The Italian's One-Night Consequence

Her eyes misted over and she reached out and impulsively circled the man’s wrist with her fingers—and then yanked her hand back because the charge of electricity that shot through her was downright frightening.

He raised his eyebrows, and for a second she felt that he could read every thought that had flashed through her head.

‘No need,’ he murmured. ‘Have dinner with me.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I’ll pass on the face cream. Frankly, all those wild claims can’t possibly be true. But have dinner with me. Name the place, name the time...’

‘You’re not interested in buying anything in this store, are you?’

Maddie’s voice cooled by several degrees, because he was just another example of a cocky guy who wanted to get her into bed. She’d been spot-on first time round.

‘And as for a dinner date... That’ll be a no.’

Dinner with this man? How arrogant was he?

Her eyes slid surreptitiously over him and she understood very well why he was as arrogant as he was. The guy was drop-dead gorgeous.

Lean, perfectly chiselled features, dark hair worn slightly too long, which emphasised his powerful masculinity rather than detracting from it, a tightly honed body that testified to time spent working out, even though he didn’t look like the sort of man who spent much time preening in front of mirrors and flexing his muscles. And those eyes... Sexy, bedroom eyes that made her skin burn and made her thoughts wander to what a dinner date with him might be like...

She forced herself to conjure up the hateful memory of her ex—Adam. He’d been good-looking too. Plus charming, charismatic, and from the sort of family that had spent generations looking down on people like her. Well, that whole experience had been a learning curve for Maddie, and she wasn’t about to put those valuable lessons to waste by succumbing to the phoney charm of the man in front of her with his sinful good looks and his I could make your body sing bedroom eyes.

‘Should I be?’

Maddie frowned. ‘What do you mean? What are you talking about?’

‘Should I be interested in buying anything here? Look around you. This is a department store that’s gone to rack and ruin. I’m staggered that you would even have contemplated working here in the first place. The job situation in Dublin must be dire for you to have settled on this—and you’ve obviously had no on-the-job training because there isn’t enough money to go round for such essentials as training programmes. I’m pretty sure that if I looked I’d find an array of out-of-date merchandise and demotivated sales assistants.’

‘Who are you?’

Maddie looked at him narrowly. Was she missing something?

* * *

Leo met her stare and held it. He’d planned on a little incognito surveillance and he was going to stick to the plan—bar this little detour which, he thought, he could very well use to his advantage. She’d turned down his dinner date but he wasn’t fazed by that. Women never said no to him for very long.

Although...

He frowned, because this particular woman didn’t seem to fit the mould.

‘Just someone browsing,’ Leo said smoothly, and then he added, truthfully, ‘I don’t get to this part of the world very often and I wanted to see this store everyone seems to know about.’ He looked around him. ‘I’m less than impressed.’

The woman followed his gaze and said nothing, perhaps because she’d noticed those very same signs of disrepair. She seemed to suddenly realise that he was still watching her, his eyes narrowed.

‘I can see that you agree with me.’

‘Like I said, I haven’t been here for very long—but if you’re looking for something to buy as a souvenir of the store, there’s an excellent selection on the second floor. Mugs, tote bags, lots of stuff...’

Leo suppressed a shudder at the image of tackiness created in his head. Had the place moved with the times at all? Or had progress being quietly sidelined as Gallo’s money ran out?

He had a satisfying vision of what the place would look like under his dominion. High-tech, white glossy counters and open, uncluttered spaces, glass and mirrors, ranks of computers and accessories waiting to be explored—no irritating background elevator music and salespeople who actually knew what they were talking about.

‘If you have lots of money to spend, then we offer a range of leather handbags which we manufacture ourselves to the highest possible standard. They’re Italian, and really beautiful quality.’

‘Sadly,’ Leo said, easily giving voice to the lie, ‘my finances would struggle to stretch to one of your leather handbags.’

She nodded. He didn’t seem like the sort of broke, wrong-side-of-the-tracks kind of guy she had encountered during her life, but it was a fact that a good-looking man could look expensive in anything.

‘But I could probably stretch to one of those tote things you mentioned...’

‘Second floor.’

‘Take me.’

‘Come again?’

‘I want you to do your sales pitch on me.’

‘I’ll be honest with you,’ she said flatly, ‘if this is another way of trying to get me to have dinner with you, then you can forget it. I won’t be doing that.’

Leo wondered whether she would have had a change of heart had she known his true worth. Most definitely, he thought, with his usual healthy dose of cynicism. That said, he was a man accustomed to getting what he wanted—and the more he talked to her, looked at her, felt the pleasurable race of his pulses and the hard throb of his libido, the more he wanted to rise to the challenge of breaking down whatever walls she felt she had to erect.

For once, work and the reason he was in this sad excuse of a store had been put on the back burner.

‘You’re very arrogant, aren’t you?’ he murmured, watching her carefully as the slow burn of anger turned her cheeks a healthy pink. ‘Do you think that you have what it takes to make a man keep banging on a door that’s been firmly shut in his face?’

‘How dare you?’

‘You forget—I’m the customer and the customer is always right.’

His grin was meant to take the sting out of his words and make her realise that he’d been teasing her.

‘That’s better,’ Leo said as her anger appeared to fade, then glanced at his watch to find that time had flown by. ‘Now, why don’t you show me this souvenir section of yours?’ He raised both hands in mock surrender. ‘And you can breathe safe in the knowledge that there’ll be no more dinner invitations. You say you’re new here... You can practise your sales patter on me. I’m just passing through, so you won’t have to worry that I’ll be gossiping behind your back with the locals, telling them that the new girl at the big store doesn’t seem to know the ropes.’

* * *

Maddie looked down, but she wanted to smile.

So far she’d made no friends. It would take time for her to integrate. This interaction almost felt like a breath of fresh air. Naturally she wasn’t going to be an idiot and go on any dates with any strangers—especially good-looking ones who obviously knew how to say the right things to get a woman’s pulse racing. But he had valid criticisms of the store, and she would need those—would need to find out what customers thought when they entered. Customers would look at the place through different eyes from hers. It might actually be a good idea to encourage his opinions.

So he’d asked her out... Maddie didn’t spend time staring at her reflection in mirrors, but she knew that she was attractive. It was something that had dogged her, for better or for worse. Certainly for worse when it had come to Adam, but she couldn’t let the memory of that determine every single response to every single guy who happened to look in her direction. Could she?

Besides, setting aside the killer looks, the man still staring at her wasn’t a rich creep—like Adam had been, had she only had the wisdom to see that from the very start. This guy was more tote bags than soft Italian leather.

Maddie felt a thrilling little frisson as she breathed in deeply and said, ‘Well, I guess I could get someone to cover for me just for a little while.’

Brian Walsh was in charge of the store temporarily, and he was the only one who knew who she really was. He had worked there for over twenty years and was keen to see the store become again the place it had once been, so he was fully on board with her decision to evaluate the store undercover for a short period of time while she worked out a way forward.

‘My...er...my boss is just over there. I’ll ask his...er...permission...’

‘Your boss?’ he asked, his interest clearly pricked by the knowledge.

‘Mr Walsh. If you don’t mind waiting...?’

‘I have all the time in the world,’ he said expansively, deciding on the spot to tell James to head back to the hotel, just in case he found himself staying longer than anticipated. ‘I’ll be right here when you return.’

CHAPTER TWO

LEO COULD HAVE taken the opportunity to probe her about her boss—the man Leo would soon be putting through the wringer—but that, he decided as he watched her heading back towards him, could wait. His grandfather wanted the store yesterday, but tomorrow or the day after was just fine with Leo. There was no doubt in his mind that he would secure the store—so what was the harm in letting himself be temporarily distracted?

She moved like a dancer, her body erect, looking neither right nor left as she walked gracefully across the department store floor. He suddenly realised he didn’t even know her name, and he put that right the minute she was standing in front of him again, her fresh, floral scent filling his nostrils and turning him on.

‘Shouldn’t you be wearing a name tag? Something discreetly pinned to your nice white outfit so that I know exactly who to complain about if you sell me overpriced face cream that makes my girlfriend’s skin break out in spots?’

‘You have a girlfriend?’

The interest in her voice pleased him.

‘Because,’ she went on quickly, the flush on her cheeks betraying the fact that she’d realised her slip, ‘if you do, then you should have said. I could have pointed you in the direction of a whole different selection of face products.’

Leo glanced down at her. She was tall. Much taller than the women he was fond of dating. ‘Alas, that’s a position that’s waiting to be filled,’ he murmured. ‘And it has to be said that, as presents go, anti-wrinkle, anti-ageing face cream wouldn’t make a good one for any of the women I’ve ever dated in the past. So, what is your name?’

‘Madison.’ She kept her eyes professionally forward as the escalator took them up one floor and then the next, up to the second floor, where any visible effort at revitalisation had been abandoned. Here, the décor begged to be revamped and the displays craved some sort of creative, modern overhaul.

‘Madison...?’

‘But everyone calls me Maddie. We’re here.’

She began walking towards the back of the floor while Leo took his time strolling slightly behind her, taking in the store’s rundown appearance. He was surprised spiders weren’t weaving cobwebs between the dated merchandise—although he had to concede the sales assistants they passed were all wearing cheerful smiles.

Attention distracted, he glanced at the arrangement of souvenirs, all bearing the Gallo logo. Absently he toyed with a canvas bag, and then he looked at her seriously.

‘You’re not Irish.’ He dropped the bag and it dangled forlornly on its rack.

‘No. Well, not exactly.’

Maddie looked at him and felt her insides swoop. Even standing at a respectable distance away from her, he still seemed to invade her personal space. He was so...big...and his presence was so...suffocatingly powerful. Curiosity gripped her, and she wondered who exactly he was and what he did.

Where did he live? Why would a man like this be dawdling on a Saturday morning in this particular department store?

Alarmed, she cleared her throat, but for some reason found herself unable to drag her eyes away from his stunningly beautiful face. ‘Australia. I’m Australian.’

‘You’ve come from the other side of the world to work here?’

‘Are you always so...so rude... Mr...? I don’t even know your name!’

‘You mean just in case you want to complain about me to your boss? My name is Leo. Shall we shake hands and make the introductions formal?’

Maddie stuck her hands firmly behind her back and glowered. ‘I feel I can speak on behalf of my boss when I say that it’s always useful to hear constructive criticism about the store, but your criticism isn’t at all constructive, Mr... Mr...’

‘Leo.’

She glanced around her and winced slightly at what she saw. ‘I believe,’ she said carefully, ‘that the owner of the store passed away a short time ago. I don’t think much has been done in terms of modernisation in recent years.’

‘I have some experience of the retail market,’ Leo said absently, his eyes still wandering over the shelves and wares around them.

Suddenly those eyes were back on hers and a smile tugged at his lips.

‘This isn’t a dinner invitation, but I see that there’s a coffee shop on this floor. If you’d find it helpful, I could give you a few pearls of wisdom...’

‘You’ve run a department store in the past?’

Leo grinned, his deep blue eyes lazy and amused. ‘I wouldn’t quite put it like that...’

‘I get it.’

Maddie knew all about doing menial jobs to earn a living. She also knew all about the way people could look at someone attractive and misconstrue their place in the great pecking order. She didn’t look like someone who should be mopping floors in a hospital on the outskirts of Sydney. If she had, her life would never have ended up taking the unfortunate twists and turns that it had.

She met his direct gaze and smiled.

That smile knocked Leo sideways. Just like that he wanted to drag her away from the tasteless display of goods, pull her into the nearest cupboard and get underneath that prim and proper clinical white get-up that wouldn’t have gone amiss on a dental assistant. He wanted to kiss her raspberry-pink lips, crush them under his mouth, feel her tongue lashing against his, and then slowly, bit by bit, he wanted to get up close and personal with her body.

He suppressed a groan. She was still smiling, and his erection was getting more rigid by the second. He had to look away to catch his breath and focus on something innocuous. A stack of Gallo-label tea towels did the trick.

‘You do?’

‘I can understand. I’ve had lots of menial jobs in the past. Trust me—it’s heavenly being here.’ Maddie said it with the utmost sincerity.

Somehow they were walking away from the souvenir section towards the café.

Leo turned to her, his fingers hooking in the waistband of his low slung faded jeans.

‘I’m thinking you’ll probably get in trouble with the boss if you take time out to have a coffee with me.’

‘I expect I might.’

The fierce antagonism that had filled her when she’d thought he was after her seemed to have evaporated. Somehow he’d managed to put her at ease. And Maddie wasn’t sure whether to be alarmed at that development or happy about it.

Ever since Adam she’d made a habit of practically crossing the road to the other side of the street every time she spotted a man heading in her direction. Events had conspired to turn her social life, sparse as it had been, into a no-go zone. Men had been the first casualty of her experience with Adam and friends had fast followed, because her trust had been broken down to the point where it had all but disappeared.

But should she allow those experiences to follow her all the way to the other side of the world?

This was going to be her new home, and the last thing she wanted to do was to commence life in her new home as a crazy lady recluse.

Yes, warning bells had sounded when she’d first met Leo. But he wasn’t rich, and as soon as she’d told him to back off he’d backed off. He wasn’t from the area. He wasn’t going to be around. He was also happy to talk to her about the store, and she could use a little impartial advice—even though he wouldn’t know the reasons behind her wanting to hear what he had to say.

Sometimes nomads and wanderers—people who fell in and out of jobs—picked up life lessons along the way, and the very fact that they were streetwise gave them an added insight into life. Taking the path of adventure, untethered by the ropes that held most people down, brought its own rewards.

And, my word, was the man sexy...

She looked at him, every nerve-ending in her body tingling as he settled his fabulous eyes on her and allowed the silence between them to stretch to breaking point.

‘How long are you going to be in this lovely city?’ Maddie asked a little breathlessly, and Leo shrugged.

‘Perhaps not even overnight,’ he mused, harking back to his original plan and marvelling at the speed with which it had changed course along the way. Just as well as he was a man who could think on his feet and adapt.

At any rate, he’d probably seen everything there was to see with regard to the condition of the store, short of tapping on walls and peering into cupboards. He knew enough to settle the thorny matter of how much he should offer for the place and how fast he should move. He presumed the boss was ready to throw the towel in.

But that wasn’t what was putting a smile on his face at the moment.

‘It might be nice to...er...to have dinner with you.’ Maddie blushed and glanced away.

‘May I ask what’s prompted the change of heart?’ Leo asked wryly. ‘Five minutes ago I was the devil incarnate for suggesting any such thing.’

‘I...’ Maddie took a deep breath. ‘I haven’t been in Ireland long, and it would be...nice to have some company for a couple of hours. I’ve more or less stayed in on my own for the past few weeks.’

With her looks, Leo mused, solitude would have to be her chosen option—because she’d only have to step foot out of her front door and company would be available in any direction she chose to look.

But then that probably wasn’t the sort of company she had in mind. The sort of company that came with strings attached. The sort of company she had assumed he’d been offering—and, frankly, her assumptions had been dead-on.

Leo wasn’t surprised that her looks had made her wary of the attention she got—had made her guarded and cynical about what men wanted from her. It wasn’t that different from the way his vast wealth had made him guarded and cynical when it came to the opposite sex.

He wasn’t looking for commitment and he didn’t do declarations of love. He enjoyed impermanence when it came to women.

Leo didn’t know whether he might have gone down the normal route of marriage, two point two kids and a house in the country—or in his case several houses in several countries—if bitter experience hadn’t taught him the value of steering clear of relationships.

His grandparents had been very happily married. His parents, he had been told, had likewise been very happily married—indeed, had been on something of a second honeymoon when a lorry, going too fast in bad weather, had slammed into their little Fiat and crushed it.

He had not been blighted by poor childhood memories or affected by warring parents or evil stepmothers. Alcohol, drug abuse and infidelity had been conspicuously and thankfully absent from his life. His cautionary tales stemmed from an altogether different source.

He shrugged aside this lapse in concentration as well as any niggling of his conscience, by reminding himself that he was as honourable as they came, because he was always, always upfront in his relationships. He told it like it was.

Sex and fun, but no cosy nights in front of the telly, no meeting the parents.

That said, he was a one-woman man, and any woman he dated would have all of him—if only for a limited amount of time. Largely, he was the one who usually called it a day, but he was perfectly happy if it were the other way around. He was the least possessive man he knew and he liked it that way.

He looked at Maddie in silence for a little while. She’d rebuffed him first time around, and he was sharp enough to pick up that little comment about how it would ‘be nice to have company for a couple of hours’.

‘Tell me where you live,’ he drawled. ‘I’ll pick you up.’

‘You have a car?’

‘I have a fleet of them,’ he said, which was the absolute truth. ‘Of course they’re garaged in London—which is where, incidentally, I have my penthouse apartment—but if you tell me which make you’d prefer, I’ll make sure it’s delivered to me in time to collect you later. So, what’s it to be? Ferrari? Range Rover? BMW? Or maybe something classic like an Aston Martin...?’

Maddie burst out laughing. The guy had a sense of humour and she liked that. She hadn’t laughed for a long time, but now she was laughing so hard that tears came to her eyes.

Finally, sobering up, she said, still smiling, ‘I’ll meet you somewhere. I think there are some cheap and cheerful restaurants we could go to...’

‘I’ll give you my number. Text me. I’ll meet you there at...what? Seven? What time does this place close?’

‘Seven would be great. Now, really, I have to go...’

‘One last thing...’ Leo looked at her seriously. ‘You need not fear that I’ll make a pest of myself. I won’t.’

Maddie reddened and an errant thought flashed through her head,

What would it be like if you were to make a pest of yourself...?

‘Good,’ she said nonchalantly. ‘Because I’ve a lot going on in my life at the moment and the last thing I need is...is...’

‘Fending off a nuisance?’

‘I was going to say that the last thing I need is a relationship.’

At which Leo was the one to burst out laughing. He looked at her with his midnight-blue eyes, ‘Trust me—relationships don’t ever feature on my agenda. See you later, Maddie.’

And he was gone, leaving her standing as still as a statue, even though inside her everything was weirdly mushy, as though she’d just stepped off a death-defying rollercoaster ride and was struggling to get her bearings.

She spent the remainder of the day in a state of low-level excitement. She told herself that this wasn’t a date. Not really. This was dinner with someone who’d made her laugh—because the alternative was yet another night in, going through the mountains of paperwork her solicitor had left for her, trying to work out the best approach to take when she went to see the bank manager for a loan the following week.

She was twenty-four years old! Where was the harm in acting her age? She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt young, and the tall, dark, handsome stranger had made her feel young.

And he wasn’t going to be sticking around.

By seven that evening, as she stood outside the cheap Italian restaurant where they’d arranged to meet, the nerves which had abated at some point during the day were back in full swing.

She smoothed down the front of her shirt. No one could accuse her of dressing to impress. She was in a pair of ripped jeans, some flat navy ballet pumps and a tee shirt that was a little tighter than she liked and a little shorter than she might have wanted, exposing a sliver of flat brown skin. It, like the jeans, was faded and worn.

She’d had a brief flirtation with designer dressing. Adam had liked to see her in expensive gear and, much against her will, he had encouraged her into wearing clothes that he’d bought for her—expensive, slinky silk outfits and high, high designer heels.

He’d enjoyed the way everyone’s heads had turned whenever she’d stalked into a room and Maddie had gone along with it, albeit reluctantly, because she’d loved him and had wanted to please him.