair drawn up before his workstation.
    To reach it she would have to step off the carpet protector. He saw her glance from one to the other and back again, and laughed.
    ‘Don’t bother about the floor. I never normally give my cleaning staff anything to do. Your little footprints won’t kill them.’
    She walked over and sat down in the chair. Elbows on his desk, Gianni leaned forward, his grin growing predatory. After all her fantasies, all the hours spent wondering what to say and how to act the next time they met, Meg froze again. Her wild confession might turn out to have been a fatal mistake. If he tried