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  ‘Well—great to have met you,’ she said, ‘but we have to go now.’

  ‘Oh—no—no,’ her admirer said. ‘Is too early…’

  Emily looked helplessly at Coral, hoping for some support, but her friend refused to meet her gaze, clearly enjoying the situation, and for a few moments Emily felt at a loss. The men were only being friendly and she had no sense of being threatened. Yet this was the very thing she had wanted to avoid. How was she going to get out of it without appearing to snub these local lads?

  And then her good fairy alighted on her shoulder, literally, as the warm hand of the handsome Italian she’d met earlier in the day rested on her bare arm for a second. He looked down into her rather startled gaze and smiled the smile that set her heart racing.

  ‘We meet again,’ he said calmly. ‘I was sitting inside in the bar having a drink and saw you come in.’ He paused. ‘Is—is everything all right?’ The words were uttered in perfect English, which had the effect of throwing Emily off balance for a moment. What she’d thought of earlier as his halting ability with the language was obviously a ploy he used in order to avoid having to make tiresome conversation with customers! But she admitted to feeling relieved that he’d turned up then—because now the situation was different—and the younger men saw it at once, standing up almost deferentially.

  ‘ ‘Giorno, Giovanni,’ the men said, almost in unison. He was obviously well known, Emily thought—and why not? He ran a local shop, and these were local youths. She smiled up at him.

  ‘Oh, hello again,’ she said. ‘We…were just explaining to these…guys…that we are actually just leaving now…’

  ‘Giovanni’ spoke in rapid Italian to the men, who answered back in the same way, all three laughing loudly and clearly enjoying a joke—probably at her and Coral’s expense, Emily thought—and then they were gone, smiling back as they went, leaving Giovanni standing there alone. He looked down at the girls, treating Coral to one of his disarming grins before introducing himself, holding out his hand to each of them in turn.

  ‘My name is Giovanni,’ he said, ‘but my friends call me Joe…Gio.’ He paused, his eyes flickering over Emily’s upturned face.

  Quickly, she said, ‘Oh—I’m Emily, and this is Coral. We’re only here for a few days—on a sort of holiday…’ she went on rather stumblingly, aware that her friend was staring at her open-mouthed. Not just because it was obvious that Giovanni was somehow known to Emily, but also because he was looking so stunningly handsome she knew that the girl’s curiosity would be killing her. Emily knew she had some explaining to do!

  ‘Um…do sit down…Giovanni…’ she said hesitantly, and immediately he pulled out a chair. She looked across at Coral. ‘I bought a lovely present for my father at Giovanni’s shop this afternoon,’ she began, ‘and that’s when I met…Giovanni…Gio…’

  Although Coral might have been disappointed at the hasty exit the younger men had just made, she was so entranced at the most recent arrival she could hardly speak! He was wearing well-cut jeans and a loose, immaculate white cotton shirt open at the neck, exhibiting a teasing expanse of muscular brown chest. His hair was stylishly untidy, one or two dark fronds falling over his broad forehead. And his bewitching eyes were fringed by long, curling lashes. But when he leaned across and took Coral’s hand in his briefly, saying, ‘I am so delighted to meet you, Coral,’ Emily thought her friend was going to faint!

  ‘Oh…’ Coral said at last. ‘Pleased to meet you, Gio.’ She darted a quick glance at Emily, as if to say-Well, you might have said something—before giving the man her close attention. And his perfect English, with only the occasional mouth-watering Italian accent, made conversation easy—and wonderfully entertaining, as he turned on the full power of his Latin charm. He beckoned to the drinks waiter and turned to Emily.

  ‘May we celebrate our acquaintance?’ he asked. ‘What would you like to drink—and you, Coral…? What may I order for you?’

  ‘I’d like another coffee, please,’ Emily said firmly. She’d already had several generous glasses of wine. Any more would be too many, she thought. But Coral had no such problem, and soon she was sipping at yet another large glass of the expensive bubbles as she regaled Giovanni with her life story, allowing Emily to add one or two comments about herself while he listened intently.

  Presently, Emily decided that for her the evening was over. ‘I want to go back to the hotel now, Coral,’ she said. ‘It’s late.’

  ‘Where are you staying?’ Giovanni asked casually, and when they told him he said, ‘I can take you, if you like. My car is just a few minutes away.’

  ‘Oh, lovely!’ Coral said at once, but Emily interrupted firmly.

  ‘Thank you, but we can easily get a taxi. We wouldn’t want to bother you.’ She stood up and shot a warning glance at Coral, who stood up as well. Then she held out her hand. ‘It’s been very…pleasant…to meet you…Gio,’ she said. ‘And thanks for the coffee.’

  He smiled at her, tilting his head briefly to one side. ‘You’re welcome,’ he said. He hesitated. ‘By the way, if you have trouble locating the places you need to visit tomorrow, I’ll be at the shop, so you know where to find me. I can always point you in the right direction.’

  ‘Oh…thank you, but I’m sure I’ll manage,’ Emily said.

  ‘Why didn’t you accept his offer of a lift?’ Coral demanded as they were driven swiftly back to the hotel in a taxi.

  ‘Because we don’t know him, Coral!’

  ‘He wasn’t exactly a stranger…’

  ‘As good as,’ Emily replied.

  But later, as Emily listened to Coral’s gentle snoring from the other bed, she instinctively felt that there would have been no need to fear Giovanni’s intentions. He was clearly a well known member of the local community and, if the younger men’s reaction was anything to go by, highly respected.

  Emily turned over, flinging her arm across her pillow. Behind her closed lids she could still see those ruinously seductive eyes gazing at her. Then she half sat up, pushing her hair away from her face. This would not do, she thought. She was here chiefly on business, not to indulge herself in sensitive thoughts about the first Italian who’d paid her any special attention. It was just a shame that she and Giovanni would probably never meet again…especially as there were only two days to go before they returned to England.

  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 that he’d been last night when she’d refused his offer of a lift. So why did she feel so relaxed…so happy…to be sitting alongside him now? She turned to look in front of her. ‘If you’re sure it’s not inconveniencing you, Gio, I’d be very grateful,’ she said simply.

  ‘Which travel company are you with?’ Giovanni wanted to know as they drove away and, when Emily told him, he nodded. ‘They’re well known,’ he said briefly. ‘How long have you worked for them?’

  ‘Almost a year,’ Emily replied.

  ‘And before that?’

  ‘Oh, I had a couple of years with a small art gallery in London,’ she said, glancing across at the handsome profile, the strong neck and firm chin. His white shirt exposed heart-throbbing muscular arms and shoulders which tensed and rippled as he moved. She swallowed, looking away. ‘And what about you?’ she asked, thinking that it was his turn to answer some questions. ‘How long have you owned the shop?’

  He grinned without looking at her. ‘Oh, it’s not mine,’ he said. ‘It belongs to a friend. I just mind the place for him from time to time.’

  There was silence for a few moments after that and Emily thought-well, that didn’t say much. If it wasn’t his shop, what else did he do?

  ‘So, when you’re not selling beautiful marmalade jars…?’ she enquired.

  ‘My friend also owns the restaurant you were dining in last night,’ he said, ‘and I help out there, too, in the bar sometimes—but mostly I manage his paperwork for him.’ He paused. ‘By the way,’ he went on, changing the subject, ‘where is—Coral—today?’

  ‘Oh, I’m afraid Coral might have had too much sun yesterday,’ Emily said. She wasn’t going to go into details. ‘So she decided to stay at the hotel and rest for a few hours…which reminds me—I must ring her to see if she’s feeling any better.’

  Taking her mobile from her bag, Emily dialled Coral’s number and was relieved that her friend answered almost immediately and sounded her old self.

  ‘Good,’ Emily said into the mouthpiece, ‘I’ll be back about six o’clock and we’ll go out to supper later—if you’re
still feeling OK…What? Oh—I’m phoning from…from…I’m in a car on my way to one of those hotels, but once I’m there it shouldn’t take long,’ she added as she rang off.

  Now why hadn’t she told Coral that it was Giovanni’s car that she was sitting in? she asked herself as she replaced her phone in her bag. And Giovanni must have been thinking the same thing because he gave her a wicked sidelong glance and said bluntly, ‘Is my name a dirty word then, Emily? You’re not…ashamed…of me, I hope?’

  Emily felt her cheeks beginning to burn. ‘Of course not!’ she said. ‘It…it was somehow difficult to try and explain to Coral how you…I mean…how…I’ll tell her later, of course.’ The fact was that Coral had fallen madly in love with Giovanni and when they’d got back last night hadn’t stopped going on and on about him until the small hours. If Emily had said, Guess what? Giovanni just happened to be passing by and now I’m sitting in his fantastic car and yes, he’s just as gorgeous as he was last night! Coral would have demanded to know how that had happened, and her shriek of amazed jealousy would have been deafening and very difficult to explain to the man in the driving seat!

  It took about twenty minutes to reach the quite imposing hotel, and Giovanni glanced across at Emily. ‘Do you have an appointment, or do you just turn up unannounced?’ he asked.

  ‘It varies,’ Emily replied. ‘It’s quite good not to let them know when you’re coming, for obvious reasons, but I usually do ring first. Let’s hope the manager is available today. I’m hoping to see Signor Saracco, but in any case I can get a good feel of the place and see if it’s the sort which our clients might approve of.’

  They got out of the car and together they went into the large foyer. This would obviously have to feature in the brochure for one of their more expensive holidays, Emily thought, looking around her at the impressive glass cabinets containing luxurious clothing and jewellery. The girl standing behind the huge oak reception desk looked up as they entered, her eyes glancing briefly at Emily, but lingering for a lot longer on Giovanni, immediately captivated by his ruthlessly seductive appeal.