As hot colour stained her fair complexion, Kerry tore her shaken attention from the threat of his glittering gaze. ‘I won’t…I can’t discuss this with you.’
‘Yet you just had sex with me—’
‘Will you stop talking to me like that?’ Angry mortification and a sense of being out of her depth lent Kerry’s voice a shrill edge that made her flinch. ‘For goodness’ sake, I’m supposed to be working for you—’
‘That was work? Your eagerness to meet my every need goes way beyond the average employee’s commitment,’ Luciano derided. ‘But whatever turns you on…I’ll have lunch at one and dinner at seven. I’d also like a list of the most reliable local builders a.s.a.p.’
‘Builders?’ Glancing up in surprise, Kerry collided unwarily with sizzling dark golden eyes that made her mouth run dry. ‘But why?’
‘If you’re playing housekeeper, act like one,’ Luciano suggested drily. ‘Questions of that nature fall into the impertinent category.’
Reddened mouth compressed, Kerry carried her laden tray past him. ‘As does your familiarity…so keep your hands to yourself from now on.’
Luciano almost smiled at that sally. He was very confident that within a very short time he would be enjoying exactly the kind of lifestyle with Kerry that he had envisaged. She couldn’t resist him. Passion had triumphed in the kitchen. Her resistance was crumbling and his terms were attainable. In the meantime, he would forge ahead with his renovation plans for the castle to demonstrate that what he had promised to do, he would do to the letter.
One week later, Ballybawn was surrounded by newly erected scaffolding and workmen were busy both indoors and out. Kerry helped her friend, Elphie, to pack the last of her possessions from the Georgian wing into the van that the other woman had hired for the occasion.
‘I’m looking forward to moving into my new showroom this weekend,’ Elphie said cheerfully. ‘Did I tell you what a prime location it’s in? Luciano has been very generous. I’d have moved out for a lot less compensation than he’s giving me!’
‘I’m just glad you’re not upset about having to move at such short notice—’
‘I’m convinced that I’ll do better business in the town. My father is even more pleased that his tenancy agreement for the farm has been renewed,’ the chirpy brunette confided. ‘In fact, from our point of view, Luciano da Valenza just about walks on water. I suppose it’s pretty tactless of me to tell you that—’
Kerry forced a smile. ‘Not at all—’
‘I know how hard it’s got to be for you to watch someone who isn’t an O’Brien rescue Ballybawn. However, any worries I had about your ex-fiancé went the minute I heard the wonderful rumour that your grandparents would be moving back in as tenants!’ In the awkward silence that followed, Elphie settled her inquisitive gaze on Kerry’s flushed face. ‘I heard that Luciano could be planning to resettle them in the Georgian wing—’
‘And what if I told you that there were rather more personal strings attached to that possibility?’ Kerry was shaken that Luciano could have been so indiscreet and furious that yet more pressure was being put on her.
‘If the other end of the string was attached to Luciano…in your place, I’d jump for joy,’ the other woman declared with frank amusement. ‘He’s drop-dead gorgeous and willing to go to enormous lengths to accommodate your grandparents. If you’re looking for more than that from a guy you once ditched, you could be waiting a very long time.’
Kerry paled at that blunt appraisal.
Elphie climbed into the van and grimaced. ‘I tried to hold that little lecture in but I just couldn’t. You’re breaking your heart over him anyway. What do you have to lose? Are you still speaking to me?’
‘Just about,’ Kerry breathed before her childhood friend drove off with an airy wave.
Was she so transparent? Kerry had never been the type to confide easily in friends and it embarrassed her that her unhappiness had been noticed. Since the day she had shamed herself by acting like a wanton hussy in the kitchen, it had been surprisingly easy for her to avoid seeing much of Luciano. During the day the castle was swarming with workmen, and the architect in charge of the restoration usually joined Luciano for the lunch that she provided. In the evenings, Luciano had professed a desire to escape the dust and upheaval by going out to eat.
But the very fact that he had actually commenced work on Ballybawn had thrown Kerry into total confusion. Did the arrival of the builders mean that, regardless of her refusal of Luciano’s proposition, her grandparents could still become his tenants? Or did it mean that Luciano was determined to put her under such a sense of obligation that she might well end up agreeing for the older couple’s sake? He was ruthless enough to use that kind of pressure on her and she knew he was.
But Elphie’s frankness had turned Kerry’s thoughts in a rather different direction. Was it really her pride and her fear of being hurt again that was coming between her and even the chance of happiness? What relationship came with the guarantee of a future? If she truly loved Luciano, just being with him again was all that should matter, she reasoned tautly. Why had she hidden behind the excuse of how her grandparents might feel about her engaging in a less conventional relationship? Hunt and Viola O’Brien had a remarkable ability to turn a blind eye to anything that threatened their comfort. If she was content, they would neither comment nor interfere.
Kerry went back indoors with her mind clearer than it had been in many weeks. As she entered the great hall, surprise stilled her in her tracks, for a woman was standing by the hearth.
Fixing feline green eyes on Kerry, the stunning blonde sauntered forward. ‘Hi…long time no see, and no regrets either,’ her stepsister, Rochelle, declared in her usual withering style.
CHAPTER SIX
‘WHAT are you doing here?’ Kerry asked before she could think better of it, for Rochelle’s appearance at the castle had left he
r reeling with shock.
‘That’s none of your business. I travelled with Costanza and she tells me that you’re now working here in a domestic capacity.’ Having treated Kerry to a scornfully amused appraisal, Rochelle smiled with satisfaction. ‘Luciano’s being so tough with you and I can’t tell you what a turn-on that is for me. I wouldn’t place too much hope on the Cinderella story coming true at Ballybawn either…no way will I ever play an ugly sister!’
Mortified colour burning over her cheekbones, Kerry wished and not for the first time that she could match her stepsister’s quick, annihilating tongue. Furthermore, much as Kerry would have liked to note that Rochelle’s beauty had faded since their last meeting five years earlier, Rochelle defied the belief that too much drink, too many late nights and too great a fondness for men left their punishing mark on a woman’s looks. Rochelle rejoiced in creamy skin, a mane of naturally blonde hair and a fantastic figure, enhanced by a very short leather skirt and a clingy white gypsy top.
‘Neither am I in search of some mythical prince,’ Kerry murmured tightly, her heart sinking as she found herself making the familiar demeaning comparision between her stepsister’s attractions and her own. Red corkscrew curls and ordinary features could not compete with glorious golden hair and classic beauty. Nor could her own small, very slim body hold a candle to Rochelle’s sexy curves and long, shapely legs.