‘Which makes it even more puzzling. So I need a minute and you’re going to give it to me,’ he stated blatantly.
‘How?’
‘We’re going to spend the day together. And you’re going to tell me every single thought that jumps into your head.’
Her brows rose. ‘You want to use me to drown out your thoughts? You realise how unhealthy that sounds, right?’
His grimace was pained. ‘Yes, I do, but I’ll suffer through it this once in the hope I emerge unscathed.’
‘And if you don’t?’
Silver eyes darkened as they swept over her. The message in them when they locked on her lips punched heat into her belly. ‘Then I’ll have to find a different solution.’
* * *
Six hours later, Narciso was wondering if he’d truly lost his mind. Although he’d learned everything about Ruby from the moment she’d learned to speak to the present she’d received from her roommate, Annie, on her last birthday, he yearned to know more.
Never had he taken even the remotest interest in a woman besides her favourite restaurant and what pleased her in bed. The fact that he wanted to know Ruby Trevelli’s every thought sent a shiver of apprehension down his spine.
He was unravelling faster than he could keep things under control.
Every emotion he’d tried to lock down since that summer in Sicily threatened to swamp him. He gritted his teeth and watched Ruby surge out of the turquoise sea. She walked towards him, clad in the minuscule bikini he’d supplied her with. Her body—supple, curvy and dripping with water—made his mouth dry. When she dropped down next to him on the deserted beach they’d swum to, he burned with the need to reach for her. Dio, with the amount of sex they’d had how could he still be this hungry for her?
‘So, is the inquisition over?’ she asked playfully.
‘Sì,’ he growled. ‘It’s over.’
Her gaze darted to his and he saw her tense at the coolness in his voice.
‘Something wrong?’
‘Why would anything be wrong?’
‘Because you won the swim race from the yacht and you’re not crowing about it. And you’re not firing questions at me any more.’
‘Perhaps I’ve had my fill for now.’
‘Right. Okay,’ she said.
He couldn’t dismiss the hurt he heard in her voice. Turning, he watched her slim fingers play with the sugary white sand next to her feet. The desire to have those hands on his body grew until it became a physical pain.
Abruptly, he leaned forward and opened the gourmet picnic basket that had been delivered by his crew. He bypassed the food and reached for the chilled champagne. Popping the cork, he poured a glass and handed it to her.
‘What are we celebrating?’
‘The end of our beautiful down time. We leave for New York in the morning.’
Her eyes widened. Hell, he was more shocked than she was. His plan had been to stay for a full week. But the restlessness that had pounded through him all day wouldn’t abate and he needed to find some perspective before it was too late.
At least once they returned to New York, back into the swing of things, everything would make sense again.
‘You’ve asked my every thought for the last six hours. I think it’s my turn now.’
He thought of sparing her the chaos running through his head. Then he mentally shrugged. ‘I’m thinking why the thought of being free of you gives me no satisfaction.’
‘Wow, you really know how to make a woman feel special, don’t you?’
‘I don’t believe in sugar-coating words.’
‘Please, spare me the macho stance. You know how to be gentle. What’s going on here, Narciso? Why are you suddenly angry with me?’
He met her cloudy gaze and every thought disappeared but one. ‘I’m finding how much I despise the thought of you ever taking another lover.’
Shocked blue eyes darted back to his. ‘Narciso—’
‘Now I’ve felt you shatter in my arms, the thought of you with another man makes my head want to explode.’
She gasped. ‘Did you really just say that?’
He gave a harsh laugh and shook his head, as if testing his own sanity. ‘Sì, I just did.’
Beautifully curved eyebrows rose. ‘And I’m guessing that’s the first time you’ve admitted that to a woman?’
‘It’s the first time I’ve felt that way about any woman.’ He shoved a hand through his hair.
Dio mio, he was like a leaking tap! Yesterday, he’d bared his past and his soul as if he were under the influence of a truth serum; today he was contemplating the future and the ache of not having Ruby Trevelli in it.