For goodness’ sake! She jumped to her feet. "Don’t you think this situation is bad enough without you trying to fly to the moon?"He laughed! Charley couldn’t believe she was hearing it! "You have a quaint way of expressing yourself."If the desk hadn’t been between them, she would have thrown herself at him in fury! "I am not marrying you!" she had to make do with shouting out.‘Why not?’ Throwing himself into the chair behind the desk, he gave her a challenging look. "Is there something wrong with me?""Don’t ask me to make a list," Charley muttered, wrapping her arms around her body and glaring at him while her mind shot off in all directions trying to make sense of this mad situation. "You’ve got the eyes of a lion," she then heard herself murmur out of absolutely nowhere!"Lions mark their territory and jealously protect their women, but they do not hunt," he responded lazily."Is that supposed to mean something?" Charley snapped, wishing she’d kept her silly mouth shut about his

"What a joke!" She laughed loudly. "Why do you think they delegated the job of coming here to me?"Surprise momentarily lit his golden eyes up. "So they’re scared." "Good, that works in our favor.""Will you stop talking as if this has anything to do with me when it doesn’t?" Charley choked. "I’m just the pawn here you’re using to salve your wounded arrogance!""Pawns are very powerful pieces on the chessboard.""Oh, shut up!" She flared up. ‘Have you no idea how infuriating it is that you have a slick answer to everything?’‘Seemingly not.’ A hint of a wry smile touched the corners of his mouth. "I will try to curb the habit," he offered.Pulling in a deep breath, Charley let it out again. "Now can I go?" she repeated.Reaching out for the telephone sitting on his desk, he stabbed in a set of numbers, then began shedding instructions in Italian to whoever was listening on the other end while Charley listened and wished to God that she didn’t find the rich, smooth tones in his voice s

He took them in his long, brown fingers and then calmly dropped them on the floor. The next thing she knew, she was locked in his arms. Her shocked exclamation earned her nothing but the fierce pressure of his mouth and the hot, hard, probing thrust of his tongue. In the dim distant swell of her own pounding heartbeat, she was aware of the hunger he fed into that kiss and the tension locked into his hard-muscled frame. One of his hands took a rough hold of her hair, while the other was a clamp on her hip that kept her pressed tightly up against him.And if she had never experienced the full force of a man’s passion before, then she was learning all about it now. He kissed her deeply until she whimpered, letting her feel the growing power of his desire. He muttered something when she trembled against him, then he swung her off her feet and carried her to the bed."Don’t," she choked out when he lowered her down there and looked as if he was going to follow.But he didn’t follow. He sto

The car slowed then, sending her eyes to the side window to see that they’d arrived back at the villa without her noticing. Her biggest surprise was that she hadn’t known there was a different way into the villa than via the lake. Now a huge pair of heavy iron gates were in the process of swinging open. The car glided through them and on through extensive gardens to pull to a smooth halt beneath a covered portico at the side of the house.She hadn’t dared to come outside while she’d been staying here because she hadn’t wanted any members of the press to snatch a picture of her from their siege position on the lake. But glancing towards the lake now as Dami helped her alight from the car, she was stunned to see that it was no longer there! All view of the lake had been totally blocked by a wall of sturdy white canvas that had been erected along the cliff edge—she assumed to frustrate greedy camera lenses from taking pictures of the wedding celebration about to take place.The whole cel

He was lounging in the seat beside her, the absolute epitome of casual nonchalance, but Charley saw the tension around his mouth."Why?" she breathed.His golden eyes flickered over her. "He upset you."He upset her, "He’s my father," she snapped out. "He’s allowed to upset me!""I am your husband," he countered. "I am allowed to remove all upset from your life."Charley threw him a look of burning dislike. "You upset me." Does that mean you’re going to remove yourself from my presence?"Not while we are flying at ten thousand feet." He grinned—then stopped grinning and sighed instead. "Stop spitting hatred at me, Charlotte, and explain to me why your father believes he can treat you the way that he did today."So she told him about her mother in a cool, flat, dignified voice, unaware that he watched every fleeting expression that passed across her face because she refused to look at him as she talked."So you see," she concluded, "he sees his worst fears for me materializing in our w