To Catch a Groom Read Online Free PDF Page B

fiction,” she countered.
    Again his eyes glimmered like black fires burning on a distant hill. “If you wish, I will take you to the island of Monte Cristo. It’s not far from Vernazza. Perhaps there you will find what you’re looking for.”
    You mean you, of course.
    She struggled not to laugh at the pure conceit of the man. “Perhaps.”
    “Does that mean—”
    “It means…perhaps,” she interrupted with a flirtatious smile. “Now I’m tired and must say good night.”
    His hands remained fastened on her hips. “But it’s not late, and you’re too young to be tired.”
    “True, but we just flew in today, and were detained by the police while we were going through customs. Three hours to be exact. It was very exhausting.”
    “I’m sorry such a terrible thing happened to you in my country. Why would the police do this?”
    “The head of security said there was a suspicious person on board our jet. He and his men took statements from the passengers who sat near this person.”
    “Were you able to help?”
    “I don’t know. We tried to remember the people seated around us, but no one looked suspicious to me. When we were finally let go, all we wanted was to reach our hotel and go to sleep.”
    “Of course,” he whispered with compassion. His eyes wandered over her in intense appraisal before he said, “Momento—”
    With one hand still possessively molding the curve of her hip, he signaled a waiter, rapping out something in rapid Italian. The other man nodded and disappeared.
    Reading the question in her eyes, her captor explained, “I asked him to bring you a robe to wear back to your room. Such a delectable sight should not be for everyone’s eyes.”
    Only yours, and you’ve been drinking your fill with un-abashed enjoyment, she thought. He played it just right. The lothario with a streak of chivalry to keep him from being a complete cad.
    “Thank you, Signore…Mysterioso,” she improvised in her best Italian which, sadly, left a lot to be desired.
    A bark of laughter escaped his throat, the first unorchestrated response to come out of him. In that millisecond of time she was allowed a glimpse of what lay beneath the polished veneer and felt an emotional tug totally foreign to her.
    Not wishing to delve any deeper into her suddenly confused emotions, she arched backward to escape his grasp and struck out for the shallow end. That way she could use the steps and retain some semblance of dignity.
    However he managed to get there first. In a surprisingly protective gesture, he placed the extended white toweling robe around her shoulders. She was quite amazed at the speed with which the waiter had obeyed the stranger’s command without question.
    She raised violet eyes to meet the smoldering depths of his. “Thank you. I was feeling a little vulnerable.”
    “Like Venus rising from the sea?” he suggested.
    The second the words came out of his mouth, Greer could picture the famous painting of the Roman goddess of beauty awakening from a seashell without any clothes on.
    Greer blushed at the shocking analogy and turned her head away. But he made the situation even more explosive and intimate by lifting the pendant and lowering his head to kiss the tiny pulse fluttering madly beneath it.
    “One day soon when we have no audience except the sun on our skin and the sand beneath our bodies, I hope to see you exactly as Botticelli created her,” he murmured against her scented throat.
    Between the sensuality of his remark and the brush of his lips branding her heated flesh, she drew in an audible breath before wheeling away from his grasp.
    Trembling, she plucked her watch and purse from thetable where she’d left them. Before she could decide whether to wear or carry her high heels, he’d looped his index finger through the gold straps.
    “I’ll escort you to your room. Not even the Splendido can guarantee the safety of a woman on her own who looks like you. In your exhausted state you would