Kate Hewitt - The Sicilian's Surprise Love-Child / Claiming My Bride Of Convenience

‘I don’t own that land.’

‘But you own the land that surrounds it, and without that access it’s very difficult to get to.’

‘Yes, but there might be tourists about, or—’

‘Nico, it will be the same as a beach wedding. Of course there might be tourists or people walking there. And,’ she went on, ‘I know that whatever we come up with it might have to change later—there might one day be ten hotels in Silibri—’

‘Not like mine.’ Nico gave an adamant shake of his head.

The monastery had been a hellish restoration, and no developer in their right mind would have gone to the lengths he had. That aside, there was nowhere else with the views from the old monastery, nowhere with such access.

‘Aurora, it would be…’ He was about to put up obstacles, and there were many, but she was right. He knew that, for of course he had considered it. ‘It would be brilliant—’

‘But only in the right hands,’ Aurora said. ‘Only with the right manager.’

‘We have a functions manager.’

‘I’d want to make weddings at the temple separate. Exclusive,’ Aurora said. ‘And I want that role.’

‘You have no experience,’ Nico pointed out. ‘You have been in the hospitality industry for four weeks. Before that—’

‘I was a cleaner—and a very good one,’ Aurora said. ‘Is your father’s house not spotless?’

‘It is.’

Aurora had just combined three of his least favourite topics—his father, the fact that she was his father’s unpaid help, and weddings.

‘And I have contacts,’ she said. ‘I know everyone…’

‘Aurora…’ He kept his voice even. ‘It’s a good idea—an excellent one. But let’s get the hotel up and running first.’

She could not wait, though. ‘Nico, we could have wedding gowns for hire, for couples who want to be spontaneous. I want this to happen. I want that role and I will tell you why. I know what the temple looks like in the early morning, and in summer and in winter. I know how it looks when the moon is low at night…’ To prove it she took out her phone and moved her chair round the table so she sat next to him. ‘Look!’

With the scent of her close, with her bare arm next to his suited one, with her voice so close he could feel its vibration, Nico decided it was safer indeed to look at the images on her phone.

And they really were breathtaking.

‘Since I could walk I have explored those ruins almost daily. For years I have—’

It was she who halted now, for she could not reveal to Nico that it was there she had envisaged their wedding. Not in the tiny little village church, but there at the temple ruins.

It had been a pointless dream—she had known even then—for her parents would never have agreed to her marrying anywhere other than in church.

She felt his arm against hers and the heat from his thigh—or was it from hers? They were sitting so close to each other, and it had happened so naturally, but she felt terribly aware of that fact.

She moved herself and her chair to a far safer location.

Opposite him.

‘At least think about it,’ Aurora said. ‘And think of me…’ She paused and their eyes met across the table. ‘I mean, consider me for the role.’

‘Of course,’ Nico said, and still his eyes held hers. ‘And I do think of you, Aurora.’

She did not know what to say to that. She felt the pull of him, but it was all too late, she decided. She had put him behind her.

She tore her eyes from his gaze and looked down to her glass, which was empty.

‘Another one?’ Nico said.

‘I had better get on,’ Aurora said. She stood and put her bag over her shoulder. ‘Thank you for the drink, Nico. It was good to catch up.’

He walked her out and towards the elevators, and she could feel the thick energy between them. She dreaded that he might kiss her—but only because it would take a stronger woman than her to say no.

‘You had better go,’ Aurora said. ‘You have an early start. I know because I booked your driver.’

‘I should go,’ Nico agreed.

In fact, Aurora was the very reason he wasn’t staying at the hotel that night—to avoid just such a situation as this. And yet even with all his exit strategies planned here they stood, face to face.

‘I will see you at breakfast before I leave?’

‘I await my invitation,’ Aurora said.

‘It will be on your pillow.’

She wanted him on her pillow—and far more dangerous than her want, which was perpetually there, was the clear arrival of his.

Nico’s hand came to her cheek and he smoothed a stray lock of hair. It wasn’t only Aurora’s resolve that was fading.

She floored him.

Always.

The sexual attraction between them was undeniable, for sure. But there was also this banter between them—this life they both knew and this world they had shared. And Nico, despite doing everything he could to avoid it, now did not want the night to end.

His hand remained, cupping her ear, and his fingers were in her hair.

She could remember that hand, pressed over her mouth as she came, and she fought not to kiss it, not to flirt.

She won the former battle but failed on the latter.

‘I packed your underwear,’ Aurora said in a provocative tone—and there went the express train of her mouth again, saying things it should not and being too familiar.

Not that Nico seemed to mind, for he was stroking her earlobe and his eyes were telling of his desire.

And the guard she had fought to keep up was dissolving, for she did not know how to be anyone other than the person she was. The person who was in love with him.

He brought out the Aurora in her.

‘Aurora…’ Nico said, and she heard in the sound of him saying her name a summons to bed.

She ached to turn her head just a fraction and kiss the palm that held her cheek, to give in to the bliss of him just one last time. To have Nico make love to her in Rome.

He was leaving in the morning and would return only after she had left. This was their only chance, and Aurora did not know how to resist him.

Her neck fought not to arch and her mouth not to part to kiss his palm.

But then her guardian angels dashed in.

They flew from their clouds, or wherever they’d been hiding, and there was no time for them to apologise for their absence. They hauled her back from the brink.

‘Goodnight, Nico.’

Well done, Aurora!

Though it wasn’t actually Aurora who had halted things, for she was desperate for his kiss. No, it was a force greater than she that had somehow gathered and dragged those words from her mouth.

‘It’s been a long day,’ she added, then gave him a smile and walked off.

It would be a long, lonely night.

But at least she would awake with her pride.

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