‘Why don’t you take it easy, boss? I’ll go with Marina.’ He grinned as he switched into his English accent. ‘When one is English, one normally does like a cup of tea in the afternoon, doesn’t one, what?’
Emma couldn’t help laughing out loud. ‘One certainly does, Rich. All right then, if you’re sure, I’ll take it easy.’ For Ethan, being met by the son of the big boss, who would in all probability become the future head of the studios in his turn, would surely more than compensate for her absence at the airport. She checked her watch. ‘Anyway, it’s only half past four now so we can all take it easy for a while. Marina, are you sure you’re okay to drive? Not too tired?’
‘I’m fine, thanks, but I might have a little lie down for half an hour.’
Emma turned back to the manager. ‘Then it’s settled. If we could see our rooms, please, and then those who feel like a cup of tea, or whatever, can meet me back down here. Those that want a rest, please do, and we’ll meet up when Ethan gets here.’ Somehow she didn’t expect to see Marina or Rich again until later on. Although they were being very discreet, she had little doubt that there was something going on there. From the smiles on both their faces, it wasn’t doing either of them any harm, so Emma kept on turning a Nelsonian blind eye.
Claudio gave a little nod of agreement. ‘Certainly, signora. And we’ll send your luggage up directly.’
‘I’ll show you to your room, Emma, if you like.’ Mark glanced across at Claudio. ‘She’s in the Verdi suite, isn’t she?’ The manager nodded again and handed Mark the key. Emma smiled.
‘You’ve given the rooms operatic names?’
‘Yes, as a little salute to my grandfather. He was a lovely man.’ There was a touch of sorrow in his voice, but the smile returned almost immediately. ‘You’re on the top floor, so we’ll take the lift.’
Emma’s room was enormous and delightful. In fact it was effectively two rooms, divided by a charming Japanese-style screen. In the main part there was an elegant modern sofa and two armchairs, a massive television, and picture windows looking out over the park. Emma followed Carmen the dog over to the window, which was streaming with water as the rainstorm outside intensified. As she stood there, she heard Mark’s voice at her ear.
‘You’ll have to take my word for it that there’s a terrific view right across the valley to Gubbio and onwards towards the peaks of the Apennines beyond.’
‘It’s amazing as it is.’ In spite of the torrential rain, Emma found herself gazing down onto a pastoral scene with meadows sloping towards an ornamental lake with what looked like a couple of ducks or geese bobbing happily up and down in it. She turned back to face him. ‘It’s charming.’
‘Come and see if you approve of the rest of the room. I need your honest opinion. You are a guinea pig, after all.’
Emma walked past the screen into the sleeping area. There was an enormous king-size bed, a clearly antique dresser and matching wardrobe, and a door through which she could see a pristine all-white bathroom.
‘It’s beautiful, Mark. I love it, although I’ll probably get lost in this enormous bed.’
And then, suddenly, an all-consuming vision of the two of them lying naked across the bed, entwined in each other’s arms, filled her head and she even felt her cheeks begin to colour. Once again she did her best to give herself a stern talking-to. She was a thirty-five-year-old woman, not a giddy teenager, for God’s sake.
‘I’m glad you like it. You deserve it. Nothing but the best for you…’ His tone was warm and caring and she felt her heart begin to melt. But then he added a single word that dampened her ardour. ‘…boss.’
He turned and headed for the door, leaving her still struggling to recover from the wave of emotion – or, more accurately, lust – that had swept over her. As he reached it, he looked round.
‘After you’ve had your tea, if you’d like to come over to my house, I could offer you a glass of wine, maybe?’ She nodded mutely. ‘Claudio will show you where it is.’
He and the dog were already halfway through the door when she finally gathered her wits enough to say thank you.
Chapter 13
A few minutes after Mark had left her room, there was a tap at the door and her luggage arrived. She was still wondering whether to tip the porter when he gave her a smile and left again before she had a chance. She took her laptop from her bag, sat down on the sofa, and tried to do some work. It wasn’t easy. Her mind and, if she was honest, her whole body were still recovering from the thrill of attraction and plain unadulterated lust that had shot through her. And, she repeated to herself over and over again, it wasn’t as if Mark had done anything to set her off. In fact, he probably hadn’t been aware of anything. She rather hoped he hadn’t. Simply his presence beside her and that enormous bed had been enough to reduce her from an intelligent, efficient, switched-on Hollywood executive to a pathetic, helpless wreck, incapable of rational thought.
The logic of her position was inescapable, so why wouldn’t her brain just accept it? He had displayed no interest in her, apart from general friendship. He hadn’t made any suggestive remarks or thinly veiled hints. He was clearly still trying to come to terms with the loss of the love of his life, whoever that had been, and, besides, the unavoidable fact was that he and she would soon be on opposite sides of the globe. It would be highly unprofessional, and frankly crazy, for her to give in to her base animal desires. Mind you, the fact was that she hadn’t given in to her base animal desires for quite a while now and there was no doubt her body knew what it wanted, even if her brain was trying to think otherwise.
She went into the bathroom and ran herself a bath. As she lay in the soapy water, she turned over and over in her head just what she should do. Yes – she was now prepared to admit it to herself – the idea of jumping into bed with Mark was very, very inviting, even though the relationship would inevitably be brief and destined for disaster. She had never before been of the ‘better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’ mindset, but maybe she should rethink that and throw caution to the wind. No sooner did that thought cross her mind than she realised it was just plain crazy.
First, he probably wouldn’t be interested, and she would just make a fool of herself if she flung herself at him. Second, as he had underlined a few minutes ago, she was sort of his boss, albeit temporarily. And, third, promotion and a massive step up in her career rested upon her completing this location-scouting trip successfully and without any hiccups. Propositioning one of her staff would certainly fall into the serious hiccup category – if not the projectile vomiting category – if he took it the wrong way. Regretfully, she climbed out of the bath and towelled herself down before changing into a smart dress – not, she told herself firmly, for Mark’s benefit, but simply as this villa was a very smart sort of place. After a quick glance in the mirror, she went down for tea in the orangery. Not surprised in the least to find herself all on her own, she spent an inordinate amount of time trying not to feel jealous of Marina and Rich. She hoped they were enjoying their ‘rest’.